Sunday, May 20, 2012

Nobody Is Perfect

I checked my results from last weekend's ARPC match (sent from USPSA.ORG) and ... as much as I appreciate the great statistical-reporting we now enjoy, I was appalled to read that I had got major penalties in almost every stage.

 I took a picture of the printout: this was sent to me at 1:50 pm after the match.
(Right-click on the image to see full-size image in a new tab)
Yes, that was my USPSA member number all right, and the right class, division, power factor ... but down in the lower right corner under "Pistol Statistics" it says:
Total Penalty Points: 140

... according to this, I shot only one stage clean.  Gee, I know I haven't been practicing much for the past few years, but I could only recall two stages where I got penalties!  (Wow!  I must be getting Sudden-Onset Alzheimers since last weekend)

A little explanation; I haven't read my email for a week, and I always read from the oldest unread email to the newest.   So the next email was ALSO from USPSA, sent at 2:00 pm.  It told a slightly different story:
 (Again .... right-click on the image to see full-size image in a new tab)

 Same identification info as the last time, but this version has my competitor number as #79 ... which I recall as being correct since I was almost the last to sign up for the match, and I saw guys in line ahead of me with numbers between 49 and 78 ... so I know I wasn't competitor 48.
and the actual stats were a lot closer to what I remembered, too:
Total Penalty Points: 20

... Except these (a) were the stages for the APRIL APRC match, not the MAY ARPC match, and (b) it shows me as DNF on the last stage (classifier: "Melody Line"), and I shot that match complete, including the classifier. And I strongly doubt that my competitor number was "79" in April, because there were not that many competitors for that match.   Since the email identified it as the results for the MAY ARPC match, and I dispute the reported results for that match, I have no confidence in any of the match results I receive.

...

It has been a long time since I really worried too much about being competitive.  In fact, it has been since I was no longer able to reload .38 Super ammunition, so I could compete in OPEN division (in which I can still see the sights AND the target clearly).   Consequently, I'm not concerned that my reported statistics from ... well, either or both matches .... don't meet my very low expectations.

However, if YOU are competitive, and you want honest accurate reporting on the results of your matches, I strongly advise you to record your own stats from the match before you leave the range, and compare them to the results you receive from USPSA.

No comments: