Discussion: 2010 USOF Two-Day Champs -- Vote with yer Feet

Well, the scuttlebutt is that the USOF BoD has added a chaise longue to the deck of the US Championship boat and has rearranged some furniture, in the form of adding an IOF-style Long race and leaving all of the other myriad championships intact. And some folks around here have been muttering that this ain't to their liking. So...

What do you do when you don't like something? You vote with yer feet, that's what. You don't show up. Of course, it's pretty dang-blang hard to not show up at an event that hasn't happened, and that hasn't even been scheduled. The new champs deal takes effect in 2010, and no club has bid on the two-day US Champs for 2010 yet. Well, if you really don't like two-day combined races, here's where the magic of Attackpoint lets you not show up way in advance.

Courtesy of Trailbusters OC, I've "added" the 2010 Champs to the calendar. Not planning on going? Go right ahead and say so. SIgn yerself up as "No, I ain't going". Nothing will sink a potential bid faster than a list of prominent folks who have said in advance that they won't go, no matter where it's held, and then maybe the whole two-day champs concept will be dead. On the other hand, if you are interested, then indicate that. If it looks like there's widespread interest, maybe some club will step up and offer to host the event. Think this straw poll is a bad idea? Then don't vote. And go right ahead and call me a jerk and a troublemaker. I've been called worse.

(And you furriners stay out of it. Canadians are OK, but if you live in Oz, we know you ain't coming anyhow, so just stick your vote in your billabong.)

I'm confused about which US Champs you listed. Is this the "classic" two day combined time event, or three events (SML) on two days? They will both be "championship" events. Why not list both in your straw vote?

What part of "Two-Day Championships" did you find ambiguous, ma'am? That said, I can't dispute your logic, so I added the S/M/L event as well.

But what about the Night-O Champs? I'm already training for that since I know the competition will be fierce.

I'm not sure a poll on AP is representative, but WDIK? Love the rearranging the furniture sentiment tho, that is exactly what it feels like to me.

I'm training for the trail-o champs. I like the idea of having a championship for a discipline for which there are no other sanctioned starts (and perhaps no other starts at all in most of the country). Sounds like a way to abscond with some hardware, and god knows in these times we could always use more of that.

My burning question, tho, is why didn't they add an MTB-O champs? Seems analogous to trail-o to me. They both have WOCs, there are no other starts to speak of, sounds good to me.

But the truth of the matter is that these times call for inflationary actions, not deflationary ones, so we should be adding championships. Definitely need to add goat champs and geocaching champs. I feel every constituency should have their own champs. That would be fair, wouldn't it? Every meet should have a championship, and if there isn't enough volunteer resources to hold all these meets as high quality affairs as it is, thats fine too, just mail the hardware out and put the awards ceremonies on YouTube.

You sir, are a jerk and a troublemaker.

In all seriousness, I think there should be two criteria. What goes on internationally, and what is really popular. That leaves my vote for S/M/L, relay and IS. Dump all the rest.

I'm training for the trail-o champs.

Time to throw the trail-O smack down: You better train hard or you'll be eating my dust at the trail-O Champs (at least to the extent that trail-O creates dust ;-)

(Okay, now I had better do well at the trail-O champs...)

In response to BillyWilson: There are three things I like in my orienteering events:
1. Good quality of terrain, map and course.
2. Variety--a mix of different discipline formats.
3. Competition--given a reasonable level of fairness, stiff competition makes almost any race interesting.

Two-day classic competitions fail the variety test and thus automatically are less appealing than S/M/L format.

But even S/M/L all the time can get old, so I like relay, night, ultra-long, mobile-O, prologue/pursuit, goat, etc. I like having the ultra long and night champs, because their existence makes it more likely that I'll get to enjoy these formats.

<rant>I think it's lame to complain about the rich variety of championships we have. The complaints often seem to arise from an anxiety about the fact that not all U.S. Championships medals are equally hard to win. This is a silly thing to worry about. There is no evidence that I have seen that the best orienteers, who win the best attended and most competitive championships, are feeling that their victories are being cheapened by other, less accomplished orienteers occasionally winning Night-O Champs medals.

Rather than complaining, how about toeing the line and organizing more events in some of the other fun formats! The (supposed) dearth of ultra-long races, in particular, demonstrates an inertia and lack of vision among orienteering clubs, given the rise in popularity of longer races in the athletic world generally.

Oh, and it's worth pointing out that my club (Cascade OC) has had at least one mountain bike O event annually for most or all of the last several years. </rant>

I really don't think there is a tidy way to resolve this issue.

However, in defense of the complainers--I think some of us feel that the proliferation of US championships dilutes, obscures, and detracts from the marquee championship, whatever that is.

It is true that there are lots of alternative fun formats, and I am sure others will be dreamed up in the future. But, given lack of resources and lack of understanding among the broader sporting community, does it make sense to indulge the niches on the niches by bestowing the imprimatur (for whatever that is worth) of the "US Championship" upon them? To me, that devalues the currency. (I recall Gresham's Law). Anyway...

By all means, if some people/clubs want nightO, trailO, bikeO, etc., put them on. But, in my opinion, if we want the sport to grow, we need to figure out what it is, and make the US Championships the showcase demonstration of that.

If Gresham's law applies, then some other kind of championship will drive out the now 'devalued' "US Championships." The mind boggles.