All*Star Thursdays: The Birth of a NEW Tradition
by Paul Mondesire
December 22, 2004
Now that the Thanksgiving feast has passed and the
winter is racing towards us, the devotees of
flying plastic are, in most of the country,
relegated to indoor spaces and telling tall tales
of hot jams past. I am here to tell ya a story
about not just one heinous gathering of smokin'
Freestylers, but a summer full of amazing feats
of Frisbee derring-do.
There are some folks that believe that New York
City is the center of the world and as a native
'New Yawkuh', who am I to disagree?* (see below)
The cognoscenti will tell you Freestyle Frisbee
had its genesis in Washington Square Park and in
Central Park around the Bandshell and Frisbee
Hill by most accounts.** (see below) It really
found a home on the Sheeps Meadow when it
reopened in the Spring of 1981. Any nice day,
there were Jammers (and Heavers, our long tossing
brethren) out for hours at a time over the last
20+ years. During warm weather months with their
loooong days, after work was easy since life was
without strings attached for the most part. As
the time went by we all aged a little bit and
gained sponsibilities like kids, real jobs
etc. and the after-work crowd started to thin
out.
Early in the Spring of 2004 on consecutive
Thursdays, we were joined by a former regular,
one Ted Oberhaus (with the lovely Chrissy riding
shotgun) where some seriously amazing jams
occurred. On that second Thursday Ted, Doug E.
Fresh, Joey Hudocklin and Rob Fried combined to
just set the place on fire. Coincidentally, Joey
had told me earlier that week that while he and
Ted had played together before, they never really
shredded. Well, this foursome sure made up for it
that day - the disc never hit the friggin ground
and each combo and co-op was better than the
last. I'm not the best when it comes to specific
nomenclature but I can tell you that the disc
always being turned over from U-D to standard and
back. Nobody cared which spin was thrown,
brushed, or kicked and there was much vertical
work (Freak Me Out, Frank! is now a name of a
crazy-assed throw). Of course, there were
numerous double-spinning Gitis (sic?) seals, and
Ted might have hit a triple to go with Joey
hitting a Bodonkadonk (a UD Lairbs kick to the
delay) - really twisted stuff. Afterwards, Chrissy,
Bill Doobs, Ted and I were talking and she said
You know we should pick a day maybe a Wednesday
or a Thursday to get everyone to come out and
play. I replied, Well you already picked the
day, it has to be Thursday. With the special
guest Jammers around, Ted chimed in that it was
like having the All-Star game. Chrissy's response
was All*Star Thursdays! and we all had a
chuckle. Joey added his too saying "And ya gotta
show up, otherwise yer gonna be yella", to raucous
laughter. And then the plot thickened.
The following Thursday, my boy Fearless (Lou to
the rest o you), myself (Tall Paul) and a couple
of early birds were at the Meadow when Ted and
Chrissy arrived with a huge black duffel bag and
even bigger smiles. Homeboy breaks open the bag
and pulls out brand spankin new Sky Stylers with
a pinwheel logo along with "All*Star Thursdays" and
"Don't Be Yella" emblazoned upon them. Then he
breaks out a medium-sized yellow T-shirt
inscribed with "I Was Yella" on the front, and
"Don't Be Yella" on the back--the dreaded Yella
Jersey! Unlike in the Tour de France where the
leader gets to put it on, if you missed an A*ST
you would have to wear the Yella Jersey. Anyone
who came to consecutive A*STs was eligible for
the jersey depending on the decision of judges
(us). The jams that day were incredible and it
was decided that Joey, who managed to miss that
one, would be the first to put on that ugly
yellow rag the following week, and a tradition
was born.
As word got around, Jammers from all over the
place started to show up. As you all know, there
is nothing like having fresh blood coming in to
join the circle of players. No matter how
talented a given group may be, having new faces
with their different styles changes the flavor of
the Jam, which is a good thing! There was one day
where there was an unbelievable 5-man Jam with a
Wham-o 100 mold featuring Joe, Rob, Doug, Pat and
Ted. It was special because the conditions in NYC
(We dont need no stinking breeze!) are not
always conducive to many players on one
disc, but the flow among these gents was awesome
to behold. My favorite time of each week was when
the sun went behind the buildings and dusk began
to settle in because folks were already hot and
they knew time was short. Thats when the call of
Beer! would arise, so each man would dig down
deeper and want it just a little bit more than
the next guy, thus summoning the Frisbee Gods to
anoint them with the blessed nectar of hops n
barley. It is tough to recall the actual moves
but calls for Beer frequently involved upside
down brushing co-ops. We have a couple of folks
who were inspired to start jamming more seriously
(Kevin & Jesse) because of the awesome level of
play and the willingness of the crew to share
their time and knowledge. And if you think that
inclement weather slowed us down, the hardcore
shifted over to the band-shell and played on the
hard concrete like in the old days.
Here's a listing of the Regulars, the Irregulars,
and the Special Guest Jammers who graced our
hometown. If there are any Guests who have
special memories of their All-Star Thursday
experience, or if there is anyone who showed that
I have missed, please let me know.
Regulars: Ted Oberhaus, Doug E. Fresh, Rob Fried,
Joey Hudoklin, Brad Keller, Tall Paul Mondesire, Fearless
Lou, Danzo, Trevor Brown, Roger Meier, Spencer,
Kevin, Jesse
Irregulars: Bill Dubilier, Pat Rabdau, Quinn
O'Neill, Richie Regensberg
Special Guests: Gary Auerbach, Todd Broduer, Alan
Caplin, Scott Sailor, Tommy Leitner, the Brothers
Cooksey from Virginia, Jonathan Willet, Ryan
Vinoski
Yella Jersey Designees: Joey, Doug, Fearless Lou
(Double Yella), Roger, Brad, Trevor, Tall Paul, Bill
Doobs (1/2 day), Spencer, Ted
Truth be told, there are a couple of folks who,
along with Ted & Chrissy, deserve special mention
for their contributions to our good times. The
return of Joey Hudoklin to NYC from the Left
Coast, really got folks here jacked up a notch
and he discovered Malachys, home of the post-Jam
hangout. Then there is Mr. Doug E. fresh who week
after week sent out e-notifications to make sure
that people were out there and psyched:
Sunset tomorrow at 6:51. Let's not dilly dally.
All Hein-No bail!! 80 degrees and sunny!
The National Weather service has issued an
All*Star Thursday Jam Advisory: THERE WILL BE
COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF CUFFING; GITIS WILL OCCUR IN
GREAT NUMBERS; SKIDS AND AGAINST MOVES ARE HIGHLY
PROBABLE; SOME ACTION MAY OCCUR ON CONCRETE.
BULGOGI IS MARINATING.
U know u r an all-star when:
1. U get inane emails from Fresh on Wednesday
2. U think u know what the move "malachy" looks
like
3. U are wondering who the guest all-star will be
this week.
4. U ARE NOT YELLA.
Come on Pete!
Thursday looks All-Starry.
Finally there is Rob Fried who made our NYC born
tradition internationally known. When the
intrepid Mr. Fried went to play in AmsterJam, he
spread the word to our European brethren, so they
too know that they should not be yella. Therefore
in closing, Noo Yawk is throwing down the
gauntlet to all the Jammers out there. Its tough
to get folks together during the week after work,
so why not institute All*Star Thursdays in your
neighborhood? It doesn't matter how many folks
get out there, as long as you bust your behind
upon arrival. It would be nice to know that no
matter where in the world you play, there is one
day that you can find your peeps and get your
plastic inspired groove on, no frontin! All
Hein No Bail!!! Rob also wants to let everybody know
that All*Star Thursdays are continuing through the winter
under the lights at the Washington Square.
* About the author - Actually, most serious
Jammers (tournament types) from outside of the
metropolitan area may ask, :Yeah, who are you
anyway?" Well, I'm Tall Paul the Jammin'
Heaveror, the Heavin Jammer depending on your
perspective. I was moved to put together this
piece on All*Star Thursdays because of a deep
abiding love and respect for a sport that almost
everyone will watch (at least until there's a
drop) but not too many folk outside our circle
understand.
I've been coming out to the Sheeps Meadow since
it reopened in 1981 and became the destination
for devotees of many eclectic sports, but
especially those with a hankering for flying
plastic. Like many of us, I learned to delay
while playing Ultimate in college (SUNNY
Binghamton Whippets 78-79) and can still recall
coming into the Meadow for the first time--it was
from the Southeast corner by The Rock. I saw what
must have been 50 discs in the air and knew I had
found my own slice of heaven. I was (and still
am) enamored by the flight of the disc and came
out religiously. I was friends with original
Washington Square Wizard Jeff Felberbaum from
before he started Jamming so I knew a few of the
Freestylers by sight. The ageless Trevor Augustus
Brown and Eddie Bennett were the first guys that
let me bust their jam-- I had no nails but plenty
of moxie. Roger Meier later convinced me to put
on nails circa 1985 and I was hooked. I learned
to throw strikes with Zs by playing with Richie
Regensberg and Bill Dubilier and learned a
boatload about flow when I went to LA on vacation
and played on the Venice Green (many thanks to
Z/Dreamer) and when Angel was here for a spell in
the 90s. Personally, I have to say many thanks
to Ted, Rob, Joey, and Doug because they have on
many occasions let me bust their Jams. I may
have, relatively speaking, a limited set of moves
but I have been inspired to do things I never
would have tried before and I have learned to be
a flow masterplaying point guard just as Angel
taught me while he was here in NYC.
** - What follows here are some memories culled
from the cranium of Roger Meier of the early days
and the move uptown to Sheeps Meadow from the
Washington Square Park...
The early days had two separate groups of
Jammers, the Washington Square Wizards and the
dudes from Central Park. The wizards were
centered by Joey Hudoklin, Richie Smits, John
Dwork and Jeff Felberbaum roughly from 1974 -
1980. The Central Park crew was comprised of
Krae Van Sickle, Kerry Kolmar, Mountain, Brian
Eure and Clarence Braithwaite, Gerry Linas - who put out a
newsletter, and a few others.
The Central Park Jammers had a number of
locations, one being in front of the Bandshell
and another being "Frisbee Hill" just north of
the Sheeps Meadow. The Meadow was a dust bowl
used as a ball field for baseball, ultimate,
football and was nothing like the Green Beach
that we are blessed with today. There wasn't any
real jamming going on in the Meadow in those
days.
The re-sodding of the Sheeps Meadow was a
practically a religious experience. Watching
them roll out the grass over the meadow was a
sight I will never forget. It was at this point
(circa 1981) that jamming really started to
migrate uptown, though during the early 80's
there was still plenty of activity in Washington
Square as many of us lived downtown. During the
first few years, the Meadow was closed on
alternate week-days forcing Jammers to other
spots. I remember the gang used some types of
smoke signals (Gub?) to spread the word if it was
going to be a W-Square day or Meadow day, since
this was in the pre-Internet/cell phone Dark Ages.
During the mid 80s our knees started to age
(just the knees mind you) and a few of us moved
Uptown, the jamming became almost exclusively in
the Meadow, with the exception of scheduled
Square jams that continue to this day.
Paul Mondesire
tallpaul513@yahoo.com
