Question

[Jim Beckley]

This is kind of a continence from the Small Bore Which way? I have a question. If a competitor shows up for a match, having done nothing for that match (or any other as far as I know), and does nothing but complain from which way the animals are facing to how many shots are in the match, ect, ect. It was a state match, so it was a two day affair. It has been my experience that if you can get 10% of the people that show up for a match, to do any work, you are very lucky. The other 90% show up to just shoot, and help pay the bills. This is my thoughts and if it offends anyone, maybe the old thing about the shoe fitting might be appropriate. Number 1 a program was put together before the match and the competitor should have read it, to know how many shots were going to be shot. Number 2 at that time there were no rules to face animals one way or the other, so every swinging richard had the same opportunity to shoot the same targets, so the question is this, if someone shows up at a match, just to complain, why not just give them their entry fee back and send them down the road?

[BCloninger]

Daddy always said some people would complain if you hung 'em with a new rope. As usual, Daddy was right - some people just like to complain.

[Trent]

I'm just a noob, but I do know this... as with all things in life, you can't please 100% of the people all of the time.

I think that with the sport in the place that it is (not as popular as it once was) it would be imperative to keep every last competitor that can be kept. I feel like if someone were to ever give me a refund and send me away that I would never return to that venue. I think there is a better alternative. Him not knowing the number of shots is something that can be worked with. Why didn't he know, and was there a better way of making it known? There could be something to learn from that.

The animals facing one way or the other... obviously that is debatable as we've seen from a recent thread.

Some folks are not easily pleased. It's probably best to let them be miserable and concentrate on those that are excited and happy to be there. Like me!

[lone ringer]

Jim, I have another question.
If over 90% of the participants are happy with the way the match is being conducted and a lot of them tell you that why is it that if one or more are not satisfied people pay attention to them to the point of saying never again will I put or be involved with the running of the match. Politicians get elected by 1% margin sometimes and they do not say I will not run again because 49% of the people do not like me. I think we should be a bit thick skinned, consider the source of the people complaining (they are the same most of the time) and continue enjoying the shooting sport we like best. I remember the day at the competitor's meeting at Phoenix 2005 when a relentless complaining shooter was invited to take up golf instead if he disagreed some much with the rules.

[Jim Beckley]

Tony, As the old saying goes if your standing in a rose garden and somebody farts, what are you going to smell. My point here is this, I had a complaint at last years nationals, I let my thoughts be known, and that was it, where as at the above stated match, those two complained for two days. It would be also fair to say that it rubbed most of us around here the wrong way, because Jim and Nancy have been running matches for about 30 years, and they didn't deserve that!

[ppkny]

Controversy is LIFE. Deal with it.
ppkny

[Innocent]

JB...I'll make sure that I complain as much as I can when I shoot in AZ!!LOL. As Steve WInwood says, Roll with it Baby.
Innocent

[BCloninger]

People that run matches deserve nothing but gratitude. If there's an issue (unrelated to safety), say so, and let it go.

[Jim Beckley]

It was a flat out violation of the 11th commandment, which not to many people know about because it was on the back of the tablets "If you are the last one to do anything, be the last one to bitch".

[chickenchoker]

Tell this person that he can do it his way when he starts running the matches.

[mordecai]

I help run the kids baseball league in town and every year, I run into two parents that want to bitch before the season even starts.
It's the reason I keep the checkbook with me so that at the moment I hear them complain, I refund them on the spot and the league doesn't suffer their poison the whole season. Bad apples, cart, etc...

[Jim Beckley]

Years ago, way back in the day, I was an MP in the Army. The Army and the town of Fayetteville had a liaison set up on the weekends where 4 MP's would either ride or walk with the Fayetteville PD. One of the first times that I got to work on the walking patrol of the 500 block of Hay St, I got to work with one M.A. Glaze. Soon after dark we got a call to go to a bar to break up a fight in progress. I took off running and very soon Mike, grabbed my arm and ask me what the hell I was doing? The first thing he told me that I wasn't getting my rear whupped on and to always walk to a fight, that I might need some of that wind, well we went into the joint him first and there was a guy just standing by the door and Mike wacked him and then went to the fight. After it was all over, I asked him what he punched the guy by the door, who was doing nothing for? He simply said that he was "Sending a message to everyone there that our intentions were serious!

[Jerry G]

I'm with you Jim. Refund their money and ask them to leave.

[ShooterP14]

When I run a monthly match, I am grateful for the 3 or 4 who show up. I love going to Jacksonville and Winnsboro. I have run into things that I thought weren't right. I brought them up, respectfully, some were deemed valid others were rejected. After I had my say, it's time to just shut up and shoot.

It's a sport, a game and I'm there to have a good time (if I should shoot well - BONUS!). The people putting on the match are doing the best job they can and I greatly appreciate the effort. Keep up the great work!

[pistolero45]

I was at a local Action Pistol match once, when a competitor had an equipment failure on one of the stages. The rule book allowed her to repair her firearm and to continue the match, but the rules also stated she would lose the unfired shots from that stage.

This particular competitor had a history of being difficult, and when she started trying to argue with the Range Officer (she wanted to re-shoot the stage for score), he simply gave her the entry fee back and told her to leave the range.

Problem solved.