Thursday, February 11, 2010

Walter Fredrick Morrison: 1920-2010

Tonight we mourn the loss of a hero.

Walter 'Fred' Morrison was the inventor of the 'Pluto Platter', the forerunner to the frisbee, created in 1948. In 1957 Morrison sold the rights to his design to Wham-O, the company which now produces flying discs under the trademark name 'Frisbee'.

Of course we all know that Discraft is the preferred disc of ultimate players everywhere, but Wham-O's sub-par design is certainly not the fault of Morrison.

I cringe to think of where my life would be without Mr. Morrison. Sure, my liver would be more functional, I would likely have a better short-term memory and most definitely would be able to bend my knees without any pain... but I wouldn't trade the parties, the east coast scavenger hunts, the ruined hotel rooms, the Kan-Jam, the landsharks, the heckling (oh the heckling!), the 18 hour van rides, the sub-freezing Live, Freeze, or Die's or the sweltering Wildwood's for any of that.

So tonight ultimate players, disc golfers (please don't call it 'frolf'), hippies and you people on the beach who embarrass yourselves with your 'barbecue backhand' raise a toast to the man who started it all. Here's to Walter!

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