Click here for the official web site!Thursday, October 5

0700

For the sixth time in seven days, there is no sunrise, just a heavy fog lying sleepily over southern cally forn ya. But the forecast is sunny sunny sunny -- so stay tuned, we'll report back shortly.

And now, some e-mails of the day.

Regarding France/Maubeuge video:
“French or Norwegian, whatever.  Fact is that the French system seems to work to their advantage.  Don't know whether it was miserable judging or the video trick.  But the French tail never had a grip on two occasions in round ten (Adder or/and Murphy Flake).  In one of the cases, his hands came not closer than approx. 3-5 inches to the leg grip.  The judges gave 'em the points. Funny?”

I have yet to find a judge who thinks their video is easy to judge.
-t2


Can I just pass on my thanks and congratulations for the best website on the net to you omniskorers. This is a constant source of highly useful and interesting information and entertainment from the cutting edge of the sport. It certainly brightens up the day of work. The skills and commitment that you guys have and the time that it must take to do (no doubt for free) are phenomenal. BTW the jerk that was moaning the other day about your site - I would log that as a PEBKAC error. (Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair)

Music to the ears of the webmaster!


Regarding the NJ discussion:
The NJ was originally instituted for problems with video ie offscreens, video interruptions. I agree with you the team and the video person is part of the team must show the formation. In this mix of viewing there is what is called judgment ie the judge knows or thinks that a formation is complete you know due to the flow of the dive and the dynamics of the jump. I heard once from an event judge (not on this continent) that you should judge a jump as if you knew nothing about jumping my response was "fat chance". As far as the penalty is concerned for a NJ I favour the no point no penalty in this instance because it was not a fault from a team (you know an actual fault) point of view and I would feel that the team should not be penalized because I as a judge am not certain or cannot make a determination based on the video angle. However, If a video person is continually presenting video in a bad viewing position I think that the event judge or chief judge should have a word with this individual. This problem really presents itself on teams that are not in the top echelon or the video person is of a low experience level (comparatively) or a combination of both...

If the team and the video person must show the formation, I still hold that one cannot objectively and consistently distinguish whether the problem is with one or the other, especially when it comes to not seeing inters because of camera angles or distance. Hence, they are the same.
-t2

Netscape users, if you are having problems loading the results pages, try this: Click on a results link. Don't do anything else. Netscape will load the code and sit there quietly with a blank screen. Don't do anything. It's not crashed. Do not hit ctrl-alt-del. Go get a cup of coffee. Wait a few minutes. The page will show up eventually; Netscape just needs to chew on it for a while. Trust me. If I'm wrong, I'll give you a refund.
;-) t2

0800
Me thinks we'll be skydiving here in an hour or two.

0840
They just cranked up the first Otter. It won't be long now. Stay tuned...

0920
They cranked it up and then shut it down. But things are going now; the first load just took off. The judges should have tapes of the jump-off between 702 and 705 for the Intermediate Silver Medal before too much longer.

0940
The tapes just went to the judging room.

We have been informed that 808- Perris Energy 8 has withdrawn.

0950
705 got a 4. 702 is in the works.

In the results table, the score shown for Round 6 is the combined score for Round 6 plus any and all jump-off rounds.

1003
702 gets an 8! They win the Silver, and 705 takes the Bronze!

8-way Open, AZ8 got a 23 and GK a 22 on round seven, so AZ8 has a two point lead with three to go. WHEW...BAM those judges are being mean to my team! WHAA! Fun skydive though, a 13 banged down to an 11.

1220
GK put the pedal down on the floor on round 8 and roared into the lead, but I hear talk that AZ8 had a second camera on the helmet and might get an NJ removed, we'll see. My team is doing well, gotta say that of course, we're having some really good skydives for a pickup team. Time to dirt dive round 10 -

1320
Holy smoke! Airspeed just scored a 22 in Round 9! Can the Knights match or beat that?

Noooooo! They got a 21! It's a tie ball game after nine rounds!

Well now, if this ain't a Hollywood ending, I wouldn't know what is. Round ten judging starts shortly. I'll post them live as can be right here:

801 PD8: 12
802 Deguello: 10
803 Airspeed 8: 23 AIRSPEED WINS AIRSPEED WINS
805 Golden Knights: 19

806 Matrix 8: 14
807 KTO: 10 (we busted *AGAIN*!)
809 451: 7

There is a HUGE crowd around big TV. Wish you could all be there!
They are judging in reverse order of standings
* = current team being judged
I can't STAND the tension

WOW. Airspeed really smoked round 10, and the Knights had a glitch and a bust. During that time, Robbie Culver must have sent 10 e-mails. I'm glad the server didn't crash! WHEW Congratulations Airspeed!

That is *WAY* too much excitement for one day, but as I write this the 16-way briefing is going on (they waived the one hour wait rule). The competition goes on, and I am guessing that Knights FX will be trying to put a whoopin' on Airspeed Blue and exact some measure of revenge. I'm sure they'll get off two rounds this afternoon.

1530
A reminder to friends & family & whoever, we are happy to e-mail high resolution originals of the team photos on request. Just be sure to specify the team number and send e-mail to me at webmaestro@omniskore.com. Just be sure to send your loved one over to the DZTV control room with a beer for the webmeister!

Craig Girard coaches Kathleen Turner Overdrive. We had a great time!

The 16-way draw is now posted, and if we don't see a world record in round 6, I'm going to throw T1 in the swimming pool.

1620
105 Airspeed Blue had a huge problem out the door, and didn't get their first point until about 30 seconds into the dive. They still got a 9, which, at this point, is good enough for first place. Knights FX has not dived yet, though.

1630
Knights FX also had some problems with their first point, but they managed to score a 10 to take the first round lead.

1650
Round 1 is in the can, and Knights FX has a one-point lead over Airspeed Blue. This is gonna be a good 'un!!

CLICK HERE for Rob Work's “The Scoring of an NJ vs O & I”

On round 2, Airspeed Blue had a terrific start, but then it was glitch city with a bust for a score of 7 points. Going back to Deguello - the webmaster is alternate and must show some bias - they had a slow start on round one but finished strong for a seven, and my home boys are in third place. And on round 3, they do another good jump - 7 again! GKFX did much better, but three judges popped the 7th formation for a score of 7. 

Special kudos should go out to Airspeed members for all the help they've dished out to so many teams here. The Knights as well, but it seems like every time I turn around there's Craig or Dan or Jack taking precious time to help a team do a block or an exit. Great guys and great competitors!

Okay, round 2 of 16 is in the can, and I've got to be pleased with Deguello being only 3 points behind the leader. “Way Maur Booze” is well back in fourth, so at this point I think this will be a thee-horse race. Keep it up Texans! (okay mostly Texans).

8-Way Intermediate 3rd Place
8-Way Intermediate 2nd Place
8-Way Intermediate Champions
8-Way Open 3rd Place
8-Way Open 2nd Place (and WHO too!)

Just as the finger came down on the shutter
 to take this picture of Airspeed 8, the batteries died.

;-(

Robo and the excellent dinner buffet This is why the webmaster slept in Friday. His sweetie is in town!
Deguello working on round 2