Kudos to TO's, MD's and the Rules Committee

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

There are always numerous "what's the call" threads going on the wire at any given time. Frequently after pages of after-the-fact discussion there are lots of "the TO should have done this" or "the TO should have done that" and some very passionate discussions/arguments. SASS does not have professional officials. The TO's are just people off the posse that volunteer to run the timer. Often times, the TO is selected by default because a LOT of people simply don't like making calls. We discuss "you make the calls" for hours and sometimes days on end. However, the TO has to make a decision in a matter of seconds or at most minutes. Are the decisions always correct? No. But, hats off to everyone that volunteers to be the TO. If the TO makes a decision at a large match and the shooter disagrees there is an appears process. Ultimately, after all the discussion and arguments the Match Director has to make a decision. No matter how passionate the argument at a certain point it simply must end. It is not uncommon for the person making the argument to lament that the MD "cut them off" and wouldn't "listen to them." Again, at a certain point the argument has to end and by "not listening" the shooter really means the MD did not buy the argument and the shooter disagrees with the decision made. Is the MD's decision always correct? No. But, hats off to all our hard working Match Directors. The SASS rules book use to be a small book that would fit in your shirt pocket. Now it is a binder with over 100 pages. The Rules Committee does a REMARKABLE job in trying to address various situations in our rule books. No matter how much thought is put into a rule or clarification someone, somewhere will do something "dumb" or perhaps a nicer word is "silly" that is so far out of the norm no one could have thought of it beforehand. Yet, the Rules Committee tries to fit these strange situations into the fabric of the exisitng rules rather than keep writing new ones. Are those decisions and clarifications always correct? Yes and no. By definition, if the Rules Committee writes a rule and interprets the rules they wrote the answer is "correct." Is everyone going to be satisfied with the Rules Committee's deicison? No. But, hats off to our hard working rules committee.

[Hoss]

+1

 

The more I learn the more I find out I don't know much......

[Fillmore Coffins, SASS #7884]

Well put Larsen.

 

Fillmore

[Grizzly Dave]

Yes indeed. Many thanks from my cabin!

[Rafe Conager SASS #56958]

+1 I agree our MDs and TOs do a great job, just look at professional sports with Paid professional Refs and officials and think about all the bad calls and no calls that these trained/paid people make everyday. Hats off to our guys and gals that donate their personal time and personal expense to attend the rules committees and set up matches on their free time.

Rafe

[Lead Ringer]

Amen brother!

Ringer

[Guest Jess Money]

+1!

 

The pards I shoot with are truly unselfish when it comes to shouldering the responsibility of TO. I firmly believe that's the reason the rest of us do our best to handle the other responsibilities; spotting, manning (and ladying) the loading and unloading tables, resetting knockdowns, pop-ups, policing brass, recording times, etc. CAS is not a "my game" shooting sport. CAS is an OUR game shooting sport. It takes a team for all of us to be able to enjoy it.

[Kiowa Kid, SASS #69870L]

Well put and agree 100%

 

KK

[Cat Brules]

Larson,

You are absolutely correct.

I agree that the people who donate their time to create the rules, make quick field decisions and those who break the "ties" of ruling vs. appeal are invaluable to the sport. And they all do it out of love and interest in the sport. No one can guarantee 100% accuracy in the heat of a match, with 40 or 100 or 300 shooters out there trying to shoot the stages, but I'd say these volunteers come pretty close.

 

I personally view these "what's the call" topics as (usually) interesting discussions that in the end are a learning environment for many and an opportunity to transfer knowledge by those who are able to take a seemingly complicated incident, strip away the superflous details and isolate the core fact that the rule(s) apply to. Even if many of the topics are virtual repeats of previous, similar topics, I think they are useful. Of course, it's easy for us to sit here on the wire and monday morning quaterback these incidents in the sterile test tube enviornment and glow of our computer. Hopefully, most readers will recognize what you said as being reality and the discussion topics as academic.

 

I don't really see these discussions (with the exception of a very few) as beating up on the TO or the Match Director. In the end, the tough decisions must be made and they are made. Not everyone leaves that process happy, but having been heard is, I think, most important to the process, even if it goes against the appealate. Also,everyone probably has heard a story about the rogue TO, etc., but those stories (if actually accurate) are rare exceptions to the process, in my view. I doubt that many, if any, TO's come out of these emotional incidents unscathed. It's stressful and disheartening to see a shooter so upset that he begins to lose his composure.

 

So, yeah, everyone owes the TO's and the MD's (who are TO's as well, usually) their thanks. Not only do these folks do this as a service to their fellow shooters, but they expose themselves to a number of risks while they're doing it.

[Medicine Creek Johnny]

+100

[Santa Fe River Stan,36999L]

+1

[Charles B. Gatewood SASS #48517]

Very well said! Thank you!

 

CBG

[Possum Skinner, SASS#60697]

Yep!

[charlietwogunz]

Agreed!! And another reason i wont be a t.o.

[Sour Kraut]

Well said Larson!! I don't particulaarly care to be the TO but I'll do it without complaint if asked.

 

The TOs, MDs and Rules Committee are volunteers and as such, seem to put more into their jobs than anyone could reasonably expect, just for the love of the game! That's definitely the "cowboy way!"

[Guest Half-a-Hand Henri]

You betcha! Very well worded and right on the money.

[Madd Mike #8595]

sometimes I think folks that start a "watts the call" post

 

need to include (in many cases) more information right up front

 

some of the "hypo whats the call" are like asking

"if pigs could fly - would you still look up"

 

any ways, Larson is correct

thankyou very much to the folks that moderate, and answer the call, as it is all volenteer work

 

thanks again folks