IDPA @ NPCCC

[rhino]

Thanks for trying, vupdblue!

I will say this: even though the rules of IDPA are somewhat ... restrictive ... I've seen that the character of any match is significantly dependent on the match director, stage designer(s), and the other participants. Some know how to put on a match that offers opportunties for people with different agendas to still enjoy the match. Some make it almost a parody of what real life tactics might be in a similar situation. Some make it more of a game. What one club offers may not be desirable to a given participant, but another club may be a mich better fit.

But again, the rules ... too many rules ... too many rules. I have learned to just accept it when I feel like shooting IDPA. If I break a rule, I smile and take the penalty. I'd rather break an arbitrary rule than change how I do thing (in the absence of a really, really good reason for changing, and winning a shooting competition isn't even close).

We just all need to keep in mind that if you use a timer and you keep score, it's a GAME, even if some choose to use it a training tool (and sometimes with good results).

[GhostofWinter]

Originally Posted by rhino

Maybe! Here are some possibilities:

1. I feared your mad, crazy skills and I knew my delicate ego couldn't tolerate the loss at your hands, thus my craven choice to avoid the match at all costs!
2. We both know your girlfriend would be attracted to me like an INGO member to a pointless argument, so I chose to stay away in order to help preserve your relationship.
3. I really was there, but I was wearing my ninja suit and thus invisible to the untrained eye.
4. I got sunburned playing 18 holes yesterday because my caddy forgot the bag she carries with my sunscreen. We decided it would be better if I spent the day with her moisturizing me rather than attend a shooting match.
5. I'm an inmate/trustee in an Illinois prison who has internet access, so it's tough for me to get to shooting matches on short notice.

I am voting for number 5 myself

Originally Posted by FieldShunt

I can't believe I missed this thread. NPCCC is my club, and I was the match director today for the IDPA match.
Too bad all you characters didn't identify yourselves so I could say hello.
However, I admit to being kind of busy with setting up and all, and then SOing everybody through the "Secret House" blind stage.
We had a largish turnout of 45 today, pretty strong for a Father's Day. I also should make mention that we had six stages today, not three. Not too many folks would be happy with only three, you know...
We had the last shot at about 1:00pm, a trifle longer than usual, but with that blind stage and a couple of other minor complications, it did go a little long.
Normally, we'd be done by noon or slightly later.
As for sun protection, three of our four bays have very nice canopies for shade.
There's matches every Sunday, plus first Saturday at NPCCC; first of the month is USPSA (I run that program), second is SASS cowboy, third is IDPA like today, and fourth is steel.
First Saturday is our rimfire program, which is growing nicely under the current ammunition conditions, and we have a trapshoot at noon on first Sundays.
I see the moniker "VUPD Blue" and it makes me think of Valparaiso University Police Department. Don't know if that's applicable, but one of our esteemed members is the just-retired chief of that PD. Small hook, there.
Well, whomever of you all got there today, thanks for joining us. Hope you liked it.
To those who think they need to take a look first before shooting one... pish-posh. Bring a gun and some gear and ammo. No time like the present and I can absolutely guarantee you'll be a better gunhandler once you do it. And, it's only ten bucks. So just do it.
You can relax... a regular IDPA guy runs it next month, not this crazy.

I thought it would be kinda hard to miss me in a red tank top and jeans wearing an INGO hat. LOL I had a nice time and am looking forward to seeing how steel is shot next weekend.

Greg

[turnandshoot4]

I was standing next to the guy in the red tank top and ingo hat.

Fieldshunt, if you are who I think you are you were stuck in stage one most of the day for the blind shoot.

[FieldShunt]

Stuck!?
Not really. Actually, a stage like that pretty much demands having only one SO for everyone, since the other variables are so great.
That way, everyone had exactly the same instructions, calls, and scoring assessments.
The tough part was that I missed much of the rest of the match and had to rely on second-hand reports. But no one else wanted to miss out on doing the stage blind, so I had to build it and SO it.
I can't say enough about the cooperation and help from the competitors. A setup like that can be tough, what with a limited pool of help, in a fairly complicated stage, for reset, but we did fine.
As for IDPA rules being restrictive, I guess so. I suppose I oughtn't go into a compare-the-disciplines thing, but since I go "all ways"- USPSA, IDPA, ICORE, steel- I just go along with the program.
I know lots of folks think about IDPA as being goofy with reloads and that tac priority stuff, and there's plenty to discuss, there, but I always come back to the one real difference between the older discipline and IDPA: IDPA is about cover, and shooting from it.
I get to design and supervise the designing of both kinds of stages, and that's what the opposing design approaches come down to: in USPSA, charging a target in the open is a way to a better score; in IDPA, it's against the spirit of the game.
Everything else is just details. Since I see value in both sets of skills and procedures, and all of it makes any of us better gunhandlers, I'm glad there's both kinds.
Now, IDPA is much easier to set up and score and so is more accessible to more clubs, especially smaller ones with more limited resources both in materials and manpower. It takes a lot fewer manhours and props to do six IDPA stages than six USPSA stages, and so I say, great- more matches are good.
Me, I like 'em all and I think it's great to have the different games available.
As for noticing anyone- SOing a stage like that, so time-sensitive and intense (I saw one muzzle, real clearly), about all the SO can pay attention to is the competitor's gun and trigger finger. Plus, of course, closing all of those dang doors.
I could almost have missed my own brothers.
Thanks for coming out.

[Buckaroo]

Bill, It was a great match and I appreciate all your hard work! Sorry I had to leave early both because I wanted to shoot the full match and to help tear down.

I too participate in all disciplines. I never had a club to shoot with until I relocated to Valpo and am enjoying the club and the variety.

I am trying to get my wife to join us (maybe even for steel on Sunday). I picked up a Ruger Mark II and she could start with that to get comfortable.

Good to meet some fellow INGOers and a great day for a match!

Buckaroo

[Indianajeff]

Originally Posted by turnandshoot4

I was standing next to the guy in the red tank top and ingo hat.

Fieldshunt, if you are who I think you are you were stuck in stage one most of the day for the blind shoot.

I talked to you as well, I'm the guy who told you you could but a regular barrel in your G34c and shoot IDPA.

[GhostofWinter]

Originally Posted by Indianajeff

I talked to you as well, I'm the guy who told you you could but a regular barrel in your G34c and shoot IDPA.

I remember talking to you as well. It's nice to see that there are more than a few INGO members that are also members of NPCCC. I think I will be making the trip out on Sunday to watch you folks shoot steel. Looking forward to meeting a few others and hopefully a bit cooler day

Greg