Wednesday 11 September

0900
Good morning all, and remember to take a moment some time today and think about where you were a year ago this morning, what you were doing, and how you and our country have changed since then. I know that for me life has a new perspective. Everything I look at has more color, every person has more meaning, every bite of food has more flavor. Life is just more, well, lively and intense. Fatherhood? Maybe, but I think the whole country was jolted into a new level of awareness outside their daily lives. God bless America, the greatest nation on earth.

Anyway, back to the nationals coverage. The only competition jumps today are Style & Accuracy, and I am working now on getting those results pages posted. There is more Golden Knights feedback over yesterday's bits for those interested.

A couple of reminders, you can request a hi-res team photo for free, and you can express your appreciation for our webcasting by ordering a nationals video.

The awards ceremony for 8-way last night were as well done as the 4-way, with a short edited video of each Open medal winner that played just before the team took the stage. This was very effective and really got the crowd into the mood. There were a lot of naysayers about Roger hosting a good nationals here at SDC, but so far he's put on one hell of a good show, and his staff has been friendly and efficient.

I bet I've had at least a dozen competitors approach me with the question "What ever happened to live air-to-ground judging?" To which I just want to say "Want to buy a small fortune in Air-2-Ground equipment?" But I can only reply, truthfully, that those glorious days of live competition are probably gone forever...

1200
Just a friendly reminder folks, if you'd like a free hi-res team photo, please specify by team number, not team name. If you go by team name, you need to remember to attach a beer to your email ;-)

I'm taking the family out for a drive, then later today I'll post the latest Style & Accuracy scores (if they are available) and any bits I can dig up. It's a pleasant sunny day and I'm ducking out to enjoy some of it!

1630
Had a nice visit to Starved Rock State Park, about a half hour down the road from here, beautiful park on the river west of Ottawa. This is a nice historical town, if memory serves this is where the first of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates were held.

A quick walk through the hanger er hangar shows lots of 10-way and 16-way activity. Okay, I'm going to walk out on limb in and predict yet another controversy in the 10-way, once again revolving around rules interpretation (no reason, we just have one every year, it's almost a tradition now).

A reader writes:

"Hey guys,

Incredible job on the Nationals coverage.  Thanks for your time and effort on it.  In fact, I plan to "express my appreciation for your webcasting by ordering a nationals video".

One thing though...  I don't think the the "forum" on whether our money is wasted on the GK's is setting the right tone, and is rather inappropriate. I have my own opinions on the matter, but I don't think that Omniskore's Nationals coverage is the place to say it.  I think we've gotten off on a huge tangent here, and the focus has been shifted away from the competition itself.

Please return the Tidbits section to a lighthearted play-by-play page as it was before this subject snowballed.

Thanks guys,
Mark"

Your point is well taken Mark. I do not enjoy hosting forums that can result in hard feelings and finger pointing, but I honestly felt like the current group of Knights were getting a bad rap and something needed to be said. You can rest assured that we'll try to keep this bits lighthearted, with factoids like "Saying 'farm subsidies' in central Illinois is like saying the 'N' word at an NAACP convention. Don't do it." ;-)

Did that come out right? Oh, the heck with it. Where's the camera, let's go and get a photo or two in here...

Baby, baby dog, crew dogs, crew cuts, Lisa, and...Rickie D.


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