Jump in and watch some videos from the past by two of the best
February 9, 2018 by Alex Colucci in Video with 0 comments
It’s nearly the end of the offseason with the start of the PDGA National Tour less than a month away. You’ve probably exhausted your backlog of 2017 tournament footage from the big names like Jomez Productions, Central Coast Disc Golf, SpinTV, TheDiscGolfGuy, Prodigy Disc Video and SmashboxxTV, and are now desperately searching for something new to hold you over.
Luckily, there are plenty of videos out there to be found. That includes hits from the early days of disc golf media. The sport lost two trailblazing media figures over the last few months. Brian Sullivan and Carl Cubbedge each made a significant impact on the growth of the sport and were instrumental in laying the foundation for our current media landscape. Below, we’ll take a quick dive into their work and the video content they helped produce.
DiscTV and Brian Sullivan
Sullivan served as Discraft’s marketing director and founded a number of other early media ventures, including DiscTV, PDGA Radio, and DiscLife.com, where he shared travel notes from some of the sport’s earliest touring professionals.
He also made an impact on the early days of Ultiworld Disc Golf. Here’s publisher Charlie Eisenhood relaying that story on a recent episode of The Upshot:
“Brian was one of the first people I had contact with at Discraft. A few years ago he emailed me out of the blue…this was when we were only doing an Ultimate website, but he said, ‘I just want to say that you guys are doing awesome stuff. As somebody who has worked in disc media, I know how hard it is, and I just wanted to say thanks for all the hard work you do.’ And ultimately he was one of the people who really encouraged the eventual existence of the disc golf website, Ultiworld Disc Golf here. And he was on board right away, he was the first person to say he wanted to be involved, and they signed a contract with us for some advertising really before the website even launched.”
In early 2017 Sullivan created a YouTube channel for DiscTV, and throughout the year uploaded 32 episodes of the long-running show. The accompanying Facebook page for the channel organizes many of the episodes by content type. There, you can watch tournament coverage, instructional videos, player interviews and more.
A few highlights from the channel’s backlog are the 2002 New York State Championship where you can get a sense of what early tournament coverage was like while watching familiar names Steve Brinster, Brian Schweberger, and Brian McRee at Warwick Park. An instructional video focusing on “patent pending” approach shots with five-time PDGA World Champion Juliana Korver. And, a lighthearted segment with some tournaments tips from the WinniCrew, featuring Dave Feldberg, Avery Jenkins, Todd Branch and Cameron Rauenhorst.
Disc Golf Monthly and Carl Cubbedge
Carl Cubbedge was the longtime voice of Disc Golf Monthly, beginning in 2008, and the channel recently released a video featuring some of his best moments on the mic.
As the voice of one of the first channels dedicated to producing tournament coverage with commentary, Cubbedge’s style influenced subsequent videographers who sought to produce their own tournament coverage.
“DGM and Carl were a huge inspiration in starting CCDG and what our videos should be like,” Ian Anderson of Central Coast Disc Golf said in an email. “I loved Carl’s commentary, so naturally I thought CCDG should have commentary too. The man was a pioneer and great at what he did, he’s missed a ton.”
For many disc golfers who picked up the sport in the early 2010s, DGM was one of the first places they would find disc golf video content online, and Cubbedge’s voice would often be the first they’d hear. Coverage of the 20th Seneca Creek Soiree, featuring a young Ricky Wysocki and Jeremy Koling, was one of the first tournament videos I remember watching. And the channel’s instructional content, recently compiled in a best of video, offers a wealth of useful information. With hundreds of other videos to choose from, Cubbedge’s contributions can be enjoyed for hours on end.
