CR - Schedule Conflicts, Variety, & Concerns

[Mike C. Baker]

(Apologies if this is a repeat -- the first send appears not to have
processed...)

Folks, I'm only going to quote (part of) Gunthar's responses /
comments -- no doubt by now you've seen my initial blathering enough.

---"Michael F. Gunter" <mfgunter at fnc.fujitsu.com> wrote:
> Excuse me? I am not primarily a war fighter but I do know the
> importance of attending war practice. There are a lot more
> benefits from attending melee practice than just learning to
> stand in a shield wall. There's the opportunity to meet with
> and train with other fighters from the area as well as
> supporting the Kingdom. And just about every fighter I know 
> does both tourney and war fighting equally. To say a tourney
> and a war practice happening on the same day less than an hour
> apart is not a conflict is not knowing fighter mentality.

I stand by my position. Just remember to include my qualifiers,
Gunthar: some, not all, etc. An individual unable to attend "war"
may indeed have no interest in "war practice" at this time. Some
fighters choose not to enter melee combat at any time for reasons of
personal concern. Some folks just don't like the formalities of the
tournament. Different strokes...

And I make no claim that there is not a conflict, either. There will
*always* be scheduling conflicts. There will also be conflicts for
allegiances and efforts. 

Different individuals also learn in differing ways: one-on-one has
advantages, many-on-one has other advantages. I ask only that you
consider that there *are* differences.
 
> I agree that fighter practice/tournies are enhanced by the
> non-combattants, but if the thrust of the occassion is for
> people to sit around and gossip then it should jolly well
> not be called a "tourney"!

Never claimed it should be "the thrust". It is a natural,
always-happens, extension of the SCA tournament. (And most other
modern sporting events: the mothers and grandmothers sitting in the
football stadium knitting because their child or grandchild is
participating somewhere in the spectacle, for example.)
  
> Okay, first you say that another gathering has been schedueled 
> in another place for those who do not care for rapier combat
> or heraldry. Then you state that it's good for dissimilar
> groups to be together. Then you say that it's okay to schedule
> different meetings at the same time because those meetings
> could be 300 miles away. Is there a point to this?

Yep. Diversity & adaptation. No one model of meeting organization is
right for everyone, or every organization, or every branch within an
organization.
 
> I would love to see the rapier practice, armored practice,
> heraldic commentary, and ladies sewing circle (whatever) to
> be at one place. Space constraints do not allow this however,
> so we have to compromise. C'est la vie.

Not quite so fast, Gunthar. What you just described DOES happen, in
the Steppes currently and in all of the other SCA branches I have
been involved with in the past. In Steppes, Sunday practice at
Flagpole Hill often / typically involves all of the above. Weather
conditions generally preclude some of the sedentary pursuits such as
calligraphy, but I've seen all of the above happen, and all on the
same day, formally and informally.

> I don't see what this has to do with the unfortunate occurrance
> of two tournies at the same time. 

Minor Correction, learned Sir:
Not tournies. One tournament, one war practice.

And I was trying to address more than just this single scheduling
conflict with my ramble. Using this occurrence to encourage thinking
beyond the immediate specifics and embrace larger issues and wider
concerns, while recounting some of the known alternatives.
 
> Yes, i feel a regional newsletter would have helped. I hate
> to think that both events will suffer because of lack of
> notification.

Well, we've done our part here, and I made certain that the war
practice was announced at Steppes Business Meeting last night.

> I will probably have to miss the House Norwald tourney (which
> I would prefer to attend, being as I am primarily a tourney
> fighter) and attend the war practice (to which duty impels
> me to attend).

"Primarily". A variation upon my original point about there being a
variety of interests expressed by individual fighters. It is all a
matter of balance, Sir Knight. Duty balances against desire, skill
against learning opportunity, means against desire. (I may desire to
attend Gulf Wars as a combatant, I currently lack the means to do
both or either. The armor-building progresses slowly... and I can't
afford to take the time off from work.)

> I apologize for the rant and rather sharp tone of this posting,
> but this struck a nerve.

I've got no particular problem with either. You've just shown that
you have strong convictions and beliefs. BFHD, so do I. You didn't
descend to name-calling or otherwise generate "flames", at least in
my opinion. Apology appreciated. I'll send it back your direction in
that I believed that I'd covered the range of participants better
with some of the qualifying adjectives. Didn't intend to upset anyone.

As some put it, "Thanks for playing."

===
Adieu -- Amra / Pax ... Kihe / TTFN -- Mike
(al-Sayyid) Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra  /
Kihe Blackeagle (the Dreamsinger Bard) / 
Mike C. Baker: My opinions are my own -- no one else would want them!
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/8661
Alt. e-mail: KiheBard at aol.com, MikeCBaker at aol.com

_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com

============================================================================
Go to http://www.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.