On to Marquette

We didn't leave Ontonagon until a little after noon today because our drive to Marquette was only about 120 miles and check-in time was not until 3 pm.  It rained for about the first hour of our drive.  We stopped at a nice roadside park to eat our lunch and let the rain get ahead of us.  We arrived at Marquette Tourist Park right around 3 pm, got checked in, and began getting set up on our site.  The site is full hookups but the electric is only 30 amps which shouldn't be a problem with the low 70's temperature.

The biggest problem with the site is that the utilities are so far apart.  We had to use all of the electric cord to reach the electric, add a sewer extension to reach the sewer behind the motorhome, and use two water hoses to reach the water.  

When we pulled into the park, we noticed a lot of cars near the recreation fields.  We couldn't tell what they were playing but it was something with frisbees.  After we finished getting everything set up, we walked over to the fields to see what was going on.  

After watching for a little while and then asking some of the spectators, we found out the game was Guts Frisbee and what was going on was the U.S. National Gut Frisbee Championships!  

Apparently, the Guts Frisbee has been played since the 70's and is most popular in the Midwest.  Below is a description of how the game is played from the Guts Frisbee website.  

Guts Frisbee™ is a high-speed sport in which players try to throw the disc so fast or with so much movement that members of the opposing team—lined up fingertip to fingertip 14 meters (15 yards, 11 inches) away—cannot catch it cleanly with one hand. Teams take turns throwing and catching. With speeds hitting over 80 mph, players can have less than one third of a second to react.  The disc must be thrown from behind the throwing team’s line and arrive at the catching team’s line right-side-up and within reach. It can be caught on first impact or after being deflected among teammates. If the disc touches the ground or is touched simultaneously by more than one body part (trapped), the throwing team scores a point. If the disc is caught, no point is scored. If the disc is thrown high, low, or wide—or arrives vertical or upside-down—the receiving team scores a point.  The player who catches the disc—or was hit first by it if the disc isn’t caught—throws it back. On the first throw of the game, or following a bad throw or foot fault, the team with the disc can choose their best player to make the next throw. Games are played to 21 points with a 2-point margin needed for victory.  (www.gutsfrisbee.com)

We arrived in time to watch the final game of the loser's bracket and the final championship game as well.  Below are the posterboard brackets of the tournament and the U.S. National Championship trophy.  Also, the winners split $1,200 and the runners-up split $600.

Some of the teams had uniforms...

...and some seem to wear whatever they wanted.  

Don't you love the cut-off shorts and
multi-colored socks and shoes?

The referees did not have uniforms either -- just an extra frisbee and a beer.  

All kidding aside, it was pretty amazing to watch some of these guys put such speed on their throws.  But just as amazing were the guys on the receiving end trying to catch a Frisbee that is coming at them at speeds of up to 80-90 mph.  Watch the below video:

The championship game was a best 2 out of 3 series between the team called "Blame the Dog" and the four consecutive time Guts Frisbee Champions, the Appleton  Assassins.  After 2 games, the Appleton Assassins emerged victorious and are now the 5 time national champions.

Well, that was fun to watch!  You just never know what you might get to see when traveling around this country.