Hobbies And Interests
Guts -- A Dangerous Game of Catch
One of the earliest Frisbee games was guts, which derived from an Ivy League game that predates the Frisbee itself. Two teams of five participants would stand and face each other, and throw a circular saw blade at the midriff of the person on the opposite side. The person would try to catch it in his bare hands and throw it back. This would continue until one side or the other would step out of line or miss a catch. The use of a plastic playing disk made this sport somewhat more accessible.
Ultimate Frisbee
Less of a blood sport in origin, Ultimate Frisbee dates to a high school class in Maplewood, New Jersey, which created a variant of football using a Frisbee disk in 1968. The objective is to throw the Frisbee between teammates and get it into the goal of the opposing side. Everyone gets to throw, catch, block and try for interceptions. The game has grown to a phenomenon, with league play all around the world.
Frisbee Golf
Somewhat more sedate than Ultimate Frisbee, Frisbee Golf uses a smaller disk and has players throw the disk at targets through a specially prepared golf course. More than 700 Frisbee Golf courses are around the world, and it even has a professional tour, run by the Professional Disk Golf Association.
Frisbee as Popular Culture Icon
The Frisbee has been an iconic part of American and world culture for more than 50 years. The disks have been painted in posters for nearly as long, with subjects ranging from players using Frisbees in sporting events to the iconic pictures of dogs chasing after them. They also get used as a painting medium -- the city of Bridgeport Connecticut used "paint a Frisbee" as a fundraiser project for its Green Market Exposition. The Frisbees used are, appropriately for an environmental cause, made largely of post-consumer polyethylene.