I'm not sure how a post about the Andersonville contest turned into a state of judging thread....but what the heck

This is seen as sort of a no-win situation for some. Does a problem exist? Of course, from the top all the way to sportsman. We as a group have been working on solutions for years, the trick is agreeing on anything. No matter what you do, someone will find a flaw in it...and it will always be that way because we're human. No matter how hard we try, even if we study it like we were taking the bar exam, we're going to make mistakes. Sometimes critical ones that change outcomes. We've hashed and re-hashed the reasons and possible solutions to death, and in the end it comes down to individual choice. Do you WANT to spend the time and effort to become an exceptional judge? Even though my life and my own choices allow me to go to great lengths in this area, many others just.....won't.

If we do manage to get enough people interested in something like this, we'll have the best judges in all of pattern. But some would argue we already do. And if I have one issue with any of this, it's that we don't hear enough about the ones who get it right. All we hear about are the ones who supposedly don't. And if someone who didn't fly in this district read this, well you'd likely draw the conclusion that we as a group are a bunch of incompetent slackers. You and I know that's not the case, but that does bother me. You have your issues, that one is mine. And no I don't take this personally I'm just looking at the big picture. I'm always learning and trying to improve. I'm not the best or the worst, I'm the best I can be at this time and seeking improvement.

I'm game for whatever, as always, like I said from day one. I've studied the patterns, downgrades etc ad nauseum, and judged and flown it in competition (sort of). I'm ready to judge it whenever. But at Andersonville, I wasn't asked. It was decided to let the contestants judge it themselves before I ever got word of it. And that's fine with me if that's what you want to do. but I think you may find contestant judging isn't the solution, because there are some fatal flaws with the way it was done at the 2 contests where it was tried. I doubt that the outcome would shift too much, but the point spread is pretty interesting. Different to be sure, whether it's more correct or not who knows, I wasn't scoring the flights.

I think you'll find more than a few people willing to attend such a seminar. But timing and location will be everything, due to gas prices, personal lives and priorities among other things. Just let me know when and where and I'll be there.

And yes Jason, you're brutal in the chair....

Remember to have fun!
-Mike