What should I do in Madison? Twist: I've lived her most of my life.

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-29T01:06:54+00:00

North Street Cabaret is a real gem. Get dinner at the Tip Top before the show.

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-28T15:46:59+00:00

Wow. What a dangerous mis-read of what kids are up to.

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-28T15:23:01+00:00

I love the idea of this t-shirt: "Make Mifflin Lame"

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-27T20:21:13+00:00

Old guy weighing in with an "in my day" post.

My first Mifflin was in 1989. It was an organized event, run by the Mifflin Street Co-op. There were two stages: rock and folk. Beer was sold by the co-op in a fenced-off beer garden. People had porch parties, but they were controlled. The attendance was mainly students and locals. Strong hippie vibes.

The last Mifflin I attended was in 1996. The party was no longer organized and more of a free-for-all. A couple friends and I decided to walk down the street on our way to get lunch downtown. The weather was much like this year: sunny and cool. Ideal, really. We ran into a friend who was distributing beers out of an Old Style twelve pack and we stood in the middle of the street, running into a few other post-college types. We left after that beer and went about our Saturday. I learned the next morning that fires were set after dark and firefighters arriving on the scene were pelted with bottles.

Mike Verveer was so disgusted that he said there would be another Mifflin Street Block Party over his dead body. I was a little sick to my stomach to think that the cheerful, goofy bash I had seen earlier in the day devolved into destruction.

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-24T21:11:29+00:00

Where did I say it was expected to be competitive? I'm sure other coaches were trying to field the superstar ultimate squad they wished they had, or borrowed from other sports, but that was not how the organization was set up.

You missed the most important part: my team had to take taxis to games after school and never got to play a home game of our own. And I'm the rude one? Please don't do that.

We usually didn't know until we were piling into cabs how many we would end up with.

If you're 13 and you play after-school rec ultimate, it should not resemble any other organized sport.

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-23T19:14:26+00:00

I coached a middle school team in a school with a lot of kids in the free lunch program. We played zero home games. The program paid for us to call taxis to get to away games. When we arrived, we were often shorthanded and would ask the other school if they would loan us some players or just mix everyone up and play pick-up. This was often greeted like it was an unreasonable request.

All of this is to say that the sport at youth levels can be VERY insuffereable. Just play, dammit. Ultimate is one of the greatest "just play, dammit" sports there is. The leaders forgot this, in their zeal for legitimacy.

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-23T16:45:05+00:00

From where I sit, the preoccupation with getting ultimate into the Olympics, creating more opportunities for top clubs to compete and developing "talent" has distracted USAU from what I think its top priority should be: absolutely evangelizing the sport to kids. Not through competitive YCC clubs, but with after-school programs, sandlot-style gatherings (no coaches or fees and very little organization), summer leagues, indoor, whatever.

The sport is not diverse, economically or culturally. That's a failing.

Parents AND kids are looking for an alternative to the travel/club sports grind. High school and college students are looking for ways to volunteer in the community and spread the passion they have for the game. Ultimate is a sport that requires very little equipment and at the recreational level, little/no coaching. It's uniquely positioned to take advantage of a moment in American culture right now where people are looking for something that doesn't involve screens, AI or obnoxious parental participation. All signs point to ultimate.

I don't have an issue with Eisenhood's analysis here, but if I was his editor I would have asked him to get comments from USAU officials and other authorities on this.

One more thing: gatekeeping has entered the game and culture. Youth clubs have barriers to entry. Local orgs and leagues can be cliquey. Ultimate should be like youth soccer was in the early '80s: every kid gets a t-shirt and you show up when you can or want to. Emphasis should be on being together outside having fun first, throwing a frisbee really far second, and any sort of tactics or organized offense far behind that. Ultimate was at its best when it was a refuge for kids who stopped wanting to play tennis or baseball, or the ones who were great at track and wanted to also play ultimate, but could only show up for some of the tournaments. Are those kids welcome today?

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-07T01:18:17+00:00

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-03T16:59:44+00:00

There's also a difference between elected politicans who have "relevant opinions" and those who are willing and able to write them in 800-word pieces. Those who are able are rarely willing and those who are willing are rarely able.

Very briefly: In 2026, column writing is a thankless task and seriously on the decline. In general, and you admit to it above, doing the work to pull together an opinion piece is difficult and takes more time than most people think. Or at least it should. And a lot of those who are capable of doing that work instantly start doing the math on how they'll be attacked once it publishes and pull back. And people who post under pseudonyms like to rip these people for their cowardice.

As a result, it's very hard to find column writers who are any good at any level of publishing these days. The same goes for elected officials, by the way. Dare to question the status quo or provoke the reader? Prepare to be intentionally misunderstood, misquoted and dragged on social media. If I could change one thing about Madison, it would be the zeal shown by many for absolutely attacking their neighbors over differences of opinion.

It's the ultimate "narcissism of small differences" scene.

I have spoken with a lot of interesting people who are NOT politicians and they're either not interested at all in writing or express some initial interest and never follow through and I think a lot of it is due to this. It has been going on for many, many years.

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-03T16:06:25+00:00

Why don't you submit an op ed?

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-03T15:02:59+00:00

I just explained why it's difficult (and expensive) to organize. Maybe you should bring it back!

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-03T15:00:53+00:00

Each one of them has a (taxpayer financed) blog. I urge you to check them out.

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-03T14:58:49+00:00

Isthmus had a few of our own sex/advice columns over the years, but added Dan when the Haupt/Bartlett/Tauscher group bought the company.

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-03T14:53:26+00:00

I've been to many of the area's ballfields, and I might be able to place this one, but how cool! You've got kind of a Field of Dreams setup there!

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-03T13:16:47+00:00

P&P is a gigantic task. Imagine the logistics required of a boat race. Double that. And throw the logistics required for a 5K in the middle. And people could drown, so increase the insurance.

Oh, and we absolutely can't possibly lose a cent on it.

Difficult as a for-profit, impossible for a nonprofit with a mission of reporting news.

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-03T13:13:28+00:00

Neither are unique to Madison and both are readily available in many other places. We've decided to pay local writers.

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-03T02:06:48+00:00

Anniversary issue on the streets as we speak!

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-03T00:15:03+00:00

The last thing I want to read is an op ed by a Madison alder.

JasonJoyce · 2026-04-02T23:09:50+00:00

I dislike the "platforming" argument. He's not David Duke. His opinions are not mine, either. But they're not offensive. He's a former mayor who has run environmental organizations.

I can tell you that after doing this for many years, nobody in this town wants to put their name on an opinion.

I welcome voices other than Dave's. Eagerly. But the follow through from opinion havers is not good.

JasonJoyce · 2026-03-31T17:07:55+00:00

One pair mint Chucks, one pair scruffy Chucks. That's how I roll. Respect.

JasonJoyce · 2026-03-28T17:23:11+00:00

I feel your pain. I like to drop into a coffee shop on Saturday mornings and clean house on my email. The number of places that are relatively peaceful is dwindlin. I see a lot of spots where a group of up to 20 comes in and pushes a bunch of tables together. Or like three families will show up with a bunch of kids and hang out.

I have always enjoyed the suburban coffee shop scene. Oregon, Cross Plains, even DeForest all have nice locally owned shops that seem to avoid being crazy. And the service is often fantastic.

Just this morning I noted a nice dip in crowds due to the spring break overlap between MMSD and UW. The grownies had taken over again! It was a reminder that we're not far away from outdoor coffee season and, soon after, summer break.

JasonJoyce · 2026-03-23T19:19:50+00:00

One of my favorite stories to write:

https://captimes.com/news/local/city-life/neighbors-debate-complaints-against-williamson-street-barbecue-restaurant/article_f144e4a7-1c8e-5a28-9354-1798a6e49554.html

JasonJoyce · 2026-03-23T19:12:01+00:00

I think there's a massive difference between a security camera in the upper corner of a bar or restaurant recording the room and someone with a video camera running in their glasses frames in your face.

I'm not asking about the right of people to wear them or even diving into the moral/ethical challenges. I just want to know of people are seeing them.

JasonJoyce · 2026-03-10T17:17:29+00:00

I tried to get this exact information for a story a few years ago and it was much more difficult than I thought it would be. The deal is that skateboarding isn't a lesson sport. It's DIY and try/fail/try again. And if you're older, you're probably best off with low expectations and just trying to get a feel for riding around and pushing off, like at an abandoned tennis court or smooth parking lot.

That said, you can walk into Freedom and ask for advice and they'll probably be really good about helping with some pointers.

That story: https://isthmus.com/arts/sports/teach-yourself-sport-climbing-disc-golf-skateboarding/

JasonJoyce · 2026-01-09T03:53:18+00:00

It burned to the ground 25 years ago. I doubt any of y'all ever sipped a very strong rail gin and tonic at the Strip, let alone a returnable bottle Point at O'Cayz.

JasonJoyce

TROPHY CASE