The following newsletter solely contains the personal thoughts of Phoenix part-owner Johnny Goodtimes and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Phoenix organization or the AUDL. 

 

The exhibition we did at halftime of the Eagles-Cowboys game came together quickly. In December, I had actually emailed the Eagles to see if they could get us on the list for the 2022 season. They answered by saying, “Well actually…” and the next thing we knew we had two weeks to get a major operation off the ground. 

 

A team that we really enjoy working with is the DC Breeze, so we quickly reached out to them to see if they'd be interested. They were, and on January 9th we found ourselves on a sidewalk outside Xfinity Live, challenging Eagles fans to see if they could jump higher than James Pollard (SPOILER ALERT: They couldn't.) James told me later that challenging the fans on that stretch of sidewalk was the most memorable part of the night for him. For me, the highlight would come later. 

 

After extensive security measures, we were led inside and hung out in the underbelly of the stadium. It was not particularly glamorous…it was basically a large storage closet. 

 

The night was pretty cold, in the 20s, so both teams warmed up in the concrete hallway. Mike Arcata stood up and addressed both teams, reminding them that this was an exhibition not a game, so allow for long hucks, make good catches look great, and play up the entertainment angle. Nobody needed to be overzealous on defense. 

 

The highlight of my night came next. Though I was supposed to be sitting politely on the sidelines, I snuck into the back of the player line and ran out the tunnel with the team. I had been waiting over 40 years to run out of the tunnel of an NFL stadium, and there was no way I was gonna miss that. 

 

Early on in the exhibition, JP hammed it up exactly like Mike asked, and it cost the Phoenix a score, as he tried to make a leaping grab on what would have typically been a routine catch for him in the end zone and bobbled the disc. I made sure to tease him about it on the sideline. The play did result in a fantastic pic from our buddy Marshall Lian (above). 

 

The thing I remember most about the night wasn't the cold, but the noise. It is LOUD on the field. And everything was happening fast. The two teams put on a great show. The action was smooth, it was fast, and it was fun. The Eagles made an awesome video for us, which you can watch here. 

 

And the crowd was into it. I had a buddy who was at the game and didn't realize that we were playing at the half. He told me later that when we ran out the people in his section were like, “What the hell is this?” He said that by the time we were done, they were saying, “Whoa, this is awesome!” It's yet another reminder that we've got a really, really cool thing here, we just have to let more people know about it. How are we going to do that? Read on. 
 

 

 

 

In case you missed it, we signed Adam Booth to our front office this past week. It was what we think will be the final front office move in what has a…uh…MEMORABLE off-season. I thought things were going to quiet down when the regular season ended. Nope. First, head coach David Hampson stepped down, kicking off a head coaching search that ended with former Drexel Head Coach Roger Chu being named head coach and veteran ultimate player and fitness instructor Tom Glass as assistant.  

 

Next up, in late January Mike Arcata informed us that he was stepping down from his day to day duties as General Manager, effective at the end of February. Mike's tireless work ethic, dedication, and loyalty left very large shoes to fill, but we did have the perfect candidate waiting in the wings: David Tuchman, fresh off of acquiring his Masters in Sports Management from East Stroudsburg. David, who worked as our logistics coordinator last season, was named our new GM earlier this month, and has stepped into the role with aplomb. You can get to know David a better better in an interview below. 

 

Finally, it was Phoenix fan favorite Shaggy Shragis who announced that he'd stepping down from our marketing team. We were sorry to see Shaggy go, he did a terrific job in his time with the Phoenix, but we were excited to add a new member of the team a few weeks later.

 

You may have seen Adam Booth on Philadelphia Union billboards or posters around town. As a capo for the Sons of Ben, he's helped make them THE most vibrant and exciting fanbase in the area. Adam also works as a social media manager, so he had a ton of skills we were thrilled to add to the team. He will take on the role of Master of Content, creating video content, taking over our socials, and helping me put together the best Gameday in the AUDL. 

 

That Gameday experience kicks off on May 13th. If you missed it earlier this week, the 2022 schedule was released. It was a bit of a process, but everybody in the division did a nice job of working together to make a schedule that made sense for everybody. We got a home schedule we're happy with. No back to back weeks at home until the very end, when we'll be making our playoff push. 

 

Adam, Kenny Wells, James Pollard, and went game by game though the schedule on Facebook earlier this week. Click here to tune in.  We'll be back live this coming Monday at 10 a.m. on our Facebook page to discuss our 2022 roster. 
 

 

 

 

The 2022 AUDL schedule was released earlier this week. Our home schedule is above. Lots of good stuff in there. A couple of quick thoughts: first of all, mark your calendars for May 13th. That's the home opener, and we're pulling out all of the stops. David, Adam, and I just met yesterday to discuss. Lots of big things planned. It's going to be a PARTY. And after the past two years, we deserve one, dammit! It's also on a Friday the 13th, so expect an appropriate theme. Details coming in next month's newsletter. 

 

But it won't be our first party. Our first home game is our third game overall. We open the season on April 30th in Boston. And we will definitely have a watch party for that one. Stay tuned. Our second game is in New York, and trust me, the Empire signing Antoine Davis did not go overlooked by the squad. Reaction to the signing was, ahem, colorful. 

 

As we continue to build a culture that is Philly-focused, we couldn't ask for a better matchup than the New York Empire. The extravagant, free-spending, spoiled-rotten Empire vs the scrappy and (dare I say?) gritty Philly team that's going to scratch and claw its way to the top? We'll take two of those please. The first one is in New York on May 7th, and it wouldn't take much for us to have more fans there than they do, since they don't have any. (Did I just say that out loud?) 

 

The second one is at home on July 22nd, and if we don't pack the stands for that one then we're taking our frisbee and going home. If our fanbase can't get fired up when we take on those pompous prima donnas up north, then what are we doing here? 

 

Dag nabbit, now you guys have gone and gotten me all fired up. Anyways, take out your Sharpie, circle July 22nd on your calendars, cancel any vacation plans you have that week, and prepare to yell things at New Yorkers the way you do when you're in traffic. 

 

Lots of other stuff to get excited about on the calendar, including a battle against DC on July 4th weekend. You can purchase your season tickets here. We've added a LOT of goodies to our season ticket packages this season. It's a terrific value. We'll spotlight some of the other games on the schedule in next months newsletter. I just had to get the whole New York thing off my chest. 

 

 

No major jersey changes for the upcoming season, but a few tweaks to our jerseys, as you can see from the mock-up above. We're going to go lighter on the red and heavier on the orange, and make the lettering a bit larger. That said, at the end of the current season, you can expect some major jersey changes. Nothing more than a tease right now, this isn't something we'll be announcing anytime soon outside of this little newsletter, but just letting you know. 

 

On the sleeve this season, we're going to be honoring a group we're really excited to work with this coming year, Beyond the Bars. It's an organization that takes at-risk youth into the studio, and teaches them how to play instruments, make beats, and record music. They are changing the lives of thousands of young people in our city, and we couldn't be more thrilled to be partnering with them this coming season. In addition to wearing their logo proudly on the sleeve, these young musicians will be performing before each of our home games, and providing beats for our highlight videos. It's a partnership we're really pumped about. 

 

Alright, that's going to do it for this month. If you enjoyed this newsletter and have a friend who might be interested, send them to this link and tell them to sign up. Before we go, I'm going to leave you with a few questions for our new GM, David Tuchman, below. 

 

Trust me, our team could not be more excited to launch into 2022 with you guys. We are literally counting down the days. 

 

1. Why did you want this job? 

I wanted this job as it’s always been my dream to be the general manager of a professional sports team. I worked really hard through college to put myself in this position. The Phoenix position became available after me working with them for 2 years and it seemed the perfect fit for me and the organization.

 

The opportunity to put Philly’s best players out there together and really help build a team culture for us to lay the ground work to make Philly the next Ultimate hub.

 

I wholeheartedly do. I think the players we have brought in to supplement the team we had in 2021, improving some key areas, will lead to the team performing better. 

 

I love the sport of Ultimate because it combines 3 of my favorite sports in soccer, basketball, and football. It combines show-stopping highlight grabs over defenders, really intricate offenses, and the ability to just get big on someone. Football was always too much physicality for me, basketball was too back and forth, and soccer can drone on. But ultimate in my opinion combines the best elements of all three and results in a game that’s just as fun to watch as it is to play.

 

I enjoy playing video games like any 90s kid and when I need to detach from all sorts of electronics after a long day, I find myself enveloped in a good book more often then not.