Area 1 Championship

[open17]

Finals are up

Bruce, an exellent job on stats as usual. Even if there is only half of you. What are the

chances of a "combined overall" results appearing somewhere?

Bill

[al503]

Pull out your match booklet or go to the website. Contact a sponsor or two and thank them. Better yet buy something. Doesn't have to be big. Just letting them know we appreciate them is how we get them back each year.

I'll be e-mailing a few this AM.

Thanks again, Chuck.

[Z-man]

Thanks to all that made this match work. Compliments to the stage designers as well, the stages were very technical and challenging! Great match!

Edited June 30, 2008 by Z-man

[HoMiE]

Even with the extra shot, I think he did alright.

Edited June 30, 2008 by HoMiE

[Bill Sahlberg]

Great match, squad 44 was the best group of workers in 100+ heat that I could imagine, nobody let down and all worked through the very end. Too bad for the chrono and Matt McLearn, only 19 points away from #1 and shooting minor.....he would have easily won with major but it never bothered him as Matt is a stand up guy.

My hats off to the ROs and Match organizers, this was a great Area 1. Next year please order mid 60s instead of 110+

Bill Sahlberg

L1283

[bjet]

I forgot to ask when I was there but do press releases get sent out for this event? Specifically to the local newspapers? I was going to send a letter to the Register-Guard about coverage but if they didn't get anything about it they could use that as an excuse. We are now the #2 sport per dollars spent. Go us.

bjet

[wileecoyote37]

I forgot to ask when I was there but do press releases get sent out for this event? Specifically to the local newspapers? I was going to send a letter to the Register-Guard about coverage but if they didn't get anything about it they could use that as an excuse. We are now the #2 sport per dollars spent. Go us.

bjet

This was a fun match. Very well organized and run. It was hot!!! but I can't say enough to thank the RO's. They never let down for a minute in all the heat. The decision to postpone until mornig was definitely the right one. Can say enough about haw great the match was.. THANKS TO ALL!!!!!!

[Nate]

This was the most challenging match I have shot. Great designs and it really seperated the wheat (Travis) from the chaf (me). Super prize table. Thaks to the RO's who dealt with really tough heat, and thanks Bruce for scores almost in real time:)

[Loves2Shoot]

I dare anyone say that IPSC is a hoser sport where you don't need to aim. Way to go Chuck and crew!!! Great challenges and great execution.

[tgibson]

I dare anyone say that IPSC is a hoser sport where you don't need to aim. Way to go Chuck and crew!!! Great challenges and great execution.

Boy aint that the truth!! I haven't aimed that much in the last six months!!! Great job guys.

Adios,

TG

[Dustdevil21]

Just a quick thanks to all of the hard working individuals, and those that stepped up to help when the "Help" was short. I had a great time, wish I could have done better, but being my first area match, I can't complain. I made it through the match, heat and all, and completed all stages.

Doug Walker

Squad 11

[Putty]

Squad 46, you guys and gal rocked! Thanks to Strader and Seeklander for the class and all the encouragement. Great job by all the staff in running the match in that "Devils Anvil" to coin a phrase. Pleasure meeting some forum members as well like Dave Re and Al Suh. Great people. And thanks to Springer Precision for the Custom XD, WOOHOOO!!!

[DMS42]

It was a great match and had super RO's. My thanks to all that made it happen.

My last Area 1 Championship that I attended was in Marysville in 1988. I plan on not waiting so long to attend the next one--next year I Hope.

I was about washed out on Saturday Afternoon and was thinking about not shooting the last two stages that my squad had left when we were told that shooting was over for the day. I was happy to hear that from my standpoint, but was sad because there were 3 on my squad that couldn't make it back to shoot on Sunday and I'm sure that there were others in the same boat.

This was the type of match that I really like--mainly because I don't move or shoot very fast, but I can shoot accurately.

Thanks again for a great match.

PS

I believe that Lisa Munson was High Lady at this match. Congrats go to Lisa.

[kimel]

Wow...what a great Area 1!!! Well, other than the heat and the way I shot.

I was the CRO on Stage 10 and it was 110 in the shade Saturday afternoon...and it was a LOT hotter down at the other end of that bay. I'd guess it was at least 120. I was staying hydrated (barely) but really struggling with energy. Makes me wonder how our valiant guys and gals over in the sandbox do it.

Thanks to the shooters that busted their butts to keep things moving even though the heat was oppressive. I think we only had to "supply" pasters to one shooter to encourage them to go help.

And a huge thanks to Floyd Shoemaker and Roger Schmidt for coming over Sunday morning after their stages were finished and running the last two squads for us. My crew and I were beat and we would have taken a whole lot longer to run that stage out without the help.

And a big thanks to whomever decided to do staff shirts from TechWear. I'm sure a lot of staffers and shooters got to go a whole lot longer because they were wearing TechWear, UnderArmor and assorted other high tech fabrics. If you haven't made the investment yet folks, do it before you shoot your next match where it might be hot. You'll be glad you did.

It was great to see everyone and we'll see many of you again in Tulsa!

[bgary]

Gotta add my two cents worth, in respect of those ROs.

Man, it was hot out there on Saturday, and as Kevin said the quarry-bays that opened toward the west were easily 10-15 degrees hotter than the indicated temps. Think "convection oven" without any air-movement, and you'll be pretty close.

I was amazed at the dedication of the ROs - I actually shut down the stats operation for a while on Saturday to go give some ROs a break, and... some of them just flat wouldn't accept the offer. They said they had a job to do, and they were damn well going to do it.

At one point, we had 8 ROs in various stages of heat-related distress in the stat-shack, trying to get them to sit still long enough to cool down. Some had to be escorted there. But *all* of them, once they'd had a chance to recover, argued that they should be allowed to get back to "their" stage, so they could run "their" shooters.

Sheesh. Dunno where we get these people, but... they're amazing. We all owe them our thanks.

B ("we are building an RO cadwe of extwaordinawy magnitude")

[Franksremote]

Great match, squad 44 was the best group of workers in 100+ heat that I could imagine, nobody let down and all worked through the very end. Too bad for the chrono and Matt McLearn, only 19 points away from #1 and shooting minor.....he would have easily won with major but it never bothered him as Matt is a stand up guy.

My hats off to the ROs and Match organizers, this was a great Area 1. Next year please order mid 60s instead of 110+

Bill Sahlberg

L1283

The ROs rocked! This was our first trip to an A1 match and it proved to be well worth the trip. Mayhap we'll see some of y'all at the Reno/NV open in August.

+1 re: squad 44, good bunch of folks and it was nice to see everyone helping out, even in the oppressive heat

Great match leaving shooters to make their own mistakes, plenty of 'em for some of us

Dinner saturday night including a lot of ribbing at Matt's expense, he took it all in stride and I honestly think that the sushi helped him shoot even better Sunday. For a meat and potatoes kinda guy, he really is into raw fish...

Thanks again to the whole crew that put this together, from stage builders to MD, couldn't have happended without you and would have been a much longer day(s) without the great attitudes and dedication of the stage CRO/ROs We'll definately be back

Frank n Jenny

[n2ipsc]

B ("we are building an RO cadwe of extwaordinawy magnitude")

"We foaj ow spiwits in the twadition of aw ancestohs"

Leaf a message at the bip...

[flyingchange]

I also would like to extend my kudos to the staff of this match - I wish I had been half as tough in the heat as y'all were. You were awesome!

[DrShooter]

The heat on Sunday (not as bad as Saturday) led someone to take my wife's umbrella (sitting on top of her bag on Stage 10) that took a year to get. It has a special lining and wood handle (for contact allergies). Now, she won't shoot a big match because she can't trust the people there. Plus, she won't shoot our local matches during most of the shooting season because she doesn't have her umbrella (maybe this vow won't last). Only this special one had a wood handle; it's not a regular option. She has a medical condition that makes staying a little cooler on a hot day essential.

If she doesn't shoot major matches, she will probably drop her USPSA membership since she only joined to shoot Area 1.

Not likely that anyone on this forum would do such a thing, but help watch each other's stuff out there.

If by chance the perp dropped it at the end of the day and someone finds it, PM me please.

[XRe]

Blog post and video from the match up here: http://re-gun.blogspot.com/2008/07/match-r...ampionship.html

I put some thoughts on stage 9 at the end, based on conversations I had with some folks at the match - hope they're taken informatively/constructively, as they're intended

Again, a fine match, well run, huge prize table, good squad to shoot with... looking forward to attending next year, too (assuming fuel prices don't make airfare beyond ridiculous by next year ) !!!

[XRe]

Now, she won't shoot a big match because she can't trust the people there.

Sorry to hear about that - I would have to bet that it was almost certainly an accident that your wife's umbrella disappeared. Almost without exception, my experience with shooters in this sport is that they are extremely respectful of everyone's equipment and personal belongings. Sometimes, in the heat, we do strange things - like leave items behind and think we didn't, and that sort of thing, too... Hopefully, it turns up in the lost and found...

[Chuck Anderson]

Thanks for posting Dave. We gave a lot of thought to the door and had conversations with the owners as well as folks that have used them before. I went through the results and pulled out everyone that had 2 or more procedurals on that stage. There were less than 30 but I can't remember the exact number off the top of my head. I noted a couple things. There were people that went through the door that I really didn't think could. Most of the ladies got through and even Tyler Roberts went through after two hits. Tyler is around 12 years old and if the kid weighs 80 pounds I'd be surprised. What I did notice was that the people who took the penalties were clustered by squad. There were a lot of squads were everyone got through, juniors, seniors, super seniors and ladies. 100% success. Then there were stages where 1/2 the squad took the penalties. You can draw your own conclusions from that. I know I drew mine.

The intent was to get people to give it an honest try. If they didn't think they could, by all means skip it and run around. There are stages like that all the time. I had hoped that the RO's would demo the door before each squad to show how to hit it. There is a technique. Obviously if an 80 pound 12 year old can get through there should have been more folks that did. For the folks that gave it an honest try and couldn't get through I hope it didn't mess up your game too bad.

I talked to one of the shooters who seemed to be complaining the most about it. The question that came up was what does this have to do with shooting. For me it was a way to force an action at the beginning of the stage to stress folks and take them out of their comfort zone. Much like many of the other props that have been used at matches across the country. Like dropping a package in a mailbox to start a stage, or pulling a string to activate something else.

I don't know. We probably won't use this set up again for an IPSC match. I can just about guarantee that it will show up again next year at a couple matches though.

[XRe]

Then there were stages where 1/2 the squad took the penalties. You can draw your own conclusions from that. I know I drew mine.

I wouldn't know what conclusions to draw from it

I had hoped that the RO's would demo the door before each squad to show how to hit it. There is a technique.

Having that would have probably helped some folks out - while there weren't penalties awarded for it (obviously) a lot of folks that took 2 (or 3) hits to get through could probably have made it in one with a little instruction/demonstration. Of course, I spent time explaining it to some folks, and it still didn't help one of them, but...

The crew on the stage did a magnificent job running it, though - the stage had the possibility of getting really bogged down, and such, and they had their stuff down well, and got it reset and recycled quickly and smoothly...

Obviously if an 80 pound 12 year old can get through there should have been more folks that did.

Honestly, I'm surprised he could, but it certainly goes to show your point... On the other hand, some big guys (I won't mention names to save embarassment ) - bigger than me - required more than one hit to get through. Of course - that technique thing comes into play.

I talked to one of the shooters who seemed to be complaining the most about it. The question that came up was what does this have to do with shooting.

I think I spoke to that person, too - that particular argument has some merit, but given all of the things we do at matches that aren't specifically shooting challenges, I'm not sure its one that I think applies. There are always going to be things (the so-called "prop-tossing monkey motions") that distract from the shooting. Learning to deal with them in a smooth, technical manner is part of learning the game. I'm totally with you, here.

Like I said in the blog post, I think the only real issue was that it was a rather physical challenge, in the end - and the less capable you were physically in that regard, the more important a specific technique (that we don't use as civilian shooters) became - and that made it maybe kind of tough for some folks.

Maybe if you can get ahold of a 2nd door and ram, and have an area at the side match where folks can pay $5 a whack to practice on a door or something... Heck, you'd probably rake in the dough on that ... it was fun just hammering the door...

Someone I was talking to brought up using something more fragile - like a pencil - in place of the plastic plug? Might be something to consider looking at, anyway...

I don't know. We probably won't use this set up again for an IPSC match. I can just about guarantee that it will show up again next year at a couple matches though.

I definitely enjoyed the prop - if you can find a way to blunt the raw physical aspect some, I'd think it would still be a useful and fun addition to a match...

Thanks again for a great match

Dave

[HoMiE]

I would have loved to demo the door for each squad, but I am not sure we would have ended up with enough pins for the door.

ETA - After the match during take down, I did break the door with 2-pins in it. We had a 75 lb. 10 yr. old give it a try and it took 3+ swings.

Edited July 1, 2008 by HoMiE

[outerlimits]

much more fun breaching the door like the R&R guyz will have us doing next week