Re: Gulf Coast Sectionals

(1) While I'm willing to admit that hosting a tournament doesn't give
you the same advantage as Duke playing at Cameron Indoor Stadium,
please don't try to tell me that it might actually be a competitive
DISadvantage…that's ludicrous.

Staying at your own house and sleeping in your own bed is clearly
advantageous to someone else having to drive 9-10 hours to sleep on a
floor somewhere, even if you do have to spend several hours setting up
cones and filing paperwork with the UPA.

(2) Also, I don't think the "don't air a private issue on RSD"
argument holds water here. I didn't actually accuse the SC of any
wrongdoing, I just asked if any attempt had been made to contact teams
to see if anyone else was interested in hosting Sectionals. Especially
since this is a PUBLIC issue that affects several different teams,
asking the question in a PUBLIC forum seems entirely appropriate to
me.

And while we're at it, I haven't jumped to any conclusions as you
claim. All I've done is respond to YOUR conclusions, and then ASK if
any attempt was made to announce publicly that bids were being
accepted. If you look back, I even admit that maybe such an
announcement was made and that I just missed it.

(3) You said: "I would imagine any sort of general request sent out on
RSD wouldn't lead to much. Towns are not beating down the door to
host Gulf Coast sectionals."

That might be entirely accurate, but the problem is, when you
"imagine" this to be the response without actually checking, and then
just announce the location (which happens to be close to where you
live), it seems a little shady.

If a public announcement for hosting sites had been made, then I would
have no grounds for complaining. As it is, I think I do.

(4) If I had any idea who the SC was before this announcement was
made, I certainly would've contacted him to find out more information.
Unfortunately, I didn't have his name or email address. Of course, now
that you've given me the URL to UPA Technologies (www.upa.com), I'll
always be well-informed in the future. Thanks a bunch pal.




On Jul 19, 12:00 am, "jywh...@xxxxxxxxx" <jywh...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jul 17, 11:13 pm, LukeD <lukedock...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:





(1) I've not been an SC before, so I could certainly be wrong, but I
doubt it is the UPA's intention for the position to be nothing more
than a guarantee that you get to have Sectionals close to your home
town.

I'm sure you put a lot of work in last year, and I'm sure Jay will do
the same this year, but holding a UPA position (which, by definition
should be impartial), and using that authority to make a decision that
benefits your team (which, by definition isn't impartial), doesn't
seem quite right.

And by the way, I'm not saying that's what Jay did…I'm merely
responding to your implication that it'd be okay if it was what he
did.

I'm not so sure hosting a tournament gives you a competitive
advantage. Sometimes the road teams have a less-bloated roster and
are more focused on winning, as opposed to making sure the event runs
smoothly. If you're the captain of a team and the SC, then your team
is already at a competitive disadvantage. The host team does have the
benefit of a short drive and a reliable bed, but there are costs as
well. Organizing a tournament is hard work, and that's when it's held
in your home town. I Imagine that if you were organizing one in
another town, you would want to have the confidence that the host town
is willing and able to do the job. That confidence comes best when
you have a close relationship with some of the people in that town.
When Evil Wayne from Fayetteville was SC, he always held the tourney
in Memphis, not just because it was a somewhat central location (not
an ideal one for teams down close to the coast), but because he knew
the guy who was reserving the fields, he knew the guy who was buying
the food and water, and he knew the guys lining the fields.

SC's are often "hired" after having shown evidence of experience and
professionalism. Those types of people often have busy lives outside
of Ultimate. The job, and yes it becomes a job, and one that
involves making difficult decisions, sometimes on the fly, has very
little tangible reward other than free dues, overstocked UPA
paraphernalia, and a thank you letter. As a player, it really is in
your best interest to have a qualified person running sectionals, and
that may require having an SC with a short list of potential host
sites. I have no problem with the SC thinking of himself a little
when choosing the location, as long as he doesn't decide to do
something crazy like hold Gulf Coast sectionals in Tulsa, OK.
Tuscaloosa isn't THAT bad of a location, I know it sucks for
Fayetteville, but almost everywhere sucks for Fayetteville. They're
way off in the corner of the section. I bet that Tuscaloosa will
actually be a better location for some teams, but, of course, not for
all. That will always happen whenever the location changes.

(2) If Memphis didn't want to host it, that's fine, you're not
obligated to. If Tuscaloosa was the best (or only) option available,
that's fine too.

My question is this: was a general request for hosting bids even sent
out?

I think any question you have would best be answered by emailing the
SC directly, as opposed to jumping to conclusions in a public forum.

Maybe it was, but I didn't see it on RSD, and my team certainly
wasn't contacted about it despite the fact that we've been at every
Club Sectionals since 2004.

Once again, I could be wrong, maybe every effort was made to contact
different teams and no one was interested in hosting, but I'm inclined
to think that if it was known that Tuscaloosa was the alternative,
then other options would've been available.

I would imagine any sort of general request sent out on RSD wouldn't
lead to much. Towns are not beating down the door to host Gulf Coast
sectionals. The SC isn't handed a reliable list of team contacts.
This list has to be self-created and often isn't complete until way
past the time to discuss the location. If you are serious about
seeing sectionals located or not located in a particular town, then
you need to contact the SC well in advance. If you want your town to
host next year, then submit a bid. If you want it to be somewhere
else, then convince them to submit a bid. Don't wait for the SC to
contact you. He may not know where to find your email address, but
his is posted onwww.upa.com. Waiting until the decision has been
made, and then bitching about it on RSD gets you nowhere.

.

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