Well Ted where did I take credit away from anyone? I am starting to get some feed back in my in-box of the banquet move and how that would benefit many. That would include PAMPA.
Let's put it this way, Sparky: If you think it is "too easy", why don't you run the events in your spare time next year? Remember (and this is off the top of my head), doing so includes:
Rounding up dozens of people to help (in their spare time and their own expense) do judging, pit bossing, tabulating, appearance judging, running, etc.
Making up scoreboards.
Making up score sheets.
Printing up each of thousands of individual score sheets with the pilots and judges names the night before each day's flying and organizing them on the correct clip board for each of the volunteer judges.
Insuring the tabulation programs are up to date (or make new ones...thanks Howard) so as to accommodate all the other (annually occurring) "easy change" suggestions from people who don't have to implement them (i.e. Open AND Expert??? Did the numbers taking advantage of that "great" idea justify the tons of work necessary to implement it?).
Should we have separate qualifying circles for Advanced and Open...or, mix and match...oh and don't forget to seed them in a fashion to satisfy each of the 80 or so fliers...or don't seed them, depending on your CLPA ideology.
Assigning judges so that there won't be a lot of whining about who judged who.
Making sure the judges are trained so as to satisfy every entrant's specific demands as to their "flying style" opinions...
DEEEEP BREATH....
Running--or assuring they are run--multiple unofficial events.
Arranging all the equipment and making sure it's functional and on site.
Struggling with AMA to insure the grass circles are adequate for those unofficial events.
Watching the weather to try to keep everyone safe.
Insuring the site is set up and not hazardous to the airplanes (I spent a lot of hours helping David Fitz tape over wide cracks in the surface the two years he ED'd and I judged, for instance).
Fielding complaints and/or official protests.
Oh, yeah, weigh the airplanes and make up lists for the Pit Bosses for pull testing.
Find a place for the "beauty contest" (that, by the way, rankles me. The craftsmanship and the respect it deserves as a factor in selecting our national champions is unique to our event and has been part of the struggle for excellence for would be champions since stunt's inception. That "beauty contest" is the premier social event of the whole stunt nats and deservedly so).
Find judges for the "beauty contest" and volunteers to weigh and tabulate the results which must that evening be programmed into the event's database and data sheets made for the pit bosses.
I grow weary and all I'm doing is typing up the "too easy" stuff that has to be done.
Sparky, I could go on and on because I spent much of my adult life attending Nationals as a contestant while my wife helped multiple event directors trying to struggle through pleasing all the contestants...starting at the crack of dawn and usually still busy until at or near midnight. If it looked easy to the contestants, believe me, it only looked easy because the people that did the work worked so damn hard so we could play.
To add to the thanks they get/got for doing so you look at yet another of their jobs and tell them "...that would be too easy!"
Or, to make simpler, just about a year's hard work for each one week's nats.
And you wonder why anyone would take offense? I've gotta believe you've no idea how hard it is to get people to work so us hot shots can play for the big bucks and the groupies. Such remarks will only make it harder.
I'd like to say thanks for those who worked to make any of the Nats banquets happen and thanks also to those who make positive meaningful suggestions, such as Bill, as to how the banquet could be improved while minimizing the impact on those that have to make it happen...and the last is the most important part.
Topic: Nat's stunt Banquet (Read 6652 times)