Ken Worth and others:
Ken,
One could see how a few comments could lead one to believe that the management of the NBRSA comes across that way. But, please understand that there is a lot of history and some issues currently brewing that could "shake up the benchrest establishment". And this can sometimes cause emotions to get in the way of logic. Everyone has an idea of what direction that they personally want to see benchrest take. But, dovetailing history with the future is never an easy task.
And the representative democracy that the NBRSA is makes some of these issues STRUCTUALLY difficult to address. When one doesn't see how their vote gets considered, people feel disenfranchised. All we can do is work the issues and try the best we can to make the sport as good as possible. And we need to communicate - positively, if at all possible.
I probably know Dave, Dick and Lou as well as anyone in this sport and all of them want to see the sport progress. Every one of them are good people with a lot of time and energy invested in this sport. Lou and Dave are directors and spend considerable time and energy trying to represent their respective regions. And Dick is a longtime writer and on the board of PS Magazine, as well as a match director forever here in Michigan at one of the great local ranges (that shoot both group and score) that has sent many shooters in benchrest on to greater achievements.
I applaud Wilbur for wanting to get feedback on how the membership views the process. I have viewing this thread very closely. Here in the Eastern Region of the NBRSA the emotions regarding a couple of issues get amplified more so than West of the Mississippi. There are several proposals being looked at regarding VFS added to our score-shooting program, the sporter class, and how our two great organizations fit with each other. And at the end of the day, I hope that whatever direction is taken benefits bechrest better as a whole. Even so, someone is going to get bent out of shape if the direction doesn't fit their personal vision. That's just human nature.
The IBS and NBRSA diverged in 1969. (I'm somewhat astounded that we are still beating each other up over this 40 years later.) Both took slightly different, but yet similar paths to trying to get their respective memberships served. The only way I personally handle this is try and understand both organizations and approach every issue from the perspective that the real strength in both organizations lies with the shooters and the ranges. And people vote with their pocketbooks and their feet. I think of this a lot and am constantly reminded of these issues at every match I attend.
I guess I am more concerned that if we don't start working together with all of the politics that is occurring outside of our sport that we may be focusing on ourselves way too much. There are way too many people outside of benchrest that would like to see our sport go away.
Ken, if you want to discuss this, call me at (313) 247-4344 or e-mail me at
Krooppc@aol.com. I don't know what region you live in, but you can discuss this with me or any other regional director. The dialogue can be healthy.
This is the greatest of all the shooting sports and we just need to work a few minor issues out and do our best to further the sport.
Joe Krupa
PS If you don't know who I am, contact me and I will give you a brief background of my involvement in shooting benchrest.