Right from the get-go, I assure you that this article isn’t any kind of “troll job” on my part. You won’t find a bigger fan of Paul McBeth than me – the dude’s the best our sport’s ever seen. He’s not necessarily the best at any one discipline, but come crunch time, he owns the MPO field.
I will add this, though: He’s capable of losing – of being bested by somebody else …
That’s a thing.
Long gone are the days of 2012 when he and Ricky Wysocki could show up to a course in flip-flops and pajama pants and wipe the floor with the “competition.” The Buhrs, McMahons, Heimburgs and Dickersons of the world were watching – now they’re pushing him to his limit.
I don’t know if this trend is a result of that, but lately, it seems McBeth’s built a bit of a habit of taking to the interwebs to voice a complaint or two – ONLY after a close loss, though …
It’s not a pretty color on him.
For starters, remember this from last season?
James Conrad’s throw-in was incredible – our sport will likely not see another moment like that for a good while. But it wasn’t the end of McBeth’s bid for a sixth World Championship …
No, that came during the lone playoff hole on the 16th tee at The Fort in Ogden, Utah. You know how this story plays out: From the elevated box, McBeth went long and into the water on the island green. Conrad parked his MVP Entropy (it wasn’t an Axiom Envy, BTW), and that’s all she wrote …
An epic defeat.
Shortly after the loss, McBeth went on “The Nick & Matt Show” to talk about his experience at Worlds. He was open. He was honest. It made for awesome listening. He did, however, mention his displeasure with the teepad on the 16th playoff hole, as the grain of the astroturf placed atop it went opposite the rest of the course’s teepads. This complicated his footing; he threw OB.
Not a great look, but hey – one instance of this is hardly anything to write home about …
There’s more, though – from EXCLUSIVELY this season:
1. Via Instagram, McBeth on his 2nd place finish at The Open at Belton:
“I dug a hole too deep to climb out of with my first round, but I must say, I’m extremely proud with my 2nd place finish. I was suffering from food poisoning immediately after my second round. Physically, I was as drained as it gets, but mentally, I knew I still had some fight in me to make a run at the top.”
2. Via Instagram, McBeth on Jonesboro, in light of the Champions Cup:
“I’ve been contemplating skipping this event since the practice rounds at Champions Cups, because of this lingering injury I’ve been dealing with in my elbow and tricep. Six hours of PT and working on it continuously, I finally feel confident enough to play this weekend.”
3. Via Instagram, McBeth on his playoff loss at the Jonesboro Open:
“I am, though, really disappointed in the way this tournament ended for me. I was feeling great, especially on the 2nd half of the course. Battling and finding a way to claw back and force a playoff just to have the tee pad rip off the ground and scrunch up causing an extremely errant throw.”
* Note: For context, to read McBeth’s comments in their entirety, click on the above links.
Here’s the slowed down view of @Paul_McBeth’s drive on the first playoff hole. Significant movement on the tee pad. Every disc golfer knows that plant-foot slippage = bad throw almost 100% of the time. pic.twitter.com/2C06KBa5iC
— Another Round (@AnotherRound_DG) April 25, 2022
Remember: The 2022 disc golf season is young – McBeth’s only played in seven events, thus far. Three were followed up with comments like the above. He won three others. That leaves the Texas State Championship as his ONLY non-win without any kind of qualifying comment …
Or “complaint.” Or “excuse.”
I’ll let you find the best word for it.
Again, apart from last year’s World Championships, everything discussed in this article is from a season that’s three months young – this is McBeth’s 16th year as a pro. For all I know, there’s an endless supply of these pretext-laden, hindsight-driven comments out there …
Do sucky teepads blow chunks? Yes. Is food poisoning horribly bad luck? Of course. Are painful injuries legitimate reasons for not winning an event? Yeah, nobody’s going to argue against that.
But for the GOAT that McBeth is, these kinds of comments not only feel beneath him …
They ARE beneath him – it’s as simple as that.
Have anything to add? Take to Twitter to let us know – we’ll actually (for real) get back to you.
Editor’s Suggestions:
- Simon Lizotte is back
- Kristin Tattar is annihilating Jonesboro
- Disc golf: 4 of the most ‘meh’ player logos on the Pro Tour
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It’s tough, we are going to criticize someone when they are honest, and we criticize them when they don’t say anything. He was just speaking his truth
Benjamin, couldn’t agree more …
The point of this article, however, doesn’t zero in on SOLELY the “teepad” issue.
It’s a broader issue, spanning a number of tournaments dating back to last year …
And ONLY tournaments he’s lost, though – does that make sense?
Nothing wrong with being honest, but it does start to look a bit “weird” when that honesty only comes out after a loss, you know?
Just some food for thought – you might VERY WELL be right, though!
Can’t thank you enough for reading!
Green Splatter welcomes all kinds of viewpoints – appreciate (and respect the heck out of) yours, my man 🙂
I love Vinny’ game and Conrad made a fan out of me with his performance in the World Championships, having said that I have nothing against McBeth.
I completely agree with your take in this article and appreciate the facts and evidence that you’ve presented.
What I would add from an audience perspective is-
It takes away from the victory of these top level players like Vinny or Conrad, when the GOAT, McBeth himself, focuses on external factors that led to his defeat, rather than actually addressing and complementing the winners, their craft and their fight.
Vish, couldn’t agree more!
And I don’t think he’s trying to do that, either …
Like, take away from others’ victories: McBeth’s not like that.
But inadvertent or not, it happens – great point!
Thanks for reading 🙂
I understand the criticism, but I think it also shines a light on the competitor that McBeth is. I’d love to see less of the complaining (even though he has a legitimate gripe with the teepad), but I respect that even after all these years and all of the success, he’s still got that fire. Reminds me of Tom Brady.
***And no I’m not a McBeth fanboy, I’m usually rooting for an underdog***
Craig, my man, couldn’t agree more …
I think you’ll see a similar sentiment reflected in a few other comments under this article, as well.
Jordan was that way. Brady is that way. McBeth is that way, too.
I’m not referring to the “complaints” side of things, BTW …
More the “I’m the best and will win at all costs” mentality.
Maybe this is part of what makes McBeth the greatest?
You’re 100% onto something – thanks, dude!
You guys have a knack on focusing on negative aspects. You’re quick to say the things that you want changed with the sport but then disregard how someone else views the sport. In this case I don’t see it as Macbeth complaining as much as making a statement. With the food poisoning issue he said he was proud to have finished second especially since he had food poisoning in the second round. That’s not making excuses that simply stating what happened. The one where he said he was battling injuries is even more nitpicky from you guys. Ask any professional athlete why they didn’t achieve their goals and there’s always a reason behind it, injury being typically top of the list. He is being interviewed for content. Therefore they’re going to ask the questions that get him to talk more. I have no problems with Macbeth whatsoever and I’m not his biggest fan but you guys trying to qualify a negative hit piece by prefacing with oh I love Macbeth but let me talk about all the negative aspects is really getting old. A little more glass half full View might come off less bratty after all one of your previous articles stated that the pros owe us nothing.
Thanks for reading, Joe!
Always appreciate the feedback 🙂
What a truly idiotic take. Disc golf must be the only sport you follow. smh
If it makes you feel any better, it’s not.
And regardless of sport (or athlete), post-loss complaints are …
Lame.