Bradley Williams Suspended

[ru4por]

Matt, were you present for the playoff and saw what happened? I saw you were in the tournament. What did you hear or see if so?

Do you actually know anything of this "event"? You seem to have insight, in that you are confident an assault occurred. Kind of hard to discuss any potential similarities and difference to the BW situation with innuendo, supposition and subterfuge. :|

 

[BraveThrower43]

Do you actually know anything of this "event"? You seem to have insight, in that you are confident an assault occurred. Kind of hard to discuss any potential similarities and difference to the BW situation with innuendo, supposition and subterfuge. :|

He has at best second hand information. I was there filming the round and it wasn't a big deal at all

 

[Streets]

He has at best second hand information. I was there filming the round and it wasn't a big deal at all

Second hand? Going from a shirt tug to physical assault is a torn in half, grease covered note you found while dumpster diving for left over KFC.

 

[BraveThrower43]

Second hand? Going from a shirt tug to physical assault is a torn in half, grease covered note you found while dumpster diving for left over KFC.

Haha I did say at best

 

[zj1002]

The Heart Of Texas Tour announced they won't sanction anymore after 10+ years. Plus the tour director Mitch Justice stepped down as the south texas coordinator.

That's a pretty big deal in Texas.

 

[ru4por]

The Heart Of Texas Tour announced they won't sanction anymore after 10+ years. Plus the tour director Mitch Justice stepped down as the south texas coordinator.

That's a pretty big deal in Texas.

Now that seems like a very big negative for amateur disc golf. This was my fear. This nonsense, which really only involves several dozen touring pros, would ultimately hurt the legions of amateur players making our game even a speck on the sports horizon. Sad.

 

[Streets]

So basically the 1% of disc golf is potentially screwing up the rest of the 99%. Sounds about right.

 

[rd.bittle]

When are we all going to start talking about the Barry Schultz physical assault of a spectator at the Carolina Clash a couple weeks ago. opcorn:

Hes a world champion so it's cool.

Did the spectator deserve the 'assault'?

Probably niced him. Lol

 

[zj1002]

Now that seems like a very big negative for amateur disc golf. This was my fear. This nonsense, which really only involves several dozen touring pros, would ultimately hurt the legions of amateur players making our game even a speck on the sports horizon. Sad.

According to the post by HOTT, it had been coming eventually. They already have a pretty big following and history with multiple events having been run for 15-20+ years. I don't think it will hurt the amateur level of things. It probably gives them a little more freedom to do certain things with the events too. I know when I ran things with the Texas State University club and now with Bat City I have been a big proponent of not doing PDGA sanctioning because it can add a lot of work only to get ratings. It never hurt our turnouts. Plenty of other successful non-sanctioned stuff in Austin too - month match play brackets, multiple minis every day that qualify for a monthly championship with $500 added cash. Austin has never had a successful sanctioned league either.

If anything this move by HOTT just allows Brad to return to the area he cut his chops on and play events during his PDGA suspension. I was kinda looking forward to the chance to win some events down here too...

 

[grodney]

Barry wanted to talk to a spectator who was bothering him and pulled on his shirt.

If this is true, then Barry should be suspended. That's pretty simple. Not sure what else there is to discuss.

Or let me re-phrase, without my opinion, for Rebecca Duffy's sake: If this is true, and it was reported, then the discipline committee will go through the process.

 

[lyleoross]

Now that seems like a very big negative for amateur disc golf. This was my fear. This nonsense, which really only involves several dozen touring pros, would ultimately hurt the legions of amateur players making our game even a speck on the sports horizon. Sad.

They linked to Steven's diatribe as the rationale for their unsanctioning. In other words, if you want to participate in any of the major PDGA events, you can't commit to playing their series because you won't get the points you need. Going to be interesting to see what happens.

It does bother me that a player run organization spent years building the infrastructure on which these guys built their business, and now due to the actions of a single out of control player who really earned what he got, they are going after the PDGA.

Texas, seceding from the union one disc golf event at a time.

 

[tbird888]

Way to enable Bradley's behavior, Austin, TX! When he actually strikes someone next time maybe you can coddle him some more while dealing with a potential legal nightmare.

As much as I hate to see any competitor lose his chances to compete, no matter how much I dislike his attitude, Bradley really needs to have this suspension push him towards addressing and fixing his personal issues, not embracing all the misguided "love" he think is coming his way. This should be a wake-up call, not a party.

#ittakesavillage

 

[lyleoross]

If this is true, then Barry should be suspended. That's pretty simple. Not sure what else there is to discuss.

Or let me re-phrase, without my opinion, for Rebecca Duffy's sake: If this is true, and it was reported, then the discipline committee will go through the process.

I think someone has to file a complaint first.

 

[lyleoross]

Way to enable Bradley's behavior, Austin, TX! When he actually strikes someone next time maybe you can coddle him some more while dealing with a potential legal nightmare.

As much as I hate to see any competitor lose his chances to compete, no matter how much I dislike his attitude, Bradley really needs to have this suspension push him towards addressing and fixing his personal issues, not embracing all the misguided "love" he think is coming his way. This should be a wake-up call, not a party.

#ittakesavillage

You'd think in Central Texas, where the guy earned his rep....

I suspect this is much like Steve, a handy excuse. To which I say the same thing. If you want to go it alone, great. Say so. But don't wrap it in hamburger so the dogs think they're getting a meat treat.

The Southern Nationals were independent for some time if I recall, and last time I checked they came back to the dark side. Too many benefits.

I read plenty of players pissing about how bad the PDGA does things, but almost always that means "how come I'm not a pro or a richer pro." The PDGA mission isn't to grow the sport in that way. It's to provide the architecture needed so that TDs, manufacturers and retailers can grow the sport. Given their limited budget they actually do a good bit. I challenge anyone to find a faster growing sport. When you do, I won't be answering my door. An FYI, once every four or five years someone looks, there's never been anything close. I'd bet youth soccer has now, but it's a multi billion dollar growth industry.

 

[grodney]

I think someone has to file a complaint first.

Yeah that's why in my re-worded Rebecca response I said "if" it's been reported (i.e. complaint filed). But yeah if we're just bs-ing on a message board, we can talk and speculate and fling poo all we want. He should be suspended. Oh, and he's really really dumb for doing it. Is that the kind of "talk" was wanted by whoever brought it up?

 

[Anthony_G]

According to the post by HOTT, it had been coming eventually. They already have a pretty big following and history with multiple events having been run for 15-20+ years. I don't think it will hurt the amateur level of things. It probably gives them a little more freedom to do certain things with the events too. I know when I ran things with the Texas State University club and now with Bat City I have been a big proponent of not doing PDGA sanctioning because it can add a lot of work only to get ratings. It never hurt our turnouts. Plenty of other successful non-sanctioned stuff in Austin too - month match play brackets, multiple minis every day that qualify for a monthly championship with $500 added cash. Austin has never had a successful sanctioned league either.

If anything this move by HOTT just allows Brad to return to the area he cut his chops on and play events during his PDGA suspension. I was kinda looking forward to the chance to win some events down here too...

I'm trying to wrap my head around all of this and really figure out how it will affect the AM divisions of Central Texas. It's probably too soon to tell. There's a significant difference between minis, month brackets, sanctioned leagues etc and HOTT B tiers with 100+ players. Taking those away from the central TX area is pretty significant. I'm not sure what the carrot will be to motivate MA1 players hoping to play Pro someday, like myself, to play in non-sanctioned tournaments all the time. More plastic and a trophy? I don't know.. I got enough plastic and don't really care about beating anyone except myself at this point. Since they won't be sanctioned maybe cash can be up for grabs for Ams but don't they already pad pro-payouts with merch differentials? I'm naive with the payouts and just assume that's how they get more cash for pros.

 

[tbird888]

You'd think in Central Texas, where the guy earned his rep....

I suspect this is much like Steve, a handy excuse. To which I say the same thing. If you want to go it alone, great. Say so. But don't wrap it in hamburger so the dogs think they're getting a meat treat.

I guess that's my biggest problem with martyring BW. He's not going to learn and grow, and the people who should've had the balls to make the move on their own couldn't care less for their "hometown hero".

 

[CraigWesnofske]

He has at best second hand information. I was there filming the round and it wasn't a big deal at all

Post the video of it!

 

[CraigWesnofske]

And you really only need to post hole #17 -#18 and the playoff.

 

[oddjob]

After literally years of contemplation, conversation, debate, and finally an official vote, we have decided it is time for change -- to explore "new space" in the Disc Golf universe. We will be Un-sanctioning the 18th Annual Oktoberfest/HOTT Final, and the Heart Of Texas Tour will be moving forward as a non-sanctioned tournament series.

The decision has not been taken lightly, and as stated, has been under consideration for years. We need to see changes in the PDGA policies, communication, support, organization, and leadership. There needs to be more transparency, which will decrease hearsay, speculation, and drama.

It is our hope that the PDGA will let go of the old, and focus on building the new.


"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new"
~ Socrates


There are other options for HOTT, and we will be exploring them.

For anyone who does not wish to play in the Oktoberfest/HOTT Final due to it not being sanctioned by the PDGA, please send an entry refund request to: [email protected] .

We will still be adding $500 to the pro divisions, and the HOTT bonus money will be paid out as usual.

Instead of paying $3/player to the PDGA, we will pay it out to the players.

There will be more announcements on FB, and corrections to be made on our website.


"To infinity and beyond!",

Mitch Justice
Patty Justice
Fishead Tim McCrory
Guy Boyan
ZAM
David Moody