Monday, December 19, 2005

SHOOTING GALLERY Challenge/Big Dawg Invitational Update

Here's where we are now, kiddies, and what will be THE shooting event of 2006!

The SHOOTING GALLERY Challenge!

Three Special Episodes of the hit Outdoor Channel television series SHOOTING GALLERY, to be aired in July 2006, repeating October 2006, with a potential audience of more than one million viewers per week.

CONCEPT: Six stages; seven of the top shooters in the world; $5000 to the last man — or woman — standing. Six of the hardest stages ever put together, designed to test every aspect of handgunning from run-and-gun close-ups to long-range precision work. Shooters will be required to shoot multiple handguns in multiple calibers, with the guns selected by the match organizers. All stages will be blind — that is, the shooters will not get a chance to see the stages beforehand or to see other competitors run the stage. All targets will be reactive steel targets, custom-designed for the SHOOTING GALLERY Challenge by Action Targets. The winner of the SHOOTING GALLERY Challenge will be promoted by The Outdoor Channel and SHOOTING GALLERY as the “Top Handgunner in the World.”

PRODUCERS: Michael Bane & Robin Berg, Producers of SHOOTING GALLERY, COWBOYS, AMERICAN RIFLEMAN and other Outdoor Channel specials.

HOST: Michael Bane, host of SHOOTING GALLERY, SHOT SHOW TV, NRA SHOW TV, author and veteran competitive shooter.

COLOR COMMENTARY: Richard “Tequila” Young (host of COWBOYS on The Outdoor Channel and 5-time cowboy action shooting world champion) and Il Ling New (GUNSITE instructor and competitive shooter). There will be special guest commentators as well.

MATCH DIRECTOR: Dave Arnold, co-founder, United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA); founder, International Range Officers Institute; match director/organizer for 5 IPSC World Championships; match director/organizer IPSC North American Championships; law enforcement firearm trainer.

PRIZE MONEY: $5,000 minimum to the winner; stage money for winners of individual stages.

MATCH DATE: February 18 & 19, 2005

VENUE LOCATION: The legendary GUNSITE Academy outside of Prescott, AZ. Originally founded by Col. Jeff Cooper in the mid-1970s, GUNSITE is acknowledged as the finest firearms training facility in the world. With more than 40 ranges spread over some 2000 acres, GUNSITE has opened its doors to the SHOOTING GALLERY Challenge, and the Challenge will make use of several of GUNSITE’s “signature” ranges. Col. Cooper has been invited to “throw out the first bullet.”

THE INVITEES:

Todd Jarrett* — 9-time USPSA National Champion; the only USPSA “Triple Crown” winner; IPSC World Champion; more than 60 state and regional practical pistol titles; Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Champion. Shoots for Para-Ordnance & Blackhawk.
Doug Koenig* — The most decorated handgun shooter in history, including the Masters International (10 championships), the Bianchi Cup (10 championships); the Steel Challenge (3 championships); IPSC World Champion; World Action Shooting Championship (2 championships). Shoots for S&W.
Rob Leatham — “TGO, The Great One;” unarguably the greatest competition shooter ever, with 16 National titles, 5 IPSC World Championships, 6 Steel Challenge Championships and multiples of every other shooting title in the world. Shoots for Springfield Armory and Safariland.
Max Michel* — The “rising star” of practical competition…winner of the 2005 USPSA Nationals and the Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships. Shoots for the Army Marksmanship Unit.
Jerry Miculek* — The greatest revolver shooter ever; 6-time revolver World Champion; 3 USPSA national championships; Sportsmen Tea Challenge winner, multiple world record holder. Shoots for S&W.
Dave Sevigny* — 5-time USPSA National Champion; 5-time IDPA National Champion; IPSC World Champion; 2-time World Speed Shooting Champion (IDPA class); the best production gun competitor ever. Shoots for Glock.
&
Randi “Holy Terror” Rogers* — Acknowledged as one of the greatest women shooters ever, “Holy Terror” has won 2 Cowboy World Championships, multiple national and regional championships. She is the only woman shooter to ever win High Overall in a national championship in any handgun discipline.
(* denotes accepted)

TELEVISION NOTES: SHOOTING GALLERY is the only dedicated shooting show presently filming in 100% high-definition. Our crews use Panasonic VariCams, the same cinema cameras used to film such movies as Michael Man’s Collateral. The SG Challenge will be a “full court press,” utilizing multiple cameras, sophisticated sound and state-of-the-art electronics and television techniques. The show will be structured along ESPN sports presentation lines. Producer Robin Berg was a color commentator for the ESPN2 X-Games; Producer Michael Bane was a consultant on the first ESPN2 X-Games and the ESPN Great Outdoors Games.

THE FORMAT: Each shooter will shoot three stages a day for two days. Scoring will be “time-plus,” that is, the shooter’s actual time plus any time penalties for steel targets left standing or bonuses for engaging specially designated targets. A firearms malfunction is an automatic do-over; shooters will have a chance to shoot the guns for each stage prior to that stage. Pistolsmith of the Year for 2005 Bill Laughridge of the Cylinder & Slide Shop will be on hand to vet the guns for function and to answer questions or mediate hardware-related issues.

THE STAGES: Each stage will be designed to test several different aspects of handgunning. The stages will also honor the depth and variety of the handgun sports. Although the final stages, including the design, number and distance measurements of the targets, will not be revealed until the match itself, several general stage designs have already been identified:
An El Presidente stage, honoring the sport’s founding father, Col. Jeff Cooper.
• A stage from the Steel Challenge, the Superbowl of the shooting sports and the World Speedshooting Championships.
• A hunting simulation stage.
• A run-and-gun stage.

Each stage will feature a different firearm(s), including single-action semiautos; double action/safe action semitautos; single-action revolvers and double-action revolvers. Calibers will range from .22 rimfire to some of the most powerful rounds that can be shot from a handgun. Distances will range from contacts distance to 70-plus yards. Stages may require some athletic ability, and shooters will be expected to load and unload each of the handguns safely.

THE GUNS: Companies currently participating include Glock, Ruger, SIGARMS, Smith & Wesson and Taurus International.

SPECTATORS: We encourage spectators and will be making arrangements for transportation to and from Phoenix to the GUNSITE facility.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great idea! I'd love to see this!

I can't wait. A big plus is I'm off shift for those two days.

Watching the shoot will be great, but I am also interested in how the production of the show takes place.
(What I know about TV production you could put in your eye and not notice)

With a strong back, a weak mind and a p/u truck, let me know if you need any help hauling anything from Phx up the hill.
You can leave a PM on the Amback forum if you need any help.

KMitch200

Anonymous said...

Since some have frowned upon hte use of hte term "Big Dawg" for the event, how about "Top Dog (or Dawg" or the "Shooting Ace" Challenge or some such?

Guy

Michael Bane said...

SHOOTING GALLERY Challenge...

You know, I've spent ALL FRIGGIN' DAY explaining to a bunch of FRIGGIN' WHINING CHILDREN why such a match might be a good idea.

Maybe what we should all do is let this sport GO TO HELL, where it so seems to want to go, and FRIGGIN' START OVER.

Think Mikey's had a lousy day???

mb

Anonymous said...

Michael, with the Great Outdoor Games going on 'hiatus' and no hope of a handgun event on ESPN, your match is THE Match. (Apologies to Mike & Mike at the Steel Challenge)

We're in. Whatever you need. As many guns as you need. Just say when and where.

- PAUL ERHARDT
Dir. of Marketing, SIGARMS

Jerry The Geek said...

"Be the Big Dawg or stay on the porch."

Being, as I am, a 'not-a-big-dawg', I understand this concept.

You have conspired with Comcast to make me re-install my television hookup to Cable again, right? After ten YEARS ... TEN YEARS, MAN! ... of no television, I have GOT to watch this show.

Heck, it just may be worth it.

You've missed a slew of IPSC Magicians in your line-up, though.

I bet you'll get a lot of that, in the days to come. The World will be asking you .... "What, no GEEK shooters?" (Or Ron Avery, Jerry Barnhart, et al.)

Anonymous said...

You didn't miss anything. The theme I see in all these people is they are world champions and very current. Second guessing this line up is stupid. You should first start second guessing the other big names you mentioned and why they may have been MIA at recent major matches. Asking about Barnhart is like sayng the Daytona 500 is missing Richard Petty. Great racer, yes, but he AIN'T racing right now. Barnhart, great shooter but he AIN'T competing these days. All those on this list are however.

Great selections, Michael. You are right on top of this and it looks like a great match in the making. Keep driving this baby forward. I'll be watching!

Anonymous said...

"...and FRIGGIN' START OVER"

Now there's an interesting thought. If you could start over, what would you do? How would you redesign practical shooting as a sport?

Jack

Anonymous said...

When and where will you be posting transportation arrangements from Phoenix to Gunsite?

Health News said...

I can't believe how much of this I just wasn't aware of. Thank you for bringing more information to this topic for me. I'm truly grateful and really impressed.

Anonymous said...

yeezy
curry shoes
kyrie 5 spongebob
supreme clothing
bape
jordan shoes
curry shoes
golden goose
curry shoes
birkin bag