Scott Smallwood and William Healy
Scott Smallwood and William Healy hail from the Washington, DC area.
Interview by Brian Flatgard, Creative Director.
What's the origin of your team name Good n You?
Scott: When
somebody says how's it going you say, good and you, then they say
good and you, etc. It is our "hello" to each other.
Will: People say GnY as a standard response to how are you.
We are more efficient, we use it first. It has been part of our group's
personal lexicon for over 10 years. We are trying to popularize it as
an initial greeting.
You two met playing ultimate frisbee. Embellish, please...
Scott: We both played
on a team called Rochambeau in DC.
Will: Scott was living in Dallas, playing Ultimate and
dating a girl in DC. I adopted the identity of a classmate of his
to fit in with his Stanford friends, we discovered our mutual proliferation
of Caddyshack script items in our speech patterns and it grew from
there. We have been all over the country playing frisbee together
and now our families vacation together at least once and often twice
a year.
Similar to soccer, ultimate frisbee involves lots of running at speeds
somewhere between a jog and a sprint. Has this helped in Urban Challenge?
Scott: Not really except for being in decent shape.
Will: Good ultimate is mostly sprinting (hopefully). We
played a LOT a few years ago but very seldom now. In Ultimate, you
typically play all day on Saturday, up to 4 or 5 games, and hopefully,
you are playing a lot on Sunday as well. So it has helped UC from
the endurance perspective. We always know that we can push ourselves
a lot further than our bodies are telling us. Also, Ultimate is
populated by a lot of very fun, competitive people. That has been
an attraction for us to UC.
What other skills have you found particularly helpful
in doing Urban Challenge?
Scott: Liking to solve puzzles.
Will: Have intelligent friends. And care about meaningless things
that nobody else cares about.
What checkpoint clue has been the most fun to solve?
Scott: All the ones we
got fast.
Will: Definitely the one inside
the party in New Orleans.
The Kevin
McCarthy anagram was great, too.
What person would you most like to have dinner with?
Scott: Bill Murray.
Will: My Dad, but that's not where you were going with this question.
I would say Muhammad Ali or Jimmy Carter.
Who's your breakfast favorite?
Scott: Will Healy.
Will: When I was thinking of my answers,
I thought this said What's not Who's. There is a deli in Long Island that
serves a huge breakfast sandwich with three eggs, ham, roast beef, sausage,
cheese, potatoes on a hero roll. We affectionately call it The Fat Bastard.
I can eat about one every 18 months. My favorite breakfast partner is my 2
year old daughter. She hasn't had Fat Bastards yet.
In the 2003 DC race, you knew the Rochambeau
clue off the top of your
head, correct?
Does this happen often to you?
Scott: Maybe once per race.
Will: Correct. Happens more in DC than in New Orleans
or Vegas. It has happened to two clues or more clues in each of
the DC races. We know the city pretty well, so sometimes someone
on our team knows the clue answer and someone else knows the location.
Any specific training you do for Urban Challenge?
Scott: Running.
Will: Scott runs, I think. Actually, nothing special. Just run a
lot, prepare to run up to 12 miles. And we meet and strategize with the support
team, but we don't do any organized clue solving or other preparatory work
in that regard. We don't study trivia (see New Orleans results).
What’s your most memorable interaction with an
innocent bystander during an Urban Challenge race?
Scott: A drunk guy in Vegas on the bus
who made a $1000 in the first Broncos win because it knew it was a lock.
Will: We always have to explain what is
going on when you climb onto a bus with the phone hanging out of your ear,
panting, sweating, and wearing a number. Plus we wear those heinous green
Good n You t-shirts that our friend Motorhead designed. That's where we get
our most memorable interactions. Like the guy in Vegas who talked for 15 minutes
about the bet he had won on the Superbowl. He alluded to divine intervention.
I think he was still trying to live off his winnings.
What's the worst move you've ever pulled during Urban Challenge?
Scott: Thinking
the largest
living creature was an animal. That cost us a lot in DC last
year (my bad).
Will: Running a 5 mile round trip to the OTHER
Al the Cleaner in Vegas.
Best New Orleans memory:
Scott: Crossing the line in the top 7 and having our
one dicey clue solution accepted.
Will: Best New Orleans memory: Two, our ground support
stopping his car in the middle of St Charles Ave to hand us a bottle
of Gatorade through the open window on the passing trolley car and
Not being able to solve the first anagram, pulling out the phone
book, starting at the F's and finding Framboyan. Much later in the
race, one of our NO locals knew this off the top of her head. Where
was she when we needed her?
Did you buy any Urban Challenge staff a drink at New Orleans? We can't
remember what happened, and need to thank the kind Challengers who did.
Scott: No.
Will: I felt cruel buying Michelob Ultra at the party, partly because
they were free and partly because it was Michelob Ultra. Then we
didn't see anybody on Bourbon St. Probably because we had bought
the drinks, but we couldn't find you. They did not go to waste.
In all seriousness, we really appreciate the New Orleans
staff. It is great to see you guys at every race. We have run leagues, teams
and tournaments and we know how much work it can be. And you guys do it VERY
well, so it must be a lot more. UC is a great idea and a fun activity. Your
UC is a fantastic event and I really believe that it has everything to do
with the people behind. Thanks again from all of us.
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