Team Sig is no more

[RevolverRob]

Nope, not unless they're a family member just kinda dragging along. While shooting matches is a great experience watching them as a spectator is an excellent way to fall asleep.

So is golf. But the PGA still manages to attract thousands of people to their "matches," along with millions of TV viewers.

Okay...first off...golf is great. But to enjoy watching golf, one really has to understand the game.

Just like to enjoy watching competitive shooting, one really has to understand the game.

The difference is...golf is a perfectly acceptable business past-time, and therefore has a ton more practitioners. Take a client to the shooting range and you've got a 50-50 shot of ruining your relationship. Take a client to the country club and even if they don't golf, they can enjoy drinks and a peaceful atmosphere, occasionally broken by the comic relief of old man screaming at tiny white balls....

[Exurbankevin]

Does anyone actually attend major matches as spectators?

I attended the Desert Classic Area 2 Championship a few years ago. I have two distinct memories from that visit. Shaking hands with TGO and, as far as I could tell, I was the only spectator. There was no obvious expectation that anyone would show up to watch.

If hunting is a day-long hike in the woods followed by an autopsy, practical shooting is 30 seconds of organized panic followed by five minutes of cooperative book-keeping.

I lived half an hour from Rio, and I never attended a match I wasn't shooting there because matches are bloody boring to watch in-person. Heck, after RO'ing a dozen or more major matches there and having pretty much everybody who is anybody in the sport come through my stage, the only time I can remember spectators show up was when Jerry was shooting the match.

The only matches I've seen with more than competitors attending it (and therefore an audience for sponsored shooters that goes beyond the the other competitors) are Scholastic Pistol matches, which tends to have family and friends show up to cheer on their kids, much like parents do at other youth sporting events.

Golf is tolerable to watch in-person because you can look up at the leaderboard and know right away what Player X has to do in order to win. Not true in practical shooting, as we don't know what Shooter X actually did on a stage until all the targets have been scored, and even then, with USPSA, God himself doesn't know who's winning until the final scores have been posted.

Bor-ring.

[Exurbankevin]

Does anyone actually attend major matches as spectators?

I attended the Desert Classic Area 2 Championship a few years ago. I have two distinct memories from that visit. Shaking hands with TGO and, as far as I could tell, I was the only spectator. There was no obvious expectation that anyone would show up to watch.

Paul Erhardt (who's done marketing for Sig, IDPA, Taurus, and others) has some thoughts on this http://www.shootingwire.com/features/228495 as do (blatant shill alert) I: http://www.downrange.tv/blog/practic...-itself/28152/

[Joe in PNG]

I thought the point of watching golf on the tv was to have some pleasant noise for the Sunday afternoon nap.

[GardoneVT]

Paul Erhardt (who's done marketing for Sig, IDPA, Taurus, and others) has some thoughts on this http://www.shootingwire.com/features/228495 as do (blatant shill alert) I: http://www.downrange.tv/blog/practic...-itself/28152/

The practical logistics are problematic.

Scoring a basketball game doesn't pose safety risks to the scorekeeper. It does in any sport involving firearms. You can't verify a target until someone has eyes on it, and no ones doing that until the range is cold .

Maybe have a talented drone pilot + live camera and scorekeeper tallying as they shoot?

[HopetonBrown]

The practical logistics are problematic.

Scoring a basketball game doesn't pose safety risks to the scorekeeper. It does in any sport involving firearms.

I'd wager that scoring a basketball game is much more dangerous than scoring a USPSA match.

https://www.google.com/search?btnG=1...feree+attacked

[LostDuke]

The practical logistics are problematic.

Scoring a basketball game doesn't pose safety risks to the scorekeeper. It does in any sport involving firearms. You can't verify a target until someone has eyes on it, and no ones doing that until the range is cold .

Maybe have a talented drone pilot + live camera and scorekeeper tallying as they shoot?

I think you are missing the point (pun intended). They are not suggesting that people run during the shoot tallying hits, but that scores are reported electronically and shared with the public and other participants through wi-fi.

[Duelist]

I think you are missing the point (pun intended). They are not suggesting that people run during the shoot tallying hits, but that scores are reported electronically and shared with the public and other participants through wi-fi.

Instead of recording score cards/sheets on a clipboard, record them on an iPad or phone. If they are recorded in a spreadsheet on that PED, then the score tallying and site update will take next to no time at the end of the match. If they are recorded by the PED to a central device or server or website in real time, after each stage is shot by each competitor, everyone will be able to track results and know who won within minutes of the last shooter finishing the last stage, if not before if that person was not already in a top position.

This should be done.

[Exurbankevin]

At least, the REAL reason why this happened comes out!

[Peally]

Okay...first off...golf is great. But to enjoy watching golf, one really has to understand the game.

Just like to enjoy watching competitive shooting, one really has to understand the game.

The difference is...golf is a perfectly acceptable business past-time, and therefore has a ton more practitioners. Take a client to the shooting range and you've got a 50-50 shot of ruining your relationship. Take a client to the country club and even if they don't golf, they can enjoy drinks and a peaceful atmosphere, occasionally broken by the comic relief of old man screaming at tiny white balls....

I've never met a shooter, myself included, that said watching something like USPSA was anything but boring at best. It's not really organized in a way that's enjoyable to watch no matter if you have pros or scrubs playing.