Happy Hurricane, moping Moo

The Moo is out. The Mighty Carolina Hurricane is in. And Darron Barrus, a podiatrist from Pelham, Ala., is headed to ESPN Great Outdoor Games V in Madison, Wis., July 8-11 to compete in the Disc Drive competition.

It's a funny story, actually, and it began years ago.

"This is no joke, although it sounds phony," Barrus warns. "I remember seeing Ashley Whippet, the first Frisbee dog, when I was nothing but a 10-year-old kid. I remember thinking, 'Man, that is cool.' But we had a poodle, and then a Lhasa Apso, and I thought, 'I'm going to have to wait until I grow up.'

Years later, Barrus adopted The Moo, a 2-year-old border collie, from his mother.

"She just lit up when I brought out a Frisbee (disc)," he said. "She started catching it and I got on the Internet and realized there was a club here in Alabama.

"The male ego got the best of me and I said, 'Let's see how far I can throw this thing.' And The Moo's pretty quick, so we did OK."

Two years later, Barrus and The Moo are making a name for themselves on the disc dog circuit, particularly excelling in Disc Drive competitions, in which Barrus throws for distance, with The Moo acting as a wide receiver. If The Moo catches Barrus' throw, the throw's distance is recorded and marked against other teams' throws. The longest recorded throw wins.

And that brought them to the Atlanta DogWorks, where Barrus hoped to qualify himself and The Moo for this summer's Great Outdoor Games.

"Before I went on this trip, this girl, Susan Markham, came up to me and said, 'I can't throw very far but I'm going to be at this event. Would you like to throw for my dog?'

"This dog - The Mighty Carolina Hurricane - can jump like no other," Barrus said. "I'm not kidding. He is a leaper. The only problem is, sometimes he gets overexuberant and he'll jump too early and miss the disc."

Markham - and, presumably, the Hurricane - are equally enthusiastic about Barrus.

"He brings great enthusiasm to the game, really good character," the Charlotte, N.C., customer service representative said. "He really cheers for and encourages other competitors. And he's got a great throwing arm.

"Poor Hurricane's disadvantaged in that I throw for him."

So, Barrus entered the competition as the handler for both dogs, inching both The Moo and The Mighty Carolina Hurricane into the second round. The Moo was in fourth place after catching a 72-meter throw, with The Hurricane at the back of the pack with a 55-meter throw.

But in the semifinal round, those positions flipped, and the Hurricane caught a huge throw that pushed him into second place. Only the top four dogs made the cut into the finals, and The Moo landed in fifth.

"I missed making the finals with my own dog by 4 centimeters," Barrus sighs. "I had to crate her up and go for The Hurricane."

And that was when the magic happened.

"What happens is, when the wind blows behind you, when you throw the Frisbee (disc), the wind will just drop the disc," Barrus explains. "I get up there and I haul off and absolutely gorilla this thing. It's out there. All of a sudden, the Frisbee just shot up in the air. And all of a sudden, it goes up a little bit again. The Hurricane is such a jumper, one of the judges told me he caught it and actually carried it forward a few feet.

"My God, we were all just going crazy and it was spectacular."

The throw, which measured 82.7 meters, smashed the previous world record of 77.24 meters and was the last successful throw of the day, making Barrus and The Hurricane the tournament's winners and the first team to be invited to the Great Outdoor Games.

There was just one downside: The Moo will not be along for the adventure.

"You can only go with your highest-ranked dog," Barrus said. "Since I qualified with The Hurricane, I can't go with The Moo."

Fly guys strategize

The anglers who qualified for the Great Outdoor Games One-Fish Fly Fishing Competition are already looking forward to the July event. The one upside to the long wait? Plenty of time for research and practice.

A lot of the anglers' strategies will depend upon the eventual site of the fly fishing, which be announced at a later date. But Mike Dawes, an Idaho guide who competed in the 2002 Games, already has a few ideas.

"If it's a trophy fishery or if it's stocked or all made of fish, I think my strategy will change depending on what the fishing's like," he said. "I'm definitely going to be working on the casting a little more."

Although the most recent batch of anglers qualified through a saltwater flats tournament in the Florida Keys, they are definitely anticipating the opportunity to fish the scenic waters of the West.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it," said Steve Bechard of Oneida, N.Y. "I started fishing, like everyone my age, when I saw 'A River Runs Through It.'"

Outdoors onscreen

The telecast schedule for Great Outdoor Games V presented by Dodge will begin July 14, with shows airing on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. A schedule of original telecasts:

2004 Great Outdoor Games
Note: All time are tentative — please check back for updated television listings

Show No.	Date	Time	Network
1	7/14	9-11 p.m.	ESPN
2	7/15	12-1 a.m.	ESPN
3	7/15	9-11 p.m.	ESPN
4	7/16	12-1 a.m.	ESPN
5	7/16	9-11 p.m.	ESPN
6	7/17	3:30-4:30	ABC
7	7/17	4:30-7 p.m.	ESPN
8	7/17	9-11 p.m.	ESPN
9	7/18	1-3:30 p.m.	ESPN
10	7/18	3:30-5 p.m.	ABC