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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 1971)
Frisbee by Edward B!au Newsweek Feature Service When the Frisbee sailedl onto the scene in the late 1950s, few people thought if would be anything more than another short-lived fad on the heels of the hula hoop and Davy Crockett. No one could have predicted it would not only survive but go on to ' become the hottest pastime of the Aquarian Age. The saucer-shaped discs have proved so enduringly popular that the Wham-0 Co., a San Gabriel, Calif., firm which owns the Frisbee trademark, will turn out some 12 million of them this year. (Hundreds of thousands more will be made by such Wham-O competitors as Saucer Tossers and Flying Saucers.) There is now even an International Fisbee Association (IFA) which is sponsored, by Wham-O and which has more than 65,000 members in 70 countries around the world. What accounts for the Frisbee's remarkable longevity? To one Wham-O official, it's the fact that "the Frisbee allows everyone to do his own thing. Some like to compete determinedly. Some like to participate with great skill and plenty of style. But most just find it a welcome relief from the rigid, regimented competition that other sports seem to generate." Basically, there are only two things that can be done with a Frisbee-throw it and catch it. But it is not, of course, quite all that simple. In the hands of a skilled Frisbee-ite, it can be made to soar and dip and curve in infinite variation-a gyroscopic wonder of the air, defying all traditional laws of flight. The experts can also perform trick catches behind the back and through the legs, sail, it up to 100 yards, skip it off the ground like a stone in a lake or boomerang it in the wind. Once predominantly used by kids, Frisbees are doing their aerodynamic acrobatics from grassy knolls to city i SAT.. SEPT 18 ( hi Hi iii i i i 1 association I 111 DFDtMl HiJA 111 riMvii III CONCERT $3-00- $4.00 -S5.00 I ALL SEATS RESERVED Til 6 P.M. ' pwwm iciri i iMuPircaiiirjsj m MnMiHiMk ABKSffSMmmwL. JiPPl Wingers sail saucers info Seventies .. . vr--nne of the i streets, college campuses to Vietnam firebases. And virtually anyone can participate without having to worry about size or age or crowds or regulations or teammates. "Flying a Frisbee gives rr.e a sense of freedom," says one young Frisbee f linger who turns up regularly at the center of Frisbee activity in New York City--the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. Even the IFA, which hosts tournaments and puts out a Frisbee newspaper, is dedicated to minimizing organization. Says Irv Lander, assoebi. rlirector: "The IFA does not cater to the militant or fiercely competitive types who represent a tiny fraction of the multitudes who enjoy Frisbee informally." Still, some organization has inevitably come to the Frisbee, via tournaments and teams. The IFA hosts an international Frisbee championship every summer at Copper Creek on Michigan's isolated Upper Peninsula, a Frisbee flick from Lake Superior. Teams and individuals come from near and far to compete and also to indulge in the tourney's main tradition-beer drinking. Other contests and Frisbee festivals are being held across the country and Frisbee competition in school sports programs is on the rise. On the Hi ft.. ' 'l f. - """"" ' mi '!"- lUMiiM.ii. uiiiiilii imSWBWimwmsSVm II -i U,. . "ill,,. & J L 5 ( 40) t 1 xSr & ? fi . ft,. . o M ' f , 1 ' you can use our layaway-vvithout a service charge we, ve B-71 Men's ' in Arctic Areas; the Warmest Jacket You Can liuyf ,lt I I 0 AIl first vuaiiiyi Front Zipper With other hand, Frisbee organization, or "Frisbeezation" as it's known, suffered a setback last year at the University of Oregon when a 2-credit course in the Frisbee was de-credited. The Frisbee frenzy is still mounting, however, and even spilling into the world of politics-- at least in Sacramento, Calif. There, Geoffrey Wong, of the Wong's Wenches Frisbee team, entered a mayoral race recently by flipping a Frisbee into the ring rather than tossing the proverbial hat. There is much legend surrounding the origin of the Frisbee. One tale has it that a 19th-century churchgoer, tired of depositing coinage in the plate, began throwing the disc around in protest. Others date the sport's birth from the time when some irate Colonial husband started flinging the good china at his mate during a domestic tiff. Still others think the flying saucer scare of the 1950's played a part. The name of the game probably stems from the now-defunct Frisbie Baking Co. of Bridgeport, Conn., where employes evidently took note of the aviational abilities of the tin pie-plate. In any case, the plastic version was designed in the 1950s by Fred Morrison, a Los Angeles building inspector, who sold the rights to Wham-O 0j ' fcS TO 'VI v WV . I kj 1ZrA.i i , V r wMMat win fm I X . . 4 f v . ' ' "" I" it in..Miiiilil.ii.ii.inn..iriMl y-IM rim Mil. ii.n, Mm .1 Arctic Parka Designed for SeiicemenJ uenuuic wuu ui Douhle Protection Button Over-Flap! and has made a small fortune from it. While Frisbee is generally not a strenuous activity, it has its dangers. The most widely feared is the Frisee finger, an injury that occurs when a speeding Frisbee comes into painful contact with the finger rather than the inside of the hand. While not a fatal wound, the injury could impair a competitor's effectiveness at a torunament-especially if it's on the beer-drinking hand. Despite such hazards, the Frisbee is t lying nigner man D B & G Liquor Store off-sale liquor and beer Grand Opening Specials Boones Farm Apple Wine - 89 qt. All Major Brands of Beer quarts six-pacs- 148 No. 14 St. LINCOLN ARMY and WESTERN STORE Corner 11th & N ft v- j IK - t IT v" II .4 , A ryV Bhw I r ever --one oi mc itw amusements to hold Americana's fickle interest from the placid '50s through the tumultuous '60s and into a new decade. - 53 $1.36 435-9567 St. Lincoln. Nebr. - ----v. viwm rum i h Ummd LfaiM f V . .., El rr ' v ' ff PAGE 8 THE DAILY NEB RASKAN