While it was entertaining watching Lizotte and McBeth hit putts, the draw was watching Smith put on a bit of a fish out of water act. However, in the intervening time between the recording, advertising, and eventual release of the video, there was no indication that Smith was interested in pursuing the game any further.
His participation in the video, and how he carried himself in the video, suggested that this was a one-off sort of thing. So what changed? Did Smith, like so many, play a couple rounds and get hooked? Or is this a more cynical effort to grow his personal brand? Smith, by his own admission, has attempted to break into a variety of brand building spaces and endeavors. Now he has entered the disc golf space with the same on-brand enthusiasm and front-facing passion as he had for those other efforts.
The response to his appearance in the Jomez video, and the attention his social media interactions with McBeth both Paul and Hannah , has shown that disc golf could offer Smith a variety of opportunities both on and off the course.
Smith has long had his Darkhorse brand stamped on Buzzzes, and one would have to assume that his branding will continue and possibly expand under this new deal with Discraft. There is nothing inherently wrong with Smith following the money and finding a space where he can be successful. It is also just as fair to wonder if, as a sport working toward building its own brand towards mainstream acceptance and legitimacy, Smith is the person we want as the most wide-reaching public ambassador for the game.
On the course, Smith will likely become very good pretty quickly. This should be no surprise. The man has made quite a living for himself based on his ability to throw a frisbee for quite some time. The questions, as noted by Terry Miller and Jon Van Deurzen, will be how he manages tournament golf, adversity, and shot development.
Smith represents possibilities galore. He might become one of the top players in the game; he might not. He might be able to leverage his impressive social media following and push disc golf further into the mainstream; he might not. Smith is not going to instantly transform the landscape of disc golf on or off the course.
Regardless of what you think of him or his motives for getting involved in the game, he is likely to bring in new fans and inspire some folks to pick up some plastic, and, like his trick shots, that is undeniably cool. Chris is a contributor at Ultiworld Disc Golf. He lives and works on Cape Cod in Massachusetts where he plays as much disc golf as he can, and reminds people he lives on Cape Cod. Pumping out a string of extraordinary but disconnected social media posts quickly becomes a sideshow, a series of temporary amusements whose effects wear off in the time it takes to walk by or keep scrolling.
Smith has been a disc golfer for like ten seconds and millions of people already know his story: he rises to greatness in ultimate, sustains brutal injuries , falls from athletic glory, is reborn the Trickster King on YouTube, tries to go pro in ball golf, fails to make the cut, and now the Cinderella man is brushing off the ashes and starting anew in disc golf.
Can he do it? Can an ultimate player transition to disc golf successfully? What will happen to him along the way? Will the glass slipper fit? Will the masses rejoice? Discraft gambled on Mr. Smith not because of his amusing trick shots, but because lots of people want answers to these questions, and Mr. Smith is able and willing to arrange them in an interesting story. Not exactly. But their tales share a common thread — namely, the slightly annoying story arc where a hero enjoys a privileged social position, and yet, plays the role of a courageous underdog Last Samurai, anyone?
Smith in the near term. As he begins a tournament career in disc golf, the bumps and bruises he experiences — even humiliating defeats — will only enhance his story and keep people curious. A long string of mildly disappointing performances could hurt his brand, but he really has nothing to lose for the time being. In fact, all the pressure is on his competition. If the top professionals beat him, they just beat a noob.
But if Mr. Smith rises to the top of the MPO in an upcoming tournament, the pros will have lost to a noob who is sure to tell two million people about it.
The only way Mr. Smith can lose is by failing to be earnest. His current passion for disc golf seems authentic in his nonstop social media posts. If you would like to see more articles like this one and no pop-up ads , please like Parked on Facebook and subscribe to our newsletter by entering your email address below. Parked is made possible in part by a grant from the Professional Disc Golf Association.
Like Liked by 1 person. I apologize if posting your rating was a bit intrusive. Just going after the story. Any thoughts on Mr. Like Like. I try to spend as much time as I can outside. When he fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. He helped Mayweather bring record eyeballs. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account.
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