💸 Just take my money already

Hello and welcome, this is The Players Meeting. The only newsletter that threw GYRO before it was cool.

Let’s get into it.

Email Read Time: 5 Minutes & 29 Seconds

NEWS
Contracts Watch

Freezing temps and high winds across the nation made many stir-crazy. Since we can’t get our fix on the course, waiting on big announcements created a frenzy.

It’s been a dizzying past week…

• Buhr trolling on MVP fan pages and Instagram stories

• McMahon dropping all old Patreon videos

• MVP slow rolling Lizotte’s latest release - Simon Line Pixel

• Brodie Smith and Ricky Wysocki going back and forth about leaky leakers

• Collectors offloading exclusive discs made specifically for McMahon

But finally, the dust settled and the big free agents landed. Discmaniacs and GYROnauts are truly neck and neck when it comes to disc golf fanatics.

🚨 NEW 🚨

Eagle McMahon (Discmania → MVP, 5YR)

Hats off to MVP’s marketing team. The disc golf community got bamboozled.

Yesterday, Simon Lizotte and MVP revealed McMahon’s 5-year contract and 2 discs - Prism Proton Envy with a fiery Eagle stamp & Simon Line Pixel.

It was a sweet release for all the fans who had it up to here with anticipation. The guy on the fan page who said, “Just tell me where to spend my money. I don’t care anymore,” finally got his wish.

As for McMahon, it’s safe to say he did too. On Staggered Stance, he said the other offers were highly competitive, but at the end of the day, he wanted to “spice everything up in [his] life.”

So what do we call them now - GYRO Guys, MVP Men, Crush Boys 2.0? Either way, MVP got us good, and 2024 is looking like their best year yet.

Gannon Buhr (Prodigy → Discmania, 3YR)

In the words of an Instagram commenter, “Stevie Wonder saw this coming.” On Saturday, it was announced that Buhr signed a 3-year contract.

The day after McMahon did his final signing session, sold his last disc, and said his goodbyes, Discmania welcomed their new generation. The 18-year-old will be alongside their other young star Kyle Klein (21 years old).

To make it easier on everyone, let’s hit some quick FAQs:

Q: Were there other manufacturers bidding on him?
A: Yes, but they’ll remain unknown for now. Surprisingly, Prodigy never actually sent him an offer to stay (per The Upshot).

Q: Will he have his own line of discs?
A: Yes, but in the form of their Creator Series. They’ve already “started work” on it.

Q: Can he throw other House of Discs brands?
A: No (per Dana Vicich).

Q: What’ll he putt with?
A: P3x - Beaded, low-profile, and slightly OS.

Q: Will he stick with Discmania’s new Originals molds?
A: No, he’s already bagging old Innova-made runs that he bought off of McMahon while in Colorado.

Q: Were they prepared with a special release?
A: Besides the swirliest of MD5s, the only other thing I could find were these subpar “GB” mini-stamped stock runs.

But wait! There’s more!

Alden Harris (Prodigy → Discmania, 2YR)

It wouldn’t be right to leave Buhr’s touring partner, best friend, and vlog aficionado behind. The 1x Silver Series winner will be on the team through the 2025 season.

Lisa Fajkus (Lone Star → Open Bag)

STILL AWAITING ANNOUNCEMENT

• Niklas Anttila (Left Discmania)

• Parker Welck (Left Prodigy)

• Sullivan Tipton (Left Discraft)

• Chandler Kramer (Left Lone Star)

• Jake Hebenheimer (Left Latitude64)

• Austin Turner (Left DGA)

MOVES MADE

• Danny Lindahl (DD → KSU) - An honorable mention is this OG instructor and content creator. Everyone’s intro to the sport is moving on to wildlife videography at Kansas State University

• Chris Clemons & Hanna Huynh (Trilogy → Discraft, 1YR) - The only thing more recycled than the containers from your local Thai restaurant is Discraft’s announcement videos. Cue the montage of Clemons walking through the warehouse, feeling plastic, and standing next to Team Manager - Bob Julio

• Gavin Rathbun (Left DD) - 2 years post labrum surgery, the once top-20 player has no current plan for this season

• Macie Velediaz (Left DD) - With her 1st child due in June, Velediaz’s schedule is limited, and so was DD’s extension offer. As of now, she’ll be hitting 10 events without a main sponsor on her back

• Ali Smith, Chandler Fry, Lykke Lorentzen (new to The Homie Team aka TSA/Infinite, 1YR)

• Paul Krans (Discmania → MVP, 1YR)

• Silva Saarinen (Open Bag → MVP, 1YR)

• Tristan Tanner (Latitude64 → DGA, 1YR)

• Emerson Keith (Lone Star → Innova, 1YR)

• Connor O’Reilly (Latitude64 → Lone Star, 1YR)

• Carter Ahrens (DD → Lone Star, 1YR)

If your favorite player isn’t on this list, then they’re throwing the same discs as last year. Ain’t nobody got time for re-signings.

POWERED BY POWERGRIP USA
Fresh Plastic

👉 Powergrip’s Highlight: Crush Boys Reunited
It wouldn’t be a new signing without a new drop, and Powergrip USA is the place to preorder them.

Eagle McMahon’s 1st signature disc is called the “Rebirth.” This Prism Proton Envy (3|3|0|2) is “definitely stable” even for Lizotte’s arm speed.

Not to be forgotten is the Simon Line Pixel (2|4|0|0.5). Available in SE Electron, Electron Firm, and Electron Soft, this putter is deeper than the Nomad and has enough glide for Lizotte’s spin putt.

If you haven’t already jumped on the bandwagon, then take it from McMahon when he says, “GYRO does work… This is not bologna.” When testing discs back at USDGC, he ripped an MVP Dimension (14.5|5|0|3) 70’ farther than his old drivers.

Shop GYRO at Powergrip USA today!

Note: These preorders are open until Friday (1/19) at 2 PM ET. There’s no anticipated ship date yet.

QUICK HITS
Random Dubs

1️⃣ Raise your hand if the news of Doug Bjerkaas being selected as the PDGA Executive Director went in one ear and out the other… ✋.

It wasn’t exactly exciting news that the previous President of Dynamic Discs is now at the helm of our sanctioning body. But his latest interview on The Upshot had some interesting points.

Mainly, when asked what role StatMando is going to fill at the PDGA, he explained how we’re in a data-driven world and that they need to grow the sport with that in mind.

But wait a minute, UDisc just released their extensive Health Index. They’ve done the work and more…

• Grades for every city and county on their course availability, variety, and opportunity for growth

• It turns out Charlotte, NC is undeniably the best place to live in the US. It’s #2 in availability and #1 in variety

• Currently, NYC, El Paso, & LA are disc golf deserts but ripe for crazy growth

Check out UDisc’s interactive maps to see how healthy your (future) city is.

2️⃣ I’m gonna do you a favor… I’m gonna save you [enter how long it takes you to scroll Netflix to find a show to watch] minutes.

Instead, just watch this hour-long interview with actor Jeremy London on the Hanging Loose pod. The Mallrats star goes over his 1.5-year obsession with the sport, and within 5 minutes, it’s unmistakable he’s in it for life.

Trust me. He’s no casual like Bert Kreischer. He’s the real deal, and it’s a great 1st interview of him in our sport.

Meme of the Week

Thanks for reading today. Get out and brave the cold this week!

- Charlie