Jesse Wright – Parked

Do Disc Golfers Lean Left on Environmental Issues?

February 25, 2020June 2, 2021 by Parked, posted in Environment

By Josh Woods, PhD, Bill Newman and Vic Allen ~

Environmentalists can be found in all major sports, but they seem especially common in outdoor activities that depend on a clean, sustainable environment.

For instance, as global warming has turned mountain snow to slush, snowboarding legends like Gretchen Bleiler and daredevil ice climbers like Will Gadd have been using their sport as a platform to raise awareness about climate change. With coral reefs declining and plastic waste amassing in the oceans, surfing gods like Kelly Slater are pitching in to clean things up. Continue reading “Do Disc Golfers Lean Left on Environmental Issues?” →

Disc Golf is Fun and That’s the Most Important Thing, Ever

November 25, 2019June 2, 2021 by Parked, posted in Culture, Participant Observation

By Josh Woods ~

I recently gave a presentation on disc golf at a sociology conference. At the end, someone asked, “What’s so important about disc golf?”

Of course, she didn’t ask the question quite like this. It was subtler and nicer, but that’s how I took it. Continue reading “Disc Golf is Fun and That’s the Most Important Thing, Ever” →

Disc golf club runs 228 weekly league events in a row

January 8, 2018January 9, 2018 by Parked, posted in Disc Golf Clubs, Participant Observation

By Josh Woods, photos by Jesse Wright ~

Group Shot — Participants of the Morgantown Mountain Goats’ league event on New Year’s Eve, 2017. The club has not cancelled a weekly event since being established on August 12, 2013.

Disc golf clubs are like unclassified plants. No one knows what they are, but still they sprout up and spread through the hills, fields and forests, bringing delight to anyone who finds them.

In summer 2013, one disc golf club, the Morgantown Mountain Goats of West Virginia, held their first meeting in the future president’s living room. The Goat founders appointed a Board of Directors, which included Shelby Dering, Shane Leiggi, Greg Hackett and Jason Lee, and started planning the future. Their initial priorities were to establish a formal league and further develop a disc golf course at Dorsey’s Knob Park in Morgantown, West Virginia. Continue reading “Disc golf club runs 228 weekly league events in a row” →

To love a loveless thing

December 18, 2017December 19, 2017 by Parked, posted in Opinion

By Josh Woods ~

DK sunrise — Mid-December sunrise over Dorsey’s Knob Park, Morgantown, WV. Photo by Jesse Wright.

Loving something that few people know or care about is not such a big problem. But when you love a loveless thing enough to play it and talk about it, without end—well, now you have a problem.

Your troubles can emerge almost anywhere, and before you know it, they multiply. The moment you utter the word “disc golf” in mixed company, clouds form overhead, the earth cracks, and winged monkeys appear on the horizon. Continue reading “To love a loveless thing” →

“Beauty at low temperatures is beauty” – Joseph Brodsky

January 30, 2017July 19, 2017 by Parked, posted in Participant Observation

spotless-mind — “How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot.” ― Alexander Pope

The hills of West Virginia are always nice to look at. In summer, these geologic wonders are attractive in a way that needs no explanation.

But in winter, when the temperature drops, and a thin blanket of snow covers the land, and the horizon fades into whiteness, and the wind dies down, and large, octangular clumps of crystallized water drift in the air like drunken moths, the hills of West Virginia are beautiful in a way that demands further clarification. Continue reading ““Beauty at low temperatures is beauty” – Joseph Brodsky” →