A National Championship Is A National Championship

Look, I don't care if it's coloring - a National Championship is a National Championship.

So the fact that Pitt has a chance to win one in Ultimate Frisbee is at the very least moderately interesting. And not just a shot - Pitt is the No. 1 seed and ranked No. 4 in the nation. A closer look reveals just how low budget this sport really is.

For starters, the coach is not only underpaid...he's not paid at all:

"We have really high expectations for ourselves," assistant coach David Vatz said. "We feel as if we have prepared enough to win — that we have the best players in the country — and we definitely think that [Nationals] is ours for the taking. We expect to win."

Vatz, a former Pitt student, is an unpaid coach.

And with no salary for the coach, it goes without saying there's no scholarship money.

Then add in the fact that players not only have no scholarships, but they also have to cover most of their expenses:

The unique thing about the success of the Ultimate team is that it was literally paid for by the 25 players.

"The University of Pittsburgh club sports organization gives us a budget, but most of the other stuff is out of pocket," Suskin said. "I know some of the guys have summer jobs that they are using to pay for a plane ticket. A lot of times Christmas or birthday presents will be plane tickets so our guys can go to the tournaments. Our limit to rent vans and drive is about North Carolina — anything further we have to fly."

The expenses amounted to about $1,200 a player for the season for the uniform, travel expenses, tournament fees and hotel rooms, Conner said.

That doesn't strike me as too big of a surprise, but still. And make fun all you want, but winning a National Championship in anything is pretty cool.

And, oh yeah, Pitt beat Penn State to qualify for the finals. Nice.