Barlin

ZH It's all about the rules, how to enforce them and how to dodge them. Whatever you come up with, I would have one catagory without rules. Kind of like the "steroid olympics" , where man and technology shows what might be possible and it would be impossible to cheat. It would also be a great catogory for the guys with the little johnsons to finally recognize that side-stepping the rules only brings more rules and it don't help the little guy down there get any bigger.

Great post Odie, Win, lose, success and failure are man made concepts. Life in conflict is mankinds disease.

Well Done!! Jim, I can remember being the new guy at several clubs and invariably at my arrival someone would corner me and spell out the range rules and do some fishin' into my experience and competence. This was not an insult to my skills but a reassurance that safety was rule #1. I am not sure how you screen an unknown shooter, whether with a class or just an informal vist. But you need to know a few things before an unknown shooter steps to the line. I also can't decide which is more frightening, an inexperienced shooter that doesn't know the safety rules or an expirienced RO that chooses to ignore the safety rules.

Hey I didn't mean to come off as a troll. My hating air gunners comment, I see now was harsh and far to general. My definition of "air gunner" is not a persons style of evaluating a stage by counting steps or shots. What I was talking about is a group of guys that after every shooter enter the stage like the opening act of swan lake walking in slow-motion with exaggerated movements. They interfere with the taping and target resets and the brass pickers. They are rude and always delay the next shooter in getting the range cleared. They add an hour of standing in the hot sun to the match. I know this is the RO job to keep the match moving and I would rather be shooting or in a post-match bull session. Also in all fairness these guys are not members of the club where I shoot, but I have seen them at several other venues and might have mistakenly assumed that this was a nation-wide activity. My statement that 'the game gets dull when advantage triumphs over skill' is a commentary on switching from a goal oriented society to a success oriented society. You can now buy a high-tech oversize driver and quickly start hitting monster drives that once took years of practice by dedicated golfers to blend power and control. With enough money you can literally be carried to the summit of Mt. Everest and share your accomplishment with Sir Edmond Hillary. To be GM in our sport requires not only God given talent but also a super-human commitment and dedication to elevate ones skills. To be a GM is a high honor in our sport and that why becoming a GM is our shared goal. Which is why caution should be exercised when trying to make success more attainable for everyone. If 5 minutes is not long enough to analyze a stage then it should be extended to a point where there is no need for competitors to go the day before a match or conduct low level air- recon in order to be competitive.

It's getting to be like in grade school, when you got to take an "open book" test. What did your test score mean when you were finished? Isn't part of the game quick analysis, quick decision and quick shot? The game gets dull when advantage triumphs over skill. Just post a stage diagram and get to shooting. I swear if a stage only consisted of a " Bill Drill", when the range clear was given 14 guys would be trying to crowd into the shooters box to "air gun" the stage. I hate air gunners.

What a fun and clever tale. Perfectly suited for the HUMOR FORUM, where 99.9% of the jokes are not true.

Sort of drifting.. Does anyone have any opinions on how your occupation might affect your trigger control? For example writing, typing or swinging a hammer, anything where your fingers are all working together. Could it be that you could spend a half hour dry firing, focusing on isolating your trigger finger. Then spend 8 hours at work and erase all that you did the night before? I certainly know the frustration that Stuck in C is describing.

Sam, Wow, that poetic. I can't improve upon Sam's thoughts but I would add something that I tell my sons nearly everyday and this 'you are what you are and be proud of that'. No matter how you define what we do, either sport, game or self-defense training, we are what we are. It is not in our mission statement to enter into the pro-gun debate, that is the personal responsibility of each of us as gun owners, not the USPSA. It serves no purpose to geld ourselves in a hopeless attempt to win the approval of the media or that it is vital to increase our membership roles with converted 'antis' by offering watered down whisky. Our focus should always remain an unflinching commitment to safety and competent gun handling, and in the end, that the best weapon in the pro-gun debate.

Now if they only made self-warming slide-glide... You know... For those cold days.

Kind of off-topic, but a plate rack is well worth the cost or effort to get kids focused on shooting and less on hearing the gun go boom. I built a ten place rack on salvaged iron. The plates are hinged with 1/2" re-bar and 3/4" angle. It is crude and ugly and it weighs a ton. It is on skids salvaged from some kind of cattle trough. My kids blaze away with their 22's and love it and I admit I shoot it more than I probably should.

Merlin, Beautiful set up, but is the golf cart considered steel or is there an "A" zone?

I don't know Ron but I interpreted the article as EricW explained. I thought the pot shot at IDPA was cheap and set an aggressive tone for the rest of the article. TGO has been and always will be an anomaly. He is like no-other. With that in mind the goal should always be, that stages are designed to allow shooting skill to compensate for arthritic knees and watery eyes. I am not old but I can damn sure see it from here.

I have never seen an ad, that made me want to go out and buy something, but this one comes close. It is a tasteful and stylish ad in the mode of Mr. & Mrs Smith. Featuring J-Go in a stunning "little black dress" and some other guy... I think. Respectfully posted, Barlin

Steve, Very thought provoking tale. Should be in the Zen forum. The seeds of change sown by the weathered hand of a stranger, in a Kentucky Fried Chicken joint. Wait, better leave the KFC out, it alters the mystery of the moment. In all seriousness, Steve how often are our minds, like a stream, be redirected when a small pebble is placed in its path. Maybe your stream is about to become less turbulent. Or it could be your new beginning involves crushing chest pains and a tunnel of light from eating all that fried chicken. All joking aside I hope your "rough go of it" gets better.

Carinab, I wish I could explain, but I not much for symbolism or multi-dimensional metaphors but just a guess would be Rupaul meets Timothy Leary. A tradional winter sports theme. As for the events, I think curling could be easily replaced by ice fishing also I think the Nordic Combined ( cross country/ shooting) could be further combined with Free Style Snow Boarding. Where the "Boarders" performed through a hail of Nordic rifle fire in hopes of sparing the world one more interview of " DUDE, Man I knew I had to go totally rad ..."