4th DISContinuum Blast!

[Bruce Brakel]

We had more players than the Blast did last year.  

We had more women playing.

We had more Recreational rated players playing.  And, given where the rated PDGA members finished, we know that there was no bagging in that division.  Congrats to Adrian Sr. for shooting the round of his life on his home course.  That is not bagging; that is having the best day you've ever had on a course and enjoying it.

We had more TDs playing.  :grin:

We had more club members helping out than at all the other events combined all summer long and WE REALLY APPRECIATE THAT!!!  

(The TDs had a leaderboard!  )

We had more happy players at the end of the day.  KVN came in DFL in Silver but went home with $30 worth of CTP stuff!  

We had more happy Gutierrezes at the end of the day than last year!  
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The R-tier format works best for PDGA members with ratings who want to compete against other players of a similar skill level regardless of their gender, age, or pro/am designation.  If you play tournaments for social reasons, an R-tier does tend to break up the normal social groupings you find at other local tournaments.  If 670 rated juniors want to get their butts kicked by 860 rated juniors who have no hope of beating the 905 rated junior, they will be happier at a standard format PDGA event.  
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As a player I thought the extra holes were great.  They were consistant with the character of the course, righty/lefty balanced, and offered some risk/reward situations.  I'm starting to get immune to kick-ass payouts, since I've played so many of my own events this summer, but it was nice to finish in the fat part of the payout for a change!  Of course, there is no point in me taking my prizes, but it is prizes that stay in the box for next time.

As a co-TD and volunteer, I did not hear any complaints.  Even the guys who snowmenned themselves by playing that one hole twice did not complain.  I'm fairly certain that none of them would have finished in the prizes even if Jon had called the second playing of the hole a provisional.  
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As someone who attended and played both events, I'd make the following honest comparisons:  last year's event had light attendance, a disorganized lunch for the players who got there first, great payouts, and was run a little weird for a PDGA event.  This year's event had 20% higher, but still light attendance, good payouts and was well run by the book.  Last year the club lost its shirt, pants and socks but Sunking did pretty good for himself; this year both clubs made $167 [not counting Discontinuum's seperate cash sales] and the merch man personally made nothing.  

I'm all for other clubs running tournaments Jim's way if I get to be Sunking in that formula.  Otherwise, what we are doing is working for everyone involved, and I hope to be involved next year, but if you cut me out I'm going to make a mint liquidating my stock in trade!

 

[Jon Brakel]

Jim, I love this drama stuff that you bring to this board..  we should get together some time and have a guiness or 4.

I like the back and forth banter, but I don't like the hate. Jim's posts are so inacurate that they are funny. But I don't really care for all the hate and bitterness.

[Dan Michler]

i would have to agree with Jim on this one.  How could u snub ur noses at danny?  poor kid overslept plus u wanted him to pay $22, and all he would have received in return was whatever u get for 1st in the green division (there only 1 player)and possibly a CTP prize? u should have bowed down and payed HIM 10 dollars just to play in your tournament.  granted, all of the junior aged players who played had no complaints and enjoyed themselves, but Team Brakel is clearly alienating juniors and women.  They hate juniors, women, and especially junior girls for obvious reasons.

I am sick of these tournaments where the divisions are payed back 100% of their averagely priced entry fees in merchandise.  Clearly, the brakels are plotting to destroy disc golf.  That is why bruce drives here fom michigan every month to help run these diabolical tournaments.  Its obvious that Jim just cares more than you guys.  That is why he spends so much time playing the game that he loves.  If he didn't, then he would just be some ranting, childish, not to mention completely ignorant dude who is just trying to start fights with people because he has no control over the club that he once tried to run into the ground.

if someone couldn't have afforded the $33 entry fee then they probably could have made this known to the TD's themselves.  maybe something could have been done.  if danny couldn't come up with 22 bucks, i would have chipped in to get the kid to play.  he seemed like a nice kid when i drew him 3 times as my doubles partner at leagues.

P.S.  Thanks for Wildwood Jim!!       I've been knocking out 30-40 rounds a day on that rockin' course!!!  with new, well-designed courses like that, disc golf is really going places in Lake County.

[mirth]

Now that's comic relief!

[Supersoft]

How about less frisbee golf fourm battles and more frisbee golf.
Even though this is actually make this forum active  

[mirth]

Well, we gotta have something to do between the time we get to work and the time we leave to go play....

[CEValkyrie]

My son, Daniel.  He was planning on playing but decided not to after learning the cost and the lack of players package.
He stopped by the event and spoke to some folks. When I saw him last night, he was very disappointed with the setup.
Paul, a Rec player and non-PDGA member, was appalled to be expected to pay $32 to play 36 holes.  That is a very prohibitive cost to Rec players.
Yes, these were all advertised entry fees, but they just decided in the past few days to give the Blast a try.

If you read this thread, I offered to pay two 1/2 entry fees. No one but Bruce took me up on it but I turned Bruce was not worthy of Brett Sponsorship.

It was nice to see Danny. I talked to him for several minutes. He said he couldn't play because he overslept & was tired. This was a ratings even so there really wasn't a true junior division.

[Dan Michler]

Also Jim,  we need 1 more for our Club fantasy football league.  u in???

[Jon Brakel]

Anytime Brett or I run an event that has no player packs you always question that. "Where are the player packs?" And when I answered this time that we would like to work on getting a sponsor for our player packs you questioned where our sponsors were. But to the best of Brett or my knowledge the only tournament that you ever ran that had a player pack was last year's Blast. The player pack was a nicely embroidered Sun King towel. But it wasn't sponsored. It was on the invoice from Sun King. If you have a $10 item and you have 50 players, that's $500 right there. It's tough to find that kind of sponsorship. We are working for this, but it's something that you never found while running Discontinuum for 3 years. Give us 3 years and we can compare where we're at.

[Eddie311]

Well the blast was a lot of fun. This was my first tourney i have played in and i enjoyed it a lot. It was what i thought it was going to be like if not more. I won rec and i got a nice sum of brass cash which was nice. and even the top 10 payed out which i thought was cool. i would play again. and i plan on playin in the one in oct. nicely run tourney guys  

wish i could have saw the pros play damit  

[Dan Michler]

i think what jim is trying to tell us is that he is retarded and does not comprehend how to effectively run a PDGA sanctioned frisbee golf tournament.  its ok jim.  we all get confused in this crazy Brakel-centric universe.  

[CEValkyrie]

Edited for Parkside additions.

However, after experiencing other events in other states for years, I still believe there is a better way to do things.

Jim,  
    Since we are talking PDGA events, I checked the PDGA. You have played 6 PDGA Events. 3 of those have been at the same event, Standing Rocks. You have also played Illinois State Championships, Parkside, & Channahon. http://www.pdga.com/tournament/playerstats.php?PDGANum=15844
    I was interested to see what type of entry fees each had this year. Even though this ratings event does not have the same division, I will use comparable divisions.

Standing Rocks/Blast
Juniors-> $15.00/$22.00 *Standing Rocks not sanctioned for Am day*
Rec-> $20.00/$27.00

Parkside/Blast
Juniors-> $16.00/$22.00           Sanctioned
No Rec
Intermediate->$26.00

Illinois State Championships/Blast
Juniors-> $15.00/$22.00  *Illinois State Champoinships not sanctioned for Am day*
Rec-> $28.00/$27.00

Channahon/Blast
Juniors-> $15.00/$22.00 *Channahon not sanctioned for Am day*
Rec-> $23.00/$27.00


4 different events, 2 states? That's not much of spectrum.

[CEValkyrie]

I have more.

Terry gave me a flyer for the Fox Valley Open. Juniors are $25.00 & AMII $35.00. Is this such a terrible thing to do Jim?

Also, we are catering to ams & recs on the 30th.
Widdershins
Rec $20.00
Juniorr $15.00
Women FREE

[Dan Michler]

I have more.

Terry gave me a flyer for the Fox Valley Open. Juniors are $25.00 & AMII $35.00. Is this such a terrible thing to do Jim?

Also, we are catering to ams & recs on the 30th.
Widdershins
Rec $20.00
Juniorr $15.00
Women FREE

Come to the Widdershins Jim!  you can play for FREE!!  

that was childish. i apologize.

[Bruce Brakel]

No hate coming from me Jon.  I love the Jim Klem who used to play frisbee with us:  nice guy, family man, good sense of humor, libertarian on the right issues.  This guy who pretends to be Jim Klem and posts on the internet is something else, but who knows:  maybe in real life he is a nice guy too.

[Jon Brakel]

The only hate and bitterness I felt came from the guy who pretends to be Jim.

[Guest]

Shawn, there's a good party next month. I'll call you with details.

Hey Dan, have I ever attacked you? Have I ever been anything but pleasant and helpful when you first started playing Bevier?  And about Wildwood: I worked my ass off to get a course in the ground.  It may have gone awry, but there are still 7 baskets in the ground and kids playing every day.  How is that bad?  How much have you done to promote local courses?  Sure you play, but then what?  Please stop your immature rants of pure and unbased hatred and go clean up a course.

Brett, yep those were the Juniors entry fees for other events. What about the entry fees I charged at my events? My fees were lower and more fair, but you neglected to include those. How convenient for you.  And I never said that other events didn't overcharge Juniors, cuz I think most do.

And yes, the Gutierrez family seems to have gone home happier this year. Good. That was a regret for me in '03.

Hey guys, if you are making people happy with your brand of disc golf, great. Good for you. Really. Just try to remember that other people have opinions which are different from yours, maybe even better.

[CEValkyrie]

Shawn, there's a good party next month. I'll call you with details.

Hey Dan, have I ever attacked you? Have I ever been anything but pleasant and helpful when you first started playing Bevier?  And about Wildwood: I worked my ass off to get a course in the ground.  It may have gone awry, but there are still 7 baskets in the ground and kids playing every day.  How is that bad?  How much have you done to promote local courses?  Sure you play, but then what?  Please stop your immature rants of pure and unbased hatred and go clean up a course.

Brett, yep those were the Juniors entry fees for other events. What about the entry fees I charged at my events? My fees were lower and more fair, but you neglected to include those. How convenient for you.  And I never said that other events didn't overcharge Juniors, cuz I think most do.

And yes, the Gutierrez family seems to have gone home happier this year. Good. That was a regret for me in '03.

Hey guys, if you are making people happy with your brand of disc golf, great. Good for you. Really. Just try to remember that other people have opinions which are different from yours, maybe even better.

Jim,

    I'm pretty much done trying to debate philophies. We differ & that is cool. Had you come to me before the event about these issues, we may have been able to accomodate your needs. I scrambled to make this event happen & thank goodness so many others helped. I found out I was going to run it right before I left for Worlds. It's not that big of a deal. It's disc golf & it's supposed to be fun. I help at & play events that I think will be fun. That is why I do it. I had a bunch of fun this past weekend and am glad I was able to be part of it. I met a lot of new people and was able to hang around with friends. We even were able to teach rules & behind the scenes tournament stuff to many.

    You have given a lot to the game & the community. No one has ever questioned that.  I like you & i'm assuming most others do. No one really knows the exact reason why you left the club. You never really said why to any of us. You sent an e-mail & you were gone. Message boards can be good but in some cases like this, they can be bad. Before you left you wanted to step away and do less. You did & we have tried to keep the club going. We cannot help that we are doing things differently. You always say that this is not what you envisioned. We are doing things how we the club think they should be done. You are a 2004 club member but your voice has not been heard because you have not attened meetings nor events. How can we accomodate your vision without knowing what it is?

Take care & peace.

[Jon Brakel]

Jim,

As the parent of a junior age disc golfer I have two questions for you. What do you think is a good entry fee price? What do you think the junior players should get for that entry fee? Assume for both questions that these tournaments are local C-tier tournaments.

I threw out some ideas about what we are thinking for next year, but you didn't seem to have a reaction one way or the other. Or maybe those ideas were lost in the rest of the rhetoric on this thread.

Entry fees for jrs. and lower divisions for 2005 have been a topic of conversation with several of us running tournaments this summer. Also what they are playing for has been under discussion.

I'd like to hear your ideas on this if you'd like to share them. I also like the Jim Klem that I used to play frisbee with. The guest who posts here sometimes frustrates me. Perhaps constructive feedback will help reduce the frustration in our communications here.

Thanks,

Jon

[SERG]

A much deserved round of applause for the gentlemen who brought us the DISContinuum Blast this year. Also, an apology for not being able to make it on Sunday. I would have like to help out but I just wasn't able to get down there.

As for the event, I thought things ran very smoothly. As much as I would have liked to play a little better on a course I play frequently, I'll settle with my fourth place finish in the White Division. I paid $27 as an entry fee. I cashed $32 and received $15 in a CTP. I nearly doubled my entry in prizes (if not for the only bogey of my round on the last "little" hole I would have done better).

I do have a couple of recommendations:
1. Bruce: More Innova discs, please  
2. Cut some of the chains in a few of the baskets and take them over to Fairfield and install them there

I really enjoyed the whole ratings event thing. It gave me a chance to see how I really match up with others with similar ratings. It's a good opportunity to see where you're at with your game/skill. I also know now that if I want to beat a 16 year old I need to start playing a little more (Todd F. beat me by a few strokes).

Mirth: do you have my basket? Just want to make sure it's around for you to have for the Widdershins. Won't be able to be there....I have wedding that day.