Colorado Time Systems Responds

Earlier this month, Brent Rutemiller called for swimming organizations to suspend use of automatic relay take-off judging systems.

Read a response from Colorado Time Systems here.

We understand that fail safe systems need to be implemented and that's why an employee of Colorado Time Systems told the NCAA that they should use a minimum of a semi-high speed video camera to provide backup for the RJPs. A number of the major USA Swimming meets and NCAA meets are using relay judging and some are also currently using video cameras with a speed of about 100 frames per second.

So, why in the world would we continue using these systems without either a human element or a video back-up?

Colorado Time Systems agrees that fail safe systems need to be implemented in those rare cases that technology malfunctions. However, to completely eliminate RJPs would be hindering the advancement of the sport and opening the door to even more controversy if humans took over.

It might also hinder revenue growth for companies selling platforms...

Quote of the Day

Fighting spirit one must have. Even if a man
lacks some of the other qualifications, he
can often make up for it in fighting spirit.



Brigadier General Robin Olds

Quote of the Day

When you put something positive into the world,
something positive comes back to you.



Clarence Anicholas Clemons, Jr.

Quote of the Day

I'm not a dictator. It's just
that I have a grumpy face.



Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte

Quote of the Day

Once a guy starts wearing silk
pajamas it's hard to get up early.



George Edward "Eddie" Arcaro

Quote of the Day

I hope our wisdom will grow with our
power, and teach us that the less we
use our power the greater it will be.



Thomas Jefferson

UIL Swim/Dive Board Meeting Minutes

Thanks to a couple of readers for this heads up.

The board meeting minutes are here.

Q. Update on the NF Rules Committee Meeting (Traci Neely)

Traci passed out minutes from the NFHS Rules Committee meeting she attended.

Relay protocol for state: Frank sending it in writing for posting on Swim page (arbiter)

Rule 6: Redefined in the rules that the state association will be able to support people like Frank
making decisions for the meet and Gloria’s preparation of the files for meets.

It usually takes 2-5 years to make a rule change at the national level so there will be discussion on relay protocol for a few more meetings at the nation level.

Swimmers with disabilities was another issue of discussion at the national meeting

The Swimming division will have preseason board meeting and will have 2 diving members at that time.

Discussion by board: If relay take off pads are used there should also be two people. Will take two out of three (pads, human, human)

**Protocol should be supplied to the UIL for posting on the swim page. (Frank writing up and sending to the group. Will then be posted on the site AND emailed to the officials)

It looks like things are moving in the right direction. Wording of any new rule will be interesting.

The UIL Legislative Council was to have met Tuesday. Anyone have any news on that meeting?

p.s. Lots of talk about money, including this motion (which passed):

Funds left from 10-11 season from TISCA ~3500.00 be put in the UIL Swim general fund.

Quote of the Day

As long as people will accept crap, it will
be financially profitable to dispense it.



Richard Alva "Dick" Cavett

If I'm reading this correctly...

...schools without football lose the least?

How can that be? Athletic directors keep telling us how important it is to keep pumping resources into that money-maker Mama Boucher calls foosball. They wouldn't be doing that if it meant wasting millions of dollars, would they?

Turns out there are only twenty-two (22) institutions that generate enough revenue to offset expenses. That's right, twenty-two. Think of all the D-I men's swim programs that have gone extinct because of "budget" issues.

The median net surplus at those 22 institutions was about $7.4 million (ranging from $211,000 to $41.9 million), compared with the median net deficit for the remaining Football Bowl Subdivision schools of about $11.3 million. That gap – almost $19 million – is significantly higher than the $15.6 million separation in 2009.

Read more here.

We've been told that sports like wrestling and men's swimming are being cut due to budget problems. Of course, football generates income and is therefore immune to cuts, right?

Could there be another reason "non-revenue" sports are being cut?

Hint: Look between Titles VIII and X...

Quote of the Day

Question how much freedom your path
affords you. Be utterly ruthless about
it. It's your freedom that will get
you to where you want to go.



Hugh MacLeod

Top Five High School Sports Stories

The Dallas Morning News highlighted five high school sports stories from the 2010-11 school year.

Care to take a guess what one of them was?

Electronic swim timers fail

At the UIL state swim meet in February, the Southlake Carroll girls team lost the 5A title when its 400-yard freestyle relay was disqualified for an early exchange. Video footage showed that the swimmer didn’t leave early, and officials watching the lane ruled that the exchange was good.

But the electronic timing system ruled that it wasn’t legal, and its ruling stood, despite its imperfections. At the state meet, the timing systems that calculate finishes and splits and relay exchanges malfunctioned at least 28 times. A Highland Park relay team was also disqualified for an exchange that looked legal in photographs.

“It’s not going to go away if we don’t sit there and solve the problem,” Highland Park swim coach Jesse Cole said. “Unfortunately, a couple of teams have had to take some big hits to make that happen.”

Quote of the Day

You might as well fall flat on your
face as lean over too far backward.



James Grover Thurber

Quote of the Day

The sad truth is that excellence
makes people nervous.



Shana Alexander

Quote of the Day

We play the hands of cards life gives us. And
the worst hands can make us the best players.



David "Doc" Searls

Mid-Week Haul

In addition to helping this guy land a hammerhead the other day,



Leon also pulled in this ling:



Here's the ling along with some king fish, Spanish mackerel, and a jack:

Quote of the Day

Never underestimate the determination
of a kid who is time rich and cash poor.



Cory Doctorow

Proportionality 101

Pay attention, freshmen, I'm fixin' ta learn ya.

Today we'll look into the evils of proportionality.

As Helen Boucher once said, "Proportionality is the tool of the devil!"

The story:

Your institution of higher learning has a golf team. This year, no women opted to play on the team.

The athletic department noticed that there were a higher percentage of women attending school than there were playing sports.

Fearing a Title IX lawsuit, the department decided to drop a men's team.

Once the spring semester ended, the athletic department dumped golf and revived men's and women's tennis.

Don't believe it? Read more here.

Pera said he spent the past week arranging transfers for his younger players, including nonstarters and redshirts.

"That's the main thing, get these kids an opportunity," said Pera, the 1974 state champion while at San Jose City College and a '77 All-American at San Jose State. "Who knows? Maybe something pops and they move forward from there."

Your homework:

What will happen next year if no women want to play tennis?

Quote of the Day

Man is the only creature who
refuses to be what he is.



Albert Camus

Quote of the Day

Education is when you read the fine print.
Experience is what you get if you don't.



Peter "Pete" Seeger

Quote of the Day

I broke his hand on my head
and he was out eight weeks.



Donals Stewart "Grapes" Cherry

Quote of the Day

Every year we find something new, we go faster,
and that's what Formula One is about.



Michael Schumacher

Quote of the Day

We have asked government to do more for us,
and all the government asks for in return
is a little bit more of our liberty.



Kenneth Thomas "Ken" Cuccinelli II

Quote of the Day

Modesty in an actor is as fake
as passion in a call girl.



John Herbert "Jackie" Gleason

Quote of the Day

Somebody once said I had a face for
radio and a voice for newspapers.



Gerald Norman "Jerry" Springer

Dallas Morning News Updates

On his Dallas Morning News high school sports blog, Mark Dent has posted a short update on the automatic relay take-off judging issue. Read it here.

He's included links in case you need to catch up on the story.

Quote of the Day

Everyone wants to be on a winning team,
but no one wants to come to practice.



Robert Montgomery "Bob" Knight

STOP THE MADNESS!!

I think that's what Swimming World Editor Brent Rutemiller is trying to say. He's calling for the suspension of electronic relay take-off platform use. Read more here.

Around 2007, when manufacturers convinced officials that relay takeoff platforms could measure the exchanges accurately and efficiently—without the need for human observation and manpower—governing bodies accepted the manufacturers' claims, thinking that the technology was fail-safe.

Now, when automatic judging equipment is in use, the system race printout provides the only information to judge relay exchanges when a differential is between -0.09 and +0.09 seconds. Human input is explicitly not considered within this range, unless officially approved integrated back-up timing cameras are in use, to challenge or confirm the automatic system's results. If there is a conflict between the cameras and the automatic equipment, then a referee will have to determine which of the two confirmation processes will be accepted.

In other words, if a championship meet uses electronic relay takeoff platforms and cannot afford expensive backup timing cameras, the electronic printout makes the final call every time.

Despite the claims of manufacturers, the automatic judging system is not fail-safe, as seen by a number of controversial disqualifications both at the NCAA and high school levels. First-hand human observation and common sense video have repeatedly shown that significant errors in the automatic system occur.

Want a quick summary?

Until human judgment is put back in the process for judging relay takeoffs, the use of automatic judging equipment must be suspended.

We can afford this:

Outgoing Rutgers president Richard McCormick will earn $335,000 annually to teach history at the university. Read more here.

The agreement, approved by the Rutgers Board of Governors, said if McCormick should ever return to teaching at Rutgers his salary could be "no less" than the highest paid faculty member on campus. So, when McCormick announced he was stepping down to become a professor again, the university was legally obligated to pay him more than Norman Samuels, the former Rutgers-Newark provost now earning $320,000 a year as a political science professor.

We can also afford this:


Unfortunately, we can't afford to keep men's collegiate swimming.

Looks like they're using the Barone Sanitation business model...

Quote of the Day

I want to be a Texan 24 hours a day.



James Byron Dean

Quote of the Day

I never lose sight of the fact
that just being is fun.



Katharine Houghton Hepburn

Quote of the Day

Every normal man must be tempted at
times to spit upon his hands, hoist the
black flag, and begin slitting throats.



Henry Louis "H.L." Mencken

Quote of the Day

Those who are blessed with the most talent
don't necessarily outperform everyone else.
It's the people with follow-through who excel.



Mary Kathlyn Wagner, a.k.a. Mary Kay Ash

Quote of the Day

You don't always win your battles,
but it's good to know you fought.



John Greenleaf Whittier

Quote of the Day

Getting information off the internet is
like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.



Mitchell David "Mitch" Kapor

Quote of the Day

What school of double-talk did you go to?



Judith Susan Blum Sheindlin, a.k.a. Judge Judy

Quote of the Day

Once you consent to some concession,
you can never cancel it and put
things back the way they are.



Howard Robard Hughes, Jr.

Quote of the Day

To be great we need to win games
we aren't supposed to win.



Julius Winfield Erving II, a.k.a. Dr. J

Quote of the Day

There may be times when we are powerless
to prevent injustice, but there must never
be a time when we fail to protest.



Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel

Quote of the Day

A winner is someone who recognizes his
God-given talents, works his tail off to
develop them into skills, and uses
these skills to accomplish his goals.



Larry Joe Bird

Quote of the Day

The problem with her is that she lacks the power
of conversation but not the power of speech.



George Bernard Shaw

Quote of the Day

Political correctness is tyranny with manners.



John Charles Carter, a.k.a. Charlton Heston

Can't talk now...

...I've got my hands full:






Click on pics for monster-size views of seven foot bull shark caught on - get this - 20# test w/lure.

Don't swim in Port Mansfield Channel.

Those sharks must be starving!

Next trip, break out the Snoopy and Sponge Bob poles and go for an eight-footer...

Quote of the Day

If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your
closet, you'd best teach it to dance.



George Bernard Shaw

Quote of the Day

When you do the common things in
life in an uncommon way, you will
command the attention of the world.



George Washington Carver

Quote of the Day

Basically, I no longer work for anything
but the sensation I have while working.



Alberto Giacometti

Quote of the Day

Between the two of you, I doubt I
could put together a three-digit IQ.



Judith Susan Blum Sheindlin, a.k.a. Judge Judy

Interview Questions

This thread on The Old Coach caught my eye. It's about strange interview questions. Read them here.

I interviewed at the Hutch one time. I don't remember the question the principal asked me, but it had about six F-bombs in it.

I interviewed for the head coaching job at Montgomery, Texas many years ago. The very first question was "Do you group your classes homogeniously or heterogenously"? I knew homo was bad so I answered "heterogenously of course." I thought I had escaped at this time but the second question was "Tell me why?"

"You're home on a saturday night. There's a knock at your door and it's one of our female students. What do you do?"I started laughing b/c I thought he was kidding. He wasn't. Same place, Im talking with an assistant principal while waiting on the principal to bring me in. I was answering everything with "yes sir". Then, as I walked out, I saw that the name plate said Rebecca. I didn't get that job.

I talked to someone who interviewed at Lindsay a few years ago and one of the first questions was "how do you feel about student athletes drinking a little beer"?

A Supt in the metroplex (just opening the school) asked me...if at the end of your fourth year and you have not won a state championship will you gracefully resign? That was his one and only question to all the interviewees.

"What is the HC's role in a pep rally"?

Interviewed at a place about 6 years ago and was told by the AD/HC that he did not allow his coaches to drink. Don't let him find out you bought it, or were out at a bar, even if it was 200 miles from your school. I don't drink, but listening to that I needed a drink after the interview

Supt. asks me what I made in chemistry in college. Told him I did not take chemistry in college and he told me everyone had to take chemistry in college. He then turns to the AD and HS principal and asks them what they made in chemistry and they both told him they did not take chemistry. Had a look of amazement on his face.

My first job
Supt: Are you married?
Me: No sir
Supt: Do you have a girlfriend
Me: No Sir
Supt: Are you a homo?
Me: No sir

How old are you exactly?

So...Whats your 40 time?

Finally, I feel a need to add these words of wisdom THE_BOBO posted on another thread:

Fellas, all these Hens bawlkin and squawkin over teaching advanced placement classes and how hard they have to work is a bunch of BULL BUTTER. I got stuck teaching an AP class this year and it is the easiest thing I have ever had to do. Kiddos do all the work, show up every day,stay actively engaged. Dont buy into it boys..Dont let the Hens hawg up all the AP courses anymore. ITS EASY TO TEACH SMART KIDS

Quote of the Day

No one worth possessing can be quite possessed.



Sara Teasdale