After a series of posts kvetching about "prompt" reporting of results in an e-fashion 
came this:


In a message dated Tue, 15 Jan 2002  1:14:48 AM Eastern Standard Time, Dan Kaplan 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:

> I agree that results should be made available wherever and as soon as  possible, but 
>let me offer a dissenting opinion to those already stated.
> 
> I handle the timing/results and posting of results at a DIII school. ...... One of 
>the problems we face is probably shared by many other meets -- we have no internet 
>connectivity out at the track, not even a phone line in  the timing building.  Makes 
>posting results during the meet rather difficult, even if we did have someone who's 
>job was to handle that stuff.

> As soon as results are finalized, I rush home and get them posted. >>

Thanks to Dan (in addition to thanking him for being part of the solution, not part of 
the problem) for pointing out how ignorant of the process many/most web denizens are. 
We live in a miraculous age of e-wonders, but that doesn't mean that somebody sits at 
a meet, punches one button and voila! everybody in the solar system has the results 
available for viewing.

In addition to the simple problem of internet connectivity at a track (internet?! hey, 
i've lost track of the number of facilities where just finding an electrical outlet is 
a major victory) one must consider the matter of who is going to do the posting. Yeah, 
sure, i have no doubt there are many self-styled HTML experts out there who say it's a 
snap, but it's not.

And let's consider that there isn't a track meet in this country that doesn't rely on 
volunteer labor in a MAJOR way to get done. This probably involves the webmeister in 
most cases. And the meister probably volunteered the time. And now you've got meets 
that usually end late on a Saturday.

Now maybe the bitchy parasites who expect to get everything for free on *their* 
personal schedule of desire don't have lives and don't go out Saturday nights, but 
next time you need a fixit on your house on one, call up your local plumber, see if 
he'll come out for free.

You get what you pay for, people. And if you're not part of the solution, you're part 
of theproblem. When was the last time you volunteered to help the sport you profess to 
care so much about?

OK, off the soapbox now.

gh

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