| Central States Association of Shrine Motor Corps |
JOIN
- "We're here for
the Kids" -
JOIN
|
|
|
Great Competition Questions & Great Answers for CSASMC
Competition 2011 RULES CLARIFICATION REQUEST - July 30th, 2011
Print out the email from WJ
Donahue Subject: Rules Clarification
CLICK
HERE or READ BELOW:
----- Original Message
-----
From:
W. J. Donahue
Brad
The new rules, current rules and rule changes were discussed at our last unit
meeting, and the following clarifications are requested prior to this year’s
competition: 1.
Flag Vehicle: a.
“A flag vehicle will be allowed in Competitive Drill. The flag
vehicle will enter the drill field and come to a complete stop in a position on
the field so as not to interfere with the drill.” It is unclear
whether this statement means that the Flag Vehicle must enter the field and come
to a complete stop prior to the drill commencing, or whether the Flag Vehicle
may participate in the opening of the drill and then immediately move to the
fixed position on the field which would preclude interference with the drill.
This is a very important point since multiple units (both 2 and 4 wheel) open
their drill with the flag vehicle “splitting the rail” during the opening, and
then immediately moving to the stationary point during the remainder of the
drill. As the wording of the rule now stands, there is nothing in the
current rule, as passed during the 2011 Winter Meeting, that would prohibit such
an opening. Since the Flag Vehicle is not “interfering” with the opening
maneuver of the drill, and since it then comes to a complete stop, it does not
appear that such a “split the rail” opening would be in violation of the new
rule as it is currently written. Please clarify since the clarification
may affect the drill of multiple competing units.
CSASMC Secretary, Brad
Waite
b.
“The flag vehicle shall remain in this position until the drill is
complete, then exit the field.” Since the drill is not complete
until the first vehicle has actually left the field and timing has stopped, this
rule would prohibit a Flag Vehicle from joining with the rest of the unit as it
left the field since the Flag Vehicle would have “moved” to join up with the
unit prior to the drill being completed. It would appear, from the current
wording, that the Flag Vehicle must remain stationary until all other unit
vehicles have left the field at the completion of the drill, and cannot join up
with the remainder of the unit during their exit maneuver . Please clarify
since this may affect the drill of multiple units.
CSASMC Secretary, Brad
Waite
b. The rule on timing
states the time starts when the last man enters the field and time stops when
the first man leaves the field. Your drill may be “complete” when the squad
passes the flag and the flag immediately follows the squad off the field. If he
does you better hope that his interval and distance is correct and that he
doesn't screw up and or get confused and leave early. Don't think that this
can't happen. In 1997 the flag man on our drill squad got confused and joined
the squad too early and really messed things up.
If he remains in position
until the first man leaves the field, there is no liability for point
deductions. There again, it's your choice. c.
The current rule, as written, does not indicate what will happen if
this rule is violated. There is no indication of the point deduction,
penalties, disqualification, etc. that will be levied as a result of a violation
of this rule, or who will assess such a penalty. Please advise on what
penalties will be levied as a result of this rule, and who will assess such
penalties.
CSASMC Secretary, Brad
Waite
c. Point deductions could be made by a judge if
he feels that the flag vehicle was in a maneuver and not in his flag position.
If he comes on the field first, goes to his position, then leaves after the
first man exits the field, there can be no point deductions. Again, it's your
call and your possible exposure to liability. The judges assess all point deductions and no
competition official can change their score. The only disqualifications are
if the Unit does not come to a complete stop before crossing the white line at
the exit, or if a Unit fails to pay dues for a member who participates in
competition. The word participate could include someone not on the field but
assisting the Unit in preparation at the field. Each year when the dues sheets
are sent out, I quote the rule that states that you must pay dues for all
members of the Unit, not just those in competition, yet some Units “hear' or
“think” dues are only paid for those in competition.
This disqualification has happened before. 2.
Inspection: a.
During the Colorado Springs competition, with high winds, and after
the unit had prepared for inspection, the inspecting officer directed that our
unit remove their fezzes, tuck the tassels under the fezzes and then put them
back on. All fezzes were checked for proper alignment on the inspection
line prior to presenting for inspection, and were properly aligned.
Following the compliance with the directions of the inspecting officer, the
fezzes were replaced, with no opportunity or means given to recheck the
alignment. When the results sheets were received, it was noted that
multiple points had been deducted for “tilt of fez” resulting solely from the
compliance with the directions of the inspecting officer. When directions
such as these are given, is it proper, under current rules, for deductions to be
taken which resulted solely from the directions of the inspecting officer, and
without the opportunity for the unit to recheck their readiness for inspection
following compliance with such directions? It was also noted that, under
current rules, there is no procedure for any unit to conduct any form of protest
following a disputed or questioned score during the competition. Is there
a procedure for filing a protest?
a: This now explains
why there were so many point deductions on tilt of fez. that year. As scores
came back to the trailer, I noticed that one judge was deducting points on each
Unit on tilt of fez. I just took it that we had one picky judge. Don't feel you
were the only one with those deductions, all Units on that field took the same
hit.
There is no procedure to
conduct any form of protest on the scoring. After a judge starts to score the
first Unit, no one can correct his method. All Units need to be score the same,
even if you feel he is wrong. If you take the hit, so will the others. The only
time a score can be changed is if there is a math error or similar, as was the
situation your Unit had on the Obstacle Course a few years ago. Those type of
errors need to be corrected as soon as possible. b.
During last year’s inspection multiple points were deducted for
“condition of uniforms” during our unit inspection. This was very disconcerting
to our unit since the entire uniform (shoes, socks, pants, shirts, belts, etc.)
were brand new and had never been worn before. They had been removed from
the boxes, pressed, and only put on approximately 10 minutes prior to
inspection, yet multiple points were deducted for “condition of uniforms.”
In attempting to ascertain what caused these deductions, our unit was simply
told that it was “the discretion of the inspector,” and that no inspection
reports were made except for the number of deductions that the inspector noted.
While not impugning the integrity of the inspector, It is still puzzling how
brand new, never worn, recently pressed uniforms donned only minutes prior to
inspection could have been in such bad shape as to result in multiple deductions
for “condition of uniforms.” As a retired Air Force colonel I have
participated in and conducted more inspections than I can count, and in each
case the commander is first inspected by the inspecting officer, and then
accompanies the inspecting officer as the unit is inspected. Each
discrepancy is pointed out to the commander so that is obvious what the
discrepancy is, and so that it can be corrected following the inspection.
There is never a question about a discrepancy, since it has been pointed out to
the unit commander by the inspector. In our inspections, during
competition, there is no such notification to the unit commander, no
discrepancies are pointed out and validated, and only a total number of
discrepancies found “at the discretion of the inspector” are reported.
This is even further complicated by the fact that there are multiple inspectors
for units that are competing against each other, often using different
standards. While not accusing anyone of favoritism, one way or the other,
during inspections, the “new uniform” fiasco shown above does leave a lot of
unanswered questions. Following last year’s banquet, the exact same
complaint was heard from at least one other unit, brand new uniforms gigged for
“condition of uniforms” without an explanation. Is it within our rules for
the unit commander to request to accompany the inspecting officer and have
discrepancies pointed out to them, or must we continue to rely on the
“discretion of the inspector?”
b. To answer this section, I again have to take you back
to Oklahoma City in 1997. That year my Unit had two sets of bikes, 1983 Honda
250's and brand new Harley 883's, some so new that they had never been in a
parade. We entered 12 Honda's in Light Weight Class, and 12 brand new Harleys in
the Light Heavy Class. The Honda's in their 15th year of Competition came off
the inspection line with a perfect score. The brand new Harley's were massacred. In 2003 in Branson, I entered a brand new Mustang Cobra
in the Show Car Convertible Class. Most of the miles on the car were from the
trip down to Branson. Surely a brand new car, if it was clean, would not have
any point deductions. There were no deductions for cleanliness but the judge
found other infractions. So much for brand new. As far as having a judge
inspect one Unit then having a different judge do another Unit in the same
class, I can state that in the 28 consecutive years that I have been involved
working in some manner on the Competition fields, that that has never happened.
Once a judge starts inspection on a field, the same judge inspects all Units on
that same field. The only time that a judge was changed was in 1978 in Tulsa. We
were at the fairgrounds on a asphalt parking lot in 100 degree temps. One judge
on the competition field passed out and had to be replaced. What are you going
to do in a case like that? Several years ago, the members decided to have the
judges inspect only 4 vehicles and personnel on the inspection line. Previously
everything on the line was inspected. The judge approached the first one on the
line, inspected him, then have him follow him throughout the inspection and
point out the infractions. Now since only 4 are inspected and it is up to the
judge which four he inspects, he may not choose to inspect the first one and so
there is no one to follow to observe infractions. I personally believe that all
should be inspected and bonus points awarded for Units with more on the line
than their competition, as is done in the Show Car Competition. But I am only
one vote and have been out voted on the floor on this matter several times. You can ask any Past President what was the most
difficult task as President, and nearly all of them will say getting judges.
Getting a hotel for your meeting, finding a Banquet facility to handle our
numbers at a reasonable price and arranging 80 plus trophies is a piece of cake
compared to finding 22 volunteers who are willing to come out on a Friday
morning at 7:00 AM (possibly losing a day pay) and maybe standing out in the
heat for up to 7 hours and judge only to be compensated with refreshments
provided on the field, and being our guest at the Awards Banquet. Judges are always instructed as to the rules and scoring
sheets before competition. You can't possibly cover every scenario that can
possibly happen and how to score each instance in a short time. If you compare
the score tally sheets provided to you on your score and your competitors score,
you will see that the same judge usually scores each Unit heavy or light in the
same infractions, thus you hope to have consistency. All of the rules and operations of the Motor Corp in up
for change at each Mid Winter Meeting. Any voting member may make motions for
changes in any area. If your Unit has any concerns, you have the opportunity on
Friday before the meeting to discuss with any member your concerns and solicit
their support. If you need names and addresses to send communications to let
other members be aware of your concerns, I can provide them to you. Elections of Officers are held
at each Mid Winter Meeting.
There will be two openings this year, the Sgt
at Arms and Organizer. The Secretary's job is also up for grabs, but this office
is appointed by the Executive Board. I have included a list of all the members
of the Executive Board and have placed an “x” before the names of the Past
Presidents that are currently active in the Motor Corp operations. If you know
of anyone who is interested in being Secretary, I suggest that they contact them
to solicit their support. They can also be helpful in explaining all the
responsibilities of each of the offices and what can be expected of anyone who
would like to run for an office. Fraternally yours,
Arrarat Mini Indy’s Bill Donahue, Sec. Treas.
|
|
