2008 Pro-Am on TV!

[HSMITH]

Let's just run John off, yeah yeah!!!!!!

Come on guys, a little nicer tone wouldn't hurt, suggestions instead of insults? They make the show for US, asking for what we want isn't out of line but being a Richard Cranium is out of line.

I too was disappointed that the amateur competition wasn't mentioned or shown, supersquad shooters are the guys to watch but without the amateurs there wouldn't be a match at all. The weekend hackers are the ones that make it all possible, even the TV shows. I think that a minute or two devoted to the rest of the competition would have been nice to see. It was a great match and I did enjoy watching the show with my wife and kids, it is kinda cool telling them how I shot the course they are watching on national television, things like that.

[carinab]

And the RO on 7 was moving like a cat for such a hefty fellow, I thought that deserved a little recognition.

-John

Hear that Lawman! You move like a cat - rowwrr! Let that inner kitty out

[JakeMartens]

The coverage of the Pro-Am was focused on the pro's simply based on the fact that these 12 guys were in it for cash and that's what I made the story about.

-John

I didn't see (I don't get it on my cable) however I am thankful that you guys were out there getting this and other matches coverage.

Thanks

As for the rest of you, I hate to burst your bubble but this is a business and no one was paying to see us shoot this match. Don't like how it was done, ponie up your own money, produce a show, and then get it on the air with commercial support....see how well you do when you are trying to sell

"B" class unsponsored shooter Jake Martens......

[kgunz11]

The coverage of the Pro-Am was focused on the pro's simply based on the fact that these 12 guys were in it for cash and that's what I made the story about.

-John

I didn't see (I don't get it on my cable) however I am thankful that you guys were out there getting this and other matches coverage.

Thanks

As for the rest of you, I hate to burst your bubble but this is a business and no one was paying to see us shoot this match. Don't like how it was done, ponie up your own money, produce a show, and then get it on the air with commercial support....see how well you do when you are trying to sell

"B" class unsponsored shooter Jake Martens......

I'm sorry Sir, I have to disagree. I do in fact pay for that channel on my cable subscription, and while I like seeing the super squad shoot, I also like seeing some of my other buddies from the Enoverse on TV every now and then too.

[mike cyrwus]

John, Well done.

I liked it, and I must say I upgraded my whole dish package to see this one show; and Im very glad I did.

Shooting USA has a new viewer and fan.

My favorite part was when Dave ended the interview with "its hot!"

[steel1212]

I would have liked to see the AM part of PRO AM on there, hell just a mention, "not only do we have top shooter XXXX but people from all over shooting". Other than that, you have to realize we are a small part that watches the outdoor channel. A lot of people are just sitting at home and watching saying, "yeah I could do that" They don't want to see a somebody dumping a mag at a plate rack they want to see Manny, Dave, Taran burn it down.

Anyways, like the man said, if you don't like what you saw make your own show

PSSSST.....John did that work good enough so I can be on TV in June!?!?!

[mike cyrwus]

Jim did mention that you can get into off of his website and even sign up to shoot the Amateur portion of the match.

ps- Golf didnt get popular by showing Joe Blow club amateur hack it up at pebble beach...

[bbbean]

Ok here's the deal with the Bianchi Cup show, first I didn't produce it, I was there but I only produced the side bar stories. The match results were 1st Doug 1918 185X 2nd Bruce 1918 182X 3rd Carl 1918 176X and 4th Kevin 1918 167X. Again I didn't produce that coverage but based on the X counts these are the positions of finish in the NRA results as well as ours.

The coverage of the Pro-Am was focused on the pro's simply based on the fact that these 12 guys were in it for cash and that's what I made the story about.

And the RO on 7 was moving like a cat for such a hefty fellow, I thought that deserved a little recognition.

-John

Personally, I'm thrilled to see the shooting sports on TV. It's easy to pick on the things a given show didn't show or say, but considering that there are only a couple of shows (and they're all on the same channel!) that address anything about shooting that doesn't involve hunting, I'm not going to complain that they didn't manage to fully cover a three day event in a 30 minute episode.

All that said, I do enjoy seeing the occasional amateur at a match. Gives me hope that mere mortals compete, too.

[Ron Rodgers]

Coverage of the Pro-Am was first class. Given the format of a half-hour show, I thought they did an excellent job of explaining the game, showing us what the match looked like, and capturing the excitement of a very close finish.

Sure, it would have been nice to see more people shooting, but face it, unless you or someone you knew was shooting, most everyone out there wants to see the super squad shoot.

Shooting USA is a great show - about the only thing on TV worth arranging your schedule around. It's way out of line to rudely hammer them because they didn't cover the match exactly the way you wanted.

[kgunz11]

Let me say this, I am not hammering anyone about what they did or did not show. I was commenting that it would have been nice to see more than just the super squad shoot.

I think there has only been one negative comment in this thread and it was about something totally off topic (Bianchi cup miscount?)

It seems to me like the majority of the guys posting here would simply like to see more about the amateur guys, not just the pro shooters. The public should know they don't have to come and compete against the best there is, it might be a little intimidating to most.

So lay off the hoopla about ppl "hammering" or slamming them on the job they did, that's not what anyone is saying, everyone is just commenting that a short 5 minutes of the 10 dedicated to the show could have been about the mortal guys.

[Chuck Anderson]

I don't have a problem with the coverage. I always like the job John and crew does (except for not editing me out). I just thought it would be a cool counterpoint to show the "amatuers" beating half of the pros. That said, I can't imagine them actually shooting video of the amatuer contingent. I felt bad enough for Greg hauling the camera around all day. Think of how hot it was for every shooter, as a shooter. Then imagine hauling around that camera. And Greg didn't just run each stage once. He had to run each one 12 times. One for each shooter. (Okay he might have missed one shooter on Stage 7...oops) Anybody that shot the Pro-Am have a desire to run 96 stages in one day with a 20 lb (just a guess) camera on their shoulder?

[Ron Rodgers]

Let me say this, I am not hammering anyone about what they did or did not show.

Ummm ... I didn't say that YOU did.

I think there has only been one negative comment in this thread and it was about something totally off topic (Bianchi cup miscount?)

That's the one.

It seems to me like the majority of the guys posting here would simply like to see more about the amateur guys, not just the pro shooters.

The point I was trying to make was that WE have an interest in seeing the "mortals" shoot because we may know someone who shot the match, or might have even shot it ourselves. But, I'd bet that most everyone else who were tuned in, would rather see the top dogs in action. With only a few minutes to cover the match and tell the story, you can only cover so much.

So lay off the hoopla ....

hoopla???

[bigj45]

Don't get me wrong I am thrilled that someone is out there who will put our sport on TV at all. I understand that you can't cover a match without filming the super squad but a few clips of some unknown shooters doesn't hurt anything. I just thought they would at least mention that the amateur part of the match was shooting for a visit to a great prize table or that almost the top 20 amateurs finished as good or better than some of the pro's. It was just presented like the stage wins and the 12 super squad guys was all that was there was going on when there was much more. The Bianchi comment might have been unrelated but it bothered me that they stressed the three people shooting 1918's and it coming down to X's when Kevin had a 1918 too and was never mentioned. These are just my gripes, not trying to make anybody mad just getting it off my chest.

[JasonK]

I wonder what percentage of the ShootingUSA audience are "us"? Fastmover?

[mike cyrwus]

As a shooter, I frankly dont care about the shooters getting to see the shooters;

I want the non-shooters to see the sport we love. That way we can get that prize money up where it needs to be, and getting inner-city shooting programs alongside the golf ones.

[kgunz11]

But Mike, does watching Tiger Woods make you think you can be competitive at golf? That's my perspective as far as the non USPSA crowd goes. I wouldn't want anyone to be scared to show up because they "can't shoot like those guys".

[Fastmover]

I wonder what percentage of the ShootingUSA audience are "us"? Fastmover?

It would be hard to put an exact number out there as far as how many of our viewers are practical shooters but for a coarse estamate if every USPSA member watched on a seperate TV that number would represent less that 5% of our average viewership weekly. I work to protect the alloted time I have for all of the practical shooting coverage we do because it is my shooting sport of choice, it is what I do, and I concider myself lucky to have the acess to those pushing the leading edge of these sports. The good news is we will be at the 2009 Pro-Am and that will be a clean slate for me to present one of the coolest pistol matches I have ever seen with all of your constructive criticisims in mind. Accept for cutting Chuck in a dead sprint, that will always make the show. -John

[JFlowers]

John and Phil,

Cool coverage of a great match. I thought John did a good job keeping the presentation simple with graphics and all that showed the straightforward scoring.

John, Is the DVD just the show or is it a full DVD from your coverage of the match?

[Fastmover]

It's the show, sorry we can't sell the raw footage

[want2race]

John,

Thanks for all that you (your crew) do. My whole house knows that Wednesdays are "at the range" night on TV. As shooters, sometimes we get picky. When I'm sitting with my (completely uninterested) mother-in-law, she still gets the point of the show. It's entertaining.

I kept pausing the show, rewinding, explaining how I shot this or that differently, comparing my tie breaker time in relation to the Pro's, hit the same number of plates as 'so and so', go totally spanked by 'so and so', etc. Finally, I was able to show my plate count compared to the final pro standings (wife still unimpressed...). It was a fun half hour!

[gmshtr]

First of all, thanks to all of the people who came to shoot the match. For the record, ALL of the match fees - amateurs and pros alike - were used to finance the cash paybacks (not to mention some extra help from a certain company). The "best prize table in recent memory" (just a quote I heard A LOT) was completely donated by the sponsors. BTW, I hope that everyone who picked something up has contacted them to thank them for their support!

I personally thought that the show was one of the best I'd seen. It was easy to follow and fun to watch. I was hoping to get some mention as to how amateurs could register for 2009, but I couldn't get it in on time (my fault). I thought covering 3-4 shooters on 9 separate stages in 30...no wait, 21 minutes was pretty impressive.

The Shooting USA crew is top notch, and I have no doubt that their coverage next year will again be excellent. As the match grows, and viewer interest increases, perhaps we'll be lucky enough to have a one hour special! Even so, I designed this event to be a television match...one that would be watched by ALL of Shooting USA's viewing public...not just us. Case and point, I had the episode running in the Main Lodge today during an outside company's team building event, and 3 different classes (well, during their lunch break anyway). These were just average joe's and jane's...not competition shooters. We couldn't pull people away from the show! They were mesmerized by the falling steel, flashy shooters, and flying brass. On their way back to class (10 minutes late), they wanted more, and thanks to Jim's commentary, they knew excatly where to go find all of their information: www.shootingusa.com That will lead them directly to our website where they will be greeted with a front page welcome and registration form...at least I'm hoping James can get that done by tomorrow!

Great job Shooting USA! And thanks for the constructive comments for next year. Now I need all of those people who whined about no Open class to start SIGNING UP in Open!

Sincerely,

Phil Strader

[9x23]

I get to see my buddies shoot at every club match I attend. The only time I see the pro's

are on tv or the occasional large match I attend.

I liked the coverage just like it was. Thanks John

I hope open division makes. I think it will only help spectator appeal. Thanks Phil

just my $.02

Edited November 8, 2008 by 9x23

[Rocket35]

I would just like to say that I feel that Shooting USA and Sighting In are the best two show on TV! I didn't mean to mislead folks into think that I was being critical and that I was unsatisfied with their programming. I would love to see the format changed to a 1 hour program though!!

John- WTG on your coverage of our sport and glad to have ya.

As far as viewers go, I am sure that we as shooters are the largest viewing body the show has.

[Chuck Anderson]

As far as viewers go, I am sure that we as shooters are the largest viewing body the show has.

Well since John already posted that the total number of USPSA members only make up about 5% of the weekly viewership, I'm going out on a limb and say you're wrong if you're talking about USPSA. It sounds like there are a lot of folks out there interested that we aren't bringing in to matches.

[Rocket35]

As far as viewers go, I am sure that we as shooters are the largest viewing body the show has.

Well since John already posted that the total number of USPSA members only make up about 5% of the weekly viewership, I'm going out on a limb and say you're wrong if you're talking about USPSA. It sounds like there are a lot of folks out there interested that we aren't bringing in to matches.

How could they accurately depict how many viewers are USPSA members or not? And that still wouldn't take into account of the IDPA members and all the active practical shooters that don't have memberships. Of all the people that ask me about the sport, non of which have every confessed to watching the shows when I mention them. Interesting figure though....

Edited November 8, 2008 by Rocket35