For years I have been lobbying for a title match at Winter Range. We are doing all the work and we should have a championship, but I am changing my mind. The weather could not have been worst this year during the week including literally 3 feet of snow in the mountain passes. But Saturday broke clear and it was a perfect day for shooting. Even with about 20 folks not making it over the mountains, we had 102 shooters participate. It was a great shoot. The Arizona Bracket Shoot is so well liked and so much fun that it would be a shame to give it up. For 2020, I think we should plan on 3 ranges and 120 to 150 shooters. We have the facilities, the manpower, and the space. With 3 ranges we could have 9 brackets. If we get more than 25 shootists we could have two shootist brackets.
When you look at the money winners there is so much diversity, that you know the purpose of the Arizona Bracket Shoot is working. In Bracket A, Cowboy Up was clean and only needed three shots to win. I suspect he must have pirated my training blog, he is shooting so well, just joshing. He out shot Broken Spoke and Whiskey for the win. Bracket B really shows the merit of the shoot, with youth Bandana Kid out dueling Smoken Hank and multi-National Champion, the Draw. Bracket C was won by Grey Wanderer out shooting Dusty Jam and Desert Gator. Dusty Jam is using his prize money to buy a backup gun (CFDA Shady Mike tuned) that is being sold by the Loess Hills Paladins. Many thanks to him.
Bracket D was the most colorful bracket. Big Foot was third. He just could not compete with that dogboy shooting with a parasol, but dogboy met his 2x4 in the match with The Stud. It was a sight to behold. Bracket E was some of my students dueling but Eagle Eye shooting a Shady Mike holster (his holster having been snowed in) prevailed over Viper and Lone Rider.
Final bracket was the Shootist Bracket. I have had a long standing argument with the Counselor about what is possible in competition and the shootist bracket made my point. Dirty Dan was hitting better than 80% at high 4 low 5 speed but lost to BA, also hitting better than 80% at mid 4 speed. That set up the finals, with BA continuing to hit three in the mid fours to no avail, with Quigley putting three on the plate in almost identical .392 speed. This what cowboy fastdraw can be. Every shot decided by quickness. "80% is just average!"
Loess Hills Paladins: The second range was provided by the Loess Hills Paladins, Inc. We had some timer issues but those will get resolved with some adjustments to the backstop. The Association of Arizona Gunslingers had purchased a raffle gun from the Paladins and all 250 tickets were sold, the lucky winner being Silver Lady. She had purchased her ticket early at Rio. Many thanks to all who purchased tickets. All the proceeds will go to range improvements. Silver Lady's pardner, Minnesota Maverick, finished 5th in Bracket A so I guess the couple from Minnesota did quite well.
The Arizona Bracket Shoot is unique to the Valley of the Sun. If you would like to give it a try in a historic setting, head down to Tombstone on March 23. I said it before the promenade between the Crystal Palace and Big Nose Kate's is worth the trip. The Arizona Bracket shoot will be great also.
Thinking of next year, I think the Paladins will sponsor a little warm up match on Friday. Just a little jackpot to get you trained up. Arizona Five and we will show what a good sort can do for you.
Shady and I are playing the what if game. If you lose your focus you are shuffled out. Wait till next year! Or can't wait till next year!
Monday, February 25, 2019
Friday, February 22, 2019
The Arizona Bracket Shoot
I write this post to give credit to where credit is due. In February, the Rio Salado Vaqueros held one of their best Club events. I can not commend the Vaqueros enough for the outstanding job they do especially their officers, Mule Train and Southwest KC. They held their normal Arizona Bracket shoot but because of the cool weather it was extended to 7 rounds. The Arizona Bracket shoot was the idea of Calaboose Bill when Noah Chance owned the Association of Arizona Gunslingers. The thought was to give all shooters the opportunity of experiencing a magnificent shoot-off. The Arizona Bracket shoot combines a no x format with magnificent 1 x shoot-off. All shooters make the shoot-offs. Shooters are seeded in the shoot-off according the CFDA timeout report which is the standard for placings in CFDA events.
To illustrate how well it functions, I will relate the fate of five shooters at the February match. The luck of the draw was not kind to me. Four of the seven shooters I faced in the seeding rounds were on average 80 milliseconds quicker than me. What was worst, three of the four, when I shot them, were hitting better than 60%. Had the event been a 3x elimination event, I would have been shuffled out near the bottom of the standings. However, since it was no x event I was seeded 11th in the standings at the bottom of bracket A.
A Plug! Here is a plug for the Alleluia Competition and Training System. I would have won the event moving up through the shoot offs except I ran into another Alleluia shooter, Shady Mike. We were shooting average (80% is just average) and he is 10 milliseconds quicker than me. I finished in 5th place. Two of the four quicker shooters finished in 2nd and 4th, Shady finished 3rd, and the other two quicker shooters finished well down in the pack.
Format Matters! The Arizona Bracket shoot does a better job sorting the field than the elimination format because it mitigates the unfairness of the luck of the draw. A shooter has the opportunity to recover from a tough draw. In February, I was probably on that day, the 5th best shooter there and that is where I finished. The main match whether it is at a club shoot or a title event is nothing more than a seeding match. The event is sorting the shooters from top to bottom for shoot-off and placing purposes
Winter Range and Tombstone! Tomorrow the weather will break crisp but clear and we will beginning sorting the best of the west at the Winter Range Arizona Bracket Jackpot shoot. Payout is 80% with the shooters being divided into 6 brackets. It will be a blast. No one will be out of it until they get their x in a magnificent shoot-off. If you can not make it, there is another Arizona Jackpot Shoot in Tombstone on March 23. Can't make that one, come to Pioneer Village, Arizona Territory, on March 30th, just a club shoot but probably more than 60 will be there.
"I ain't missing, bring me another shooter!" Alleluia Ruah
To illustrate how well it functions, I will relate the fate of five shooters at the February match. The luck of the draw was not kind to me. Four of the seven shooters I faced in the seeding rounds were on average 80 milliseconds quicker than me. What was worst, three of the four, when I shot them, were hitting better than 60%. Had the event been a 3x elimination event, I would have been shuffled out near the bottom of the standings. However, since it was no x event I was seeded 11th in the standings at the bottom of bracket A.
A Plug! Here is a plug for the Alleluia Competition and Training System. I would have won the event moving up through the shoot offs except I ran into another Alleluia shooter, Shady Mike. We were shooting average (80% is just average) and he is 10 milliseconds quicker than me. I finished in 5th place. Two of the four quicker shooters finished in 2nd and 4th, Shady finished 3rd, and the other two quicker shooters finished well down in the pack.
Format Matters! The Arizona Bracket shoot does a better job sorting the field than the elimination format because it mitigates the unfairness of the luck of the draw. A shooter has the opportunity to recover from a tough draw. In February, I was probably on that day, the 5th best shooter there and that is where I finished. The main match whether it is at a club shoot or a title event is nothing more than a seeding match. The event is sorting the shooters from top to bottom for shoot-off and placing purposes
Winter Range and Tombstone! Tomorrow the weather will break crisp but clear and we will beginning sorting the best of the west at the Winter Range Arizona Bracket Jackpot shoot. Payout is 80% with the shooters being divided into 6 brackets. It will be a blast. No one will be out of it until they get their x in a magnificent shoot-off. If you can not make it, there is another Arizona Jackpot Shoot in Tombstone on March 23. Can't make that one, come to Pioneer Village, Arizona Territory, on March 30th, just a club shoot but probably more than 60 will be there.
"I ain't missing, bring me another shooter!" Alleluia Ruah
Friday, February 15, 2019
At a Crossroad!
2019 is a cross road year for Loess Hills Paladins, Inc. It will either become a viable charity or it will wither on the vine. It was set up as a 501 (c) (3) charity so that donations to it would be tax deductible. Its primary purpose is to make available to CFDA clubs a fully functional 6 lane range to be use for exempt purposes. Exempt purposes are educational (town alley), youth development (club shoots), and the training of national sports competitors, (club, state and territorial shoots).
Paladins were traveling knights of Charlemagne court, defenders or advocates of a noble cause. Our motto is "Have Range, Will Travel."
To survive the Paladins need two things. First, the range must be used. If no one wants to use the range, the range will just rust away. It has been used four times and will be the second range at Winter Range next week. It was designed to work at Winter Range, Pioneer Village, Tombstone, as well as in the Loess Hills of Nebraska/Iowa. It is available. New clubs in the Southwest, need a range for an event, give the Paladins a call. Only requirements are it must be an exempt purpose event and the club must have CFDA insurance.
The second thing that is needed is a source of revenue. Since the Paladins were set up as a charity the obvious source of revenue should be donations. To encourage donations we are offering to an annual nonvoting membership for $20. The only thing you will receive for donation is thank you card to document your donation. Without donations the charity will not survive.
If you would like to send in a donation you may do so by mailing it to P.O. Box 74726, Phoenix, AZ, 85087. I will also be accepting donation for the Paladins at Winter Range.
For an early post about the Paladins, see "Loess Hills Paladins, Inc." posted on this blog April 11, 2018.
Paladins were traveling knights of Charlemagne court, defenders or advocates of a noble cause. Our motto is "Have Range, Will Travel."
To survive the Paladins need two things. First, the range must be used. If no one wants to use the range, the range will just rust away. It has been used four times and will be the second range at Winter Range next week. It was designed to work at Winter Range, Pioneer Village, Tombstone, as well as in the Loess Hills of Nebraska/Iowa. It is available. New clubs in the Southwest, need a range for an event, give the Paladins a call. Only requirements are it must be an exempt purpose event and the club must have CFDA insurance.
The second thing that is needed is a source of revenue. Since the Paladins were set up as a charity the obvious source of revenue should be donations. To encourage donations we are offering to an annual nonvoting membership for $20. The only thing you will receive for donation is thank you card to document your donation. Without donations the charity will not survive.
If you would like to send in a donation you may do so by mailing it to P.O. Box 74726, Phoenix, AZ, 85087. I will also be accepting donation for the Paladins at Winter Range.
For an early post about the Paladins, see "Loess Hills Paladins, Inc." posted on this blog April 11, 2018.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)