The Detroit Mechanix are an American professional ultimate frisbee team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Mechanix compete in the formerly titled American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL), now known as the Ultimate Frisbee Association (UFA) as a member team of the league's Central Division.[1] The Mechanix, owned by Brent Steepe and was founded in 2010, began play in 2012 as one of the eight charter teams of the AUDL.
The Mechanix suffered what is believed to be the longest losing streak in the history of professional sports: 81 games in a row, stretching over a seven-year period, from April 29, 2017[2] to June 22, 2024.[3] On that day, the Mechanix defeated the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds, 26-15; it was their only victory of 2024.
The Mechanix all-time regular season record is a woeful 17-145 (.105), and the team has gone winless seven times in their twelve-year history. After a decent 7-9 record in their inaugural season in 2012, Detroit managed only a 4-12 mark in 2013, then suffered back-to-back 0-14 seasons in 2014-15. The club managed to record four victories in 2016[4], but tumbled to 1-13 in 2017 -- and that lone win would be their last for quite a while, as Detroit would log five straight winless seasons.[5] They have finished last in points per game in nine of their twelve seasons and last in their division eleven times (every year except 2016).[5]
The 2020 AUDL season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the hapless Mechanix would suffer an even worse tragedy: on February 29, 2020, three members of the team -- Kevin Coulter, Drew Piet, and Michael Cannon -- were killed in a multi-car accident on Interstate 96 on their way to a team practice. Piet and Coulter played for the Mechanix during the 2019 season, while Cannon was practicing with the team. Police and news outlets reported that the players’ vehicle was stopped in traffic due to a separate single-vehicle rollover accident when a speeding driver failed to slow down and collided with theirs and several other vehicles.[6]
