[Ansteorra-archery] Something interesting

[David Ruff]

Can relate to archery problems - BELIEVE ME i can, been there, done that and STILL hear the rumors from the rumor millers. But i think the better course is not to name people or call people out. I think its better time spent fixing it and forgeting the past of whom did what to whom and why. 
   
  Why spend the time and write a page of complaints when the time is better suited to promoting a positive about a sport we share? frankly i could care less who did what or who is good and who isn't. I'll cross bolts and arrows with anyone - not becuase im good or not - becuase its FUN. 
   
  Offer your time and space if you can and want to - the offer maybe ignored - but you made it and continue to make it - thats how slowly things change. 
   
  You know as well as i do you write a complaint in open forum like this and it will get looked at and not replied to - rather filed away.... So rather then feed into it, change it, promote the sport - don't complain about who, when, what and why me..... comon man, you know that :)
   
   
  BTW - yeah your an ok shot i guess :P, wanna cross bolts next event we are at together? i got a cold drink that says this new crossbow i built is better then you :P heheheheh
   
  :) 
   
  Ulrich
   
  
Sylvrfalcn at aol.com wrote:
  
In a message dated 7/12/2006 8:33:40 AM Central Standard Time, 
davidsbox01 at yahoo.com writes:

Sure i agree, but lights can't shine without knowing how or without examples 
of how to shine. 



Ulrich



Really? I used to be very active in IKAC and Royal Rounds, autocratted the 
last AOB that was held down this way, hosted a bowmaking seminar, helped run 
the range at two Youth Academies, et cetera, et cetera. 

I got my marshal's authorization arbitrarily pulled by Pug for the 
shocking crime of having a beer on the range. A range, that I, by the way, was not 
marshalling, but had I been, would have done nothing differently. I never 
have, and never would, allow anybody to step onto a range that was intoxicated, 
or in any other way impaired to an extent that they presented a hazard. Days 
later, a "new rule" came out prohibiting alcohol of any kind on or around the 
range, so yes, I had my authorization pulled under a rule that did not even 
exist at the time of the alleged violation.

Grown ups know the difference between sipping a beer and being 
"intoxicated/under the influence", and a lot of folks out there, including some so 
called Arcus Majori, if they had the guts to admit it, would concur that they too 
have, from time to time, enjoyed a cold beverage while on the range. My 
having a beer on the range is not why my authorization got pulled, it's just the 
excuse Pug used for doing it, but there's more to that than I care to go into 
right now. When Gilli spoke up in protest, Pug pulled his authorization as 
well. Everybody else, including my regional marshal, just kept their mouths 
shut and sat on their thumbs.

Pug claimed to have "investigated the incident". He didn't. He never asked 
my side of the story, didn't talk to anybody else on the range on the day in 
question, took it all on the word of Middleford's Knight's Marshal, who 
himself was present on the range, never mentioned a word to anybody during the 
whole time he was there that he saw anything unsafe or improper going on, but 
within hours of his departing the range I recieve an e-mail from Pug notifying 
me that my authorization had been pulled. Now friends, what does that smell 
like to you?

The Shire of Middleford's Archery Marshal, who actually was in charge of 
the range, got off with a "scolding", and nothing was mentioned about the 
Knight's Marshal, who stood around the whole time the "heinous crimes" were being 
committed without saying a word, but apparently just couldn't wait to run 
snitch directly to Pug, completely bypassing my regional officer. As I alluded 
to earlier, there's more to this than meets the eye, but let me ask you again, 
what does this smell like to you?

My example is by no means unique, I've talked to a number of others who no 
longer participate "officially" because they're simply fed up with all the 
petty little crap. No, I'm not being "defeatist", and I'm not being 
unecessarily negative, the numbers are out there for anybody that would like to peruse 
them to go and look up. Fewer shires with archery marshals, significantly 
declining participation in IKAC (doubtful Ansteorra will even place in the top 
ten this year), significantly declining participation in Royal Rounds due to 
either lack of support/interest or sloppy management of the program, and 
perhaps most telling of all, a measurable trend in dwindling numbers of paid SCA 
memberships among the archery community. That last should sound a warning of 
some sort, to anybody that's been paying attention.

As for myself, I've not given up the sport of archery, and still 
participate regularly, got in some good practice just yesterday, and we had a fun 
tournament this past weekend. That I'm no longer able to shoot for the greater 
glory of Ansteorra in the IKAC, does sadden me somewhat, but probably not more 
than seeing all the folks out there who can but don't. I still very much love 
archery, and with or without Pug's blessing, I marshal our local 
"unofficial" range to ensure folks have a good time safely. I still can, and still do, 
everything as before, just not "officially". But then, why would I want to 
take part in an officialdom that has become stifling and petty? I care about 
archery, not about butt kissing and earning brownie buttons in some quest for a 
grant level award, all so I can puff myself up and strut about. I'm not a 
politician, I'm an archer, and a pretty darn good one. Don't believe me? Check 
around.

Cheers,
Robert of Yorkshire
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