Well, I was running in group five, and I thought our T&S crew was excellent.
By the way, I really enjoy Scot Seducer's announcing, I must say. I also
enjoy Peter Thana and Sean O'Boyle. Such personalities! But I digress. From
out in the grid, I thought y'all did an excellent job.
Sometimes, though, I'd walk into the trailer, and I didn't see happy faces.
Doug G., who was card sorter, had a worried look on his face that aged him
by fifteen years.
Katie
-----Original Message-----
From: Anthony Tabacco [mailto:atabacco@california.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2001 10:11 PM
To: Kelly, Katie
Cc: ba-autox@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Trailer crew in 3rd heat
I worked grid in the 5th heat with Boris and if I understand correctly what
was happening at the other end of the radios, the starter was on channel 1
to the scorer anouncing the car at the line, while we anounced the car
leaving grid to the card sorter on channel 3. This in theory allowed the
sorter to have a three car advance on getting the correct sequence to the
scorer. I think it worked as it was a really large group and it seemed to go
ok. How was it in the trailer?
Tony (the other Tony)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kelly, Katie" <kkelly@spss.com>
To: <dcolicch@ix.netcom.com>; <ba-autox@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2001 7:35 PM
Subject: RE: Trailer crew in 3rd heat
> Here's what happened:
>
> Because of our late start (due to the late arrival of the motorhome), the
> grid and motorhome were set up too quickly and logistically poorly. It was
> hard enough seeing cars at the line. Karts were impossible.
>
> There were terrible communication problems. Someone was announcing by
radio
> who it was at the line, but it was never correct. Since we couldn't see
who
> it was, we had to trust the person on the radio. We were completely blind
in
> there. The scorer was trying desperately to see the numbers on the karts
as
> they went by on course, but it was impossibly frustrating.
>
> This wasn't just a problem for the third group, but for all the remaining
> groups. Sometimes, the card sorter couldn't see who was there, so s/he'd
> just guess. Or s/he would just neglect to even find the card. Sometimes
> s/he'd go strictly by the radio, which was always wrong. That's the part I
> don't get, but I SUSPECT it's because who ever was radioing in the car
> numbers was going by who was being SENT to the line, versus who was AT the
> line. Meaning there were three or four cars in front of the number
presently
> being radioed in. I say this, because finally, in group six, I was
watching
> Vernon card sort. He was going by what was on the radio, and it NEVER
> matched who was at the line. I saw this with my very own eyes. So, we
turned
> off the radio, and did it solely by our own eyes, and suddenly everything
> was all better.
>
> This is a serious problem and if something isn't done to fix it, we're
going
> to have nightmares like this forever. That motorhome is really comfy and
> convenient, but when you can't see who's at the line and who's finishing,
> and who's out on course, it defeats the whole purpose. We were better off
> with the old trailer.
>
> My suggestion for now is that since we probably do need to use radios at
> least for the start, PLEASE let it be the starter who has the radio. Say
> simply, "At the line, car number 123, CSP, White Honda Prelude, followed
by
> 46, ESP, Blue Mustang." That's ALL. We were sometimes getting these long
> lists, like, "Okay, it's 47, then 34, then 99, then 128, did you get
that?"
> Uh....
>
> There was a problem with the coordination of the karts with cars, and
that's
> my fault. I had told the grid person that the karts go at once, but I
> neglected, due to my own assumptions, to explain that the karts would get
> one run each, and then the cars would go, and they'd rotate. I assumed
that
> this was all known, and it wasn't.
>
> At any rate, yes, you are absolutely correct. The times are incorrect. It
> looks like they're wrong for the junior karts as well. I know that for
> regular cars, there were mistakes made all day. I don't know what the
rules
> are about changing times, but since it's so obvious that there were so
many
> mistakes made, I think we should fix these times. Charlie? Magical Results
> Lady?
>
> Katie
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: dcolicch@ix.netcom.com [mailto:dcolicch@ix.netcom.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2001 7:04 PM
> To: ba-autox@autox.team.net
> Subject: Trailer crew in 3rd heat
>
>
> Can anyone explain what happend in the trailer when the karts were
running.
> Almost everyone in f125, and I suspect jr kart has incorrect times.
> -Tony
|