So, my last post got a metric ton of responses, most of it very positive, but some of it misunderstood on several levels. If your response was to ignore the letter posted, (no I did not write it) and to attack the messenger because it offended your delicate sensibilities, you might be part of the problem.
This is my attempt to clarify several points:
1. I only mentioned the PRS because that is the Series I am most familiar with, and is pretty much the Gold Standard right now. It was not meant to imply there is something inherently wrong with the Series on a whole, only that I feel we can do a better job in some areas. I offered up a suggestions at the end, where I asked the PRS Series Board to consider taking a more pro-active approach to governing the shooters. I look at this like NASCAR, and will reference them to demonstrate my point.
Much of what we see with NASCAR revolves around the Teams and Driver. I look at the Shooters and Teams the same way. We know very little about how NASCAR regulates the tracks, but we see a lot how they regulate the Teams and Drivers. Every Tuesday, Penalties are announced. The PRS needs to be a bit more heavy handed when it comes to governing the individual, it's at this level where things go wrong and have the biggest negative effect. For the most part, the matches are well established, sure things are tried, and changed all the time, but having that innovative spirit helps grow the sport.
A bad apple does not have to be bad to a fellow competitor, he can be exactly like this letter demonstrated, a bad competitor on the inside. Manipulating the system at a match goes beyond things another competitor might see. This letter was never meant for public view, but in this case I was asked to make it public, because the letter was not signed. In fact the sender took pains to hide his identity. If we take it at it's word, it's from a group of shooters and not just one shooter.
Most understand what the spirit of a stage is about. Instead of calling it cheating, we reference it as "Gaming", what we are doing is breaking the spirit of the stage the Match Director put forth. He wants us to use a sling we use something else is a simple example. Maybe we placed the bipod on our toes, or used a tripod. After that first guy, the flood gates are open. If the Range Officer happens to call out a competitor for this, do we argue about our innovation or take a stage DQ ? Most would call it a gamed stage, no harm no foul. Unless you are a new shooter. They see it differently.
It's the little things that add up. When a new shooter shows up to a match for the first time and goes before the "Gamer", and then sees what happens after it is demoralizing to him or her and puts a bad taste in their mouth. But the stage brief said a Sling, he used a tall bipod ? This should be addressed on the shooter level. Many times you have a new Range Officer who doesn't want to be "That Guy" and guys see this, so they take advantage. Now a good competitor will help a new shooter to game the system, but really the fact of gaming is disrespectful to both the Range Officer and Match Director. Maybe as Match Directors we have set in stone stages and we have gamer stages ? Could be fun ...
2. Jersey'd Shooters, I was not implying all guys who wear a Jersey are Assholes. I clearly said SOME... People have inferred 1%, 5%, maybe even 10% of the guys are jerks. In a match with 150 shooters that is a lot of jerks to deal with. One bad apple can spoil a bunch, what does 10 of them do ? If there are 800 shooters in the series and we are overlooking the 5%, that is a lot of potential for bad.
In my opinion part of the problem is the Jersey, it's not the cause, it's just a symptom of the illness. There are lot of guys who wear Jerseys and the Companies have no idea their stuff is being advertised. In other words, they are not true sponsored shooters and just appear to be sponsored. Everything on that shirt they paid for out of their pocket and in a small way may feel the need to earn a little or even a lot of that money back. They hope to get noticed, so they buy a shirt, slap some logos on it and they are off to the matches.
Hell I have Jersey's ... but every company on there knows I am wearing it.
Here again, a Jersey'd Asshole might be a perfectly nice competitor but a dickhead in other areas most people don't see. Sending a letter stating how you deserve a better prize than the next guys is someone being a Stealth Asshole. Had the letter been sent under normal channels, Jacob could have and attempted to discuss the issue with the author(s) but using a anonymous email system he could not reply... answer - Frank take it public.
Maybe if you are not sponsored refrain from wearing a jersey ? Just be yourself as nobody really cares what is on your shirt.
To me, I was clearly angry at the author or authors or the letter. I do know people, at the time felt Jacob handled this wrong, but honestly folks, this is Jacob's Match. He (more like Lisa) gathered that prize table up, nobody else. How he choses to hand out his prizes is not our business. As I understand it 51st place still took a certificate for a complete suppressor off the table.
Which brings me to a point :
Where was it ever said you'd get a prize or in some way be made whole for the money we spent to attend a match ? Shooting a match is a choice, nobody forced you to do it. If a guy budgets $50,000 to shoot matches in 2017, nothing says he is getting any of that back. Truth of the matter is, if Shooter A spends $50k, and Shooter B spends $5k, you are both equal in the eyes of the Match Director. We are not weighing who is who on the line. And if you get beat by Shooter B, that is you hang up. He is getting a better prize than you.
Attempt to finance your hobby through what you take off a prize table should not be the goal when attending a match. Comparing your skills to the next person is.
I know there are a lot of ways to address a prize table, 1 for the shooters, 1 for the Range Officers, but at the end of the day, it all comes from the same pile.
Matches are a ton of fun, they are a great learning experience and help us gauge our level of competence. But matches are a choice. The PRS is doing a ton to make matches more accessible to everyone by signing up 38 matches this season. They are trying to put more matches in front of more people to help keep cost down. This way guys don't have to travel as far.
One of the things people missed is, I said straight up, I am supporting the PRS and we are hosting the Tactical Division Finale. If I had a problem to such a degree with it, why am I am working with them ? We announced it at SHOT SHOW.
My goal was not to discourage you from shooting any given event, but to encourage those who are well aware of these transgressions to step up and speak to them directly. In a word confront the offenders early, instead of looking the other way as some are prone to do. When a competitor comes off a line and decides to debate an RO over a call, tell him to walk away, it's just a rifle match. Not life or death. This is a sport, and sportsmanship has to matter.
I would not host a match if I thought they were bad, I only want to weed out the bad apples and I said that directly. I never said do away away with all the guys in Jerseys or Sponsored Shooters, and I am far from one to hold my tongue. If I meant all guys in Jerseys suck, I would have said that, but I get it, there are people angry that Frank is airing dirty laundry in public, so they mince words and spin my point.
In 15+ years of doing this I have met a lot of shooters. Some like me, some don't, goes with the territory. I truly enjoy shooting a precision rifle and want this sport to succeed beyond anyone's wildest dream. So what I am asking is, if you see it, confront it. If they say it, call them out, don't just stand their and ignore these actions.
The letter sent to me was sent anonymous, I could not call them out personally, and what is funny, still after all this, nobody stepped forward to claim responsibility, not even to say, they talked about it with the Author and they agreed with it. There is a clue there, and that is my point. As a match director we cannot address a problem as the competitor are driving out of the parking lot heading home. We can't be at every stage or watching every Range Officer, Competitor, and target get hit. We rely on the group to help manage the match on some level. This is what can prevent a Sunday Night / Monday Morning, Thursday Afternoon internet rant about a competition that sheds a negative light on the sport. We address it there and then, that person is gone, the incident is forgotten, everyone else drives on remembering the good time they had, and the new friends they met.
I think shooting a match is the best bang for your buck experience out there in the precision rifle world. I really believe in what the local guys are doing now creating a series of events each month so the local competitors can participate without the stress and drama of the big matches. But big matches are fun too. Believe me, if you go in with open eyes and a clear goal of measuring your skills you will have a blast. But if the idea is to get a Jersey, slap a bunch of logos on it and raid the prize table, you are doing it wrong.
The original post was not directed at the 800+ PRS shooters, it was directed at the author(s) of the letter. However the only way to reach those guys is to throw a grenade into the mix. Any group is gonna have it's bad apples, how you handle those apples define you more than loaning a new shooter a spare scope during a match. Matches are a small slice and it's easy to cherry pick the good points, by white washing the bad, you do a dis-service to all.
This is a forum, the conversation does not end with my one post, not that one, not this one. We can discuss, refrain, adjust our position. We can do a point - counter -point in order to clarify statements, that is how we get things done. If the answer is you're just an asshole forget you, things splinter and break. We then choose sides, divide up teams and go off into our corners never solidifying the goal originally set forth. That has already happened and it had nothing to do with me. You can continue to ignore that fact, some of you took your ball and moved to the other side of the street or you can stand up and fix it together.
I have never backed down from a debate, I will stand in front of any critic and let them have their word. If your will not strong enough to accept that fact, I fight hard, that is your hang up, not mine. For the people who got the message, and saw the passion, I appreciate it, for the others who disagree, I respect those who have addressed me directly. As for the handful of clowns, you might be part of the 5%, it's up to you prove me wrong.
This was not meant to be personal, it was meant to bring attention to, 1, the letter, 2, a symptom of a problem I am hoping to erase, and to push the author(s) to claim responsibly.
So hopefully this clarifies my point.
Lowlight
This is my attempt to clarify several points:
1. I only mentioned the PRS because that is the Series I am most familiar with, and is pretty much the Gold Standard right now. It was not meant to imply there is something inherently wrong with the Series on a whole, only that I feel we can do a better job in some areas. I offered up a suggestions at the end, where I asked the PRS Series Board to consider taking a more pro-active approach to governing the shooters. I look at this like NASCAR, and will reference them to demonstrate my point.
Much of what we see with NASCAR revolves around the Teams and Driver. I look at the Shooters and Teams the same way. We know very little about how NASCAR regulates the tracks, but we see a lot how they regulate the Teams and Drivers. Every Tuesday, Penalties are announced. The PRS needs to be a bit more heavy handed when it comes to governing the individual, it's at this level where things go wrong and have the biggest negative effect. For the most part, the matches are well established, sure things are tried, and changed all the time, but having that innovative spirit helps grow the sport.
A bad apple does not have to be bad to a fellow competitor, he can be exactly like this letter demonstrated, a bad competitor on the inside. Manipulating the system at a match goes beyond things another competitor might see. This letter was never meant for public view, but in this case I was asked to make it public, because the letter was not signed. In fact the sender took pains to hide his identity. If we take it at it's word, it's from a group of shooters and not just one shooter.
Most understand what the spirit of a stage is about. Instead of calling it cheating, we reference it as "Gaming", what we are doing is breaking the spirit of the stage the Match Director put forth. He wants us to use a sling we use something else is a simple example. Maybe we placed the bipod on our toes, or used a tripod. After that first guy, the flood gates are open. If the Range Officer happens to call out a competitor for this, do we argue about our innovation or take a stage DQ ? Most would call it a gamed stage, no harm no foul. Unless you are a new shooter. They see it differently.
It's the little things that add up. When a new shooter shows up to a match for the first time and goes before the "Gamer", and then sees what happens after it is demoralizing to him or her and puts a bad taste in their mouth. But the stage brief said a Sling, he used a tall bipod ? This should be addressed on the shooter level. Many times you have a new Range Officer who doesn't want to be "That Guy" and guys see this, so they take advantage. Now a good competitor will help a new shooter to game the system, but really the fact of gaming is disrespectful to both the Range Officer and Match Director. Maybe as Match Directors we have set in stone stages and we have gamer stages ? Could be fun ...
2. Jersey'd Shooters, I was not implying all guys who wear a Jersey are Assholes. I clearly said SOME... People have inferred 1%, 5%, maybe even 10% of the guys are jerks. In a match with 150 shooters that is a lot of jerks to deal with. One bad apple can spoil a bunch, what does 10 of them do ? If there are 800 shooters in the series and we are overlooking the 5%, that is a lot of potential for bad.
In my opinion part of the problem is the Jersey, it's not the cause, it's just a symptom of the illness. There are lot of guys who wear Jerseys and the Companies have no idea their stuff is being advertised. In other words, they are not true sponsored shooters and just appear to be sponsored. Everything on that shirt they paid for out of their pocket and in a small way may feel the need to earn a little or even a lot of that money back. They hope to get noticed, so they buy a shirt, slap some logos on it and they are off to the matches.
Hell I have Jersey's ... but every company on there knows I am wearing it.
Here again, a Jersey'd Asshole might be a perfectly nice competitor but a dickhead in other areas most people don't see. Sending a letter stating how you deserve a better prize than the next guys is someone being a Stealth Asshole. Had the letter been sent under normal channels, Jacob could have and attempted to discuss the issue with the author(s) but using a anonymous email system he could not reply... answer - Frank take it public.
Maybe if you are not sponsored refrain from wearing a jersey ? Just be yourself as nobody really cares what is on your shirt.
To me, I was clearly angry at the author or authors or the letter. I do know people, at the time felt Jacob handled this wrong, but honestly folks, this is Jacob's Match. He (more like Lisa) gathered that prize table up, nobody else. How he choses to hand out his prizes is not our business. As I understand it 51st place still took a certificate for a complete suppressor off the table.
Which brings me to a point :
Where was it ever said you'd get a prize or in some way be made whole for the money we spent to attend a match ? Shooting a match is a choice, nobody forced you to do it. If a guy budgets $50,000 to shoot matches in 2017, nothing says he is getting any of that back. Truth of the matter is, if Shooter A spends $50k, and Shooter B spends $5k, you are both equal in the eyes of the Match Director. We are not weighing who is who on the line. And if you get beat by Shooter B, that is you hang up. He is getting a better prize than you.
Attempt to finance your hobby through what you take off a prize table should not be the goal when attending a match. Comparing your skills to the next person is.
I know there are a lot of ways to address a prize table, 1 for the shooters, 1 for the Range Officers, but at the end of the day, it all comes from the same pile.
Matches are a ton of fun, they are a great learning experience and help us gauge our level of competence. But matches are a choice. The PRS is doing a ton to make matches more accessible to everyone by signing up 38 matches this season. They are trying to put more matches in front of more people to help keep cost down. This way guys don't have to travel as far.
One of the things people missed is, I said straight up, I am supporting the PRS and we are hosting the Tactical Division Finale. If I had a problem to such a degree with it, why am I am working with them ? We announced it at SHOT SHOW.
My goal was not to discourage you from shooting any given event, but to encourage those who are well aware of these transgressions to step up and speak to them directly. In a word confront the offenders early, instead of looking the other way as some are prone to do. When a competitor comes off a line and decides to debate an RO over a call, tell him to walk away, it's just a rifle match. Not life or death. This is a sport, and sportsmanship has to matter.
I would not host a match if I thought they were bad, I only want to weed out the bad apples and I said that directly. I never said do away away with all the guys in Jerseys or Sponsored Shooters, and I am far from one to hold my tongue. If I meant all guys in Jerseys suck, I would have said that, but I get it, there are people angry that Frank is airing dirty laundry in public, so they mince words and spin my point.
In 15+ years of doing this I have met a lot of shooters. Some like me, some don't, goes with the territory. I truly enjoy shooting a precision rifle and want this sport to succeed beyond anyone's wildest dream. So what I am asking is, if you see it, confront it. If they say it, call them out, don't just stand their and ignore these actions.
The letter sent to me was sent anonymous, I could not call them out personally, and what is funny, still after all this, nobody stepped forward to claim responsibility, not even to say, they talked about it with the Author and they agreed with it. There is a clue there, and that is my point. As a match director we cannot address a problem as the competitor are driving out of the parking lot heading home. We can't be at every stage or watching every Range Officer, Competitor, and target get hit. We rely on the group to help manage the match on some level. This is what can prevent a Sunday Night / Monday Morning, Thursday Afternoon internet rant about a competition that sheds a negative light on the sport. We address it there and then, that person is gone, the incident is forgotten, everyone else drives on remembering the good time they had, and the new friends they met.
I think shooting a match is the best bang for your buck experience out there in the precision rifle world. I really believe in what the local guys are doing now creating a series of events each month so the local competitors can participate without the stress and drama of the big matches. But big matches are fun too. Believe me, if you go in with open eyes and a clear goal of measuring your skills you will have a blast. But if the idea is to get a Jersey, slap a bunch of logos on it and raid the prize table, you are doing it wrong.
The original post was not directed at the 800+ PRS shooters, it was directed at the author(s) of the letter. However the only way to reach those guys is to throw a grenade into the mix. Any group is gonna have it's bad apples, how you handle those apples define you more than loaning a new shooter a spare scope during a match. Matches are a small slice and it's easy to cherry pick the good points, by white washing the bad, you do a dis-service to all.
This is a forum, the conversation does not end with my one post, not that one, not this one. We can discuss, refrain, adjust our position. We can do a point - counter -point in order to clarify statements, that is how we get things done. If the answer is you're just an asshole forget you, things splinter and break. We then choose sides, divide up teams and go off into our corners never solidifying the goal originally set forth. That has already happened and it had nothing to do with me. You can continue to ignore that fact, some of you took your ball and moved to the other side of the street or you can stand up and fix it together.
I have never backed down from a debate, I will stand in front of any critic and let them have their word. If your will not strong enough to accept that fact, I fight hard, that is your hang up, not mine. For the people who got the message, and saw the passion, I appreciate it, for the others who disagree, I respect those who have addressed me directly. As for the handful of clowns, you might be part of the 5%, it's up to you prove me wrong.
This was not meant to be personal, it was meant to bring attention to, 1, the letter, 2, a symptom of a problem I am hoping to erase, and to push the author(s) to claim responsibly.
So hopefully this clarifies my point.
Lowlight
