Post by Smokinjoesracing on Mar 31, 2008 9:49:10 GMT -6
This past Saturday, March 29th my son Joseph participated in the Council race at Scout-O-Rama. He was very fortunate to place third out of 157 racers.
The race had been run efficiently for the past several years by representatives from the Arapaho district. This year the MEGA-Church here in Louisville ( you know the kind I’m talking about…they are lamp00ned as being "Six Flags Over Jesus" here in town) provided 2 Piantedosi aluminum tracks for the event. Controversy was the order of the day.
Let me preface this by saying Joseph was not the fastest racer there Saturday. The boy who won truly had the fastest car.
The race was run with a double-elimination format. This is my least favorite because no two lanes are exactly alike. Kids draw cards for lane assignments and the cards develop their own characteristics and in essence become “marked”. This gives a racer “in the know” an undesirable advantage. Double elimination was the least of the worries.
The race was run in a white tent in the infield of Churchill Downs. The light played a vital role in determining who won. The finish line inaccurately determined the winner in many races. For example: In Joe’s first race he won by an easy 3 car lengths. The finish line showed him placing third. This happened to him 4 more times in the course of the day. Now the guys who ran the race know that I am a District race coordinator and corrected the situation each time. Many racers did not have that luxury. I saw many a Cub crying because they had been “hosed”. I also saw many angry parents storming out.
I understand technical problems. As a race coordinator it has given me many a gray hair.
They tried anything to correct it. Even to the point of putting a cardboard box over the finish line. This blocked everyone’s view unless you could position yourself behind the track.
Here is what threw gasoline onto what was growing into a bonfire of controversy. I told you that the mega church provided track and race management for the event.
The kid who won (again he was the fastest racer there) was from the mega church pack. He had placed 2nd in his pack and district race to his older brother.
In the preliminary competition his older brother was by all rights eliminated by losing 3 in a row. His car for some reason was not performing. They kept putting him back in the double elimination until he won a race.
That was bad…what happened in the finals was worse. He was beaten by this boy FOUR times in a row by a good 7 inches each time. They made the boys race over and over until the boys lubricant kicked in and he won by a slight margin. Frankly I was disgusted. I leaned over and told a friend of mine who was working the race that this was the most discombobulated mess of a race that I have ever witnessed. He told me that everything was like this since the mega church pack came in like locusts and took over.
In the race for 2nd and third it was close. Joseph appeared to edge out the other racer by a wheel only to have the finish line show a different result. I felt lucky for it to just be over. Joseph made eye contact with me and we both knew what had happened. He smiled and congratulated the other boy who then lost to the eventual winner. Joseph has always been a good sport in winning and losing and he always makes me very proud.
I hope the council takes a long look at what happened and levels the playing field for next years race.
Ironically our only other encounter with the Mega Church and the race was 4 years ago at Joe’s first District race. Before the race the rules were clearly stated that the top 3 from each den would participate in the finals. Joe allegedly placed third. I say that because I have no way to really know. They refused to post or let anyone know what their times were. The 1st two places were captured by Mega church boys whom Joe never raced in his heat races. I told Joe that he would get a chance to measure himself against those boys in the finals. A race official overheard that and they then proceeded to tell us that they had changed the rules to where only the top two from each den would participate. I clearly saw what was going on and got ourselves out of there.
Over the next three years our pack was reassigned to a different district. We were asked to run the district race because our pack has a lot of resources. We even ran a race for packs who did not own a track so they could determine their champions. We also provided those racers with information that would help them perform better at the district and council level.
My bad experience helped me as a race coordinator. I chose software that displayed instant results and after the first heat matched racers with like times to race together. That way you saw the times and were able to measure the racers against each other.
After that first year Joe proceeded to win 3 straight District Championships. He hasn’t decided for sure if he wants to do this one more year. If he does I will support him.
The race had been run efficiently for the past several years by representatives from the Arapaho district. This year the MEGA-Church here in Louisville ( you know the kind I’m talking about…they are lamp00ned as being "Six Flags Over Jesus" here in town) provided 2 Piantedosi aluminum tracks for the event. Controversy was the order of the day.
Let me preface this by saying Joseph was not the fastest racer there Saturday. The boy who won truly had the fastest car.
The race was run with a double-elimination format. This is my least favorite because no two lanes are exactly alike. Kids draw cards for lane assignments and the cards develop their own characteristics and in essence become “marked”. This gives a racer “in the know” an undesirable advantage. Double elimination was the least of the worries.
The race was run in a white tent in the infield of Churchill Downs. The light played a vital role in determining who won. The finish line inaccurately determined the winner in many races. For example: In Joe’s first race he won by an easy 3 car lengths. The finish line showed him placing third. This happened to him 4 more times in the course of the day. Now the guys who ran the race know that I am a District race coordinator and corrected the situation each time. Many racers did not have that luxury. I saw many a Cub crying because they had been “hosed”. I also saw many angry parents storming out.
I understand technical problems. As a race coordinator it has given me many a gray hair.
They tried anything to correct it. Even to the point of putting a cardboard box over the finish line. This blocked everyone’s view unless you could position yourself behind the track.
Here is what threw gasoline onto what was growing into a bonfire of controversy. I told you that the mega church provided track and race management for the event.
The kid who won (again he was the fastest racer there) was from the mega church pack. He had placed 2nd in his pack and district race to his older brother.
In the preliminary competition his older brother was by all rights eliminated by losing 3 in a row. His car for some reason was not performing. They kept putting him back in the double elimination until he won a race.
That was bad…what happened in the finals was worse. He was beaten by this boy FOUR times in a row by a good 7 inches each time. They made the boys race over and over until the boys lubricant kicked in and he won by a slight margin. Frankly I was disgusted. I leaned over and told a friend of mine who was working the race that this was the most discombobulated mess of a race that I have ever witnessed. He told me that everything was like this since the mega church pack came in like locusts and took over.
In the race for 2nd and third it was close. Joseph appeared to edge out the other racer by a wheel only to have the finish line show a different result. I felt lucky for it to just be over. Joseph made eye contact with me and we both knew what had happened. He smiled and congratulated the other boy who then lost to the eventual winner. Joseph has always been a good sport in winning and losing and he always makes me very proud.
I hope the council takes a long look at what happened and levels the playing field for next years race.
Ironically our only other encounter with the Mega Church and the race was 4 years ago at Joe’s first District race. Before the race the rules were clearly stated that the top 3 from each den would participate in the finals. Joe allegedly placed third. I say that because I have no way to really know. They refused to post or let anyone know what their times were. The 1st two places were captured by Mega church boys whom Joe never raced in his heat races. I told Joe that he would get a chance to measure himself against those boys in the finals. A race official overheard that and they then proceeded to tell us that they had changed the rules to where only the top two from each den would participate. I clearly saw what was going on and got ourselves out of there.
Over the next three years our pack was reassigned to a different district. We were asked to run the district race because our pack has a lot of resources. We even ran a race for packs who did not own a track so they could determine their champions. We also provided those racers with information that would help them perform better at the district and council level.
My bad experience helped me as a race coordinator. I chose software that displayed instant results and after the first heat matched racers with like times to race together. That way you saw the times and were able to measure the racers against each other.
After that first year Joe proceeded to win 3 straight District Championships. He hasn’t decided for sure if he wants to do this one more year. If he does I will support him.
