For those of you who want to go to the Nationals this year, and either haven't made up your mind for SURE or didn't get a "Slot" from your Section, you need to be aware of this announcement from USPSA:
Slot Deadline Is Approaching
The deadline for slots to the 2012 STI USPSA Handgun Nationals is coming up June 18. All slots not received by end of business on that day will unfortunately have to be voided and *CANNOT* be replaced. The unreturned slots will be rolled over in to the wait list, which opens June 4th.
Make sure that you don't wait until the last minute. Things can and have happened to delay receipt by USPSA HQ of a signed slot with payment by the deadline. Once the deadline passes there is nothing that we can do. Mail your slot with payment as early as possible to make sure there is adequate time to correct any unexpected issues!
Trust me, if you haven't shot the Nationals yet, you cannot claim to be a "competitor" in the largest sense.
I've been to a few Nationals in my time, and it's my personal opinion that they are the "Biggest Bang For The Buck" available .. even though they are outrageously expensive in terms of time, money, effort, heartbreak, and thrills.
The first time I want to the Nationals (Limited, in Las Vegas, 1998) I met Jerry Barnhardt in the Vendor tent. I told him: "Hey, My name is so much like yours, the guys I shoot with kid me about beating Jerry Barnhardt, and I can't live up to the name. So ... lose a match for me, will you?"
Okay, it was dorky, but just YOU meet your Idol and try to make an intelligent conversation!
In my first national, I was lucky; I was TWO places away from the bottom of the pack ... not just in my Division, but Overall. Could have been worse; I could have been at the very bottom (I think my overall percentage was insignificantly about 4%). Still, it was worth the money and the travel and the inglory ... I got to shoot with some of the greatest shooters in the world.
I don't care if it IS your very first year competing, you owe it to yourself to got to the match and see just what IPSC is really about. You'll meet people you've only heard about (and perhaps not even that), they will kick your ass, and you will consider it money well spent.
How many times in your life can you say that you have pitted yourself against the best in the world? And if you're really lucky, as I was, you may find yourself shooting mano-a-mano against the world's champion shooters.
Go do it. You will rue the expense today, but you will never forget the experience.
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