There are apparently eighteen members of the USHPA Competition Committee (seems like most of the USHPA BOD). A few days ago, Mike Haley, USHPA Competition Committee Chairman, in a lame attempt to get some legitimacy for his awarding of 100% validity for the King Mountain co-Nationals (after Dave Wheeler, the volunteer responsible for assigning validity to meets, wrote that it looked like it was worth 7% to him) asked the Competition Committee members to vote to sustain his granting the meet 100% validity (which he claimed was based on the fact that there were five days flown at the six day competition). The vote has not been publicly announced, but it looks like Mike's position has won seven to two.

Mike and Lisa abstained. Steve Kroop and Josh Cohn voted against the 100% grant. We don't know who voted for it and who abstained. We hope to find out more soon.

Here is how the issue was put to the Competition Committee members:

a) Officially start this long drawn out debate over Gap scoring and how to make it work. I don't see how we win in this scenario. I think in this debate, USHPA loses, the BOD losses, Bill Soderquist loses. Ask yourself who wins.

b) Leave the 330 points where it is and declare this issue over.

Looks like a real impartial presentation of the issue to me.

This story is lacking in heroes. Only Steve and Josh have seen through the lies and deceptions that surround this dirty business of the USHPA ignoring its rules and procedures and made a stand, if a futile one at that.

I have been writing about this disaster since the USHPA first chose King Mountain as the site of the US Nationals last Fall. As I have written previously I believe that cross country open distance is a completely legitimate competition format. I also believe that it is a completely legitimate way to choose a "national champion." I have nothing but respect for Lisa for her running her competition for so many years. I have nothing but respect for the pilots who fly at and enjoy the conditions at King Mountain (although I wonder how they feel about receiving NTSS points that they didn't earn).

But, I have a keen interest in fairness, a keen interest in the truth. When I see things that are obviously wrong, I use the Oz Report to point them out, not that it benefits me in any way, but just makes for more "enemies." I'm sorry, but I figure that is what serious journalism is all about. And whether I am any good at it or not, I make the effort.

All my previous articles on this issue are available on line in the Back Issues of the Oz Report. A look at the link to the original Dave Wheeler calculation above will show that I was not aware of this problem with meet validity to begin with and was quite willing to give the pilots 100% validity until I was shown to be wrong.

More here: http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17041&start=32.