Editor,
For the last three years the UNM Ultimate Frisbee club has tried diligently to earn some recognition on campus as a respectable organization and sport at UNM.
Last year we were told that the Daily Lobo would cover our home tournament and write an article on our successes as a club sport at UNM, which never happened even though we won our tournament and earned a ranking as high as 16th in the nation. After finishing the season on a high note with a sixth-place finish at regionals in San Diego, Calif., our team expected that we might actually receive some coverage in the Lobo for this year's spring season. The Lobo did decide to take on the task of covering our tournament this year, but its performance was less than par.
The article written on Monday as a cover story for the Green Chile Fest Ultimate Frisbee tournament was not only unprofessional and inaccurate; it was barely a sports story that most lower level journalism classes would not have accepted as a good article. The writer used a good portion of the article to talk about an off-campus party that had nothing to do with the games being played, and she used quotes from players that she overheard during a conversation among players on the sideline.
The article portrays the UNM Frisbee team and Frisbee in general as a sport of delinquent drunks who are barely athletes. Had the writer actually come out for more than five minutes and made an effort to cover the tournament she would have had more to write about instead of using pointless information about something that had nothing to do with the tournament.
As a result I'd like to use this opportunity to give the real sports report on the Green Chile Fest Frisbee tournament this weekend. The UNM Hanta Virus (not Virsu) hosted an ultimate Frisbee tournament on Johnson Field this weekend, which featured teams from the University of Arizona, Air Force Academy, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State, Arizona State, University of Colorado, Utah State, and Colorado College.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
On Saturday each team played four games to 13, lasting about an hour and a half each. On Sunday, a playoff was set up according to records from the day before and teams played for the championship. The UNM team won its quarterfinal game against Arizona State 13-6, but lost in the semifinals to the Colorado School of Mines 11-6. Colorado School of Mines won in the finals against the University of Arizona 13-6.
The UNM Frisbee team will attend at least five more tournaments this spring in Austin, Texas, Lawrence, Kan., Ft. Collins, Colo., Tempe, Ariz. and regionals in Colorado Springs, Colo., with hopes of qualifying for nationals.
It is my hope that, in the future, the Lobo will take its job seriously in researching an event before they cover it and actually spend time gathering information about the event.
Troy Woytek
Co-Captain
UNM Ultimate Frisbee Club
