What we stand for
http://skydmagazine.com/2013/03/what-do-we-stand-for/
The above Skyd article by Ben van Heuvelen is easily the best post in recent memory. It's an authoritative piece, especially since the author's relationship to the sport is so authentic and it's fascinating because Ben seems to stand at the confluence of two streams in modern day ultimate.
The point he makes is not that professionalization of Ultimate is bad; it's that how it's being professionalized is bad.
That distinction is really important, and it's where Ben's articles differs from others alternately condemning or praising the MLU and AUDL. As he points out, ultimate began as an alternative sport for a reason. The reason many people first began playing is intricately connected to the reason the sport was created. Emulating other sports' professional leagues seems inherently disconnected from Ultimate.
"The problem with the MLU and AUDL is not their ambition, it’s their poverty of imagination. Their first failure is to assume that the best way to define a league’s success is by the metrics of profit that drive the NBA and NFL."
Ultimate as a sport has its roots in being an "ultimate" form of competition, and herein lies its distinction. Losing sight of that, we lose sight of not only what Ultimate is but what it means.