Lost Heros

Earlier today I was wondering what happened to this great disc player I heard of Cameron Todd. After reading tale on here of how Disc Golf lost a great player I also wondered. Scott Stokely, Ron Russell.

I mean players that would change how things are right now at top ranks. I mean Stokely was in top 6 of World Champs from like 95' to 01'. Todd started pro in 2000 and won world champ in '01, amazing. Ron Russell had some nice rankings in there too.

Just made me think what happened to all this great talent? I've heard a rumor that Stokely blew out his arm or elbow. I heard the 2nd hand drama of Todd. So just looking for info, also is there other great talents that have slipped through as well that I might not heard of or listed?

Also noticed that Cameron Todd started off as a Innova player and then went to Discraft. I was curious about that also, cause it seems odd for a pro player to switch companies like that.

I wasn't playing then so it's all new to me. I just hear about these great players here and there that seem to not be around anymore. Which in a 2000 interview Todd said he would tour for the rest of his life, obivously not. It's too bad to see lost talent.

[don]

Scott Stokely has his own web site and he goes into great detail of why he switched from Innova to Discraft. Not sure about the others. I would like to see him on tour, it would be great to see how he would compete.

[Roy]

oh, I didn't know Stokley used to play for Innova as well. I noticed Cameron Todd switched. I guess I always heard about him throwing the XL world recordfor 6yrs straight in the 90's

I think if Cam was still in the game he would be Discraft's golden boy, not Nate. Don't get me wrong Nate is amazing player. But Cam got world champ on his 2nd pro. year, I'm sure he would have picked up a couple more by now.

It's sad for the sport when we lose great players like Cam, Scott, Ron.

I tried to go to Scott's website from a link on Avery's website and it's gone. Nothing would come up. It's like those 3 guys just disappeared.

[Roy]

Yeah I read somewhere that Scott was in the top 6 in all World Championships from 1990-2000. I would love to pick up his instructional dvdsome time, but beat it has some really great tips on it. I believe it's 3 different dvd's.

[don]

yea it is great he has so much to say. here is his link. http://www.scottstokely.com/ask_scott.htm I was on there just today.

[biscgolf]

ron lives in florida and plays a few events here and there. he had a lot of back trouble years ago so i'd imagine that keeps his dg activity down. cam lives outside charlotte and plays occasionally according to rumor.

both were (and i'm sure still are) good guys off the course- the pressures of being a touring disc golfer took a toll on both of them at times on the course. not unusual- it can be a tough life when that last missed putt is one less cheeseburger you get to eat or one less tank of gas to get to the next town. this is one reason why you see guys like climo, feldberg, jenkins, doss, schultz, etc play more limited schedules than the road warriors of the late 90's early 2000's.

at the point that cam switched to discraft from innova discraft simply offered more tangible benefits to the players. there was also some frustration on his part with innova not offering a signature disc when he won worlds. nothing odd there- a number of folks have switched over the years.

cam was the best long putter i have ever seen. ron could throw a comet like no other.

[Roy]

Thanks, that answered a lot of my questions. Yeah, sounds like Cam didn't take any b.s., it's too bad for sport though I think. It's always nice to see somebody really good, makes the sport more interesting. There is only so many players that are that good, you know like top 4 or 5 players ranking good.

biscgolf said:

ron lives in florida and plays a few events here and there. he had a lot of back trouble years ago so i'd imagine that keeps his dg activity down. cam lives outside charlotte and plays occasionally according to rumor.

both were (and i'm sure still are) good guys off the course- the pressures of being a touring disc golfer took a toll on both of them at times on the course. not unusual- it can be a tough life when that last missed putt is one less cheeseburger you get to eat or one less tank of gas to get to the next town. this is one reason why you see guys like climo, feldberg, jenkins, doss, schultz, etc play more limited schedules than the road warriors of the late 90's early 2000's.

at the point that cam switched to discraft from innova discraft simply offered more tangible benefits to the players. there was also some frustration on his part with innova not offering a signature disc when he won worlds. nothing odd there- a number of folks have switched over the years.

cam was the best long putter i have ever seen. ron could throw a comet like no other.

[MADude!]

All I know about Cameron is that major stuff went down at the 04 Hambrick memorial. His punishment that ultimately made him quit is outlined on the second page 3rd paragraph under "Board Teleconference", in the pdga minutes at http://www.pdga.com/files/documents/2004-09-27BODMeetingMinutesAppr....

Ron Russell had some health issues, but also seemed deflated (and complained) he didnt get as much respect as Ken after his worlds victory.

I always thought the reason Scott stopped touring was because he had a kid around 2000, which touring extensively wouldn't be an ideal life for a baby. He's still a great guy tho the other two were known for having tempers and whining on numerous occasions I saw a couple of these instances first hand when I was just a junior player.

[Roy]

thanks for the info and link. Yeah you can just tell Scott is a great guy by the way he comes off with help and seems to come off very respectful. You can tell he really cares about helping people in this sport.

I never seen enough of Ron to judge his temper. I've heard several times so far that Todd had a bad temper. It's just sad to see great talent gone. Seems a waste, all over a one thing, sounds like being a pro. player got to him, like if it wasn't this event to set him off totally another would have happened shortly down the road. Maybe he realized that and why he left even though he paid his 2nd place winnings from I believe USDGC. Or maybe it was the fact that he didn't want to be watched for a year, who knows.

Personally I would have taken the 2mth. suspension over a year probation and pay $4,000 in winnings. I'm sure he could have lost more then that in 2mths in winnings, but then it's over and done with. I guess why even show up to the USDGC and play knowing your leaving or maybe handing over $4,000 was the final thing for him to say fuck this.

They always said that do what you love for a living is the easiest way to destroy the thing you love doing (something to that effect).

MADude! said:

All I know about Cameron is that major stuff went down at the 04 Hambrick memorial. His punishment that ultimately made him quit is outlined on the second page 3rd paragraph under "Board Teleconference", in the pdga minutes at http://www.pdga.com/files/documents/2004-09-27BODMeetingMinutesAppr....

Ron Russell had some health issues, but also seemed deflated (and complained) he didnt get as much respect as Ken after his worlds victory.

I always thought the reason Scott stopped touring was because he had a kid around 2000, which touring extensively wouldn't be an ideal life for a baby. He's still a great guy tho the other two were known for having tempers and whining on numerous occasions I saw a couple of these instances first hand when I was just a junior player.