Unfortunately, we live in the 21st Century where inormation is easily available whether there is a mandate by the Association/Union not to release results. People talk all the time. I was getting updates from other districts during our meet but didn't take the time to listen or offer because it just doesn't matter. Not to mention I was busy coaching my kids. Any coach with any success at creating lineups has already done their job and knows where their kids have the best chance regardless of the conditions in other parts of the state. Integrity has nothing to do with the concerns here. Most coaches have it and some don't and that is a constant.
Kids are better off being told to take advantage of every opportunity they have been given. Even Olympians win events they weren't favored in and miss out on the ones they were.
I think a real problem is administrators starting meets that we all know well in advance that there is a chance that the weather will halt the meet and then have to return the next day to finish. There is plenty of advanced warning with current weather predicting technology. Secondly, those kids got to go home and come back somewhat more rested than those who had to come back in a second or third event within a couple of hours. That's an unfair advantage. But dangerous conditions and standing water is enough for anyone with a lick of common sense to make that call.
Those meets that were postponed in Eastern Iowa would have been at a serious disadvantage because of the amount of precipitation that was falling and sitting on the track, runways and in the throwing circles Thursday with the threat of lightning delays on a school night. The next night was almost perfect but the North Scott and Dubuque districts produced remarkably different results due to the depth and quality of the competitors in the field. Some events at Dubuque qualified 7 deep while many at North Scott will only get the two auto-qualifiers because of either poor depth or "lack of effort" on a good night by those that finished in 3rd or lower. This is more of a problem but the change to the girls rule for qualifying has evened the playing field. I would like to see the powers that be allow 8 names on the relay card to put more flexibility into what the coaches can do going from a one day meet to a 3 day meet that the events are out of order. Saturday was cold and windy as Hades so I'm glad the weather combined with smart administrative decisions worked out the way they did.
So, no-matter how you cut it up, releasing data is going to have a minimal impact on the overall picture due to the lack of integrity of a few coaches.
The example given of a kid dropping out of the 800 to give their best effort in the 1600 is laughable and leaves me to question how many lineups you have actually written since the 800 is after the 1600. Duh.... I think you are trying too hard to find an argument. That's about as bad as the Association threatening coaches to lock the system down even more because of "Gamesmanship" and then telling us to subract .24 from hand times to convert to auto times. Now that was laughable only because I didn't want to be mad about their disconnection from the ivory tower to those that truly put the final product out there on the track. IF they would just get out of the way, it could be even better.
I hope this helps some feel better about this particular post and know that there are others that are looking for stimulating interaction and the sharing of ideas. It will always be what we make it so I guess if we don't look past the gibberish of others then that complaint is partially our fault as well. The impersonal, emotionally driven, sometimes attacking posts should be taken with a grain of salt. If we don't agree, so be it. It doesn't really matter why we don't agree when it breaks down to an un-civil interaction.
Kids are better off being told to take advantage of every opportunity they have been given. Even Olympians win events they weren't favored in and miss out on the ones they were.
I think a real problem is administrators starting meets that we all know well in advance that there is a chance that the weather will halt the meet and then have to return the next day to finish. There is plenty of advanced warning with current weather predicting technology. Secondly, those kids got to go home and come back somewhat more rested than those who had to come back in a second or third event within a couple of hours. That's an unfair advantage. But dangerous conditions and standing water is enough for anyone with a lick of common sense to make that call.
Those meets that were postponed in Eastern Iowa would have been at a serious disadvantage because of the amount of precipitation that was falling and sitting on the track, runways and in the throwing circles Thursday with the threat of lightning delays on a school night. The next night was almost perfect but the North Scott and Dubuque districts produced remarkably different results due to the depth and quality of the competitors in the field. Some events at Dubuque qualified 7 deep while many at North Scott will only get the two auto-qualifiers because of either poor depth or "lack of effort" on a good night by those that finished in 3rd or lower. This is more of a problem but the change to the girls rule for qualifying has evened the playing field. I would like to see the powers that be allow 8 names on the relay card to put more flexibility into what the coaches can do going from a one day meet to a 3 day meet that the events are out of order. Saturday was cold and windy as Hades so I'm glad the weather combined with smart administrative decisions worked out the way they did.
So, no-matter how you cut it up, releasing data is going to have a minimal impact on the overall picture due to the lack of integrity of a few coaches.
The example given of a kid dropping out of the 800 to give their best effort in the 1600 is laughable and leaves me to question how many lineups you have actually written since the 800 is after the 1600. Duh.... I think you are trying too hard to find an argument. That's about as bad as the Association threatening coaches to lock the system down even more because of "Gamesmanship" and then telling us to subract .24 from hand times to convert to auto times. Now that was laughable only because I didn't want to be mad about their disconnection from the ivory tower to those that truly put the final product out there on the track. IF they would just get out of the way, it could be even better.
I hope this helps some feel better about this particular post and know that there are others that are looking for stimulating interaction and the sharing of ideas. It will always be what we make it so I guess if we don't look past the gibberish of others then that complaint is partially our fault as well. The impersonal, emotionally driven, sometimes attacking posts should be taken with a grain of salt. If we don't agree, so be it. It doesn't really matter why we don't agree when it breaks down to an un-civil interaction.
