Howard762

York is the hosting club, but we are not running the match. Just like we host the Summer Blast, but Larry Houck runs it. Mike Dolan, our Section Coordinator is supposed to be heading up this match, but I have been unable to get any response from him on this subject. There is nothing on the USPSA calendar, and I have not heard any requests for ROs, or anything else to lead me to believe this match will happen. Sorry. As for Sean's comment: Don't be upset by his sarcasm, he's typically a smart aleck. If you don't know him he can seem crass, but rest assured he is a good guy and meant no harm. Howard

Thanks for all the kind words! We enjoyed doing it. (other than the rain) The whole crew was great to work with, and we're looking forward to doing it again next year in York on the same weekend, if there are no major scheduling conflicts with other majors, or at the club, so pencil us in. Howard C. Thompson

I assure you that this was not intended to be character assasination, although if different things I've received in private posts over the last day are true it is in order. I will not repeat them because I do not have permission and if the authors wanted them public they would have posted publicly. I will state, because of multiple sources, that there are also questions relating to Mr. Chambers popper calibrating procedures, and their fairness. I did take this up with Range Master Perry Wilson, who was very professional and courteous throughout, at the match and do not know the results of that conversation. I have posted this to multiple lists because I see this kind of behavior as a larger problem that needs to worked out, before it becomes any more detrimental to our sport. It is also being discussed at length on the ipsc digest. I hope that at the end some positives come out of this discourse. If nothing else it may serve as a bad example of course description, and a demonstration of how match officials should not treat shooters. I also want to thank the many people who support my integrity, and my position on this matter, publicly and privately. Howard

Now that Nationals are safely over I would like to comment on an incident that really left a bad taste in my mouth. There was a poorly designed stage, with an equally poorly written walk-through that contained a Copper tunnel. (Stage 16 of Limited Nationals) At the Shooter's meeting I asked the question " how many procedurals for going around the tunnel rather than through?" and was given the answer that how ever many sticks there were, that's how many. Not a great answer but I accepted it. So, after the meeting, a friend asked the RM why it was included in the match since there were no shots fired from within the tunnel. His point was that it was only there to penalize tall, fat or otherwise non-nimble people. RM Tom Chambers responded with the mantra "That's the way it's always been." John said he understood that but asked what the point of a tunnel with no shooting from same was. Tom responded with "Because I said so" (repeatedly). John was unhappy with that answer and continued to pry and Tom asked him "Are you a Master?" Now John is not, but I'm not sure how that's relevant. I believe that Cooper tunnels have always been part of the sport, and I don't really care if they are used or not. I've designed courses with them myself. But, if there are no shots fired from them, then you leave the shooter with choices to make. A shooter always has the option of taking procedurals for not following course description to avoid something he does not want to do, particularly if there are no shots fired. The really bad part of this whole conversation is the part where the Rangemaster asked the shooter what his class was. Would it matter if the shooter was a Master or GM? Would he get more respect from Mr. Chambers? A better answer, than "because I said so"? This is irrelevant to the discourse and serves only to belittle the shooter. Unacceptable behavior from a match official. Especially a RM at a National match. Forward to day 3 of shooting. Our squad gets to stage 16. John is going through the tunnel while preparing and knocks down a stick again. Noting that he has successfully passed through the tunnel about 1 out of 8 tries, I tell him an alternate way to shoot it. It seems that the walk-through is poorly written and says basically "Engage all targets from within fault lines. Shooter must pass through tunnel before he is finished." "before he is finished" is hand-written in pen. I had noticed this the day before and checked the rulebook that night. According to the rules a shooter is finished the course of fire when he has completed the holster portion of the range commands. I told John to go around the tunnel, get back in the free-fire zone and engage the remaining targets, the go around the tunnel for a second time, and crawl back through as slowly as he wants. The timer stops at the last shot, and the time it takes to renegotiate the tunnel is irrelevant. He has then completed all the course requirements and will receive no penalties. The CRO, Jim Kauzalrich (not sure of spelling) heard this and ran over to tell us we couldn't do this, it had already been discussed and couldn't happen. I told him it certainly could, the way the walk-through was written, and that I was prepared to arbitrate it. He then said, that if we went around the tunnel, when we got done going through it he would "click the clip on the back of the timer" so that he would have a total time. I told him that was cheating and irrelavant since last shot was the stop signal, not some arbitrary noise the RO made. He then wanted to argue about how he would know what the time was if he didn't. I told him that the rules are explicit, the last shot fired is the stop signal. He argued it. A top 10 shooter overheard the arguement and told him that was ridiculous and Jim still argued it. Finally he switched arguements to giving 6 procedurals for going around. I told him he couldn't do that either since we did go through before finished. Frustrated he said he would DQ me for Unsportsmanlike Conduct for "Contravening the intent of the course of fire." It was time to shoot and I didn't want to argue anymore so I just shot it his way. John did too. Luckily neither of us knocked down sticks. After the stage was complete, I shook the hands of the non-argumentative ROs and thanked them, and was walking away. Jim Kaulzarich ran over to me and told me it wasn't personal. I told hiom I had a match to shoot and no-longer wanted to dicuss it with him. I left it unsaid that it was painfully obvious to me he was too emotionally invested in this mess of a stage to see it clearly. He kept following me, and pestering me, apparently upset that I had avoided shaking his hand for just this reason. I finally told him that it was personal the minute he threatened to DQ me for gaming his silly little stage, and that his conduct was irreprehensible. I also told him that threatening to "click the back of the timer" was irresponsible, and was cheating. I told him that if an RO ever acted like that at my club he would never be allowed back either as an RO or a shooter. I had to keep walking or he would have continued to argue infinitum. There are several witnesses to all of the above who were as shocked as I was at the officials' behavior I'm sure. I have designed hundreds of courses. Once in while a shooter finds a flaw and games the stage. All you can do at that point is say "you got me". This stage, being at a National match, should have been reviewed and bullet-proofed. At the shooter meeting, we brought up the flaws, and even how to fix them, and the best they could do was write "before the shooter was finished". Even, the going back through after you've engaged all targets was brought up, and the staff was too short-sighted, and proud to fix the problems. Although, it is irrelevant who I am, as no shooter should ever be treated this way, I have shot this sport for about 12 years, have been an RO for several, a CRO for 4 or so, and have been MD at a well respected club for more than 3 years. I have worked at matches to the Area level, and was MD at a section championship. I know the rules fairly well, and I know this kind of "US versus Them" mentality on the part of match staff will not help our sport grow. Howard C. Thompson FY21412

Thanks for the kind words! I do have a great crew. That was our first major, but it won't be our last. We learned a lot and will improve on it. We're hoping to host the Mid-Atlantic next year, but even if we don't get that match we'll do something. Our limitation is our # of pits. We're maxed out now. Next year when you see the invite don't hesitate to sign up. I expect to sell out. Oh, and if you won a plaque, they're being ordered as I speak. They should take 5-6 weeks. Sorry about the wait, but they'll be worth it. Checks have been written and should be mailed within the next couple days. Howard

I'm the author of the stage in question, and the Match Director. It came to my attention some time ago that the stage description should have had the word "freestyle" in there a couple of times. We'll fix it in the walk-through.