Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Don
I am very jealous of you guys. I see the sun, I see Dave Ley in short sleeves and you guys are racing. We've had 4 feet of snow in the last 8 days and the thermometer hasn't gone much above 20. But keep the pics coming! They'll warm things up.
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Bob, the Chamber of Commerce really couldn't have done much more to provide picture-perfect weather for the 2015 Winternationals. If anything, the field might have benefited from slightly better air but, when conditions around the rest of the country are factored in, no one should be complaining. I make that statement on the basis of an assessment of the depth of snow in my niece's front yard in Waltham, MA. She paints a relatively bleak word-picture of conditions there.
Having attended this event on a regular basis since 1963, I feel qualified to comment on a couple of fairly obvious phenomena. For the first place, the 2015 edition of what once carried the label of "Big Go - West" is notable in the fact that there is enough vacant real estate within the Sportsman pits to stage a spirited game of touch football. In fact, there might be enough to conduct a couple of games simultaneously. I've rarely observed this situation in the past. Compared to past experiences, things aren't usually this wide open until after about the third or fourth round. It isn't difficult to find a place to park a second (or even a third) vehicle should one happen to have that many friends.
Secondly, a similarly spacious open expanse greeted us in the area formerly known as "Manufacturer's Row." Granted, most vendors seem to be operating on shoe-string budgets in this day and age but the lack of representation on behalf of traditional supporters of the sport is a bit disconcerting. Thursday is not a particularly heavily attended day at national events in Division 7 but the wide-open spaces that were once occupied by a fleet of eighteen-wheelers was surprising.
Perhaps I'm overstating the situation but it was enough to create some doubts in the minds of casual observers.
c