Back in the Day with Dave

I met Dave when I was 13 or 14 in the Virginia overall disc scene. Big Daddy, PDGA #1414, was one of the hot-shit golfers and distance throwers around the state and East Coast. I was riding with Dave the weekend he qualified for his first World Frisbee Championship (would have been '80 or '81) after a North American Series meet in Rochester, NY. (Could have been Amherst, MA, though -- can't quite remember.) I just remember Dave letting me ride back to Virginia with him and him having to put me up for a night in Northern Virginia before sticking me on a Greyhound back to Richmond the next morning. He was excited about going to the Rose Bowl and proudly exclaimed to Jen, who was just a diaper-wearing tot in a play pen, "Daddy's going to the Frisbee Bowl, Jenny!"

I looked up to Dave -- he was an older, strong guy who was a great thrower and an intense competitor. When I was a kid, I was a big Nick Nolte fan, and Dave Griffin had all of that same swagger and confidence that I thought was so friggin' cool.

As I sought to break into the upper ranks of our disc scene, I began to regard Dave as a pretty staunch competitor. Dave was constantly trying to refine his throwing technique and his mechanics. In 1984, I was at the PDGA Worlds in Rochester -- by then I was 16, 17 -- and I was out alone on the course between rounds. Dave came trotting along -- he was powering through the holes -- and we played together. He was on fire with this new approach to his tee shots -- he was just going to step up and throw. "You gotta get the mind out of the way," he kept saying. He was in the middle of this big discovery and just consumed with the new idea. Those little things about Dave have always stuck with me -- I identify with that guy who has such a big heart that he feels everything so deeply and strongly. He wasn't satisfied with anything but his best -- again, something I find true in my own disc-throwing career. I am cast in that same mold that Randy mentioned -- Dave could be his own worst critic if he didn't execute to his potential.

And in 1991, when Dave was in the strong running to win the Virginia States overall title, he approached my brother and me about teaming up for freestyle. It was really an honor and a pleasure to play with him because he was so happy during that routine. I look back on it now, and I can just remember how he had a spring about him. This thing he had worked for so hard was coming true. It means a lot to me now that I was able to share a piece of that journey with Dave.

As Randy says, he was a proud champion. I never remember Dave being cocky or totally ego-fueled, but he was a happy, joyful winner when he wore the crown. No apologies, no regrets. I love that. And that same happiness was something that seemed to float around him simply when he was with his daughters at States, just hanging out. We've got the pictures to prove it. Jen, Lauren, Cindy, all of us -- we're gonna miss our Big Daddy in person, but his spirit will always be there to prop us up. We've got an angel on our shoulders. Never forget it. Keep him flying with us, always. We love you, Dave.