Ricky’s comments on Worlds have everyone talking

September 19, 2022 by Christopher Wiklund in Analysis, Opinion with comments

Playoff disc golf sounds awesome, and what do you know? It is! This run of Worlds followed by the Green Mountain Championship, MVP Open, USDGC, Throw Pink, and the Tour Championship is the way forward. Each event is meaningful and prestigious, and with only the top players invited to participate, there is a sense that literally anyone in the field could take the win.

Ricky Wysocki just won GMC, and in his pre-tournament presser, he made some comments which can and probably should be interpreted two ways. First, take a look:

Wysocki Comments

He suggested that too much weight is placed on the World Championship as a single event, and more mind should be paid to the player who demonstrates season-long excellence. He also pointed out that in most other major sports, the champion is determined through some form of playoff structure.

I am fan of Wysocki, but public speaking has not always been his strong suit and his comments here came off as a little bit of sour grapes following his 11th place finish in Emporia.

That said…factually speaking, Wysocki is right. Most team sports do use some form of the playoff concept to determine their World Champion, and most of the time that event is held at the end of the season. Other individual sports like golf and tennis don’t really have meaningful “world championship” tournaments, just their four majors and some other high-profile tournaments. Given how the DGPT has slowly but surely taken over the professional side of the game, it is not wholly outside the realm of possibility that Wysocki will get his way in a few years time. If the playoff structure goes well, the idea of Worlds being held at the ultimate conclusion of the season with a play-in structure is indeed quite appealing.

Disc golf is not unlike baseball in many ways, especially and including the duration of the season. Both start in February and wrap up in October and deal with the long slog of summer. As a fan of both and a one-time little league great, keeping the energy up all season is challenging, but once the leaves start to turn and the weather cools, all of a sudden the excitement and energy comes right back. Who doesn’t want a fall classic? You can figure out the travel…