Posted by cecil rhodes on December 03, 2001 at 20:28:51:
e-mail 1
I think this and the next two e-mails might be of interest to the list.
Gene Bray
-----Original Message-----
From: MBaneACP@aol.com [mailto:MBaneACP@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2001 12:07 AM
To: ipsc-digest-approval@shooters.com; ipsc-digest@shooters.com
Subject: Meanwhile, Back in Colorado Springs...
Hi all;
It's late and tomorrow is another very early day, but I wanted to let you
know that the Olympic rapid-fire event is Colorado Springs is going GREAT!
There's been some really excellent shooting, with Jerry Miculek, Bruce Piatt
and Todd Jarrett leading the pack, and everybody turning in soild scores.
Not
to mention the fact that Don Golembreiski and Bruce Gray have pretty much
re-engineered the Olympic rapid-fire pistol.
We had observers today from the U.S. Olympic Committee, the oversight group
for USA Shooting and the other Olympic sports, and they were (they said)
VERY
impressed with the level of commitment and the sheer raw talent in the room.
And imagine this if you can--Miculek, Piatt, Jarrett, Golembreiski, Gray,
John Pride, Mickey Fowler, Mike Dalton, "Tequila" & Matt Burkett in a room
with three Olympians with one of the Olympic Center's top sports'
psychologist facilitating a discussion on how to control fear, channel
adrenaline and, in general, each giving his own specific tips on the mental
aspect of world class competition. At first, there was a lot of grumbling
that it was "time away from the range." By the end of the hour, the mood
was,
"Why haven't we all ever had this discussion before?" Pretty amazing stuff
across the board.
More later. Honest to goodness, they're running out of .22 Shorts...
E-mail 2
Gene Bray
-----Original Message-----
From: MBaneACP@aol.com [mailto:MBaneACP@aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2001 1:08 AM
To: ipsc-digest-approval@shooters.com; ipsc-digest@shooters.com
Subject: Olympics!
Hi all;
I have to say that after a couple of decades of competitive shooting, today
was the single most amazing day of competition I've ever been privileged to
watch!
The best remark about today came from Tom Gresham, who's here for his
nationally syndicated radio show Gun Talk--"History is being made here
today;
this is one of the most incredible events in sport shooting ever..."
The short story is that the practical "Dream Team" stood and delivered. Did
they outshoot the Olympians? No. But the scores they turned in after a WHOLE
day and a half of instruction and orientation--with borrowed guns and a
variety of mismatched grips--were alternately described as "phenomenal" and
"amazing." The pressure of competition at this level led at least one of the
Olympic shooters to a personal best. John Bikar, the lead rapid-fire shooter
for the Olympic team, turned in a world-class score of 291 out of 300
possible points (6 strings of fire; 5 shots each at 25 meters; 8, 6 and 4
seconds, two strings each). Among our guys, Bruce Piatt came in tops at 273;
Mickey Fowler at 272; Bruce Gray at 270. Todd Jarrett, Jerry Miculek, John
Pride, Mike Dalton, Matt Burkett, Don Golembieski and Richard "Tequila"
Young
were all clustered close behind.
In most of the cases, a single bad run dropped the scores. Jerry Miculek,
for
example, was having a spectacular run until he "double-tapped" a target on
the last 4-second run. The triggers of the Olympic guns are 3 OUNCES, with
no
return spring...that fat Miculek finger couldn't get off the trigger fast
enough.
Mickey Fowler hit a series of 8s and 9s on his 8-second strings, settling
into a steady string of 10s as he got faster. Bruce Piatt dropped a shot on
one of his last runs.
Jerry M. told me he was "as wired as he's ever been in competition. Much
worse than the Great Outdoor Games, when there was money on the line..."
Tequila said the pressure was "worse than the cowboy world
championships--about 10 times worse!"
Tomorrow, everybody shoots the second half of the match. Tom Gresham will be
broadcasting live and talking to the shooters as they finish their strings,
so if you can get Gun Talk, be sure to tune in.
Interestingly enough, the average Olympic rapid-fire pistol shoots (HONEST)
1
1/2-2 inches at 25 meters! Obviously, this is not acceptable to our guys
(we
all thought Todd was going to have a stroke...he probably hasn't seen an 1
1/2 inch gun in a decade...). So far, pistol smiths Don G. and Bruce G. are
having a field day. Expect to see Olympic pistol Ver. 2.0 in a couple of
months.
Representatives of the United States Olympic Committee came by to watch and
were extremely impressed.
Regardless of the scores tomorrow, all of us here in Colorado Springs are
really, really proud of these guys. Not only for their skills, but for their
willingness to risk another sport, to unconditionally share their expertise
and to show the heart of our sport. The idea--the dream--of one of our own
marching into the Olympic stadium in Athens in 2004 under an American flag
is
much closer is much closer to reality today.
Thanks.
E-mail 3.
Gene Bray
-----Original Message-----
From: MBaneACP@aol.com [mailto:MBaneACP@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2001 3:04 PM
To: ipsc-digest-approval@shooters.com; ipsc-digest@shooters.com
Subject: Whew!
Hello again!
When it was all over and done with, Jerry Miculek said it was the highest
pressure match he had ever shot, and that he was "exhausted, exhausted,
and exhausted." Todd Jarrett said it was competition at a world class level.
Ricgard "Tequila" Young said he was glad to "have just survived!" Matt
Burkett wondered whether it was anything personal, or did I go around making
everyone's Christmas season really, really hard. And John Pride, assuming
his
best Yoda pose, simply said, "Cool. Very cool."
Yes, the 3 U.S. Team members won the rapid-fire competition in Colorado
Springs--but not by much. In our guys, Mickey Fowler edged out Bruce Piatt
in
the finals, with a hard-charging Todd Jarrett just behind them.
USA Shooting is very, very happy. Maybe as many as 4 or 5 of the guys have
Olympic dreams. On the flip side, USA Shooting will be sending some of their
shooters to practical competitions. Oh yeah, our guys discovered the air
rifle moving target range, and in about 30 minutes were shooting tiny groups
on the movers. Bruce Gray got to shoot the USA team coach's personal air
pistol on the 10-meter air pistol range--an big honor, since that gun was
the
last gun to win an American medal in 1988. Bruce shot five targets, two of
which (according the USA Shooting officials, who rescored the targets) would
have been good enough to put him on the national team in 10-meter air
pistol.
One of the officials asked me, "Who *are* these guys?"
Here's the thing--Olympic, USPSA, Bianchi, IDPA and SASS shooters all shot
together....AND THEY ALL SHOT COMPETITIVELY! Nobody seized, choked, nothing.
The distribution of the scores put lie to the idea that any one discipline
is
intrinsically better than any other. Next time somebody tells you how cowboy
shooters can't shoot or IDPA shooters can only hit stuff up close, you might
mention this event to them.
Last night at dinner, we talked about a vision of the shooting sports
united,
growing and powerful. It's do-able. Not easy, but not impossible. All we
have
to do is be willing to set aside our differences and reach for it.
Of course, we closed down the restaurant. "Nobody wants it to end," Tom
Gresham from Gun Talk told me. "Hell," said one shooter who shall remain
nameless, "this is almost better than sex. Almost."
On to the women's event.
Michael Bane
Posted by john bickar on December 04, 2001 at 16:50:32:
Revolutionary. These three days did more for the state of Rapid Fire pistol in the US, as well as for positive exposure for USA Shooting, than anything else I've been associated with during the time I've been on the team.
We'd hoped to convert a few shooters, who would tell their friends in the other disciplines, which would lead to more shooters shooting RF in the US, more shooters shooting good scores, tougher competitions in the US, which leads to better performances by US shooters overseas. We're trying to make the pie bigger; by attracting the shooter whose particular skills may be better suited for RF than for IPSC (for instance), we keep someone in the sport of shooting.
We did all that and more. These champions helped shake the foundation of all the commonly held tenets of RF. In shooting (or in business, science, or any other field), when you have someone come in and question everything you do, it creates progress. Sometimes you find out you're doing things for the right reasons (i.e., it's the most efficient way to do it). Sometimes you find out you're doing things because that's the way it's always been done. "That's the way we've always done it" is a terrible answer to the question "Why?"
Some things that I'm pretty sure will happen as a direct result of this weekend:
--Improved equipment for US RF shooters (we may even soon have a gun that is head and shoulders better than anything currently on the market)
--Improved .22 short ammo
--Several of the top action shooters will participate in our selection matches and Nationals
--Many more mid-level action shooters will participate in our selection matches and Nationals
--Rapid Fire side events at Bianchi Cup, Steel Challenge, USPSA Nationals
--Increased media exposure for USA Shooting and US Shooting Team within the shooting industry magazines
--More RF matches on a local level throughout the US
--More RF training sessions
Best of all: USA Shooting came off looking like a small organization possessing the highest degree of professionalism, in front of a group of people who represent thousands of competitive shooters. Well, that and I bought another OSP.
Posted by mark on December 04, 2001 at 00:08:08:
See! just goes to show that all top shooters no mater what discipline can crossover. The basics are the same. Good sight picture and smooth trigger pull.
Posted by Dave Suitor on December 05, 2001 at 11:20:36:
Was there any discussion at the Colorado Rapidfire event
about using the new ISSF air pistol 5 target event to
promote Rapidfire?? This seems like an approach that
might work at the "grass roots".
regards,
dms
Posted by john bickar on December 05, 2001 at 16:57:55:
We did not discuss 5-shot air pistol specifically at the Rapid+Action event, but that certainly would be a viable entry-level strategy. I have my own feelings about 5-shot air pistol (just ask Rod Madsen), but I should probably keep those to myself.
In response to Mike McDaniel's post about the lack of ranges, I still maintain that a rapid fire range is simple to set up at the club level. Just build a framework on which you can staple the targets, and use an IPSC timer which will beep at the start and end of the time, and will record the exact time the shots were fired. Total cost: under $300. I know several National Team members that train this way. I personally don't normally shoot on turning targets anyway--I just use the light system we have on our bays here.
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