Pete Goloski

"Rosa" was a nefarious character invented by one of the founders of the old Miller Invitational, Bob Arinsen. This was back in the days when most IPSC stages had written scenarios which were read as part of the stage briefing. Each year Rosa presented us with a chilling "do or die" predicament. There were shootouts in her cantina, on her drug running yacht--you get the idea. Many of us feel that Bob came up with some of the best courses of fire in the history of IPSC. Bob is no longer with us. He passed on about 12 years ago. But his spirit is still here--in fact--his ashes are scattered all over the ranges at Pathfinder. We will honor Bob's memory aa well as the memoies of several other dedicated shooters in a small way at the match. And......I can assure you that "Rosa" will be there.

I wouldn't be surprised if something like that happened again <G>.

There are a couple of State Parks on Lake Ontario that are about 20 miles from the club. Both of them are really nice. Fair Haven State Park Selkirk Shores State Park There is also a park in Fulton called Battle Island State Park but I don't know if it has camping facilities. We can arrange for you to park your camper on the club grounds, but there will be no water or electric hook up.

I think so. The number listed on their website is 315-693-2444

When we open the registration process it will be first come, first served. In the old days, the match filled up in the first 24 hours. However then, it was one of about eight really big matches in the country for the whole year. Now, there are 8-10 really big and really great matches every month.

We hope to have registration information and applications available sometime next week. Ken--a big part of the reason us old guys are doing this is so that we don't forget the good old days.

Hi Dan. No, we will be using Rob's self squadding system. We will post more info here and in Front Sight as soon as more details are established. I'm looking forward to seeing you again.

Over the past several years, I have had quite a few shooters from all acrosss the USPSA spectrum ask me if the Pathfinder Practical Shooters would ever consider reprising the old Miller/S&W Invitational Tournament. This match was always held at the Pathfinder F&G Club in the 1980'2 and 90's. Several of the original Committee members and I got together this fall and we decided to do just that. Our intent is to produce a top quality tournament that will adhere to the production values that make the old matches so great. As we started to work things out, we brought Area 7 Director, Rob Boudrie into the loop and he offered to piggyback the 2009 Area 7 Championship with our match. Since John Amidon was the original Match Director of the Miller Invitationals, I asked him to serve as MD for this one. He declined but very graciously offered to serve as Range Master. I will serve as the Match Director. We are going to try to make this a "Reunion Match" of sorts. We would like to draw as many of the old Range Officers and "Old Time Competitors" as we can into the match. We want to renew old friendships and re-live the good old memories. I do know for a fact that "Rosa" will once again show her ugly face at the range. We will also make an effort to remember the good friends, dedicated shooters and officials who are no longer with us. This will be a prize tournament. We have always felt that performance should be rewarded. We will set the best prize table we can. Unlike the original matches, this one will not be a 3 gun match. We will try to incorporate elements of the Steel Challenge into the courses of fire so that those competitors who will be attending that match can use this one as a warm up of sorts. We do not yet have a title sponsor. When we obtain one, the title of the match will change to honor that company's generosity. I would like to take this opportunity to invite all of the original match officials to come back and be a part of this match. If you are interested in working the match, please contact me. The dates for the match are August 6-9. I hope to see you all there.

I don't usually get involved with these discussions, but since I designed one of the stages (Ticket ot Ride--AKA Turnstile/Coin Toss)) and my name was on it, I thought I would "toss" in my 2 cents worth--so to speak. Those of you who have designed and submitted courses of fire for major tournaments know that very often, they do not end up being set up the way you had intended. Such was the case with this one. I was not there, and I do not know the rationale for making the changes, but knowing the caliber of the people who were running the match, I am sure the reasons were valid and well reasoned. My original CoF had the shooter holding a coin/token in the strong hand and at the signal, he/she merely had to drop the coin in a slot/cup/? attached to the first turnstile. My reason for doing this was to have the starting hand position different from the usual "Hands at sides" or "surrender". I would have made sure that the placing of the coin in it's recepticle, would have been ridiculously easy and as fool proof as possible. Tossing a coin in a bucket (with a procedural attached for missing it) is simply not acceptable for a world class tournament course of fire (IMO). The course design also called for a low wall with a low target behind it and the three poppers visible (This is after the shooter passes through the second turnstile). My thought was that the top shooters would never break stride. They would drop the coin, engage the two swingers and two static targets, go through the second turnstile, engage the three poppers, the third mover on the move and run up to the low wall to engage the last (low) target. I envisioned the top speedsters running the course in the 6-8 second range. I am honored to have had a course of fire included in the nationals and as I have said, I am sure that the changes made to it were for good reasons. These kinds of discussions are extremely valuable because they make you think about what you have done and more importantly--make you learn. The lesson here might be: You should never let something the shooter has to do BEFORE he/she draws the gun affect the outcome of the match. 2 cents.

Best wishes to Kay from the entire Goloski Family. We are all praying for a complete and speedy recovery.

Opening the BOD meetings up to the general membership is something that many members have been asking for for a very long time. I, for one, am glad it has come to pass. If you feel that you want to watch your AD/BOD in action, pony up the airfare and go. At least now, no one is stopping you.

I usually don't post replies to topics in this forum, but I have had a bit of experience in this area and it might add some insight to the mix. Several years ago, we hosted some major tournaments in upstate NY that used the following prize structure. We did not ask sponsors to "donate" prizes, but rather we told them that we wanted six equal prizes and that we had $X00.00 to spend on them. When you offered to buy merchandise, the sponsors were much more willing to work with you to provide the best six pieces of merchandise you could get. Then, at the award ceremony, the Match Winner got a really fine prize package. 1st M,A,B,C,D and U all got the same prize (Usually a top line gun). (Back in those days there was no GM class and at first there was no Limited--just shooters). The same was true for 2nd, 3rd, 4th in class. We awarded 1 prize for each 5 shooters in each class, so if we had 15 Masters, we awarded 3 prizes. If we had 60 C Class shooters, we went to 12th place. Usually those who placed 1st-5th in class won guns/frame kits and there were no small prizes. We also gave generous prizes to top Lady, Senior, etc. Every shooter received a nice shooters bag at registration and in it were t-shirts, hats, beer mugs, drink tickets and lots of other goodies. This system was kind of unique at the time and it was a neat way to "spread the wealth" around to all the shooters while still awarding performance. It made a lot of people happy, but there were some real problems with it too. The first time I had a Master class shooter come to me as MD and say, "I came in 6th overall and shot 94% of (Todd, Jerry, Rob) and got nothing. The 3rd place D class shooter came in at 254th overall with a 47% and went home with a $400 gun. Is that fair or right?" I had no good answer for him. It wasn't fair and it wasn't right. The system also nurtured a very severe sandbagging problem. We had shooters who sandbagged the classification system to get a C or D card and then, never shot USPSA matches unless they were big prize tournaments. They would show up, shoot in D class, take 1st D, win a valuable prize, and then you would never see them again until next year. As the years went by, one of the lessons I learned was that top shooters don't get to the top by accident. The road to the top is paved with sweat, sacrifice and dedication. If I had been born to Mr. and Mrs. Woods and was given all that Tiger was given, I would not be where Tiger is today because I don't have the willingness to give what it takes to get there. Every top shooter is a self made man or woman. I came to the conclusion that a shooter who comes in 9th or 10th in his class, and ended up better than half way down the overall list deserves encouragement and nurturing and to be told that if he wants to win a nice prize, go home and practice more -- and better. I believe that Classes should be awarded no more that 3 deep and that those prizes should be substantial. I believe in rewarded performance. If you want to win by chance, go buy a Lottery Ticket. Trophy only matches should never cost more that $75 to enter unless they are charity events. I realize that I have a vested interest in it, but I also believe in awarding categories such as hi Jr., Sr., Lady, LE, etc. I always have--long before Julie came on the scene. It has been many years since I shot a National Championship Match, but based on what I hear about the prize distribution, I think the folks at USPSA do a pretty good job of it.

I have been hesitant to add my 2 cents to this discussion, but I think I will say a few things and let it go. I don't think that I have ever been more proud of my daughter than I am at this time. Not only did she perform supurbly in the tournament (and let me add my congrats to Petra and all the other winners), but she showed a level of integrity that some individuals in the sport don't even comprehend. Julie did make one error in her reporting of the incident in question. This was not her first arbitration. She probably doesn't even remember it, but it was back in 1990 or 91 at a winter match at the Pathfinder Club in Fulton, NY. I don't remember the details but I do remember that there was a call made against her that she felt was improper. At 12 or 13 she knew the rule book frontwards and backwards. She filled in the arb form and I put up the $10 and it went on from there. Kris Kimball, one of the true gentlemen of the shooting sports, was on the committee and before they started, he took Julie aside and explained to her that they were about to made a decision based on the rules and the rules alone. It might turn out in her favor and it might not. Whichever the case, when it is all over, all parties will get together, accept the ruling with no hard feelings, shake hands and part as friends. I don't even remember if they ruled in her favor, but I know that the lesson Kris taught her is with her today. Perhaps we should all learn from that lesson. What is done is done. The ruling can not be overturned. If Julie says that the gun was illegal, and John F. and Dave O. agreed, then there is no doubt in my mind that the gun was illegal. But it doesn't matter. I know that the thought process that Julie went through was agonizing. She had all week to make her decision and she knew full well that in filing the protest she would be opening herself up to tremendous criticism. In the end, she did precisely the right thing in precisely the right manner. From that point on, things could have been handled differently. First of all, if Adam didn't have anything to hide, then why hide? He had to know that there were people questioning the legality of his firearm. If I were Adam (or his manager) and I knew that the firearm in question was perfectly legal, I would have walked to a safety area after shooting a stage, laid the gun on the table and asked anyone who wanted to take pictures of it to do so. He would immediately defused the situation. There was an absolute plethora of "RO" types from all over the world in attendance. Why did the MD not make up an arb committee consisting of knowledgable shooter/ro's who have no political baggage attached to themselves to hear this case? I am not saying this to demean the members of the committee who did hear the protest, but they all have political baggage. Just like having Adam offer his gun for inspection to defuse the situation, appointing an Arb committee made up of seasoned and very experienced individuals/competitors who are removed from both involved regions,the gun manufacturers involved and the day to day politics of IPSC, would have been a very wise thing to do. I have been involved in arbitrations--both from the standpoint of serving on committees and appointing people to them and believe me, it is a very difficult thing to do. You can't win. There are a lot of unanswered questions left in regards to this situation and most of them will remain un-answered. I learned long ago that these things can get beaten to death on these forums and little is gained. That is why I rarely post anything any more. If Julie was right, then someone got away with something. It happens all the time. My only advice to Julie at this point is to stand tall. You set a very fine example for all of us and I am so very proud of the person you have become.

Like I said in a PM to you earlier in the week, if you will send me your email address, I will send the files to you.

We can supply the results in any format IDPA wants. We can sort them by class, division, eye color, caliber, height, you name it--heck we can even sort them out by how "hour glass like" their profile is. What we can't seem to do is get IDPA to answer their email so we can get it all to them. If I had known that it would have taken this long to get the results posted on their web page, I wouldn't have even made the attempt. Lesson learned. There are lots of websites out there where we can post the scores. Next year we will do better.