Paul McBeth & Will Schusterick

[Farmer Maggot]

There have been random discussions in the disc golf community about this over the past couple years, but there's not been any real definitive answers. The reason I'm asking here, is it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

There doesn't seem to be any real love between Prodigy and Innova, but it seems to play out mostly between McBeth and Schusterick. I've not been able to make it to any of the NT's this year, but from watching the video's, they appear cold to each other. After a final round, they each seem to shake everyone's hand but each others.

I've played with Will and he seems to be a pretty nice guy. Others tell me Paul is the same. They seem cordial during the match, but after, there is that "coldness" appearing again.

Just wondering...

 

[Farmer Maggot]

...I should've proofread that. There seems to be a lot of "seems" in there. :-(

 

[RobA]

Sometimes people aren't best friends. As long as they aren't openly hostile it seems like a non-issue.

 

[DanJon]

It might stem from the fact that Will should have been penalized more severely than he was during the Memorial card mishap.

Which would have lead to McBeth winning.

That and Will winning with a Firebird and repping Prodigy super hard afterwards with no mention of using a competitors disc to win.

 

[DiscDraft]

I haven't heard about the memorial thing. What was the Memorial card mishap? What year was that?

 

[KGroff25]

I haven't heard about the memorial thing. What was the Memorial card mishap? What year was that?

2013

http://www.pdga.com/tour/event/14318

 

[tbird888]

Didn't McBeth address this in his youtube AMA?

 

[JC17393]

It might stem from the fact that Will should have been penalized more severely than he was during the Memorial card mishap.

Which would have lead to McBeth winning.

That and Will winning with a Firebird and repping Prodigy super hard afterwards with no mention of using a competitors disc to win.

How should he have been penalized more severely? The rule book calls for a 2-throw penalty, and that's what he got. Are we inventing new rules in order to over-penalize players now? Is this the NFL?

 

[onemilemore]

Rivalries make spectator sports more fun. I say bring it on.

Both guys are too nice to play the heel, though. Disc golf really needs a good heel. Who do we nominate?

 

[DiscJunkie]

While Will was still with Innova, I believe that he mentioned in a USDGC vid that he and Paul had been friends since childhood.
Speculation is that Will's split with Innova was not handled well. Some things were said and done that did not sit well with Innova folks, and then there was the whole 2013 Memorial thing. Not just the FB, but the over-the-top team stuff. Speculation is that Will has made it out to be "us and them".

There are people who know, but I'm not one of them. Just adding to the conversation.
Perhaps someone could come on and enlighten us.

 

[depster]

Rivalries make spectator sports more fun. I say bring it on.

Both guys are too nice to play the heel, though. Disc golf really needs a good heel. Who do we nominate?

From everything I've ever read about Dave Feldberg on this site I'd say he's already it.

 

[Cgkdisc]

Did someone let the air out of the other's disc?

 

[DanJon]

How should he have been penalized more severely? The rule book calls for a 2-throw penalty, and that's what he got. Are we inventing new rules in order to over-penalize players now? Is this the NFL?

I apologize.

Thought it was a one stroke penalty.

The Firebird thing still rings true.

 

[Farmer Maggot]

While Will was still with Innova, I believe that he mentioned in a USDGC vid that he and Paul had been friends since childhood.
Speculation is that Will's split with Innova was not handled well. Some things were said and done that did not sit well with Innova folks, and then there was the whole 2013 Memorial thing. Not just the FB, but the over-the-top team stuff. Speculation is that Will has made it out to be "us and them".

That's pretty consistent with what I have heard from a few reliable sources. However, those sources also said there was more to the story that has contributed to the issue. Though someone here might know.

They're both good guys and great players and handle themselves well on the course, so this is probably a gossip post. :\ Was just curious.

 

[sidewinder22]

 

[curveball4]

 

[sidewinder22]

 

[OB Four]

I'm only repeating what I've seen elsewhere, I want to say it was on reddit, that McBeth had all but agreed to a deal with Prodigy at one point but backed out and either the backing out or how he backed out did not sit well with Schusterick. That combined with all the stuff that happened after, seemed to make things more personal than ever before. Again, no clue if it's true or not though, just repeating what I read.

That said, in watching some footage more recently, things don't seem as icey as they once were, as I've seen McBeth and Schusterick chatting and laughing it up on the course a few times. In my opinion it seems like the whole 'Team' rivalry deal b/t manufacturers has pretty much dissipated. Not sure why, but I'm guessing they all started to realize there's enough for everyone to get a piece of the pie.

 

[Pbmercil]

I'm only repeating what I've seen elsewhere, I want to say it was on reddit, that McBeth had all but agreed to a deal with Prodigy at one point but backed out and either the backing out or how he backed out did not sit well with Schusterick. That combined with all the stuff that happened after, seemed to make things more personal than ever before. Again, no clue if it's true or not though, just repeating what I read.

That said, in watching some footage more recently, things don't seem as icey as they once were, as I've seen McBeth and Schusterick chatting and laughing it up on the course a few times. In my opinion it seems like the whole 'Team' rivalry deal b/t manufacturers has pretty much dissipated. Not sure why, but I'm guessing they all started to realize there's enough for everyone to get a piece of the pie.

This is just my unqualified opinion, but it seemed to me like the team rivalry prodigy vs innova thing was basically manufactured by the prodigy players and fizzled out cuz it actually wasn't much of a rivalry at all.

 

[DiscFifty]

Fwiw...I had the pleasure of seeing Will & Paul prep for the start of one of the rounds at the Nick Hyde memorial and they seemed fine with each other. Smiling, talking, etc.