For a famously non-contact sport, Ultimate Frisbee can be very hands-on — or clothes-off. Players aren't afraid to give massages or strip at the drop of a disc. "Ultimate players don't mind getting naked and playing Ultimate," said Kelley, who plays on a Connecticut mixed-gender team with her boyfriend. "Or getting naked and shoving a disc in between their butt cheeks. Or getting naked and wrestling in pudding."

A quick primer: Ultimate frisbee was invented in the late 1960s, and codified by a group of students at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. One of those students was Joel Silver, who would go on to become the Hollywood mogul behind Die Hard, Lethal Weapon and the Matrix movies. When he was still at Columbia, Silver predicted both that Ultimate would one day be played all over the world, and that he would become a Hollywood producer. Forty years later, Ultimate is now played in more than forty countries worldwide and is showcased in annual College and Club National Championships; World Championships every other year; and the World Games every four. ESPN and CSTV have both featured the sport. (Silver hasn't really had much to do with Ultimate since his college years, other

Most Ultimate players have, at one time, dated another.

than serving as an advisor to the book I co-authored on the sport's history, but he has made more than $5 billion in Hollywood.)

Originally played primarily by rebellious geeks and pot-smoking hippies, Ultimate now features many crossover athletes from soccer, tennis and other sports. At the highest levels, the game is played by elite athletes. Tennis legend Boris Becker and members of the U.S. women's national soccer team have reportedly used Ultimate as a cross-training sport. Top club teams cross-train year around and devise intricate offensive and defensive strategies, with specialized players for each side of the "flatball."

My young adulthood was nomadic, taking me to Vermont, Connecticut, Seattle and Manhattan. Wherever I was, I quickly fell in with the local Ultimate players and learned that one could find friends, dates and sexual adventure, all through Ultimate. Watching a men's game at the World Championships in Wisconsin in 1993, I noticed two women's teams playing behind me. One team was completely naked except for their cleats, and the other team went topless. A young boy who was

A simple game of catch was foreplay.

passing through the park looked on, mouth agape, until his mother dragged him away. Another season took me to a college Ultimate spring-training event in Florida. My teammates and I had rented a house; one night, even after a long day of grueling play, it wasn't long before clothing came off, and the hottest girl on the women's team and one of the top men's players began rolling around the floor rubbing moisturizer all over one another while everyone cheered them on.

Ambush, the New York women's team, has hosted popular fundraisers at Manhattan bars to offset the costs of tournament travel. For a $2 donation, the players give lapdances and flashes and make out with strangers. One year, an Ambush player gave a male counterpart a spanking while onlookers threw dollar bills and cheered. The next year, another Ambush player wore pasties and but on a burlesque show. Ambush is a well-known and popular presence at the annual Beach Ultimate event in Paganello, Italy, a massive weeklong beach party featuring Ultimate players from around the world living out their own bacchanalia.

Why all the hedonism? Ultimate players are generally smart, athletic and free-spirited, which makes them inherently hot. Many teams are young and co-ed. But the answer may lie in the rules: unlike all other sports, Ultimate has no referees and is guided by the "Spirit of the Game," which dictates that players must settle all disputes over fouls and among themselves. It's very interpersonal.

Thus, most Ultimate players have, at one time, dated another. "I'm attracted to a lot of Ultimate players because of their personalities," says Mia, a twenty-something member of a Connecticut team. "They have the ability to be both laid-back and intense."

If you're really into Ultimate, there's nothing better than finding someone who's attractive and skilled at the sport you love. I once dated a woman who could throw the hammer — an upside throw that goes high into the air before coming down to the receiver — forty or fifty yards downfield. I loved the throw. She loved the throw. It was a sign of strength and power. A simple game of catch was foreplay.

It could be the Spirit of the Game, but even if a relationship goes sour, players tend to retain a bond. My wife, who says she "has always scored well with Ultimate players," introduced a teammate to an ex-boyfriend at Philadelphia's Summer League; within six months they married. Their son turns three this June. (Even my hammer-throwing ex babysits our daughter.) One of the most dominant women's teams ever, Boston's Lady Godiva, featured a couple, the team's two best players, who were together for years. Even after they broke up, they played together for a year, winning yet another National Championship. A San Francisco-based women's team known as Felix featured four or five couples and went on to have an undefeated season en route to a National title in 1994. But the team splintered apart after one season because there was too much sexual tension. Once a few couples started breaking up, the team went with it.

"The team dynamics were a little screwy," said one player, "But I don't remember ever losing a game."  n°