Otter Ranch

Most people in Kandiyohi County have never seen a game of Ultimate (Frisbee.)

Honestly, most people I've met in this county don't know what it is.

They've maybe seen some kids throwing a disc after school. Maybe they think it's disc golf. Maybe they think it's that thing where dogs with bandanas launch themselves through the air for treats. Maybe they vaguely remember a hippie roommate in college talking about it.

What they usually don't realize is that Minnesota happens to be one of the epicenters of the sport in the entire world.

And somehow, I've been lucky enough to have a front-row seat for much of that story.

I first stumbled across Ultimate in the mid-1990s while living in Minneapolis. I'd be cruising around the lakes on my longboard skateboard occasionally come across pickup games at places like Lake Nokomis or Lake of the Isles. Every time I saw a game, I'd stop and watch for a few minutes.

The disc did things I'd never seen before.

The players were athletic as hell.

And there was som**hing about the culture that felt different.

Every year I'd tell myself, "Next year I'll find a rec league and join."

Finally, in 1999, I did.

I was a strange fit for the sport. The black sheep, to be sure.

Most of the people I met came from college programs and academic circles. Many were connected to MIAC schools like Carleton, Macalester, Gustavus, St. Olaf, and St. John's.

I was not.

I was a military veteran. A wrestler. A football player. A baseball player. A restaurant guy.

A blue-collar redneck background, who somehow wandered into a sport I'd never even heard of growing up.

But Ultimate has always had a way of making room for people. It truly is the most welcoming sport I've ever experienced or heard from others.

What fascinated me wasn't just the athleticism. It was SOTG— Spirit Of The Game. Thats the governing aspect...each player must possess integrity. The self-officiating is the best example. Even at the highest levels of the sport, players are expected to know the rules, resolve disputes, and compete with integrity.

I had never seen anything like it....cause there IS nothing like it.

I knew after my first game that someday... Im going to coach it.

And I did.

In 2002, along with three other dedicated leaders and an army of volunteers, we helped launch the Minnesota High School Ultimate League. What started as a grassroots experiment has become a model used by states all over the country.

Twenty-plus years later, Minnesota youth Ultimate remains one of the strongest and fastest-growing communities in the sport. Between our high school programs and our college teams, Minnesota has become one of the true hotbeds of Ultimate in North America.

I've coached at every level of the game, except the pro level.

Which brings me to the Minnesota Wind Chill.

The head coach and co-owner is Ben Feldman.

I coached Ben when he played at Hopkins High School back in the mid-2000s. Shortly after graduation, he represented Team USA and won a gold medal. He later helped win back-to-back national championships in college at Madison before eventually returning home to build som**hing special here in Minnesota.

Today he's a husband, a father, a champion coach, and one of the best ambassadors our sport could ask for.

The other owner of the team is Omar Ansari.

Yep, that Omar.

Omar and I go all the way back to recreational Ultimate league in the year 2000. Long before Surly became a Minnesota beer institution— that helped change legislation— Omar was just another Ultimate player with a dream.

We used to both homebrew. He would bring his delicious offerings to practice.

At one point he came to me wanting advice about opening a brewery because I was the only restaurant guy he knew.

Eventually he found his brewer, Todd Haug.

Funny enough, years before Omar and I met, I had been Todd's brewing apprentice at Rock Bottom Brewery in downtown Minneapolis.

Small world, indeed.

When Surly finally launched, I happened to be managing the bar at Solera in Minneapolis.

To this day, one of my favorite pieces of Minnesota beer trivia is that I purchased the first kegs of Surly ever sold: one keg of Furious and one keg of Bender.
Omar still gets a kick out of that story. Simply because of the pride he had in his first placement being a world-class restaurant, and not a dive-bar.

These days Surly is the primary sponsor of the Wind Chill, and after games you'll often find players and fans gathered at the brewery, sharing beers and stories long after the final whistle. Everyone is invited to the brewery after the game.

It's one of the reasons I love this community so much.

And somehow, through all of this, I ended up with a microphone in my hand.

About ten years ago Ben called me.

I answered the phone while sitting on the toilet.

He told me he'd bought the Wind Chill.

I congratulated him.

Then he said, "We players always got a kick outta your radio voice.... Will you be my PA announcer?"

There I am, sitting on the toilet....with tears in my eyes....because, those beautiful fu***ng kids, they grow up to be beautiful adults....

So, I've been doing it ever since.

Every season.

Every home game.

A two-hour drive there and a two-hour drive back.

Worth every. fu***ng. mile.

So if you've never seen Ultimate before, let me make a suggestion.

Come to a game.

Bring your kids.

Bring your friends.

Bring somebody who's never heard of the sport.

You'll see world-class athletes making catches that seem impossible, throws that ignore the laws of physics, and a sporting culture unlike anything else in America. Period.

You'll see Rayn down at the sideline in the Surly beer garden...watching dudes layout for the disc inches away.

And if you make it down to a Wind Chill game, come find me up in the PA booth.

I'll give you and your crew a shout-out.

"Fans, we've got some VIPs in the crowd today"....

One final fun fact—

When the Wind Chill won the national league championship in 2024, they became the first Minnesota men's professional sports team to win a league title since the Minnesota Twins won the World Series in 1991. Whether ya like them apples or not....

Not bad for a bunch of people chasing plastic.

Ps— I've included a highlight clip in the comment section for a glimpse.

Guess whats going in??... Thanks to your support, we've got a new fire suppression system for the Trailer. These two cats from Brothers Fire & Security (Elk River) are fantastic— they're also a couple of Navy vets. Nobody knows Fire and Damage Control like Navy personnel. Period.