Deep Look: Ultiworld's Weekly Podcast

The AUDL's Tim DeByl (Madison Radicals player-coach & owner; AUDL board member) talks with Ultiworld editor Charlie Eisenhood about the offseason, the league's expansion in its third year, the competition with Major League Ultimate, and more.

Ultiworld spoke with Mike Whitaker, the coach of the USA U23 Women's team, about their preparation this week at training camp in Buffalo and about what the team will need to do to win in Toronto next week.

I spoke with Bob Krier, the coach of the U23 Open Division team representing the United States, about the start of training camp this week in Buffalo and what they're looking to do in the remaining days.

Ring Of Fire's Taylor Pope On Team Building by Ultiworld

In this special edition of Deep Look, Ultiworld Editor-in-Chief Charlie Eisenhood and Senior Editor Keith Raynor talk all about the upcoming US Open. We explore the early season storylines, exciting roster changes, key matchups, and more.

In this week's episode, we talk about the initial release of club rosters and player movement around the country before turning to a discussion of the upcoming professional league playoffs. With the MLU's DC Current and New York Rumble set to face off this weekend with the playoffs on the line, the US Open right around the corner, and the U23 World Championships on the horizon, it's a great time to be an ultimate fan.

In this week's Deep Look, Charlie and Wes talk about the big stories from the College Championships, the quality of the ESPN3 livestream and ESPNU broadcast, and both the "how-tos" and implications of getting more sponsorship money into the sport.

Ultiworld spoke to Carleton coach Phil Bowen after his team lost 15-8 in the semifinals to Central Florida. An emotional Bowen eloquently describes what it is like to reach the end of a season.

Minnesota Assistant Coach Pat Niles talks about his team's loss In the prequarters to Washington Element.

Washington Element coach Moses Rifkin talks about his team's win over Minnesota in the prequarters on Saturday afternoon at the 2013 USA Ultimate D-1 College Championships.

In this week's episode, we talk all about the AUDL and MLU: which teams are on top, how the playoffs might shake out, how the leagues are doing financially, and where they might go from here. Could we see a merger sometime in the next two years?With more questions than answers, we open some conversational threads that we hope to address more fully on later episodes with interviews and in-depth reporting.This is part one of a two part Deep Look this week. Later this week we will talk college, with the D-III and D-I National Championships right around the corner.

Are we starting to see a growing rift in the sport? In this week's episode, we discuss the Spirit Championships with one of its lead organizers, Trent Simmons. The Spirit Championships seek to offer an alternative to the USA Ultimate Series for players and teams who are looking for a more laidback postseason tournament series.But the announcement of the Spirit Championships opens up new conversations about the widening gap between the sport's top athletes and the rest of the players. We talk at length about the implications of the Triple Crown Tour, professional leagues, and the non-stop focus on the sport's elite.

In this edition of Deep Look, we talk about the preliminary end-of-season rankings and what they tell us about the bid allocation system. We don't think highly of the current system.We also discuss ESPN's coverage of College Nationals, and how the ESPN deal could begin to segment the ultimate playing population into different groups.

Many of the top college teams in the nation faced off this weekend at Easterns (Open) and Centex (Women's). With big upsets coming in both divisions, it's clear that there is greater parity than ever. Trying to pick a frontrunner -- or even a one seed -- for Nationals on the Open side will prove very difficult this year. In the women's division, can the North Central teams challenge the Northwest for dominance?

USA Ultimate's announcement of a new broadcast deal with ESPN was greeted with excitement and enthusiasm from players across the country. With one of the world's most visible sports brands now aligned with ultimate, the sport looks poised for increased mainstream relevance and greater fan appeal.