ESPN is running the sixth installment of this event, which combines timber sports with dog competitions and with things you'd even see in the Olympics (shooting and archery). This year they've even added ATV racing, which I can't say interests me. But I'm sure there are ATV enthusiasts who don't share my love for big air dogs.
The host site this year is Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando, which is proving difficult in two respects:
1. Crowds appear to be sparse more often than packed, especially in comparison to turn-out in more obvious locations (like Lake Placid).
2. The recent run of bad weather caused the wash-out of the shooting events. They were using a site about 30 miles south of Orlando which apparently got quite a bit of water (as evidenced by a reported standing in waders in the middle of the rifle range). Can't say you'd really expect that sort of weather this early in the year, but it's another argument for heading away from the Gulf coast.
The latter point is also personally difficult, as I like the shooting events. The archery still seems to be on, so there's that at least.
But I really tune in for the dogs. The last couple of nights brought small and large dog agility (mostly Jack Russell terriers and border collies running a course of jumps, tires, and other obstacles), but I'm more of a fan of the retriever-dominated events: big air (basically a dog long jump) and field trials. There's a new event this year that's big air with a height component. Not sure how I feel about this, but more dogs can't be bad.
Clearly, this is a "your mileage may vary" sort of veiwing opportunity. But the coverage is reasonable (not overhyped, which is something for ESPN) and they usually only cover 2 or 3 events a night, so it's easier to follow and, if nothing's to your liking, skip without fear of missing what you want to see.
Unless it was skeet shooting.
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