TBSC Winter Invitational 2007

[Spear One]

Originally Posted by hogsniper

Kevin, to followup with you from this morning, Chuck Schnur won the donated speargun yesterday off of his FRA raffle ticket. My ticket number was exactly 10 off of the winner. Thanks again.

Congratulation Chuck, and thanks to everyone who participated in the raffle and the tournament.

[johnnydinx]

Originally Posted by Spear One

If I pay money to see a movie, I expect to see the movie. If I buy a product that comes with a warranty, I expect the company that made the product to stand behind the warranty. Why? Because these are businesses run by professionals. I think we owe our tournament volunteers a whole lot more lattitude. If we are not careful, there are not going to be any tournaments because we are not going to have any VOLUNTEERS to put them on.

Kevin, I totally disagree with you on this one. Are you saying that because spearfishing tournaments are run by volunteers that we as participants shouldd show them more "latitude" by closing one eye to established, published and agreed upon rules?

Does that then mean that because I volunteer my time as a little league football coach, that it would be acceptable to teach my players to ignore the rules of the game and simply ask for a little latitude when confronted by the parents, refs, or opposing teams just because I am a volunteer and not a "professional"? I think not.

Was I at the tournament yesterday? Yes. Was I at the back of the line during this "event"? No. Regardless if these tournaments are going to be run with a little "lattitude" why have any rules to begin with?

[johnnydinx]

Originally Posted by bgbill

I know this as I had mine and Mikes (Mike was at his son's birthday party, some things are more important than diving) ticket, and Mikes ticket number got called, but mine did not.

Bret, you must have some bad mojo working , because my ticket did not get called either!

[blades1_99]

John,

Thought you were someone else and that is my bad. Because I was very much aware of the great fish you guys turned in. Again..my bad on lumping you in with fish weighed after time expired.

[Screen Name]

Originally Posted by johnnydinx

Kevin, I totally disagree with you on this one. Are you saying that because spearfishing tournaments are run by volunteers that we as participants shouldd show them more "latitude" by closing one eye to established, published and agreed upon rules?

Does that then mean that because I volunteer my time as a little league football coach, that it would be acceptable to teach my players to ignore the rules of the game and simply ask for a little latitude when confronted by the parents, refs, or opposing teams just because I am a volunteer and not a "professional"? I think not.

Was I at the tournament yesterday? Yes. Was I at the back of the line during this "event"? No. Regardless if these tournaments are going to be run with a little "lattitude" why have any rules to begin with?

You misrepresented what he said. Volunteers that perform a function once or twice a year are more likely to make errors than professionals. Once you run a hundred tournaments or so, nobody will need to convince you of that.

Some parents get in their kid's coaches face and make their life miserable. Rarely is this deserved, and quite often the troublemaker didn't lift a finger to help.

Others recognize that this is not the coaches profession, and they are grateful that someone just stepped up to help. Some parents will even chip in and do their part, while trying to help foster a team environment.

Kevin is more of the latter.

[blades1_99]

Originally Posted by SpearMax

Welcome to Spearboard blades1_99! Thanks for contributing to making the tournament successful!

Thanks I've been what's the expression "lurking" here for a while since being approved by the previous administration and learning lots.

We'll have a better tourney next year.

[johnnydinx]

Originally Posted by Screen Name

You misrepresented what he said. Volunteers that perform a function once or twice a year are more likely to make errors than professionals. Once you run a hundred tournaments or so, nobody will need to convince you of that.

Some parents get in their kid's coaches face and make their life miserable. Rarely is this deserved, and quite often the troublemaker didn't lift a finger to help.

Others recognize that this is not the coaches profession, and they are grateful that someone just stepped up to help. Some parents will even chip in and do their part, while trying to help foster a team environment.

Kevin is more of the latter.

John, though I doubt he remembers me, I've met and spoke with Kevin on more than one occasion, all of which were nothing but positive. I know that from my experience and from I what I hear from other people, that Kevin is a stand up guy. I understand where both you and he are coming from concerning the job the volunteers have. No one really wants to do it, but everyone is there to criticize them whether a mistake was made or not.

In certain instances, I would agree with your statement concerning a volunteers performance vs. that of a professional. It only makes sense that a person who performs whatever duty on a daily basis is going to better at and more efficient than someone else who only performs that same duty once or twice a year. However, in this scenario, it doesn't matter if the person who made the call was profession or a volunteer; the rule that was allegedly broken was not only communicated at the captain's meeting, but was also printed and agreed upon by each contestant as it was part of the rules that accompanied the application.

[johnnydinx]

Originally Posted by blades1_99

We'll have a better tourney next year.

The tournament was fine this year. Even though I can't shoot for shit , I still enjoyed the day and the weigh-in/awards ceremony.

[hogsniper]

On a more uplifting note, I just got off the phone with Chuck and Corey Schnur, father/son members of the TBSC. If you guys remember, Corey won the junior division yesterday and his dad won the Spearfishing Specialties Speargun that Kevin Bruington donated for the FRA raffle. Chuck and Corey feel that yesterday was one of the best experiences they have had and a great day all around. They realize that it was possible due to the efforts of Denny O'Hern and the FRA. They have decided to donate $100 to the FRA for making it possible for them to have a day to remember. This is in addition to the money that TBSC raised through the raffles of the gun and the E Sea Rider Bean Bag. A special thanks to Chuck and Corey Schnur and the FRA.

[Spear One]

Originally Posted by johnnydinx

Kevin, I totally disagree with you on this one. Are you saying that because spearfishing tournaments are run by volunteers that we as participants shouldd show them more "latitude" by closing one eye to established, published and agreed upon rules?

Does that then mean that because I volunteer my time as a little league football coach, that it would be acceptable to teach my players to ignore the rules of the game and simply ask for a little latitude when confronted by the parents, refs, or opposing teams just because I am a volunteer and not a "professional"? I think not.

Was I at the tournament yesterday? Yes. Was I at the back of the line during this "event"? No. Regardless if these tournaments are going to be run with a little "lattitude" why have any rules to begin with?

I apparently have done a very poor job in my previous posts of getting my point across. That point being.........myself and many others have grown grown quite weary of all the pissing, moaning, complaining that occur at many tournaments. I admit that I have a very short fuse when it comes to the "calling out" of the volunteers who put these tournaments on. Maybe that is what "set me off" on this issue in the first place.

Over the past 20 years there has been plenty of controversy in the open tournaments as well as the WCC series, so these recent incidents are not without precedent. In spite of their flaws, I think these tournaments are of the utmost importance to out industry and I will continue to make whatever contributions I can to help make sure they continue for many years to come.

Do there need to be rules in these tournaments? Absolutely! Should they be applied equally to all participants? Yes! Should they be enforced? Yes! If my previous post implied otherwise, I apologize. The intent of my post was to protect the volunteers, not to suggest that we do away with rules.

Ideally, everyone shows up at the weigh line on time.

Ideally, no one brings a short fish to the scale.

Ideally, no one shoots fish prior to the tournament.

Ideally, no one shares fish with another competitor.

Ideally, no one gets his shorts in a wad and gets in the face of a volunteer because the tournament was not flawless.

Maybe I am living in fantasy land or maybe I am just a dreamer. I choose to see these tournaments for the incredible events they are, and ideally, how much better they could be. However, after all the years and all the controversy, I can't recall any good that came from all the pissing, moaning, and complaining, or how it made the tournament any better. Thanks for listening to my rant.

[RichT]

Originally Posted by bgbill

Rich,

Prize pick was based on having your ticket called, it didn't matter if you shot in the tournament (as long as you were registered), weighed a fish or were even in line on time.

I know this as I had mine and Mikes (Mike was at his son's birthday party, some things are more important than diving) ticket, and Mikes ticket number got called, but mine did not.

Bret,
Im well aware of the tournament format. My intention was to point out that those(in the controversy) guys picked last. Or...from what I remember, not at all(last).
Perhaps you could point it out that they didnt pick a prize because there were no prizes left at the end...

Im not trying to dismiss anybody actions. I think mistakes were obviously made. But, for so many people to beat up on other people like what occurs on Spearboard (and on this thread) on a regular basis makes me less and less willing to participate in this forum.



This is s-p-e-a-r-f-i-s-h-i-n-g guys!!!
You all sound like a bunch of bickering old women.

Its too bad nobody is talking about the Story of Todd Maynard.
Todd barely survived a terrible motorcycle accident that nearly killed him couple years ago on his way to a Tampa Bay Spearfishing Club Meeting.
It certainly would have killed most of us...
He lost an arm. He cant see well and he will suffer permanent disability the rest of his life!
Yesterday... Todd got back in the water and shot his first fish on my good friend Chris Gardinals boat.
Hopefully... Chris will post the inspirational pictures and tell the story.

[hogsniper]

Speaking of old woman, how's the back Rich? I know there was no way you could have made it out yesterday with those nasty 1' to 2' swells pounding the boat. Besides, I don't know anyone with a boat that can accomodate a walker or a Hoveround.

[fishnshoot]

Way to go Chuck and Corey on your donation and congrats for your wins. I also had a great time with some good diving with good friends and family. Yea, there was a little hiccup and as a fellow TBSC member I felt bad for the way it came off with some late arrivals, but im sure it would have been a non issue had some of the late arrivals placed well enough for glass due to Mark the weigh master and other volunteers monitoring the line. I think it was a good tournament. I had a 1st time tournament shooter on my boat that would have liked to have shot better but was very happy by the drawing and winning a nice set of long blade fins that he needed. I'm also proud of my son Josh for his 1st place snapper. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen. Remember it was a fun type tournament for bragging rights. Congrats to all that did well enough to brag.

[Spear One]

Originally Posted by Screen Name

You misrepresented what he said. Volunteers that perform a function once or twice a year are more likely to make errors than professionals. Once you run a hundred tournaments or so, nobody will need to convince you of that.

Some parents get in their kid's coaches face and make their life miserable. Rarely is this deserved, and quite often the troublemaker didn't lift a finger to help.

Others recognize that this is not the coaches profession, and they are grateful that someone just stepped up to help. Some parents will even chip in and do their part, while trying to help foster a team environment.

Kevin is more of the latter.

Thanks John, you did a much better job of getting my point across than I did.

[Spear One]

[quote=johnnydinx]John, though I doubt he remembers me, I've met and spoke with Kevin on more than one occasion, all of which were nothing but positive.

Yes, I remember you. I remember meeting you in a restaurant parking lot a few years back. My short term memory is pretty well shot, but my long term memory is hangin' in there.