Coach O - When Warren left B.C., it just wasn't the same anymore. He sure was a great guy to work for. He expected coaches to take care of business and gave us total support. If we needed something, he made it happen. Not long after he left, a bunch of other coaches left, too. He's been at Dickinson since. Beau coached there for a while after playing for UT. and is now at Baylor. Not sure what Blaise is up to. Was watching a game last fall and an Aggie was going the length of the field for a touchdown but a Bear didn't give up on the play, ran him down, and knocked him out of bounds. It was Brody. Couldn't believe it. Big kid now!
Just found this article from 2009 with more.
You being a regular reader puts me up to two danged dozen! Liked the pun. I think I've heard it somewhere before, though. Oh yeah: The timers can't see the strobe! Back up, Button!
Now, back to our regularly scheduled post:
Readers would like referees at championship meets to select their meet committee early, include coaches & an athletes, and make sure everyone's well aware of who committee members are. That doesn't guarantee a referee will call the committee, but at least it won't be a mystery...
Coach O asked about coaches and our knowledge of the system/rules. Question made me ask "Why should coaches join TISCA?"
How about this:
Join TISCA now for the low, low price of just $34.99! Membership allows you to vote for District, Region, and State Coaches of the Year! You'll also be eligible to attend the TISCA clinic (for a small additional fee) in September!
Wait! There's more!
Become a TISCA member by October 1st and you'll also receive this handy 2011-12 NFHS rule book! What are you waiting for? Sign up now!!!
Just a thought, that rule book idea...
Maybe TJ will cut us a deal.
Many of us remember being told that, if there was a DQ (via dual confirmation), the system could be used to overrule and "save" the relay.
Somewhere along the line we got away from that. I looked over TISCA meeting minutes for the past 3+ years and could only find two (2) mentions of the issue. Both were in last fall's minutes.
In TISCA board meeting minutes (Friday, September 9, 2010, 7:01 - 9:03 p.m.) under Other Business:
6. Carl Auel spoke about the relay touch pads in the case of a human error; i.e. an elbow or the back instead of a hand touch.
In the TISCA general meeting minutes (Saturday, September 10, 2010, 8:34 - 10:14 a.m.) under Other Business:
Kevin Murphy asked the question about relay take-offs. Clarify the ruling and asked about possibly using a video.
Couldn't find anything more there.
Remember the warning we got before the state meet? No? Read it here.
However, it is recommended that if the equipment is used, the protocol described in Appendix B be used for the sake of consistency.
Yeah, for the sake of consistency...
We know some early take-offs in relays don't get called. Human error works both ways, right? Still, wouldn't we rather have one go uncalled - instead of having a relay incorrectly DQ'ed due to a pad malfunction?
This meeting recap from Anonymous:
At 11:41 PM, 
said…
said…
The Tisca Board voted to approve two recommendations to put forward to the UIL.
1. return to dual confirmation of relay exchange DQ's by humans in the -.01 to -.09 range.
2. Video review of any DQ's called by the "machine" in the -.01 to -.09 range.
The UIL, then came in to "suggest" that "we move forward" with video review, as an addition to Appendix B, "suggested" protocol for automatic relay exchange equipment.
The video equipment would be the same equipment used at the NCAA Division I Meet at UT. 100 frames per second. The NCAA rule book only recommends 25 frames per second and a very inexpensive way to set it up for review.
The video review does not need to be cost-prohibitive.
HOWEVER, the UIL proposal was very costly, as the high-level video equipment would have to be rented. Due to the cost ($8000-$10,000) it was determined by the UIL, that a large number of swimming HS's, 300 or so, should contact (by letter) the UIL, to show the UIL that this was an issue important to MANY schools, not just to a couple of schools that complained.
In addition, TISCA was tasked with getting this done in only 60 days.
It was pointed out that only about 120 schools, of the near 500 that swim in Texas, ever have representatives at the Texas State Meet. Never-the-less, the UIL feels the need to have more schools weigh-in on the need for changes to the current protocol, in order to justify the expenditure.
Politics, instead of justice and focus on the kids. A University of Texas employee, speaking on behalf of the UIL, did admit that touchpads fail and RTOP's can fail, and that there is, likely a need for an adjustment to the protocol being used and that there is room for the UIL State of Texas HS swimming to move forward to video review without breaking the NFHS rules.
We will see. No admission was made by the UIL that they made any specific mistakes at the 2011 Texas State HS Meet.
Remember, Daktronics time data acquired in an open records request, showed unequivocally, that the touchpad failed in lane 6, the Southlake Carroll Girl's 400 free relay. The entire DQ should have been thrown out. Video was not necessary to overturn the DQ, just competence by the Meet Referee and an actual review by a "real" Meet Committee.
Now, how do we go about getting over 300 schools to send letters to the UIL, saying they want video review of relay exchanges at the 2012 Texas State Swim Meet? Some of them have never even seen an RTOP, or sent a swimmer to the Texas State Meet. Many of them are uneffected and may never be effected by this problem.
That should be quite a trick. Oh, might that be the "trick" by the UIL to side-step the issue and avoid any future changes?
Stay tuned...the "fat lady has not yet started to sing and Red Auerbach has yet to light his cigar"
The TISCA General Membership Meeting in Sept 2011 should be interesting, if this does not get ironed out before then.
What? It now falls on TISCA to prove to the UIL that we should avoid using a suggested protocol that's flawed?!?! Why make the coaches spend more time jumping through hoops on this subject? We've got important Texting, Facebooking, Tweeting, and Blogging to do!
1. return to dual confirmation of relay exchange DQ's by humans in the -.01 to -.09 range.
2. Video review of any DQ's called by the "machine" in the -.01 to -.09 range.
The UIL, then came in to "suggest" that "we move forward" with video review, as an addition to Appendix B, "suggested" protocol for automatic relay exchange equipment.
The video equipment would be the same equipment used at the NCAA Division I Meet at UT. 100 frames per second. The NCAA rule book only recommends 25 frames per second and a very inexpensive way to set it up for review.
The video review does not need to be cost-prohibitive.
HOWEVER, the UIL proposal was very costly, as the high-level video equipment would have to be rented. Due to the cost ($8000-$10,000) it was determined by the UIL, that a large number of swimming HS's, 300 or so, should contact (by letter) the UIL, to show the UIL that this was an issue important to MANY schools, not just to a couple of schools that complained.
In addition, TISCA was tasked with getting this done in only 60 days.
It was pointed out that only about 120 schools, of the near 500 that swim in Texas, ever have representatives at the Texas State Meet. Never-the-less, the UIL feels the need to have more schools weigh-in on the need for changes to the current protocol, in order to justify the expenditure.
Politics, instead of justice and focus on the kids. A University of Texas employee, speaking on behalf of the UIL, did admit that touchpads fail and RTOP's can fail, and that there is, likely a need for an adjustment to the protocol being used and that there is room for the UIL State of Texas HS swimming to move forward to video review without breaking the NFHS rules.
We will see. No admission was made by the UIL that they made any specific mistakes at the 2011 Texas State HS Meet.
Remember, Daktronics time data acquired in an open records request, showed unequivocally, that the touchpad failed in lane 6, the Southlake Carroll Girl's 400 free relay. The entire DQ should have been thrown out. Video was not necessary to overturn the DQ, just competence by the Meet Referee and an actual review by a "real" Meet Committee.
Now, how do we go about getting over 300 schools to send letters to the UIL, saying they want video review of relay exchanges at the 2012 Texas State Swim Meet? Some of them have never even seen an RTOP, or sent a swimmer to the Texas State Meet. Many of them are uneffected and may never be effected by this problem.
That should be quite a trick. Oh, might that be the "trick" by the UIL to side-step the issue and avoid any future changes?
Stay tuned...the "fat lady has not yet started to sing and Red Auerbach has yet to light his cigar"
The TISCA General Membership Meeting in Sept 2011 should be interesting, if this does not get ironed out before then.
What? It now falls on TISCA to prove to the UIL that we should avoid using a suggested protocol that's flawed?!?! Why make the coaches spend more time jumping through hoops on this subject? We've got important Texting, Facebooking, Tweeting, and Blogging to do!
In related news, the Flat Earth Society is open to discussing the theory of - get this - a spherical planet! If revolutionaries can find at least three hundred astronomy teachers to weigh in on the side of a round Earth, they'll consider entertaining the possibility. If overwhelming support for the radical orbists isn't seen within sixty days, they'll continue on with business as usual.
I am putting together a proposal right now to send to the UIL offering to provide a video system that meets or exceeds the one specified by the NCAA, not to be used to override calls of officials, but to verify that the timing system is properly calibrated. I will make this system and an operator available for free, that is at zero cost to the UIL (except for the electricity the system will use) for the 2012 state meet to see if it proves to be beneficial. If it's a benenfit, then they can spend $10,000 in 2013.
ReplyDeleteDon't get your hopes up. Keep trying and submitting things, but understand their primary focus... That actually sounds too logical and simple.
ReplyDeleteAs long as there are layers in judging - even videos are electronic folks -- which means they can fail (ever think you were taking the best photo possible but it ended up blurry?) Human calls have to be considered or we will end up exactly where we are today.
ReplyDeleteRE: Meet committees - someone mentioned that the UIL selects the committee before the meet (TN confirmed)and purposely does not publish/announce this so as not to allow you pesty coaches to nag the folks on the committee about every little thing while on deck - commitee members have real jobs you know. Oh and if something goes wrong? Well the head referee is under no obligation to call the meet committee - the coach must ASK FOR IT. Really? Like the coaches have nothing better to do?
And oh by the way - the flat earth society would have to have way more than 300 astronomers write in to meet the UIL threshhold for "I need to build a case". There are a total of 500+ schools with swimming (note that some don't have coaches as they are schools that put a swim team together with club swimmers only). The UIL wants to hear from 300 of them or so - 60%. So the flat earth society would have to hear from 60% of the estimated 6500 professional astronomers. hahaha
Seriously - isn't the TISCA board made up of coaches who were duly elected and/or appointed as representatives? Aren't there positions called Regional Representative? I thought that meant that they REPRESENTED the folks that are not there - otherwise every meeting would be a general meeting for everyone who paid their $34.95. When TN said that she needed to hear from more schools and basically threw out what TISCA board members approved - she clearly told them that the TISCA board is irrelevent (extrapolating, I wonder if that means the Legislative Council is irrelevent and cannot vote for her as AD?)
300 coaches weighing in out of 500 swimming schools,of which only 160 ever get to the State Meet???
ReplyDeleteYou'd have better luck getting obama to volunteer his birth certificate.
UIL: Unqualified, Ignorant, Lame. Whatever happened doing what's best for the kids? You know, like making sure we never go to qualifying times because it would cut back on "representation", which IS NOT FAIR TO THE KIDS!!! (Sarcasm, in case some of you flat-earthers don't get it.)
btw, I ignore replies (especially testy ones) from flat-earthers.
ReplyDeleteOf the 160 schools that go - how many have relays? even less i would guess
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I coach in a state that is not hindered by newfangled, electronical, launch pad thingies. Just 25 yards of water and a dream that is all we have in Illinois. Of course we have elderly gentleman (and an occasional elderly lady) eye balling touch offs. Weird isn't it, in the Land of Lincoln, (sorry with the federal prison up in Wisconsin having a special Illinois Governors’ wing I feel obligated to throw in an honest Illinois politician), where was I oh, yeah, we have single confirmation on all take offs at all meets until state. Dual confirmation on flat starts. So when they are standing still it is dual, get 'em moving and one is aok. I had a relay deked at a dual meet early in the season. The official comes over to "inform me" I had to quote the bad guy from True Grit,so I said, "Bold talk for a one eye fat man." He didn't like that. I told him I was joking. Still didn't like it much.
ReplyDeleteWarren was great, me being at Arnold, he left me alone. I remember he gave me free rein over the weight room. The swim team could use it anytime, between midnight and 5:00AM. No kidding, anytime. One time he called me, might have been the only time, anyway, said he was coming over to swim. Knee problem I think, said he heard swimmin' was good exercise. So about 30 minutes later I hear a splash and then a lot more splashing. Went on for what seemed like 10 minutes. I get up open my door and Warren had "swum" exactly 25 yards. He got out, didn't say a word, walked out the door and never came back.
I think his oldest son was the only one on the radar when I was around. I b-love the b-literation on the b-names!
God Bess Texas!
I have already sent my response to TN, requesting that the timing machine not be allowed to arbitrarily DQ anyone without human confirmation, and a human checking for malfunction. I would support video backup. All of these items are in pursuit of fair competition. A lofty goal I know. Just a thought "if we tilt the pool against fair competition, all of the water will come rushing out." there I said it.
ReplyDeleteWondering how the UIL AD interviews went? I know several folks wrote to the Legislative Council suggesting certain questions especially as it relates to leadership and the type of person who will or will not stand up and admit mistakes.
ReplyDelete