posted Nov 7th, 2000 - The NSL News began last week to go back in time and publish information and interviews that could not be found at SKYLEAGUE.COM so far. The stories and the written interviews were published at the previous NSL website long ago and had not made it into the current NSL News database and archives.

The first interview featured DeLand Norgies member Carl-Erik Tuv shortly before the USPA Nationals 2000. The next one took place after the event. Chris Talbert explained the future of the Golden Knights on 7 November 2000. The U.S. Army's 8-way team had lost the battle with Arizona Airspeed again and would miss the second consecutive world meet. The Golden Knights switched to 4-way competition as the main event at the end of the 2000 season.

It was pure coincidence that the recent NSL Live Talk with Eric Heinsheimer at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2020 connected with the second interview coming out of the old NSL News archives. Chris Talbert and Eric Heinsheimer were team mates in the new Golden Knights Gold lineup and trained and competed together between 2000 and 2003.

Chris Talbert eventually left the U.S. Army and worked for Sun Path Products for several years. He was often a very lively NSL-TV commentator and interviewer during NSL News live coverage from the main Formation Skydiving events.

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USPA Nationals 2000		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open	20,G,15	13,24	11,C,10	1,17,P	14,21,16	19,A,8	N,E,F,H,6	5,4,7	23,M,12	L,18,Q,3	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	22	20	15	23	18	16	23	15	22	23	197	19.7
2	Golden Knights	22	19	17	23	19	13	22	18	21	19	193	19.3
3	Elsinore Matrix	13	16	10	13	13	10	16	7	14	14	126	12.6
4	DeLand PD 8	10	13	9	11	11	9	11	11	11	12	108	10.8
5	Kathleen Turner OD	8	9	9	10	8	9	11	11	10	10	95	9.5
5	Deguello	11	10	8	7	10	9	11	10	9	10	95	9.5
7	Perris Octane 451	8	7	4	10	8	7	9	7	6	7	73	7.3
8	Perris Abahouipti	14	13	12	13	4	7	0	0	0	0	63	6.3
9	Perris Energy 8	2	0	4	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	11	1.1

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NSL News Interview with Chris Talbert on 7 November 2000

NSL News: Chris, the Golden Knights lost this year's U.S. Nationals in 8-way and did not qualify for the World Meet 2001. What does this mean to you?

Chris Talbert: It simply means to me that I am not going to the word meet. Time to look at restructuring and refocusing.

NSL News: What are the future plans of the Golden Knights?

Chris Talbert: We will change the focus from 8-way to 4-way. We will field two 4-way teams in the future. 8-way will become the secondary event.

NSL News: This is a historical change in the Golden Knights tradition. What caused this change?

Chris Talbert: Two major things. Availability to field a world class 8-way team. The increased popularity of 4-way. In fact, there is more competition in 4-way.

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Golden Knights Gold at the NSL Playoffs 2001

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NSL News: Who made the decision?

Chris Talbert: It was a group decision between members of the Formation Skydiving team and the Golden Knights headquarters.

NSL News: How do the Golden Knights competitors feel about this decision?

Chris Talbert: Everybody is very excited. For most of us, it is a new challenge and a lot to learn. We are very proud looking back at the Golden Knights 8-way dynasty and achievements in 8-way. However, this could be the beginning of a new era.

NSL News: Who will be in the teams?

Chris Talbert: The Gold team will be John Hoover, Eric Heinsheimer, Kurt Isenberger, Chris Talbert. The Black team will be Jason Harris, Kevin McDaniel, Brooks Wiener and Tim Reynolds. At this time, we are also in the process of selecting the team videographers.

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USPA Nationals 2002		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	B,12,2	K,6,4	20,5,13	D,Q,11,18	N,3,9	A,21,16	22,H,L,J	G,C,7,15	E,19,17	10,P,M,8	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights Gold	19	21	19	21	29	22	23	23	22	19	218	21.8
2	Arizona Airspeed	19	22	18	21	26	22	22	21	23	21	215	21.5
3	DeLand Majik	19	19	20	20	24	22	23	24	22	19	212	21.2
4	Golden Knights Black	15	17	16	17	20	17	20	20	19	16	177	17.7
5	Airspeed Zulu	17	18	14	17	22	15	18	17	17	16	171	17.1
6	Cross Keys Fluid	16	16	13	15	18	16	15	13	15	15	152	15.2
7	DeLand Frost	15	16	12	13	17	15	17	17	14	13	149	14.9
8	Ranch Tribe	14	14	13	13	17	11	16	10	15	13	136	13.6
9	Elsinore Adrenaline	13	13	12	13	16	11	15	13	15	13	134	13.4
10	Synchronicity	12	12	10	12	17	13	13	15	12	12	128	12.8
11	Untrained Eye	12	12	11	13	14	10	11	9	12	11	115	11.5
12	Team Kruegeraand	8	8	6	5	6	7	6	7	8	5	66	6.6

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NSL News: What are your goals?

Chris Talbert: We want to train hard for the next two years and see where this will take us.

NSL News: The Gold team has already been on a world class level. Do you think that you will represent the United States in 4-way soon, as you used to do in 8-way?

Chris Talbert: We will do the best we can. We do have the potential to become the U.S. national team. Again, we will train hard. And then we will see where we can go.

NSL News: Are you planning to compete at NSL events next season to get 4-way competition practise?

Chris Talbert: We would like to. This will depend on our schedule and on our budget.

NSL News: Thank you, Chris.