Welcome to my first "Inside USA Shooting" blog entry. When Outdoor Channel asked me to start this blog, I jumped at the chance – mostly because I think there are so many interesting things that happen while we are covering USA Shooting events, and we just can't fit it all of them into our half-hour shows. So having a forum to tell more stories and share more of the fun with our viewers is great for me.
One of my favorite experiences of this show came in September of 2007 when we went to Colorado for the fall selection match in shotgun. That match was the first step in determining the Olympic Team for 2008. You combine the fall scores with the spring selection scores to determine who makes the team. I'm starting our blog there because that was the moment that the notion of "The Olympics" really hit home. We always knew this series would eventually lead us up to the 2008 games, but it was the fall selection match where we strongly felt the presence of the games – Olympic rings on the flags and banners, official "Olympic Selection Match" bibs on the shooters, stuff like that. Just knowing that THIS group of shooters would provide the ones going to Beijing was amazing. I grew up as a big fan of the Olympics, so for me personally, it was exciting to be there. I had to pause and let it sink in that we were talking to, hanging out with and getting to know Olympians. How cool is that?
What amazed me about the shooters at the event is that none of them seemed overly impressed by the moment. And I mean that as a compliment. I was chewing my fingernails and watching every shot like my life depended on it. I was watching the younger athletes like they were my own kids, watching the older ones like they were brothers and sisters. I mean, think about it – the Olympics only come every four years. You may only have one legitimate chance in your life to make the team. All those practice rounds and days at the range coming down to this event. How can you not be shaking in your boots?
From the looks of things, these shooters were not.
While I was living and dying on each target, the shooters themselves behaved like they were on their local range for a Saturday morning club match. I guess that's how you have to be to succeed at this level. If you start to think too much about what each shot "could" mean to your future, then you'll lose your focus. Elite athletes in any sport are a different breed when it comes to mental strength, and in shooting, it's no different.
I asked one of the double-trap shooters – Bill Keever, a member of the Army Marksmanship Unit – what he thinks about when he's shooting. He said, "Nothing but the next target." He made it sound so easy when it really is not. I don't know about you, but even when I am most focused on something – perhaps when I am writing a story for the show – even then my mind wanders to other things, like my kids or bills I have to pay or what I'm having for dinner. Not these athletes. I truly believe they can blank out everything but "the next target." And that's what makes them Olympians.
Shotgun shooters are also amazing in their ability to change personalities seemingly at a moment's notice. Three minutes before he was scheduled to compete, Keever was chatting with his Army double-trap teammates – Josh Richmond, Jeff Holguin and Glen Eller. They were planning their post-match hike and trash-talking each other about their basketball pick-up game the day before. Laughs and giggles all around. Then Keever steps onto the range, his face becomes as still as a statue in a museum, and he fires a round of 47 out of 50. As the final target explodes, he high-fives a teammate, shakes a judges hand and then looks at me and – get this! – winks, smirks and says, "I blasted that last one, didn't I?!" It just amazed me. I was still trying to catch my breath and I wasn't even out there. I nodded in agreement as he wandered back to his teammates, already yelling that they were all "gonna get a beating on the court tonight," acting like the round he just shot was just for practice when in fact it was part of a career-defining moment.
One of the things I promised Outdoor Channel is that this blog would give you some "inside info" that will help you get to know these shooters as "people" and not just "athletes." It might not be earth-shattering, but it will certainly help you get to know the folks representing you across the globe. So here's something for you relating to the Keever story: The double-trap shooters did indeed go for a hike after that round – up Pike's Peak, the famous site in Colorado Springs that has a 7,400 foot elevation rise from the base of the trail. Then they played some more pick-up basketball. Eller is the tallest of the four, but Richmond isn't far behind and he played ball in high school. So there's some skill there. Holguin plays like he does everything – quietly and cerebrally. Keever is quick, athletic and full of trash talk. FULL of trash talk. They went to Chili's for dinner and a few beers, and most likely didn't spend one minute that evening thinking that the next day could decide their Olympic fate. And that just amazes me.
See you on the next blog when we'll talk about rifle shooter Matt Emmons. I'll give you some insight about the most polite, humble and respectful Olympic Gold Medalist you'll ever meet. Til then, keep watching "Inside USA Shooting" on Outdoor Channel.
