And here’s just a regular old handler catch from an old timer.

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Here is the team’s statement, and an email from league president Josh Moore sent to league members follow:

July 5, 2012

Dear Connecticut Constitution family,

It is with great sadness that we are forced to announce the indefinite suspension of all team operations as of 2:00pm EST this afternoon. This decision comes at an inopportune time as we journey through the inaugural season. This has been a journey dotted with success after success for our team and our franchise. The Connecticut team is one of the premiere franchises in the league both in victories and in fan attendance. The AUDL has sued the Constitution and the Rhode island Rampage and that suit has caused us to spend an enormous amount of money protecting our rights, instead of allowing us to use those funds for our operations.

During May 2012, we became aware of the sale of both the New York City and Boston territories, and together with the Rhode Island owner, we challenged the League to answer why we were not approached about these sales prior to the League selling these territories inasmuch as both of these new teams existed within our owned territories. The territory ownership area is governed by a Territory License Agreement (TLA) that was created, signed and approved by the League. This territory agreement allows us to own an area that includes a 100 mile radius. New York City and Boston are within our territories.

We sought answers to our concerns numerous times and felt that the TLA was clear and that no other team could exist in our area. After numerous attempts to get clarification from the League, we suggested that this might need to be addressed by attorneys. Unfortunately, the League decided that instead of taking this to a discussion, they elected to file a suit against us. This lawsuit was filed from Michigan, and includes a number of allegations within their suit. They allege that the contract they wrote doesn’t mean what it says, among other items.

We have been forced to retain attorneys in both Connecticut and Michigan to answer their allegations, protect our territory and to seek additional clarification over these claims. The costs to defend this lawsuit have robbed us of necessary operating funds needed to complete our season and caused us to rethink the value of the partnership we sought to create with this League.

The League, almost as quickly as it filed the suit, has stated that it will consider withdrawing the suit and rescind the New York City territory although in almost the same breath the League has offered to withdraw the suit and keep the territory and offer us no compensation for the taking of our territory, a territory that we have cultivated all season. The League continues to be silent about the Boston territory.

Our organization cannot absorb the cost of these attorney fees and continue operational costs. In addition, we have requested that the League reimburse us for the attorney fees and the League has stated that they are not willing to do that. The League has decided to suspend discussions with us and simply report that we ‘are unable to finish the season’. We adamantly deny this callous statement.Therefore, we are forced to indefinitely suspend our operations until the League withdraws the suit, rescinds the territories and makes us whole for these attorney fees. Our team will continue to operate as a unit during this suspension and we are ready to play on and we will continue our season as soon as we can get this issue resolved.

Regrettably,

Bryan Ricci CEO Connecticut Constitution LLC

Here’s the email from AUDL President Josh Moore:

Good morning,

Given that Bryan is suspending the season and Kentucky and Indy need to make accomodations accordingly for the Constitution not making the games, we will release the following statement later today to announce the news:

The American Ultimate Disc League is saddened to report that the Connecticut Constitution are unable to finish the season and will forfeit the remainder of their schedule.  We appreciate all of the contributions that the Constitution and everyone involved in the organization have put forth in helping the AUDL take off.  The AUDL is committed to pushing the sport forward and will continue to do so in the future.  Schedule changes for the remainder of the season due to the loss of Connecticut will be announced shortly.  We wish nothing but the best for everyone involved with the Constitution.

Sincerely,

Josh Moore, President
American Ultimate Disc League

Here is a comment from Rafe Steinhauer of the Constitution about Moore’s email:

PURCHASE, N.Y. — Kamil Skwarek

A 21-year-old native of Poland, Skwarek is playing for not one, not two, but three Ultimate teams this summer.

The 6-foot-3 Skwarek is balancing playing for the Connecticut Constitution professional team and the New York club team, PoNY (Pride of New York.)

Oh, and (full disclosure) he’s also playing with me on the Burgundy squad in the Westchester Summer League. (Actually, we’re all playing with him.)

“I’m a pretty young player,” Skwarek, who has only been playing Ultimate for thee years, said Wednesday at SUNY Purchase after helping Burgundy down Charcoal, 15-9, to improve to 3-2 on the season.

Click here to read the full story.

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OK, I brought it up, only to get a barrage of the same questions I and other Ultimate players have been answering for decades.

“Is it a real sport?” my colleague asked. “Are there teams? How do you play? I don’t see it anywhere.”

You can’t blame the guy. He doesn’t see Ultimate anywhere, so how’s he expected to know about it?

Yet now that a pro Ultimate league is launching, he and others may finally be exposed to a fast-moving sport that has long been characterized as combining elements of football, soccer and basketball and was originally described by now-famous Hollywood movie producer Joel Silver as, “The Ultimate sport.”

The American Ultimate Disc League (the AUDL) will consist of eight teams located in the Northeast and will include clubs in Connecticut, Philadelphia, Providence, R.I., Buffalo, N.Y., Columbus, OH, Detroit, Indianapolis and Kentucky.

(Full disclosure: I’m taking my 43-year-old body to try out for the Connecticut Constitution this Sunday and will report back on the event, which will include combine testing and a 40-yard dash. Hope I make it back alive after competing against all the 20-somethings.)

Josh Moore, the league’s President and a former recreational player at the University of Missouri, was somewhat vague about the league’s financing during a series of e-mail interviews but said all teams are individually owned. He also did not rule out further expansion in the South or West.

“The league is self-sufficient yet is always looking for those individuals and companies who would seek to support us monetarily on this journey,” Moore said via e-mail.

The Constitution will host eight weekend home games during its first season of play, spanning the months of April through July, with an opening day home game planned for May 5, the same day as the Kentucky Derby.

The first season will round out in mid July with division playoffs followed by the first American Ultimate Championship game to be played in the Silverdome in Detroit on August 11.

John Korber, general manager of the Constitution and one of the top players on the Connecticut-based mixed team D-5, says the team will cover travel, uniform and other expenses for players, and that compensation “will vary player by player.”

“But you can expect to earn several hundred dollars over the course of the season,” Korber said.

“We also plan to give end of year bonuses as a percentage of gate receipts…so putting people in the seats is good for everyone. Each player will be expected to serve as an ambassador for the league and team; we expect people to work within their own personal and professional circles to help grow the Constitution’s fan base.”

OK, so pro Ultimate players won’t be making A-Rod or Amar’e money, but that’s hardly the point for many of the players.

“Frankly, I don’t care about getting paid to play ultimate,” said Ben Van Heuvelen, captain of the New York-based PONY club team and a longtime college friend of mine. “I have never loved the sport more than when I was playing in high school, and one of the best things about club ultimate — as opposed to other sports at their highest levels — is that everyone is still doing it purely because they love to play.

“Don’t get me wrong, I would be absolutely thrilled if someone paid my airfare and lodging for tournaments. But I have zero desire to be paid for playing.”

Still, “BVH,” as he’s known, added: “Part of why I love the sport is that I can play at the highest level and also have a career and a life that are separate from ultimate. It’s a big part of my life, but it’s not the only part.

Ever since 1,000 fans came to watch Princeton meet Rutgers in the first college Ultimate game in a parking lot at Rutgers in 1972, Ultimate players have dreamed of big-time Ultimate.

“There’s active officiating, so the players don’t make any calls,” said Rafe Steinhauer, a New York-based club player who played in an AUDL exhibition and was my teammate on the 2011 Westchester Ultimate Summer League championship team. “All infractions — fouls, travels, picks, etc — result in a yardage penalty.

Yes, the size of the field has been changed, too. Instead of playing on a field that is 40 yards wide by 70 yards long, plus two 25-yard end zones, the AUDL will play on a field that is 53 yards wide.

Of course, it won’t matter how wide the field is if fan support can’t be generated and sustained.

Having covered various successful and failed pro leagues for 15 years as a writer, I can tell you the American sports landscape is littered with failed pro leagues, from the USFL and the XFL to the Women’s United Soccer Association.

Yet for now, the potential of a “pro” Ultimate league is enough to raise the hopes of players who for years have spent their own money traveling to tournaments around the nation and the world simply because they love the game.

“Playing Ultimate professionally would be a dream-come-true and validation for the thousands of hours and dollars I’ve invested to become a better player,” Steinhauer said.

“The one vision that is motivating me now (to train hard to make the team) is that of a bunch of teammates passing a long bus ride to away games with chatter of strategy, ultimate, the serious and the frivolous.  The chance to play Ultimate professionally is certainly an opportunity of a lifetime; I hope it will also create memories of a lifetime.”

And in a best-case scenario, it could create new memories for the masses who still don’t know anything about Ultimate.

**Across an Ultimate career that has lasted more than 20 years, Adam Zagoria has competed in College, Open, Mixed, Masters and Grandmasters Nationals. In 2011, he was a member of the Westchester Ultimate Summer League championship team. Zagoria is the co-author, along with Tony Leonardo, of “ULTIMATE – The First Four Decades.”

Photos: Connecticut Constitution

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My boy Jeff Malamy from Wesleyan is the thrower here on Meads Bay in Anguilla and I’m the receiver.

This is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and if you go I recommend eating at Blanchard’s Beach Shack, where the food is mighty tasty.

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Roger Clemens

Ray Bourque endured 21 campaigns in the National Hockey League before winning the Stanley Cup.

But that’s nothing, really.

I played 23 seasons in the Westchester Ultimate Summer League before tasting glory for the first time in Saturday’s championship game.

Our Charcoal “Charks” team edged White, 15-13, in a highly competitive and tense final at SUNY Purchase.

All I can say is, damn it feels good to get that mad Caeser-like monkey off my back.

Props to our captains, Adam Goff and Kelly “Beezus” Hyland, for leading us to the promised land as the No. 2 seed after a great season with a lot of Spirited play and good times. (Summer league is 4/3 coed, while my Masters club team which competes in the Fall is all dudes.)

Every single person on our team stepped up and made big plays through three wins on Saturday, a 15-7 quarterfinal beatdown of No. 7 Red, a 15-10 semifinal victory over No. 3 Orange and then the final.

A special shoutout to Team MVP and my man Isaiah “Izzy” Bryant (seated at right,) for his awesome play in the final. Kid is a mad baller who had about 4 combined blocks and interceptions after the game got really tense with Charcoal up 13-12 and clinging to the lead.

When we finally scored to end the game, I was overcome by emotions.

I began playing in this league in 1988 when I was a 19-year-old college kid just getting into Ultimate — which would change my life — at Wesleyan University. (We went to College Nationals in Santa Barbara my first year on the team in 1988, and I was hooked.)

I have played WSL every single year since then — except for once  when I played in a summer league in Connecticut.

The only time my team did win — 1993 under my boy Teddy Phillips — I moved out to Seattle on an ill-fated romance after competing at the World Championships in Madison, Wisc.

Teddy sent me pictures of the team celebrating and I had to live it vicariously.

Over the years, I met my wife through Ultimate, and raised two kids and a dog in the tight-knit Frisbee community.

I won tournaments in Ottawa, Virginia, Massachusetts and even at Purchase itself.

I played in the semis of Open Nationals and the finals of Masters Nationals.

But I never won that damn summer league….and many times I wondered whether I ever would.

Last year our Black team was the No. 1 seed going into the playoffs and we all thought we were going to bring home the hardware.

But we lost a heartbreaking game, 17-16, on double-game point to another really good team.

It was heart-wrenching and mind-bending. My buddy Eric Eckelman and I replayed the last few points of that game over and over in our minds for a year, even as we drove to this year’s playoffs.

You think you might never got another shot that good again.

Entering this year I barely knew any of my new Charcoal teammates. I certainly wasn’t expecting to get back to the Finals when the season began.

But it was soon apparent that not only were we deep and talented, but we enjoyed being with each other, and spurred each other to play better in the most positive of ways (most of the time, anyway).

Even without several of our top players on Saturday, who had gone to play with their club teams at events in Seattle and New Hampshire, we still had enough to persevere and win the big game.

And now, after 23 years, my teammates and I are Summer League Champs.

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And that’s spending a sunny day playing Ultimate with your 40-something friends, not getting hurt and qualifying for Nationals.

That’s how I spent my Saturday, as our New York Ultimate team qualified in Boston for Grand Masters Nationals in Cincinnati July 9-10. (That’s me in the Gonzaga ‘Zags’ jersey.)

Yeah, we’re old. But we’re still out there having fun.

And to make us feel extra old, they also held the High School Ultimate Championships on fields right near ours. Those kids are less than half our age!

Having played in College, Open, Mixed, Masters and now Grand Masters Nationals, it doesn’t get old.

And the good thing is it’s the weekend between the LeBron James Skills Academy and the Peach Jam, so I’ll be able to play some disc in between the two events.

For more on Ultimate, check out this video we did a few years back on ESPN’s ‘Cold Pizza.’

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Watch Fleming make up about 20 yards of ground here as he closes before snagging the trailing edge of the disc in the end zone for a goal. An Ultimate field is 40 yards wide by 70 yards long, plus two 25-yard end zones.

San Francisco Revolver ended up beating Sockeye in the final.

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Team USA won the gold medal in Ultimate at the World Games, beating Japan 13-6…and the final goal of the game made SportsCenter’s Top 10 this morning. More video and stats here if anyone’s interested.

Back here at home, my Black team is riding a 3-game winning streak in the Westchester Summer League and we have a big game tonight against Josh Faust’s Power Blue team. Both squads are 6-5…stay tuned.

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