2017 National Amateur:
Keeper says, "It's Time to Throw the Catfish!"
-a competitor's perspective
By: Jamie Woodson #47
In Detroit, there is a long
standing tradition that dates back to 1952. The Red Wings' fans throw an
octopus on the ice at home games during the playoffs. A pretty funky tradition,
if you ask me. That said, it happens to correspond with the fact that the Red
Wings have won the Stanley Cup eight times. So there's that!
About 15 years ago, a
Nashville Predators fan threw a catfish on the ice as Nashville's version of
the tradition. And, it just stuck. Now, when the Preds are in the playoffs, a
catfish is thrown on the ice at every home playoff game. It's funky and fun and
is always a crowd pleaser.
My sister, Mary Anne, sent
me this "Throw the Catfish" t-shirt (image attached). It arrived here
in Wisconsin special delivery. When I heard the judges were setting up for a
pretty narrow water triple for the second series of the National Amateur, I
knew it was time to break out the shirt. For those of you who are
wondering... No, I didn't bring a catfish to throw!
Check out our Retriever
News Blog for a detailed description of the test. Bottom line, it's tight with
very well placed birds at the two dead bird stations. Keeper and I
were the 6th dog/handler team to run the test.
In many ways, it's just not
her kind of test. She likes big open tests and is generally uncomfortable
running tight to guns and with secondary selection - just the kind of
challenges that are very common in a national.
After 10 years of
partnership with this awesome dog, I knew we were just going to have to smile,
RELAX, and try to stay as loose as possible. I decided that no matter what
happened, we were going to enjoy the ride - even if we got bucked off! So, the
silly shirt just felt right.
Watching the test dogs, I
was debating... Do I get the go-bird flyer, then short retired, then long
outside out-guns? Or, do I pick up the go-bird flyer, get the outside long bird
second, then the middle retired? It seemed to me that the proper
order would be back around the horn - outside, middle, right.
But then I remembered, I'm
running Keeper. And, Keeper doesn't always play by the proper rules. She likely
would not be comfortable going for the middle bird second. When my coach, Ray
Voigt, shared that his instinct for Keeper was to go outside, outside, middle -
I knew I had a plan. A plan that was certainly subject to a game time audible,
but a plan none the less.
I'm not sure if it was the
silly shirt or feeling relaxed or my sweet husband Bill's pre-game pep talk,
but Keeper settled into the test and completed it without a handle. So proud of
my girl. It was hard for her. She was uncomfortable, but she wore her big girl
pants today and did it!
Now, it's time to nervously
wait to watch Bill and Baby #61 run the test. Wishing them the best of luck!
Until next time, may the
wind be with you and your flyers be friendly.
