posted Nov 9th, 2006 - The NSL News continues with coverage of the AAA/Open Class winner at this year's USPA Nationals 2006, DeLand Groove. The first jump of the competition is already available on NSL-TV, and the next round will follow very soon. A new interview has higher priority for the moment.

The three current world champions of DeLand Fire and USPA champions of DeLand Groove, Gary Smith, Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo, visited the NSL office yesterday. The NSL News had invited all team members for an interview after the victory in Eloy, and the date for the meeting was set.

Unfortunately, Solly Williams had a knee surgery this week and was not able to join the team for the live interview. The three other DeLand Groove members and the NSL News decided to go ahead as it was originally planned, and Solly Williams promised to add his feedback at a later time.

DeLand Groove's point in Eloy was still in the team's mind during the interview, and the NSL News also asked a few questions about the last-minute integration of the former DeLand Majik 4-way world champion.

Solly Williams had postponed the recent knee surgery to complete the competition in Eloy with DeLand Groove. He had hoped that he would recover quick enough to join Optic Nerve's annual reunion at SkyQuest 2006 next week in DeLand. It does not look too good for this plan at the moment.

Shannon Pilcher already took the Center Inside slot for Optic Nerve during a few training jumps last weekend, and he will most likely stay there at next week's competition in DeLand. Gary Smith will work with Shannon Pilcher in the center, while Dr. Joel Shugar and Scott Keeler will return to jump their original slots.

Solly Williams will still be a part of the NSL Championship 2006 as a judge. He will also use any spare time to help the participating teams with technical tips and engineering. Sinapsi PD member Pete Allum will work together with Solly Williams in the judging room and on the creeper pad.

The interview with Gary Smith, Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo was longer than usual for a good reason. Asking more questions directly and getting more information and feedback is worthwhile if the interview partners are the current world champions. However, the length of the interview makes it a large file for the internet, and all parties agreed to a presentation in three smaller pieces.

The video file of the first part can be viewed by clicking here. It covers mostly the new situation with Solly Williams in the point position. The conversation leads back to the history of the two "Twin Brother Pieces", Gary Smith/Solly Williams and Shannon Pilcher/Ian Bobo.

The partners in both pieces have spent a lot of time as friends and team mates in their lives together. The DeLand Groove line-up at the USPA Nationals 2006 was a very unique combination of skills, experiences and friendships. Of course, the NSL News was interested in the future of this line-up. The video of the interview offers the answers to curious questions.