Here's a format that's fair to everyone and no hurt feelings at the
end of the contest.
We'll let everyone launch whenever they want and fly for whatever
they can accomplish. When they land we'll rub their heads and tell
them what a great job they did and give them a max score. If they
break the line or pop off we'll ask them if that's their flight or if
they want a 'do over'. Either way they are rewarded with a max score
for being so aggressive on the launch. If they land off the field
we'll give them the max landing score for trying so hard. On the
field landing and they get a max score for their great skill.
Should anyone crash they would immediately be awarded a max score for
heroism and almost saving their plane and a new-in-box replacement
for their broken airplane. After the predetermined number of rounds
selected to make sure that no one gets too tired during the day we'll
give everyone a small trophy and take a group picture to
celebrate. Then everyone gets a nice box of juice and candy or
cookie snack before they head home. All butterflies and warm milk
thoughts will fill their heads as the drive that long highway home.
Anything less than this and the contest is obviously unfair, poor
sportsmanship or cheating. The argument is over.
Cheers
Rick
PS No ego or emotion was created or destroyed in this post.
At 10:52 PM 1/9/2008, Tim Bennett wrote:
Jim Bacus wrote:
>
> "Shafting" the other fellow competitors by completing the task
> time? "Unethical?" ;-)
>
> I see it as maximizing my available flying time during a contest
> event, and playing by the rules of the contest attempting to
> maximize my score.
Jim makes a valid point while at the same time highlighting one of the
weaknesses of seeded MOM as currently practiced. The format creates a
structure that encourages or even requires what would seem to some as
unsportsmanlike behavior which belittles and demeans the unsuccessful
competitor. The rules encourage exploiting any opportunity to "bury" someone
who has a bad flight by putting on a show of being the only one flying for
as long as possible while everyone stands and watches. This kind of
structure is unnecessary and disproportionately rewards the single episode
of good luck or heroic effort as opposed to consistent superior performance
round after round. There can be no greater turn off in competition than
being shafted or buried. While it may be fun for one guy, it is at the
expense of everyone else. If playing by the rules makes the competition a
turnoff to many, maybe better rules can correct this. This is an issue of
the design of the contest format which my earlier idea seeks to address.
By assigning scores that are limited on the low side, a competitor is not
able to lose or win the whole contest in one round and there is no need nor
opportunity to bury or shaft anybody. I think this is a better way to
structure a contest if you want to insure all competitors have a good time
and encourage participation while not artificially limiting the performance
of any competitor.
I guess a key objective I left out was:
"Respect for the dignity of all participants."
I also think "...maximizing available flying time during a contest..." is
better done by increasing the pace of the event so more rounds can be flown.
Tim Bennett
LSF IV
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