Mike will be the first to admit his defeat. In fact, he wrote an interesting view of his experience where he borrows a very funny line from Forrest Griffin's book titled "Got Fight?"
I think the point that some of us are trying to make is that, because someone "chokes" and his performance is less-than-stellar, we don't see the need to use insulting epithets.
We have all been in similar circumstances whether it is shooting match (and trust me when I say that I have had quite a few "choke" moments shooting), or one of the many other sports or activities that we enjoy. I have competed in many different disciplines and I have won a few events and horribly crashed and burnt in many others. Yet, people around me have been kind enough to point out that "one bad performance, doesn't make anyone a failure".
No doubt that he failed at this attempt but, a few short weeks later he was back on the saddle winning Production Division in Area 4 (and this is no easy task).
Regardless of his good or bad performance (depending on the event we are talking about) the truth is that the guy is a talented competitor whom, like all other humans, has some good days and some horrible days at work. It so happens that Mike's turn came at a moment when the cameras were rolling and the shooting community/world was watching.
Sometimes (and at times I may have been guilty of this too) we use words to refer to a person which we wouldn't dare use in their presence. We feel empowered by calling someone a "this" or a "that" on the Internet and we forget that there is more to this individual that this TV performance.
http://www.shooting-performance.com/...t_show_98.html
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Forrest Griffin (professional MMA fighter) wrote a funny book called “Got Fight” about his career in the ring. One of the funniest lines I have ever read was one he used to describe how he would respond to the interview question “what happened?” after he got knocked out during a fight. His line was: “Everything was going good, then I just got knocked the f—k out!” I love that line, it is funny and such dry humor.
What happened to me on Top Shot? Everything was going good, and then I just got my ass kicked off the show! Not much else to say! Oops! If you're not first, your last...ha! (yes, forum and computer ranters, that was humor, don't take it so seriously)