Baby Boomer bounced by boomer baby

The consolation round of the Men's Boom Run pitted Fred Scheer, 44, a three-time world champion, against his 21-year-old son, Cassidy Scheer, marking the first time the two have raced directly in the son's seven years of competing, Cassidy Scheer said.

"I was kind of dreading it, actually, I really didn't want to go against him," said the younger Scheer. "I don't want to lose to my dad."

He didn't, though he was off-balance and leaning drastically for much of his return trip across the boom. Cassidy Scheer finished in 17.46 seconds, a step ahead of his father's 18.22 seconds, and won his first ESPN Great Outdoor Games medal.

"I was trying to beat him, there was no doubt," Fred Scheer said. "I had no second thoughts about, this is my son. It was just another guy. Although, the only positive was, if I didn't beat this person, my son won a bronze medal."

Silver medalist inspired

One Fish Fly Fishing silver medalist Andy Fisher of Cody, Wyo., admitted he felt "jittery" after competing in Wednesday's fly casting competition in front of a vocal crowd and ESPN cameras on Mirror Lake.

Fisher was seeded seventh in the 12-angler field based on his score in Fly Casting. But the nervousness left when he waded into the Au Sable River Thursday.

"I felt confident again," Fisher said.

That confidence quickly grew, as he caught four trout in the first hour and 15 minutes. The first three measured 13.5, 14 and 14.5 inches. Fisher was ready to designate the 14.5 as his fish of the day and call it quits. But Fisher's rod caddy, Foster Hetherington of nearby Vermont, urged him to keep casting.

Section 1 of the Ausable is heavily shaded. It's not considered one of the primo fishing sections. Fisher knew he needed to catch a bigger fish before the sun got up on his spot. And it wasn't long before he landed the 16.75-inch brown trout that earned him the silver medal.

Fisher was quick to give credit to three people. The first was Heatherington, an inspirational story in himself. Hetherington lost a brother in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 and has established a foundation in his honor to promote outdoor sports.

Secondly, Fisher mentioned Fran Betters, a local fly shop owner. Fisher said he usually doesn't buy fly patterns; he ties what he needs. But after talking with Betters he left the shop with an Ausable Bomber that Betters created.

It turned out to be the fly that earned Fisher the silver medal.

Finally, Fisher credited Alva Fisher, his grandmother, who died 10 years ago.

She was a rare breed — a woman who enjoyed fly fishing in the early 60s and 70s. Fisher has a bamboo rod of his grandmother's that continues to be an inspiration.

All in all, Fisher had no complaints about his first fishing trip to the eastern U.S.

"I just wanted to finish in the top five," Fisher said. "That was my goal. Getting a silver medal is way beyond that. I'm ecstatic."

There had to be at least one

Carter Andrews of Crooked Island, Bahamas, had the best "one that got away" story. Andrews, who won a brown medal last year, and earned the No. 1 seed this year with his casting ability, started fishing Section 6 with a streamer Thursday morning. Andrews was concentrating on following the fly in the early morning light.

In retrieving his third cast, Andrews brought the fly almost to his rod tip.

That's when he glanced to one side and caught the image of a 22 to 24-inch brown trout closely following the streamer.

"It was too close," Andrews said. "There was no chance to hook that fish. He saw me and just blew out of there."

Never to be seen again in the One Fish Fly Fishing competition.

Overheard

"I'll take on Fred. He's a lot older."
— Boom runner JR Salzman, 23, after winning the first semifinal round, asked whether he'd prefer to face Fred Scheer, 44, or Jamie Fischer, 21, in the finals.

"When I won my first world championship in 1978, he wasn't even born. And when I won again in 1981, he was in diapers."
— Fred Scheer in response to Salzman's assessment. Salzman lost to Fischer in the finals.

Dog Tunes

The background music playing at the ESPN Great Outdoor Games' Large and Small Dog Agility has literally gone to the dogs. Each dog runs through the 20 obstacles scattered across the course to music chosen just for them by their owners. Dogs are running the course to the music of "Bad to the Bone" by George Thoroughgood, Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run," and "Ready to Run" by the Dixie Chicks.

Jet lag

Two of the Bass Fishing athletes had to forgo practicing for the event but neither complained. Rick Clunn and Kevin VanDam, two of the 10 anglers competing for the gold on the Saranac Chain of Lakes, were in the running for Best Outdoor Sports Athlete at the ESPY Awards held on Wednesday evening in Los Angeles.

The award was won by VanDam, bass fishing's defending world champion.

"The coolest part of the whole thing was having John Madden hand me the award," said VanDam. "It is unbelievable to think I would even be here, but to be the first time and the first winner is amazing."

VanDam and Clunn caught a plane after the ceremonies and flew to the Adirondacks to join their peers at the Great Outdoor Games.

Sock it to me

What will it take to get four-time BASS Masters Classic champion Rick Clunn in socks?

It's a mystery that baffled bundled-up 2001 Great Outdoor Games gold medalist Peter Thliveros. Thliveros joined Clunn at 6 a.m. Friday for the bass fishing launch and pointed out that the ESPY Award-nominated angler was wearing a heavy coat, long pants, a sweatshirt and cap and Clunn's trademark footwear — sandals.

Overheard

"He wins, I win. I win, I win."
— Fred Scheer commenting on competing against his son Cassidy

Back this up

Last year's bronze medalist in Large Agility, Blitz (handled by Stacy Peardot-Goudy) has officially retired.

Blitz has a disk problem and can't jump. His running buddy, Secret (also handled by Peardot-Goudy) won silver last year, and was in third after the first Standard Round today.

Finger flip

"It's just a finger."
— Shana Martin, when asked if her sprained finger (from a fall in the finals) would hinder her performance

Where is it?

John Kline has been training his Labrador, Haley, in an unconventional way in preparation for the Big Air competition.

Kline believes that getting the dog to really drive down the ramp harder is key to bringing home a medal. In an effort to increase Haley's excitement and get her to kick it up a notch on the ramp, he has kept her away from the two things she loves most — water and her favorite bumper. They haven't jumped off a dock in seven days and Haley hasn't seen her favorite bumper in a month.

Peanuts or pretzels?

Some of the Agility competitors have obtained Celebrity Flying Status for their dogs on commercial flights. If the weather prohibits the dogs from staying in their kennels in the cargo compartment, they can actually bring their dogs aboard on a leash and get a seat for them in the cabin. They actually buckle them in with a seatbelt (somehow) as well.

Bear hands

Mel Lentz (Hotsaw Gold 2001) keeps his medal in a prominent place in his Diana, WV home. He has a carved bear at the foot of his staircase that is holding up one arm to wave. Now he's holding up Lentz's Gold medal.

"It gives me a good feeling first thing every morning when I walk down the stairs."

Meanwhile, Matt Bush doesn't seem to need any reminders of his many victories in timber competition.

According to Bush, "I give my medals to my kids to play with, last week I ran over one with a lawn mower."

Hero in the family

Retriever competitor, Tardy, handled by Phyllis Giroux, has a litter mate that was the first search and rescue dog into the Pentagon on 9/11.

Sliding through

Chris Parker applies Vaseline to her dog Mayhem's nose before an Agility run to help him glide through the weave poles easily.

Booming fans

The number of Great Outdoor Games fans is booming. Over double the number of fans attended Friday's events as compared to last year. Over 13,000 people watched the venues in Lake Placid today — last year, on the same day, 5,290 enjoyed them. To date, 21,450 people have attended the 2002 Great Outdoor Games.