As the Illinois State Coordinator I get to vote for the 2006 PDGA Awards. Below is the ballot & who I voted. for. I have yet to send in this ballot. If you are from IL and have some feeback about these votes i'd love to hear about it. I may or may not change my votes depending on what feeback I get.
Bold = My vote
Male Player of the Year
Ken Climo
Steve Rico
Barry Schultz
Avery Jenkins
David Feldberg
Joshua Anthon
Write in
Female Player of the Year
Juliana Korver
Carrie Berlogar
Des Reading
Angela Tschiggfrie
Valarie Jenkins
Courtney Peavy
Write in
Male Rookie of the Year
Matt Hall
Kim Scott-Wood
Geoff Bennett
Adam Olsen
Phil Braithwaite
Linus Astrom
Write in
Female Rookie of the Year
Staci Pauly
Tavish Sanders
Kim Keen
Kathy Schreder
Emily Hardy
Emily Owen
Write in
Tournament Director of the Year
Cris & Teresa Bellinger-Beaver State Fling
Larry Bledso-Bowling Green Open
Dan Busick-Brent Hambrick Memorial
Tulsa Disc Sports Assoc.-2006 PDGA Amateur Worlds
The Wallis Family-USWDGC & Greater Peoria Open
Todd White-US Amateur DGC
Write in
Bob West Memorial Award for Sportsmanship
Timmy Gill
Bill Griffith
John E. McCray
John Nisewonder
John Porter
Write in
All good choices.
Did you delete my post?
Quote from: Jon Brakel on May 28, 2007, 08:13:12 AM
Did you delete my post?
No, I started a new thread that was open to the public. I didn't realize I had originally posted on a nonpublic thread.
Female Player of the Year
This female player added 120 points to her rating in 2006, playing in five different divisions. She won at the Texas Women's Championship and at the US Women's DGC. At USWDGC she played against girls four years older than her and shot 800+ all five rounds. In addition to playing tournaments she is also a hard working volunteer at one of the best attended tournament series in the nation.
Easily overlooked because she is only 4' 11", Kiralyn Brakel!
Quote from: CEValkyrie on May 28, 2007, 11:31:54 AM
Quote from: Jon Brakel on May 28, 2007, 08:13:12 AM
Did you delete my post?
No, I started a new thread that was open to the public. I didn't realize I had originally posted on a nonpublic thread.
Ah, I guess I didn't realize it either! :D
This is what I posted in the hidden thread...
All of your votes are good ones and all deserve the recognition. If I were voting this year I would vote for Angela Tschiggfrie. She is a tough, smart and good natured player. She smiles through the toughest times and, of course, played very well in 2006.
My vote for Male Rookie of the year would go to Kim Scott-Wood. A good sportsman with a very smooth game. However, I must say I think I've only seen 3 of those that have been nominated play.
I have very little knowledge of a lot of these players, so the only one that I can even bother mentioning is the Female player of the year. I met and spoke with Angela at the River Cities Rumble, and she is a super sweet person. Des was a bit stand-offish the day before, but it might have been because she was just trying to stay focused. Angela might have been in the really great mood because she won. After the ceremonies I needed to talk to the TD Chad, but he was talking to Angela at the time. She was giving Chad complements about how well he ran the tournament, and I thought that was a nice touch of hers to approach him and say that.
I personally would probably vote for Angela, but it's really just based off one day. As far as how the play goes, Des probably deserves it, but Angela definitely has the intangibles.
if niceness is even a 0.0001% factor for Player of the Year, then its a really dumb award. You might as well just vote for the best looking player because that has about as much to do with being the best as your friendliness level.
Quote from: Dan Michler on May 29, 2007, 01:29:10 PM
if niceness is even a 0.0001% factor for Player of the Year, then its a really dumb award. You might as well just vote for the best looking player because that has about as much to do with being the best as your friendliness level.
I think "niceness" is a part of sportsmanship which I believe is part of being a Player of the Year.
Quote from: Jon Brakel on May 29, 2007, 01:41:39 PM
I think "niceness" is a part of sportsmanship which I believe is part of being a Player of the Year.
Yep!
Quote from: Dan Michler on May 29, 2007, 01:29:10 PM
if niceness is even a 0.0001% factor for Player of the Year, then its a really dumb award.
You only say that Dan 'cause you're not very nice J/K >:D
Seriously though, having a good attitude & being friendly goes a long way. I'm sure everyone has played a round with someone who WASN'T friendly, or even rude, and wouldn't want to play a round in their group again. So what if you're really good, if you're a complete dick then who cares? (ex Barry Bonds)
I think Barry Bonds w/o steroids would be a very good comparison. The steroid speculation clouds everything about him. Take that out of the equation and he is still a tremendously talented player and a complete [insert derisive term here]. If Player of the Year is the best player, Barry or whatever disc golfer you want, can be Player of the Year. If its more than just "best" you would look at a good guy who is also very good but eshibits something else- sportsmanship, whatever.. Dan makes a good point. What are the criteria here? I don't know who is a *$%^@ and who is an ambassador of the sport enough to apply this. I'm just trying to figure out what the criteria are. Another issue is somebody who does something special but still isn't the best. There are better players in Illinois than Slater , but he sure did something special last year. Hmm.
The criteria have always been that it is a frickin' popularity contest. :D
Quote from: bruce_brakel on May 29, 2007, 05:19:04 PM
The criteria have always been that it is a frickin' popularity contest. :D
Then I vote for Kiralyn Brakel. I liked her stand up routine at the Lombard Awards ceremony. ;D
Yes, Barry Bonds is an excellent example! 6 time MVP despite his reputation as not being a "nice guy". I think its ridiculous if Des could dominate Angela all year long but not win the Player of the Year because she didn't shake enough hands. I think there should be a Sportsman of the Year and a Player of the Year separate. The best ambassador to the game shoudl be awarded separate from the flatout best player of the year who accomplished the most on the disc golf course.
To me voting Des was the most clear cut and easiest decision for me to make of the 6 different awards.
Des dominated all year last year. Head to head Des was 9 & 2 versus Angela. Add pro worlds mixed dubs & it's 10-2.
The hardest vote for me was the Male Rookie of the Year.
Kim Scott-Wood had some great finishes highlighted by 14th at USDGC and 19th at Worlds.. He played only 17 events. 2 Majors, 3 NT's, & 1 A-Tier. He cashed at all of those events.
Adam Olsen had a big A-Tier win.and played 31 events. He played 2 Majors, 3 NT's, & 5 A-Tiers. He cashed at 8 of those 10.
Geoff Bennett played 40 events last year. Wow! He played 3 Majors, 3 NT's, & 4 A-Tiers. He cashed at 9 of the 10. His big highlight was 12th at the USDGC.
I leaned towards Geoff since he was the only one of the 3 to play all the majors last year. He also was 2-1 head to head with Kim S-W and I felt like he should be rewarded for being a true "touring player". That win by Adam is still a big accomplishment. This vote was very tough.
All three of those guys score well in the popularity contest. I think Bennett will win because by playing more events he has met more of the voters.
Quote from: CEValkyrie on May 29, 2007, 08:22:56 PM
To me voting Des was the most clear cut and easiest decision for me to make of the 6 different awards.
Des dominated all year last year. Head to head Des was 9 & 2 versus Angela. Add pro worlds mixed dubs & it's 10-2.
hence why I said, "As far as how the play goes, Des probably deserves it." I wasn't trying to start a feud, but it at least made good discussion :) If I went just based on how nice a person was to me from the weekend of pro female players, then Barrett White gets the honor heh. I don't have a problem with the vote for Des at all.
as for how they pick an MVP (lately), let's not go there :)
I respect all the choices that Brett made. I respect all the choices on the ballot for that matter. I even respect Dan's opinion on the matter! ;D If it were just a contest for the nicest player, I would have to vote for Kiralyn!
Watching Des and Angela play side by side at McNaughton I thought that Angela has more game than Des. I think Des throws far and putts well but on courses that call for all your skills, Angela can put on a show. My experience is a little skewed because I've only seen Angela play in Peoria and I've only seen Des play in Peoria and one other event...might have been Iowa Worlds, I really don't remember. Anyway, Angela will get her year. I've seen Des and Angela play against each other for the last few years in Peoria and I can tell you that Angela has the stuff to dominate in her division in the near future.
Not so long ago only the PDGA Board voted on these awards. Then one year, last year or the year before, the Board voted for a Board member's wife for Female Rookie of the Year even though other pro rookie women won more money, had higher ratings and finished better at the majors.
Oh, also in Kiralyn's resume, for six consecutive years she has won the PDGA Season Points award for her division. Kelsey, too, for that matter. But Kelsey's streak looks to be coming to an end this year while Kiralyn looks to be marching on.