OmniSkore! coverage of the 2007 US Nationals.
Omnibits by Tim Wagner

0700
Good morning! 8-way is on call, I'm out taking team photos, be back shortly.

I tried to take photos at the 4-way awards ceremony last night, but my poor old camera didn't have enough flash power. Will try to find some pictures from someone. It was a great awards with video of each team and some great vibes all around. That was some amazing 4-way we saw over the weekend. Just incredible.

The weather is nice right now but the forecast is for a chance of rain today and then clearing up for the middle of the week.

0830
Round 2 is underway and almost done with team photos...wow, Knight Trax looked great on round 1 with an 18, just missed 19 on the freeze frame....

...and 45 minutes later round 1 is almost done, and after the judges spent a while scrutinizing Airspeed's jump their 19 is busted to an 18...the French team Aerokart Maubeuge also had a nice jump and three teams have scored 18 on the opening round, sweet...Airspeed has Jack Jefferies and Dan BC back in the air...and we are now on the first weather hold of the meet as some clouds have moved in...

...my camera takes pictures. Don Simond's camera takes photographs...

1100
Still on a weather hold, it's a layer of clouds moving in and out that's teasing the competitors.

A reader doth write:

So what the word on 8-way.  Are any of the top teams interested in the World Meet Bid?Given that USPA requires 75% of the qualifying team to make up the team that attends the World Meet, it wouldn't appear that any of the top 3 8-way teams are interested in the 8-way bid.  What's the buzz?

The buzz is (and this is just buzz, not anything official) that if Airspeed wins 8-way, they will not be going to the World Meet. Knight Trax, though, appears to be all about going, and I think they would easily make the 75% rule. I think the resulting Team USA would be awesome: Arizona Airspeed 4-way, Fastrax Blue for Women's 4-way, and Knight Trax for 8-way. Sounds like a winning combination to me!

It's 1115 now and we're jumping again...it's early yet but there appears to be some close competition in both Open and Intermediate, SPX 8 nearly pulled even with Carolina Black Ice but a bust keeps them a point behind the leader...

...now shortly after noon, and Airspeed just smoked round two with a clean 21 and they have the early lead now, welcome back Jack...Knight Trax posted an 18 while the French and Ace 8 got 17s...we now interrupt this coverage for a commercial break. The host is serving the judges lunch from Genie's Cafe, and it is excellent. I just finished the Oriental Salad and it was superb. Now back to our regular programming...ducking out with my camera to see if I can get some photographs pictures...

1300
It's round 3 now and it looks like a burner for the Open teams...in Intermediate SPX 8 just did a very nice 8 on a tough jump and will pull into at least a tie for the lead...I have to say this is a great judging staff...I'll watch a jump casually on the DZTV screen and then the judges' results comes up and I think, wow I didn't see that, you can't sneak anything past this panel...

...and here we go with round 3 of Open, this round should be fun, it's a very fast draw with two fast blocks and two randoms...Ace 8 (which has I believe 6 members from previous Airspeed teams) is up now and they post a clean 20...nice video work, is that Stevie Nowak behind the camera? But of course...

...Knight Trax is up now...a little rough through the first page, then they get their angles figured out and cruise to a 24 if it's clean, they might have missed a donut flake...indeed they did, so they get a 23, still not bad...yes I will have some videos posted later today...Aerokart Maubeuge was having a pretty good jump until they stumbled on a donut flake build and they settle for a 17...here comes Airspeed now, it's a beautiful skydive, smooth yet crisp, a clean score of 26. Schweet!

1600
Sorry for the radio silence, we're on a weather hold and the 8-way competitors have been released until 1730.

Heh. In football tonight, Arizona is at San Francisco. In baseball, Arizona is at San Francisco. Both games begin at the same time. I'd better start warming up my thumb for channel-flipping...

1730
Competitors have been released for the day, 0700 first call tomorrow. Streaming videos have been posted on the main page. Somebody pick me up at the Tiki Bar when the bus is ready to go!

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Note: All Omnibits commentary are the expressed opinions of the writer, not USPA or Skydive Chicago.