Nikko LoCastro intimidating a PDGA official at European Open '22

[ejvogie]

I don't makes 'em, I just finds 'em

 

[wolfhaley]

LOL at Paul's first 2 points :doh:

1. The official makes a call on 30 seconds. Nikko asked "why" on 3 occasions then gets a answer to all 3.

Sooooo, doesn't this make Nikko look worse?

2. Nikko says steps away from me. Official takes a half step back.

Sooooo, the official obliged Nikko's request?

Lulz

 

[Jolt]

And JVD on Smashboxx said that they had more on video and that Nikko keept going after the official after the round. .

But is´d most of this suspension about what happened after the round? That Nikko did not want to talk to the PDGA...

Pauls instapost is terrible, he is a MMA fan so he might not see a "staredown" as bad at all. . . but his post is terrible for the sport and for Paul

 

[Jolt]

LOL at Paul's first 2 points :doh:

1. The official makes a call on 30 seconds. Nikko asked "why" on 3 occasions then gets a answer to all 3.

Sooooo, doesn't this make Nikko look worse?

2. Nikko says steps away from me. Official takes a half step back.

Sooooo, the official obliged Nikko's request?

Lulz

the official did what he was there to do. . and when he made the Call he did what Nikko told him to do. . .90% of people would have handled that much worse. . .and that would have been worse for Nikko

 

[wolfhaley]

the official did what he was there to do. . and when he made the Call he did what Nikko told him to do. . .90% of people would have handled that much worse. . .and that would have been worse for Nikko

I felt like I worded it correctly. I'm on 1000% on your side though buddy.

 

[uncle pennybags]

Was there a probation period with the suspension too? If so it will be interesting to see how that goes for Nikko.

 

[biscoe]

it's on the disciplinary page as an A so confirmed. We will not know the details of the penalty decision per policy and privacy concerns. Very proper. Speculation of the mitigating factors for the penalty reduction? Maybe his self imposed time out? That was the right thing to do and smart.

That would be my speculation. Same as getting a driving infraction reduced by going to a class before the hearing.

 

[biscoe]

I'm a little surprised by Paul's take. I was under the impression that Paul has worked very hard to raise the professionalism of the game. i.e. The way he dresses, the way he carries himself, his branding all seem high end. So why back something that was so obviously unprofessional? I'm a bit confused, but I'm sure he has reasons.

Pretty much the same as his reaction to the Brad Williams stuff, he's a one man player's union. FWIW I can see Nikko getting the Class C offense as well. He's getting off light on the suspension time either way though so I don't see much for anyone to complain about in that sense.

 

[dashiellx]

Was there a probation period with the suspension too? If so it will be interesting to see how that goes for Nikko.

18 months probation after the suspension is complete.

 

[foxdawg10]

I have no interest in getting involved in a spat between Paul and Brodie. At face value, Paul is wrong in my opinion. It is nice for him to stick up for a friend, but it seems that he intentionally skewed the facts to make Nikki look good and the official look bad.

I would love to see these offenses enforced consistently at all events.

9 months is light, it could have been worse.

 

[Streets]

Good for Paul and good for Gateway.

 

[Jolt]

LOL at Paul's first 2 points :doh:

1. The official makes a call on 30 seconds. Nikko asked "why" on 3 occasions then gets a answer to all 3.

Sooooo, doesn't this make Nikko look worse?

2. Nikko says steps away from me. Official takes a half step back.

Sooooo, the official obliged Nikko's request?

Lulz

1. WAY worse. . and did Nikko really need to ask 3 times, was the answer hard to understand? . . And screeming "WHY" in a guyes face is WAY worse than just saying why in a calm voice at a few feets distance
2. The "fun" part is that Nikko goes up to stand 2inches from the Official and then aks HIM to step away. . if i was the official i would have asked Nikko to step away as Nikko was the one to step up so close

 

[ballgolfconvert]

I'm a little surprised by Paul's take. I was under the impression that Paul has worked very hard to raise the professionalism of the game. i.e. The way he dresses, the way he carries himself, his branding all seem high end. So why back something that was so obviously unprofessional? I'm a bit confused, but I'm sure he has reasons.

Paul knows the rules are very poorly written and scream out for things like this to happen because of that. PDGA refuses to accept that, which should bring all sorts of criticism to the organization.

 

[ChrisWoj]

my main "problem" with this approach is that IMO it was clear before this incident that Nikko needed some help. and instead of being proactive, Gateway was perfectly content to sit around and let Nikko keep doing Nikko things. now that it's a problem they can throw their hands up and say "we're so surprised this happened! but we're here to help Nikko!"

Paul knows the rules are very poorly written and scream out for things like this to happen because of that. PDGA refuses to accept that, which should bring all sorts of criticism to the organization.

Do you know that the PDGA refuses to accept that? Do you know that the PDGA won't work going forward to separate the rule/procedure set for the DGPT? You don't. At all.

The fact is that Nikko has played under these rules and with full awareness of the procedures since ****ing 2003. Everything that happened, absolutely everything, is first and foremost a referendum on Nikko Locastro. There is no element to any of the procedures, however flawed, that deserved or excused any element of his response. He has been in the game for 20 years. The discussion of the fact that the DGPT needs to update the rules and procedures, now that the Pro Tour is populated by so many more tour-exclusive players, does not in any way excuse Nikko in the way that Paul McBeth is excusing Nikko.

 

[ru4por]

Paul knows the rules are very poorly written and scream out for things like this to happen because of that. PDGA refuses to accept that, which should bring all sorts of criticism to the organization.

Conjecture, supposition and innuendo are poor foundations for any opinion.....especially when attempting to represent them as some sort of facts.

You have NO idea if any of the above is true.

 

[Jolt]

I really wonder what Nikko think about the time rule and what HE think the rule should be, or should the player have unlimited time? and if he think there should be a time rule how should that be inforced?

We get longer and longer cources. . more and more par 4 and 5s. . if every player takes this much time the rounds will go on forever, , and we cant even have FPO and MPO play after each other. . the day is to short.

 

[Golden Tuna]

He's intimidated refs before?

Someone else already said it, but repeat d-bag.
And, actually, yeah, I've TD'd A LOT of events in STL, which Nikko has attended.

Did the "Team Gateway" (for lack of a better term) thing ever evolve from that intimidation mentality of getting their way? I always had Roger or Tom or some other Dave follower rolling up on me getting in my face and/or cursing me out when I ran events there. The "Nikko Antics" to me always seemed like a twisted combination of the Tom arrogant bravado thing mixed with the Roger explosive temper thing. Whenever I see Nikko lose it in a video, it just reminds we of home. :|

Nikko should have hung with Robo more; I had a lot of run-ins with the Gateway crowd back in the day but I have not a single bad thing to say about Robo. Just have to throw that in; don't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Gateway pulls (almost) all their players from the bottom of the (social, economic, personality, professional) barrel. Tom and Roger are two of the most unsavory characters I've met in this sport. For those that don't know them, picture Nikko's attitude in full grown adults that don't have ANYTHING to loose.

Robo has always been good people. I don't think he hung out much with Nikko because of Nikko's attitude. He's tried to mentor him before, but you know the saying about leading a horse to water...

Personal take: I think the PDGA should have gone for broke with Nikko and dished out 24 month suspension & 18 months probation. But, Nikko is a dynamic player and they probably benefit more from the publicity of his antics.

Lastly, McBeth's take on this situation is absolutely awful! I only see a fraction of the big picture, but I'm surprised by his position. I too would have imagined his advocacy for a more professional environment...

 

[Streets]

Good for Paul and good for Gateway.

I'll flesh this out a little more...

Nikko played a stupid game and won a stupid prize that he totally earned. I also applaud Paul and Gateway for supporting him because at the end of the day...I'd rather see Nikko come back and play as the best version of himself than just fade into whatever he'd do outside of disc golfing. I think Paul could have potentially done better in wording what he said but whatever. Nikko won't change in a vacuum.

 

[ChrisWoj]

Lastly, McBeth's take on this situation is absolutely awful! I only see a fraction of the big picture, but I'm surprised by his position. I too would have imagined his advocacy for a more professional environment...

I am not surprised by this from Paul - in part because of what so many have shared regarding his reaction to the Bradley Williams situation. It is clear that Paul sees himself as a players advocate. I just think he needs a team to support him on this stuff - he could easily argue for a shorter suspension/probation period for Nikko without trying to completely re-tell the story of what we all saw. Paul was a master of saying nothing and going about his business for a long time, he didn't even say too much when he was posting here from what I've skimmed (I wasn't active here at the time), and its kinda looking like maybe that was the right avenue for him unless he is willing to hire some support to help guide how he presents his thoughts. Not someone to paint him as someone different, or to neuter his views, just support.

I appreciate that Paul is trying to do as an advocate for the players. We should absolutely commend Paul McBeth for the way he feels about standing up for others on the tour. He could just say nothing, because frankly he's clearly not someone who is going to run afoul of these same rules. He's out there making sure that whatever happens going forward, the players get a clear and fair shake. Even if most of us feel the suspension was appropriate or even too short - Paul is out there as a voice for the rest pushing to avoid the development of what maybe we would all see as overreach.

Just gotta do it better.

 

[jakebake91]

I'm all for Paul sticking up for the players. But. He's gonna have to do so using actual facts. I don't think he watched the same video clip I did......

His take is ridiculous. I expected much better from him.