posted Oct 16th, 2008 - The live interview with Doug Park, which was already announced with the NSL News story on 14 October 2008, has now been uploaded and can be viewed by clicking here.

The interview is only a part of a daily news show, which is currently still in the works for the USPA Nationals 2008. The first "Beta Version" of the show will hopefully be completed and uploaded later today.

In the meantime, it is interesting to hear what Doug Park has in mind when he thinks of the upcoming competition. Rob Laidlaw, president and co-founder of Skydive University, joined the interview, as well. He had an appointment with Albert Berchtold who will anchor a night show for similar NSL/PD purposes in Eloy.

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The biggest news is the fact that Doug Park canceled his trip to Eloy and will now follow the event on the NSL News. He and his wife Yvonne had twin baby girls earlier this year (Madyson and Paeton) who need his full attention. He said that his 8-way team will probably not suffer too much though since PD Factory Team member and 4-way world champion of 2006, Ian Bobo, will fill his slot.

The lineup of this year's US national 8-way team has now changed quite a bit. John Hoover had to step back already earlier with neck problems. The 8-way team recruited the other PD Factory Team member and 4-way world champion of 2006, Shannon Pilcher, who did not have any commitments until then. The 8-way lineup of the former KnighTrax team now consists of five Golden Knights (Brian Krause, Matt Davidson, Kurt Isenberger, Eric Heinsheimer, Sean Sweeney), plus Thomas Hughes, Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo.

Doug Park said that he would be confident to win the 8-way competition if it was the same lineup that competed at the World Meet 2008. The US 8-way team in France had the talent and enough training to beat the Arizona Airspeed lineup this year. Airspeed will compete with all the talent but with hardly any training at all.

He thinks that the 8-way competition between the two best US teams will be very tight now. Both teams have the greatest talent and a lot of experience - and hardly any 8-way training before the meet will begin. Neither Airspeed nor Doug Park's team have the greatest chances to keep up with the French 8-way team.

The new father of two girls and owner of SkySystems also covered the 4-way competition in the interview. He sees Airspeed Odyssey, Perris Fury and the Golden Knights in contention for the USPA title of 2008. Eric Heinsheimer will fill John Hoover's slot for the Golden Knights in 4-way, as well. He will surely not hold the team back, as he was already a contributing factor to the progression in 8-way when he took John Hart's slot.

Perris Fury just showed at the indoor competition in Eloy that the team is back on track after Chris Farina's injury. Will Perris Fury or the Golden Knights be able to be ahead of Airspeed Odyssey after ten rounds? This is quite unlikely, not only for Doug Park. Each team may win a round here and there and will probably see the new 4-way world champions in first place at the end.

Doug Park does not even see the French national team from Maubeuge as a serious threat for Airspeed, despite the nerve-wrecking 1-point finish in August. He said that the French team was only so close because Airspeed made a lot of mistakes. He thinks that the Eloy home team will be much stronger now and take full advantage of the home turf situation.

The USPA Nationals 2008 will begin with 4-way, as usual, followed by 8-way and the other Formation Skydiving events. The first competition round is scheduled for Monday morning. The NSL News coverage from Eloy will begin on Saturday, the first news show is planned for Sunday, followed by the night show on the same day. The "Beta Version" will be uploaded later today.