posted Sep 12th, 2005 - The NSL News has returned to DeLand after the trip to the USPA Nationals 2005 in Perris. However, the coverage of the event is far from over. There are many stories for the follow-up, more video footage and pictures to come.

Today, the NSL News story goes back to the situation between round ten of the AAA Class competition and the jump-off between DeLand Fire and the Golden Knights. It was difficult to keep up with the pace of the progression. The NSL News tried to capture the videos of the most exciting jumps of the competition, while looking for interviews and posting the latest information.

The last NSL News story before the scores of round ten were posted covered the situation after round eight with Pete Allum commenting the latest developments. DeLand Fire had a strong comeback by winning two points in round eight and reducing the 3-point lead of the Golden Knights after seven rounds to only one point going into round nine.

The Army team fought back, won round nine and went into the last round of the regular competition with a 2-point lead. The NSL News was able to capture the first reactions after DeLand Fire and the Golden Knights landed from round ten and posted this video with an update on September 7. This story mentioned the exciting atmosphere on the stage when the jumps of the two top contenders were judged.

The NSL News found the footage of this live judging, and the audience can now become a part of the excitement by clicking here. The currently second placed team, DeLand Fire, was judged first and delivered a clean performance with the 20-pointer for 13-18-J. The team members and the crowd were happy with the jump. However, the Golden Knights would have the final word, and the NSL News uploaded the video that covers the first viewing and judging with the Army team members on stage.

Golden Knights team captain John Hoover knew that it could be tight. He mentioned on stage that there was a significant flaw at the completion of Block 18 (Zircon - Zircon) on the first page, which could be costly.

He was right, Omniskore's screen finished with 18 points on the freeze frame. DeLand Fire and the Golden Knights were tied in first place after ten rounds, there would be a jump-off. The crowd and the commentator on stage, Dan BC, were both happy and excited. The scenes on stage were captured for the NSL News by Jump Institute founder, David Hart, thank you.

The Golden Knights prepared their jump-off sequence in the team trailer, while DeLand Fire continued to do the whole jump preparation at the public creeper pad. The NSL News used the opportunity to capture parts of the Fire work on video. The team took quite some time to decide over the engineering.

The decision did not come easy at all. DeLand Fire considered two different options and chose the more difficult one, which was a little bit faster. This option required the round and cheated Phalanx as a part of the sequence. DeLand Fire first crept the sequence and interrupted several times for discussing the details.

Next step was a discussion of the options on the creeper pad with the team's friend and DeLand Majik member, Solly Williams. Thomas Hughes was also there to support his team that he used to film and jump with as the alternate throughout the 2005 season. Team videographer at the competition, Eric Taylor, did his filming part also during this jump preparation.

The captured jump preparation shows that DeLand Fire was not totally convinced that the faster option would be the winning one. However, any doubts were shaken off once the team committed to the sequence with the round Phalanx, and the Fire members reminded each other that this option has been successful for the team this year.

DeLand Fire's preparation for the jump-off can be viewed by clicking here.

The Golden Knights decided to stick to the most familiar slots and pictures with the traditional shape of the Phalanx. The Army team went through the sequence with the same pace as DeLand Fire and would have scored the same or higher without the major mistake in the middle of the jump and another flaw later on. DeLand Fire once again delivered a clean and fast performance. The rest of the story is already history and was covered by the NSL News.

More follow-up stories will follow, come back.