[caption id=“attachment_50693” align=“aligncenter” width=“800”]
From left: Ultiworld’s Charlie Eisenhood, Keith Raynor, and Katie Raynolds react to a play during the Fury v. Riot semifinal at the 2016 National Championships. Photo: Paul Andris – UltiPhotos.com[/caption]
Today begins one of our favorite Ultiworld traditions: the annual Year In Review series. We will look back over the biggest stories, most popular articles, the “best of” the year, and more this week, including year-end retrospective podcasts from both Deep Look and Sin The Fields. We kick things off with a look at the 16 most popular articles — based on pageviews — from 2016. ((We excluded longer-term content like Power Rankings, as well as announcements and other ‘meta’ articles.))
16. From UPA To USAU
Kyle Weisbrod’s exhaustive article on the changes over the last decade at USA Ultimate struck a chord at a time when uncertainty about the optimal focus for the organization was at its highest point.
15. The Regionals Underdogs You Have To Root For
Just before Club Regionals, Pat Stegemoeller gave us crib notes on the teams you just have to root for, like Fat and Mediocre. Gold!
14. Breaking Down Japan’s No-Dump Vertical Stack
Benyamin Elias delivered the most-read video analysis piece of the year with this look at a signature Japanese offense: the no-dump vert stack. The innovation from the Japanese teams continues to push the envelope in ultimate strategy.
13. Prairie Fire’s Jay Froude Makes Two Insane Layout Catches In A Row
Jay Froude’s stock has been skyrocketing in the past two years and, in this clip, you can see why. One of the great highlights of the year.
This magnum opus from Ben Wiggins and Skip Sewell will be a touchstone article for years to come. They analyze windy competition from every angle and give out tangible strategies for maximizing your win percentage in the wind.
11. My Brother, The Most Underrated Player In Ultimate
Isaac Saul’s ode to his brother, Noah, not only highlighted a tremendous talent but also shared a story that is common in ultimate: a tale of a great player that receives little fanfare because of their style and role.
10. Jacksonville Cannons Defend Dangerous Bid, Take Heavy Criticism On Social Media
A vicious layout from a Jacksonville Cannons defender into an Atlanta Hustle cutter didn’t just get him ejected: it started a firestorm online after the team initially defended the play.
9. Ultimate Has A Bad Bid Problem
Charlie Eisenhood’s opinion column about the state of competitive play in 2016 resonated with readers and become the most-read op-ed of the year.
8. GIF: UNCW’s Xavier Maxstadt Tells Teammate To Fake Injury; Players, Coach Respond
A grinding game at Easterns was all but forgotten when attention landed on a brief moment where UNCW’s Xavier Maxstadt signaled to his teammate, Grayson Sanner, to take an injury when none had been sustained.
7. Tuesday Tips: 3 Awesome Ultimate Workouts You Can Do In Your Living Room
Our instructional series, Tuesday Tips, is consistently our most popular recurring article collection. Here’s one from Alex Rummelhart on at-home workouts.
6. [GRAPHIC] Nightlock’s Laurel Oldershaw Breaks Leg In Hard Collision With All-Star Tour’s Jenny Wei
Yet another example of a dangerous bid from 2016, this one yielded a broken leg and a whirlwind conversation online about media responsibility.
5. Tuesday Tips: 12 Moves To Reset Off The Sideline
A Tuesday Tips article reached the top five thanks to Will Sun’s insightful selection of moves to get the disc off of the sideline.
4. USA National Team Rosters Announced
For the first time, the United States sent truly nationally-representative roster to the World Championships after a grueling tryout process. When the teams were finally announced, people couldn’t wait to see who made the teams.
3. Former Ironside, Beach Worlds Player Charged With Secretly Recording Female Roommates
A nightmarish story about an elite ultimate player from Boston that was arraigned for allegedly using “multiple recording devices” to capture video of his female roommates in the bedroom and bathroom.
2. Major League Ultimate Suspends Operations
The biggest news story of the year broke on December 21st as Major League Ultimate abruptly closed its doors. By the end of the year, this could end up as the #1 most-read story on Ultiworld in 2016.
1. GIF: Philly Spinners Pull Off Insane Greatest, Double Mac Buzzer-Beating Layout Score
This play surely stands out as the craziest one of the year and it will go down as one of the all-time highlights from Major League Ultimate.
Originally published at: https://ultiworld.com/2016/12/28/16-read-ultiworld-articles-2016/