2018 Memorial Championship

[SD86]

I realized today after watching Ricky's foot fault again that he never moved after he threw his shot. His plant (left) foot is still in the same exact spot as it was when he released after Nikko calls the fault, points it out, and looks for the group to second it. JohnE and KJ didn't need to see the throw itself, all they had to do was look at where Ricky was still standing, his foot 3 feet behind his marker, to see that he faulted.

And on top of that, the whole "player can't call or second himself on a stance violation" thing is gone. Ricky could have seconded and quite frankly, should have seconded that call. That he could stand there, 3 feet behind his marker, and not admit he faulted is disgraceful.

Several things about #FFGate bother me:
1) The others weren't watching. But I can understand that. Not really worried about this one.

2) Ricky did not second Nikki's call. McBeth would have seconded such a call on himself and IMHO most others would have, also.

3) Even worse, while Nikko was trying to get witnesses, Ricky was grabbing his cart and trying to get the heck outta there as quickly as he could. THAT more than anything else showed me that Ricky KNEW he faulted, but was not going to self-confirm and indeed had every intention of attempting to get away with it.

4) Added to incidents from the past couple of seasons (#discmarkergate, etc.), this really calls Ricky's overall integrity into question. And being #1 or 2 in the world, it's bad for the sport to have him acquire such a reputation.

 

[AHagglund]

Seems a little early to say that Ricky/Paul aren't #1/#2 anymore, as the season's only three weeks old and the Ricky/Paul dynamic has been the standard for the past 4-5 years. That said...can't you see how Eagle and Simon might have the firepower to wrestle their dominant positions away from them? Eagle and Simon possess shots that no one else has. Their traditional "weaknesses"--nerves and losses of focus--are likely to improve with time due to natural maturation processes.

Also, they seem to have a great relationship with one another and can push each other to improve. Paul and Ricky seem like naturally competitive people who have no trouble getting the "eye of the tiger", but maybe Simon and Eagle are the types of personalities who would benefit from a friendly rival--one that pushes you, but doesn't make you don't feel the same level of pressure/fear of failure as you would when competing against someone who isn't a part of your team.

 

[Cgkdisc]

I think we have to suspend judgment on "new sheriffs in town" until we watch them play on courses with minimal OB where trees require shaping golf shots with minimal opportunities to go over the top.

 

[volkswagen]

Several things about #FFGate bother me:

4) Added to incidents from the past couple of seasons (#discmarkergate, etc.), this really calls Ricky's overall integrity into question. And being #1 or 2 in the world, it's bad for the sport to have him acquire such a reputation.

Lets all not forget the alleged infamous Prodigy Team stamped - KC Pro avair.

 

[brutalbrutus]

Lets all not forget the alleged infamous Prodigy Team stamped - KC Pro avair.

They all had discs like that when the Prodigy team first started. A friend of mine used to have a Zone with a team prodigy stamp...



...and I would bet there are plenty of FBs out there with it also.

 

[SD86]

I think we have to suspend judgment on "new sheriffs in town" until we watch them play on courses with minimal OB where trees require shaping golf shots with minimal opportunities to go over the top.

True, but they (Simon and Eagle) are beginning to really "grow up" into that top echelon of DG where their tremendous physical abilities are being matched my mental toughness and emotional stability. Like Paul McBeth when he started his run of titles, and Ricky in the last couple of years.

Gonna be fun the next couple of years in MPO. Now who is going to compete with Paige Pierce right now. That was a blowout these past few days...

 

[brutalbrutus]

Gonna be fun the next couple of years in MPO. Now who is going to compete with Paige Pierce right now. That was a blowout these past few days...

If Paige is playing anything better than 80% of her potential, then no one has a chance unless they are just playing lights out.




...and as her FH develops, its only gonna get worse for them.

 

[Halcón]

Man, UDisc is awesome.

https://udisclive.com/players/paigepierce?t=memorial2018

If you look at her numbers, she missed 19 Circle 1 putts for the tourney. And she still crushed the field. And she's 1st in every driving category, which is absolutely no surprise. Congrats to her on the win.

 

[JC17393]

Just to add weight to this, aren't you sponsored by Lat 64?

Westside, actually.

After re-watching Ricky's foot fault I don't agree that it's as egregious as people are saying. He looks closer than 2 feet to me. Assuming he wears at least a size 12 since he's 6'4" I'd say he's about 6" or so from toeing the 30cm mark. I'm not sure Nybo had a good angle to judge it if he was standing the same place where he's shown on the camera, Ricky's back might have blocked his view. However, if JohnE was at the some place as he's shown on camera he probably had a good enough look at it to second Nikko. Maybe he didn't want to be part of another Memorial rules snafu (he already is technically). Ricky probably is far enough away to call it on himself, though.

Ricky took a small step forward from where he finished his throw in order to pick up his marker, and was still a foot short of the mini. No way was he within a foot of "toeing the 30cm mark" on his throw.

 

[elmexdela]

shes got her name on my stalker

 

[TimSyl]

Watched almost all of the coverage. When is SOMEONE going to do SOMETHING about Feldberg's frickin' step and land before release putting??????????????

 

[elmexdela]

Watched almost all of the coverage. When is SOMEONE going to do SOMETHING about Feldberg's frickin' step and land before release putting??????????????

same time someone does something about ulis BS step putt

oh sorry uli its a "jump putt"

come at me bro

 

[swhite]

Watched almost all of the coverage. When is SOMEONE going to do SOMETHING about Feldberg's frickin' step and land before release putting??????????????

I have watched several of his step putts with the speed slowed down, and find it difficult to determine if he has released the disc before stepping down. It is very close, but definitely looks bad in real time (or slow time). I cringe every time I see it. Even if the disc goes in the basket, I think, "Okay Dave, but you may have just foot faulted. In fact, it looked like you did, but it isn't possible to know for sure in real time".

I can't get behind any play performed in sports where it is not possible to immediately know what the actual result truly was. Very unsatisfactory. And, any athlete that plays in a way that appears to be circumventing the rules cannot inspire me.

 

[armiller]

Couldn't they do something like on those curling stones? If your Nite-Ize(TM) putter (synced with your Nike-plus foot monitor) turns red after you putt, then it's disqualified. Green and it's ok. Take that, Feldberg and Uli.

 

[paulw]

I remember caring about foot faults—it's so more fun not caring.

 

[Getty]

derp

 

[Getty]

 

[Hampstead]

However, if JohnE was at the some place as he's shown on camera he probably had a good enough look at it to second Nikko. Maybe he didn't want to be part of another Memorial rules snafu (he already is technically). Ricky probably is far enough away to call it on himself, though.

There was a recent tourney where Nate Perkins called a courtesy violation on Nikko. A few holes later, Nikko makes a bogey save putt, JohnE claps and Nikko gets salty, saying the putt isn't worth applauding. I'm gonna guess JohnE saw the foot fault and wanted nothing to do with supporting Nikko.

 

[Alobar]

Watched almost all of the coverage. When is SOMEONE going to do SOMETHING about Feldberg's frickin' step and land before release putting??????????????

Most jump putts are as questionable as the dreaded step putt. I don't know why everyone obsesses over the step putt and potential contact in front of the lie, when most jump putts have no supporting point behind the lie

Here's a still shot of Paige Pierce:

https://reddit.com/r/discgolf/comments/80os08/paige_pierce_wins_lvc_via_uncalled_foot_faults/

Watch Nikko's jump putt:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fVJdMvm1yaA

Is there any supporting point behind the lie when the disc is released? (Plenty of other players jump this way as well.)

Until all jump and step putts are disallowed, or a rule change adds language to clarify their legality in regards to the lie, I just can't argue about them anymore. It's a total gray area.

 

[air show]

My favorite shot by Simon was that 40-ft death putt on 1 at Fountain Hills yesterday. Congratulations to Simon Lizotte.

PS. In Brand Geraten.