<VV> Worthless awards, - Au Contrere

[Sethracer@aol.com]

In a message dated 6/10/2004 4:30:35 PM Pacific Standard Time,  
airvair@richnet.net writes:

On the  other hand, I would favor the return to the "first, second,
third" award  system. Sure, a lot of people would be unhappy when they
didn't get first  in their class. But what awards they DID get would mean
something. And  wouldn't you rather have an award that actually  meant
something?

-Mark




Personally, I would never refer to any of the Gold, Silver, Bronze awards  
earned in Corsa Concours as "worthless", but maybe that's just me. The Concours  
participants, (Mark has noted that he doesn't compete), requested the change  
from First/Second/Third types to Gold/Silver/Bronze awards because of the  
even-handedness of the new system. Perhaps as a result of the class  structure 
that Corsa has used for many years. In the old system, a car could  earn a 
first place award by beating another car. It could have been (but usually  was 
not) an 88 point car. It won an award, but in a large, highly competitive  class, 
a 95 point car could receive no recognition, because there were 3 other  95 
or above cars in it's class, dropping it to fourth. As somebody mentioned, it  
doesn't take a rocket scientist to rank the cars by their scores after all. 
The  other, unseemly, side of "us vs. them" competition was the rare, but real,  
verbal "trashing" of others cars. Judges had reported people pointing out  
"flaws" in cars during scoring. Unsportmanlike? Yes. But if a first place trophy 
 is that important to the person, not beyond the realm. The person can 
probably  even justify it to himself, feeling he was just helping the judge make a 
"true"  assessment. Although I am a racer, I have entered cars in Corsa 
Concours,  whenever I have a car at a Convention (don't snicker - at least 5 times) 
and  I've done okay. 
One further note on the Concours competition. If you feel  strongly about a 
particular Concours issue, write the Concours committee  chairman, perhaps 
asking him to distribute your letter to the committee members.  The Corsa Board of 
Directors only acts on Concours issues that are brought to it  by the 
Concours committee. I suppose if a major grievance were uncovered, the  BOD would 
act. But the Concours Committee and the Competition Committee are  there to 
handle these issues. 
I am looking forward to attending the Lexington Convention, there will  be 
some big surprises for us all, along with, I'm sure, a very competitive  
Concours and Autocross. Be there or be square! - Seth  Emerson