The 'ultimate' sport

Last week William Morrison, the man credited with inventing the Frisbee, passed away at age 90. Frisbees, which were originally empty pie dishes gained popularity among college students, including Princetonians, in the 1950s.

The New York Times recently re-published an old article on the Frisbee to commemorate Morrison's passing, and guess which university gets a brief mention. The article was originally published in 1957, when the Frisbee fad started to gain momentum: "The fad started in the Ivy League late this spring. One Princeton crew cut said that the gadget kept students so busy that they had no time for rioting."

Frisbees were originally called Whirlo-Ways, Flyin-Saucers (note the missing 'g'), or Pluto Patters (not quite sure where that came from). They were ultimately named for the Frisbie Pie Company, which, incidentally, supplied pies to Yale's campus for many years.

And speaking of things ultimate, the first intercollegiate ultimate frisbee competition was held in New Brunswick between Princeton and Rutgers. Over 1000 spectators attended the event, and Princeton narrowly lost to Rutgers by two points.

The sport was intended to be a combination of soccer, football and hockey — and thus the 'ultimate' sport.