 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||||
|
Yankee Flyers 2007 Spring Invitational FDDO Event What a beautiful day for a historic event. Saturday marked the first ever FDDO event to be held
and run by an individual club (with a lot help from our friends MADDogs and NEDDC). Two phone calls were placed to Arizona's Bill Watters, founder and designer of the FDDO competition for clarification of
tiebreaker rules in the later part of the day. This was in an attempt to be absolutely sure all was being followed to the letter of the competition and contest design. For not only was this, the first event held by
a club, but it was also the first time the new and improved format was being implemented. The new formula is based on a possible total score of 100, the weight of events have changed to possible score of 40 in the
obstacle course, 40 in freestyle, 10 in speed disc and 10 in distance. Thanks to all YFDDC members for their positive attitude and good nature at a 6 hour event, your kind offers of help and thank you’s were noted by the other club reps and general public. Thanks to all of our volunteers without whose contributions we could never have hosted this event. Special thanks to our sister clubs the Mid Atlantic Disc Dog Club and the New England Disc Dog Club. Thanks to Bill Watters, the FDDO team and everyone else for keeping it real! More than 30 teams entered the FDDO event on Saturday May 5th at beautiful Quassy Amusement Park in Middlebury, CT. With temperature hovering around 70* and some mild breezes to keep the time trial interesting, the weather couldn't have been much nicer. Competitors were challenged in four events – obstacle course, speed disc,freestyle (advanced and pro division only) and distance pyramid. The FDDO obstacle course was first with the novice division making a fine showing the top competitors receiving a score of 26 out of a possible 40, advanced division topping off at 33, and the pro division's team of Erich Steffensen and Java completed the course with the high score of the day at 35. Now the stage was set for some really exciting competition.
Freestyle was fun as always, the dogs and humans giving it
all they had to impress the judges and spectators alike. Frank Montgomery and Pixie Chick took top honors with a solid fun eye catching routine. Bill Marconi and Foster
wowed the crowd with some impressive moves securing second place and rounding out the top three Matt Derfler and his Brittany Spaniel One Eye Jack demonstrated
some excellent moves and a one of a kind style and their crowd pleasing routine. The advanced division did a great job too, it's really tough to get a routine in 60 seconds, but when you're getting started, 60 seconds can seem like a lifetime, they handled it very well. The final event of the day was the distance pyramid. The wind had settled down, the sky was slightly overcast and the stage was set for some real excitement, which was the order of the day. The Novice and Advanced divisions are a three throw cumulative score, but the pro division has one of the FDDO wrinkles that makes' this such a fun competition, only the last attempt counts for the score…..hummmmm Barry Griffin and Nike were the first to go in the pro division, after making a 40 and then just missing the 50 by inches in a very gutsy move, he decided to go for it all. He stepped up to the line and hammered a 55 yard throw right in the center of the smallest zone. Barry chose to attempt the 50 even though he already had made the 40 twice! That 50 yard completion remained through the pro division, until the last team, Bill Marconi and Foster stepped to the line and hit a 50 yarder in his first try.
Congratulations to OVERALL Winners: |
||||
|
Photos by Randy Dellinger |
||||
Speed Disc proved to be the most challenging of the four events to complete due to a funny little inconsistent wind,
which seemed to push the disc out of the zone box like an invisible hand. Only 5 teams were able to complete this in the max time of 60 seconds, that's 5 out of the entire field of competitors! 
The stage was now set for a final single throw off to determine a winner. After a 3 minute rest for both teams, Barry threw
first, he sent a beautiful 46 yard toss to his buddy Nike who caught it with very little effort. Bill needed to connect for 46 yards or more to win. He gave a straight low throw toward the
center of the field, Foster chased the disc through the 40 zone all the way to the 50 yard zone and on into the center of the zone, then gently, effortlessly snatched it from the air. As we
all cheered, Foster casually returned it to his best friend Bill for some
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|