Match Organizers Who Make Lousy Scheduling Decisions

[Carmoney]

So I'm looking at the match calendar and eagerly beginning the process of selecting matches to attend next year, and I see that four (4) matches have been scheduled for the weekend of May 18-19.

MS Sectional

Targeting Education

WI Sectional

Sunflower Classic

I had planned on attending at least three of these matches. I shot WI and Sunflower last year, and loved them both. I was also thinking about attending the 27 stage collossus in Michigan as well. And if the MS match turned out to be a big Revolver Division draw again this year, I was hoping to make that run as well.

Why in the hell don't match organizers look around first and make a reasonable effort to coordinate this stuff? The weekend before and the weekend after are still sitting there wide open! Unbelievable.

[John Heiter]

Well, I can answer for a couple of those. We scheduled the 2007 MS Section match and had it on the USPSA calendar prior to the start of the 2006 match because we wanted to avoid overlap with other big matches.

I got a really nice call from the guys with Targeting Ed a couple weeks back apologizing for booking their match on top of ours. Unfortunately, because they were applying for their match to be a World Shoot Qualifier, they were basically told when USPSA needed them to hold the match so to some extent it was out of their control. I hate that we'll probably lose some big "name" shooters to the WSQ but I was very impressed with their match staff for being such stand-up guys to call me personally to explain the unintentional overlap and apologize for it.

I can't really speak for the others but I doubt they anticipated much overlap between matches in MS and WI. Wish we could all have our own weekends but these days there are just too many good matches to go to.

John Heiter

[Barrettone]

Thanks for the kind words John.

Mike:

As he said, we had applied with our dates back in June, so we were locked in (USPSA didn't accept us as a WSQ until late October). John had no way of knowing when he scheduled. I do have a bit of good news for you though, Mike. The Wisconsin Sectional is an error. They are going to be the third weekend in April...not May. I talked to Perry Wilson (thier RM) as he had promised to work Targeting Education. Perry (to my great relief) called Ronnie Casper and then called me back to inform me that it was an error. Rest easy, as all you now have to worry about is TE, Mississippi, and Kansas. Looks to be a busy match season for sure.

Jeff LaFave

Targeting Education

Co-MD

Edited November 29, 2006 by Barrettone

[Matt Cheely]

That's good to hear. I was looking forward to getting out to WI again. Good people, great match and I wanted to defend my title

[Jim Norman]

And everyone wondered why I was so adament about getting the Nationals dates ASAP.

Jim

[AikiDale]

I suspect the free market will take care of this in the near future. If enough well run large matches book early and leave no good dates for the nationals, those stuck with the responsibility for booking the nationals will have to start booking earier or start losing shooters.

[Chris Keen]

Aren't there like 3 Area matches & a Ntionals all in JUNE!

I have a feeling 2007 is going to be jam-packed with great matches!

Edited to add :

Sorry I was thinking August. From Mid-July to Mid-Aug. there are 4 Area matches. Dayum!

Edited November 30, 2006 by CHRIS KEEN

[shred]

ya know, this might be a good time for Area 4 to break with "tradition" and ditch the usual 1st-weekend-in-June action. Not that I like Nov/Dec any more, but April or Oct would be out of the way of many of the norther majors and likely good or at least decent weather, and the current midsummer date has been icky for quite a few years now.

[Carmoney]

I do have a bit of good news for you though, Mike.

Hey, now that is good news! That definitely makes me feel a little better.

[MasterLefty]

ya know, this might be a good time for Area 4 to break with "tradition" and ditch the usual 1st-weekend-in-June action. Not that I like Nov/Dec any more, but April or Oct would be out of the way of many of the norther majors and likely good or at least decent weather, and the current midsummer date has been icky for quite a few years now.

I suggested that to Ken when we were in Tulsa, that maybe keeping the date later in the year would be a good thing. Like October.

Kenny

[Bwana Six-Gun]

Mike, Give somebody else a chance to win the Sunflower! Come on down here and shoot with us southern boyz. We will have a quality match! If you and the other two amigos come on down we can draw enough to get twenty and have some nationals slots up for grabs. Nemo did not make it last year, but he has promised to try and make it this year. Hoalong can be arm-twisted into shooting again this year even thoug he wants to go with his "Bennie Blaster. Johnny Brister (the only 6-Division GM) will probably be here. Think of the "Ego Factor"! Besides all that, you can try and show us how it is done! Put us on the calendar!

Regards,

Bwana Six-Gun

P.S. I have been in the Glenlivet tonight.

[hopalong]

Bwana,

Carmoney only makes it down south of the Mason-Dixon line once every 3 years or so................As far as I know he hasn't been back since his first Florida Open when Cliff explained the fine art of ass kicking with a Revolver to all of us there. (yes Dan and I were there too to get our share)

And No I will miss this one with the 25, someone else can have it this year...........I have a vendetta with a some of my autoloader buddies that has been sitting for 3 years.

and back to the original rant......

We only have so many good weekends, too bad things work out the way they do. Kansas took away a good many from us last year.

Hopalong

[Carmoney]

I'd love to make it down there and shoot with you guys. My grandparents lived in MS for awhile when I was a kid, always enjoyed those trips to the great South. Howz about running the MS Sectional in the wintertime? We have single-degree temps here in Iowa right now, I'd love to be heading out to shoot a warm-weather match this weekend......

[BismarckC]

Mike:

The Ms Sectional used to be in October which is Tornado/severe weather season. One match (2002?) was shot entirely on Sunday because everyone spent Saturday at the hotel under tables as the siren warnings blared. In 2004 it was a monsoon. I had to set up planks over the puddles to get the targets to tape. The open guns were creating steam because the comps were filling with water. Trust me, May is better.