Ed Gordon makes some greats points in his recent post.
As an announcer, I find his final statement ("The ones most confused by this
procedure are the fans and the stadium
announcer") to be 'oh so accurate'! He is right on.
Why?
First, "five alive" is NOT handled the same by all officials. Below, Ed
states that "five alive" means that a jumper is going to wait 4 jumps until
they jump again. Very fair, since that would evenly space their attempts.
However, I will mention that even Shawn's example does not follow this.
Jumper B waited only three jumps before jumping again!
> > >You have 26 athletes entered named A-Z. (o=clear, x=miss).
> > >
> > >First five jump at Bar 1.
> > >A - o
> > >B - x
> > >C - o
> > >D - x
> > >E - x
> > >
> > >Next round, same height:
> > >B - o (clear on 2nd)
> > >D - x (2nd miss)
> > >E - o (clear on 2nd)
> > >F - o (first attempt)
> > >G - x (first attempt)
> > >
> > >3rd round
> > >D - x (3rd miss, out of competition)
> > >G - o (clear on 2nd)
> > >H - o (first attempt)
> > >I - x (first attempt)
> > >J - o (first attempt)
Second, it takes someone watching EVERY jump to track it correctly...that
takes man/womanpower that many meets just don't have.
I love the vault...I appreciate the intentions of 'five alive'...I just need
an electronic board tracking the event straight from the official at the pit
to present it correctly every time!!!
Bob "The Dreamer" Bettwy
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Director - Program Control
Washington Group
SRS Technologies
(703) 351-7266
P.S. My apologies if this is not timely, I am through Digest #3651.
-----Original Message-----
Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001 04:34:33 -0400
From: Ed Gordon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: t-and-f: Thoughts on the "five alive"
The philosophy of the "five alive" procedure used in overly large vertical
jump competitions is that a long period of inactivity between jumps is
detrimental to the athlete. This format ensures that after a miss, an
athlete will have exactly four attempts by other competitors before s/he
takes another jump.
The problem with this method is that the very weather conditions which
would make a long cool-down between attempts most problematic are often
those which make this a most unfair method.
Under changing weather conditions--a passing rainstorm, for instance--the
group of jumpers at the top of the list could be forced into taking all
three jumps with a bad headwind. But an hour later, after the storm has
passed and the wind has shifted, the jumpers at the end of the order have a
substantial tailwind for some or all of their attempts.
That's why I am loathe to use this method unless it is forced by a decision
of the Rules Committee. The highest priority should be to provide for
equitable conditions for all jumpers--even if it includes a long wait
between jumps. If ALL jumpers have to wait, then it's equitable.
It's not difficult for an official to keep track of the jumping order under
this method, however. But it does take a little organization.
One way is to keep a separate pad of ruled paper handy. The first five
jumpers are written in a vertical list. If the first jumper misses,
his/her name is written again below the name of the fifth vaulter. If the
first jumper clears, the name of the sixth jumper is written, etc. The
main thing to remember is that when a jumper misses, s/he will wait for
exactly four other competitors to jump before taking his/her next jump.
When I run vault competitions, I call the names of the next four jumpers
after each attempt, mentioning the position after each name. ("Smith is
the next jumper, Jones second, Harris third, Schultz fourth") By doing
this, I have found that jumpers are actually on the runway ready to jump
almost before the bar has been reset.
When a jumper clears, I check for the name of the jumper who moves into the
rotation, and I make a special announcement, "Jameson, you are now in the
rotation". This gets the inactive jumpers off their duffs well in advance
of their first attempt.
I'm sure I'm not the only one to use this or a similar method.
The ones most confused by this procedure are the fans and the stadium
announcer.
