DogmaDog Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Anyone else notice that the new Front Sight lists Rob Leatham as a new Production Master? If he keeps at it, he's going to be a force to be reckoned with pretty soon. DD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Heh-heh... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 The eyes have it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AikiDale Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 It's not whether you win or lose. It's how badly you beat the guy in second place.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Yep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carinab Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Either that pic is tinted a bit red or the boy needs to slather on more sunblock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 The colors vary from magazine to magazine and I even de-saturated the original scan... but once it gets launched HERE it resaturated. Go figure. However, I've noticed that it's pretty saturated in ALL the gun mags I've seen it in lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerT Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 Anyone else notice that the new Front Sight lists Rob Leatham as a new Production Master? Sandbagger! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRT Driver Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 I never thought of "Shooter Ready" as a how to. It was more of a demo tape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diehli Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 He's not even a genuine Master... his percentage is 78.553. Jeez, Rob... you're slippin', man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSeevers Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 Sandbagger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 That might make a good trivia question... When was the last time TGO collected "High Master" in a USPSA match?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Di Vita Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 I would think never? Didn't M and GM come in at once? I doubt he would have even had a brief stint in M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric nielsen Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 Would've been about 1992. After that there was a Grandmaster class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterLefty Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 Jake, Master has been around for a long time. Shoot, the unclassifieds use to have to compete in A Class. Kenny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSeevers Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 Yep Grandmaster was created as a "Pro" class. All GM's were Masters and USPSA wanted to "separate" them from the "regular" shooters. Most of the really big dogs don't shoot classifers a lot and then a bunch of people got their GM card because they do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zerwas Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 Yep Grandmaster was created as a "Pro" class. All GM's were Masters and USPSA wanted to "separate" them from the "regular" shooters. Most of the really big dogs don't shoot classifers a lot and then a bunch of people got their GM card because they do. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Is this a fact? If so, how ironic because I was talking to John Gangl (JP enterprises) about this very subject a couple of days ago. We were talking about how the percentage curves when we get ranked nationally. We may shoot a blazing speed witha hight HF for a local match, but yet when everything is based off of what the professional shooters do, thats a tall order. Am I the only one who thinkgs this way? I want to qualify this statement by saying, I am NOT one of those who think that everyone should win a trophy or become a GM or M just because they shoot. I believe a person needs to practice very hard in order to earn their spots in the M and GM classes. A thought....have the percentages the pro's shoot different from the rest of us mortal folks. But then again, I spoze that could become really confusing the for the folks at USPSA..... Nah, forget about that idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric nielsen Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 Just to be straight, GM class was created to show the top 5%, it had little to do with "Pros" being separate. Since about 96 or 97 there are basically no "Pro" shooters left - if you define that as someone who makes a living shooting pistols WITHOUT teaching classes 30 or 40 weekends a year, every year. The closest thing would be Rob Leatham as spokeman for Springfield and Doug Koenig who makes a living off of prize money. There are several great shooters who are extremely professional at teaching shooting - Jerry, Todd, Ron, Matt - but that career keeps them away from home a whole lot. God bless them for it, Max & Travis for their service too. The days of someone making say 40K or more annually, just to put on a manufacturer's shirt and appear in advertisements and shoot matches, those days are over. The economics of the gun industry don't [or won't] support it. You'd pretty much have to have Joe Gunbuyer who will never compete in a sport, making his brand choice based ON those sports, before the trickle-down creates generous endorsement deals for top shooters. Maybe it will come back some day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Di Vita Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 I was thinking about this yesterday. I believe there should be a class above GM however it should ONLY be able to be attained through Area and Nationals match performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j1b Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 Agree with Jake and Agree with Caspian. As one of the guys who "missed the cut" I can tell you that the frustration with making a living when the guys a couple of years before you were able to is high. On the other hand, TGO and Doug were really the only one's who made it work. TGO signed multiple contracts which really helped. Of course he had Springfield at $100,000 per year (public knowledge) but he had others with Safariland, Oakley etc. etc. Even he would admit that some of those dried up over time as well. Making a living as a shooter is tough, its why I left the game for some time. I recognized that there was no way to make a decent living shooting. It sucked to give it up for so long, and now to struggle to get some of it back. Reality though is that I probably made the right decision. Hopefully someday that will turn around however I suspect it won't. The economics don't work. While we all would ideally like to think about a decent sponsorship that would pay the bills, it's tough to rationalize running a $10 million business that nets out 10% then go ahead and pay a pro shooter say $50,000 a year that yields roughly no more business than your personal involvement in the sport. I'd be surprised if most shooting companies even do $10,000,000 a year which makes my equation that much more difficult. JB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSeevers Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 caspian28r,Mar 22 2005, 11:27 PM]Just to be straight, GM class was created to show the top 5%, it had little to do with "Pros" being separate. Since about 96 or 97 there are basically no "Pro" shooters left - Above is a quote I can't figure out the new Forum software Well Why did we "Need" to separate the Top 5%??? Because the Masters were having to compete against Pro shooters like Rob and the bunch. I was there and remember the whining. Can I prove it heck no since it was a decision by Hollar and AD's that are long gone. The fact is that GM was created in I think 91? It was a different arena in 1987-1994 There was more interest and money. Heck we were on ESPN. GM is that elusive "Pro"class and yes its not a Pro class now. Hardly any Pros ya know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritinUSA Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 I believe there should be a class above GM however it should ONLY be able to be attained through Area and Nationals match performance. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I think they should change GM to that classification, 95% or above at a Nationals or a couple of Area matches and then you can call yourself a GM. There are too many GM's who should not hold the title as they never do well at big matches. Shooting 95% using classifiers doesn't mean much I'm afraid as they do not test the skills enough. Everyone who is a GM should be bumped down to M unless they meet the above criteria and once they get the GM card they have to finish 95% or higher at a Nationals or two Area matches each couple of years or they go back down again. This would make a GM actually mean something... just my 2 cents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSeevers Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 I agree 100% those would be real GM's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AikiDale Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Is this really a problem? My worst stages seem to be the classifiers. I'm much more likely to get bumped to GM from winning a match than from doing well on the classifiers. (don't hold your breath) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 Above is a quote I can't figure out the new Forum software Position your cursor ahead of the text you want to quote, click on the QUOTE button, move your cursor to the end of the text to be quoted, click on QUOTE again. I fixed your earlier quote, BTW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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