You mean the past champion is not coming out to fly. Where's Teddy, Bob and Keith.
They will likely all be there, too. Brian mentioned Doug only because he is the only one missing from this year's flyoff.
I thought I was a real hotshot in 2006 when I won, then I got to Golden State and we had a stand-up of current and past National and World Champions. There were about 10 of us, and I was the low man on the totem pole. Two months after my NATs win, I finished 4th in a local contest (behind Ted, David, and Howard) and didn't even get a trophy.
Yes, there is a bit of West Coast Conspiracy going on, given that it was originally conceived as the California North/South meet. They used to give out points for North and South. It was pretty even for a long time, until almost everyone from LA (wisely) moved to Tucson. David and Ted's names appear MANY times on the perpetual trophy. I think I have won it 3 or 4 times, and I have finished 2nd a disgusting number of times including last year after getting the Score of Death - 596.5, which is ALWAYS a loser.
I always tell everyone how the supposed "conspiracy" works in exquisite detail, but no one ever listens or takes advantage of it.
Brett