TH ROD CONTEST.................. WINNER !!!

[Gone Fishin]

There was no way that the family and myself could possibly pick one name above all the rest that entered this contest. So, in an attempt at fairness we put everyone's name in a basket that entered, and that is the way the decision was made.

I want to thank TH RODS for the wonderful donation and to Jennie for making it possible. And a big thanks to all who took the time and effort to come up with a story for this contest.

Oh, I suppose that means you want to know who the winner is?

DRACHIR

Congratulations!!!

-Marty Peterson and family

Guess that $50 I slipped you yesterday didn't do much good huh? dang it! I think the way you chose the winner was a great idea! Enjoy your TH rod Drachir, they are terrific rods!
Stew

[Gone Fishin]

Oh it DID DO GOOD Stew,

It helped the pocket book, just didn't improve your odds on the contest! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

Now, where do I go find $50 worth of vintage birdies??? [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Jennie@ifish]

Send me your mailing address, or let me know if you can pick it up at Maries.
Now, don't everyone go into Marie's and say that you are Drachir. Complete ID is needed!
Jen

[Snagly]

I didn't enter this last competition for the TH Rod. But I'm writing to protest the decision to draw the name of the winner out of a hat. (OK, OK, I'm an ingrate. I was the winner of this kind of lottery a few months ago when there was a Holdz-It competition for the best steelhead tip.) And this isn't a knock on Drachir's post, either, as I don't recall it. But I DO recall reading many, many very thoughtful posts about fishing with now-departed fathers and grandfathers, and what fishing means to Board members, and what teaching fishing to their children means to these same people. A few of the posts left me teary-eyed.

These posts were from the heart, and had I had the same story to tell and had taken the time to write it up and share something this personal with others on the Board I'd have been disappointed to see the winner picked by chance. Yes, I know it's "impossible" to choose a winner but that's the same challenge panels face when picking scholarship essay winners (or judges in beauty contests). At a minimum you could have narrowed it down to the best five or eight (and publish the names), and then had a draw from there. Or announce at the beginning of the contest that everyone who enters has an equal chance of winning.

I may have this completely wrong, but I see this approach as part of the entire "everyone's a winner" cop-out movement that afflicts much of the US. Thirty years ago when I was a kid on a sports team every player did NOT get a trophy every season. There was one all-star (maybe two) per team, and either the players voted or the coach picked his one or two best players. It hurt not to get picked, but when you won it meant something, too. (Now my boy plays in a league where they don't even keep score. What's this?)

I know this reads as sour grapes. I don't mean to knock Marty's family for their inability to pick a single winner. (I certainly do not want to be a judge in one of these contests, so please no one ask.) I'm just sharing with you what I would feel if I'd poured my heart into that essay and then discovered the winner was randomly chosen. I also realize that most of the participants didn't write the essay to win a rod, they wrote and posted for personal reasons. For that very reason, someone deserves the recognition that they won (or at least made a final shortlist).

OK, I'm off my soapbox and now hiding under my desk.

Snagly I think you should have thought out your post a little more and then not posted it!!!! Yes it does come off sounding like sour grapes and if enough people complain then why should Jennie bother with these contests. I think Marty did the only logical thing.I posted in this contest but don't in the least bit feel cheated becuase I know that there were many posts better than mine and I already have plenty of rods. I posted so I could tell my story about how I wanted to get my kids into fishing.You were apologetic about the post so I'm asking why did you go ahead with the post?
Stew

[Pete]

I tend to agree that picking one story out of the hat isn't what I had expected, but this contest was open to everyone. The point of the contest was to have fun, share a story and promote TH rods. Since anyone, a little kid to a professional outdoor writer could have entered, judging based on "the best" or "the most original" might have given some people an unfair advantage. Also, the contest rules only specified that one submit a story on the theme of "Passing the Heritage" to be judged by Marty Peterson and his family. It might have been unfair for judging to introduce new requirements like "best", "most interesting", "most unique" or something else. Picking from a hat gave youngsters a chance of winning they might not have if new criteria were introduced. It was a tough job to select a winner. There were lots of great stories and Marty did well with the requirements given to him. If someone has ideas for providing future contest judges a different basis for selection that fairly deal with the diverse group of people invited to enter, I'm sure those suggestions would be appreciated.

[Harvey Fish]

I had originally emailed Jennie about this; however, now that it has been addressed by someone else I will concur.

If the parties involved in the creation of this essay contest were unable to act as judges, then it should have been instead opened up as a random drawing from the start. And if I had known it was a random drawing then I probably wouldn't have put the hours into the post that I did. Trust me, I didn't just open a post window and start writing.

That said, I'll likely be looked at as a spoil sport. That's fine. I just wanted to let the rest know that Snagly wasn't alone in his feelings.

[AllThumz]

I have no idea who this fellow Dandemis is/was, but a quote attributed to him is next to my desk at work:

Do not condemn the judgment of another because it differs from your own. You may both be wrong.

John (Don't shoot me, I'm only the messenger [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] )

[Gone Fishin]

GEEEEEEEEEEEZ,

You want some cheese to go with that whine???

Sorry, I didn't judge to your standards.

I didn't ask to be the judge in this contest.

And what right do you have to complain if you didn't even bother to enter?

I just tried to be fair, if I offended anyone
EXCUSE ME!

Over and out of here! [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Okay Jennie refund these guys their cost for entering this contest....what? it was free?
[img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[Snagly]

Marty, I can't blame you for being PO'ed with me. Being a judge is a thankless task, and I know you didn't ask to be the judge, either. But I'm sticking to my guns. If someone agrees to judge a contest, then they should judge the contest to the best of their ability.

Stew, I have a bone to pick with your two comments. Why did I post? Because I had something on my mind that I wanted to say (even though I knew it would be interpreted as "sour grapes", which it is/ was, I suppose). But I was trying to make a point, too. Putting up a valuable fishing rod as the prize in an essay contest gives the participants a strong incentive to submit their best efforts. The people sponsoring the contest owe it to the contestants to exert THEIR best efforts in picking a winner. OK, I've made the point again. Do I expect you (or the majority) to agree with me? No. But I don't see how that gives you the right to suggest I should not have made the post in the first point. I don't subscribe to self-censorship in matters of conscience, and I don't think you do either, Stew.

As for that second crack about refunding the entry fee, the fact that it didn't cost any money doesn't mean it didn't cost a lot of people a lot of time. Time that could have been spent playing with their kids or fishing. So don't trivialize the efforts of others.

I really enjoyed reading the essays. They were from the heart, and I know they took a long time to write. I kept thinking to myself "Marty & family are going to have a tough time picking the winner. I'm sure it's going to be a great essay though, and I look forward to re-reading the winning entry." Because the winner was drawn from a hat, I have no particular urge to re-read the essay.

[Jennie@ifish]

Funny! I didn't even read all these messages, but I just wrote this to the complaint letter I got:
----
O.K., O.K., after much thought, I am contacting TH to see what a
replacement rod would be and am looking into trying to get some of the
OWAA professionals to judge the contest the way it should be judged.
Should have done this in the first place.
You have a good point, just don't know if I can afford it, but I'll try.
Jen

[Jennie@ifish]

And, as far as Gone Fishin goes...
He did what he thought was fair, and what I thought was fair too.
The reason I am reconsidering, is yes, the thoughtful stories should be judged.
The rules did not state how they would be judged, but I knew I would run into contest problems someday, and I guess it is just my turn to do double time.
I do think the best story should be awarded and I will do my absolute best to see that it happens.
I can't guarantee it yet, however.
Please, please, don't run all the good guys off? Marty is very important to ifish.net, and he did what I said he should do! I screwed up, not Marty!
Jen

[ 07-01-2001: Message edited by: Jennie@ifish ]

Snagly you didn't even enter the contest but you write two long posts complaining about the way the winner was decided and then turn into a forum critcizing the way we raise our children in America. So maybe the way the winner was selected should have been different but SO WHAT it was a free,no risk contest! Maybe you should have taken your own advice and should have spent the time you took writing your two whiney posts with your kids!

[ 07-01-2001: Message edited by: BIGSTEW ]

[Gone Fishin]

You Know,

We all (my family) liked the $#@!% stories.

I'm positive everyone that wrote did so from the heart.

In fairness we did what we thought was best.

We were the judge.

It's time to lock this thread or delete the whole %^$#^** thing!

It's absolutely going nowhere.

I give up!

You people are making me sick.

I'm going fishing, no more posting.

As they say on "The Weakest Link":

GOODBYE!

[RW]

Marty,

I thank you and your family for taking the time to read all the essay's and consider all your options for awarding the prize. I know you made the decision with your heart and I appreciate it.

Please don't let one person who critizes the process chase you from ifish, we are better than that and need to stick it out. ifish really is the best and only good forum out there and we need good people as yourself to continue on here.

Say hi to Lee for me and I will see you at the Rendevous.

RW

btw-plus I really dislike people with no gonads to stick it out!!!! Hang in there, we love ya.....

[TH]

This is not what I had in mind when we decided to host a contest. But, to help easy the minds of everyone, TH Custom Rods will donate a second rod.

[ol tuna skipper]

Gone fishin, I don't hold anything against you or your family for the decision, and I certainly don't hold anything against the winner. I read all the posts but don't recall his now, and I am not saying he didn't deserve it.

Bigstew, I entered and was glad to see Snaglies reply, (regarding the hatdrawing). He stated what I wanted to and anyone would have, given they put there mind and heart into the posts as the contest inferred.(Passing on the Heritage). I don't think a hat drawing was the proper ending to this heartfelt contest. So in closing to you.
Quit bashing members. Your attitude is what leads to flame out.

Jennie, I agree there should have been a clear winner or mabey two who did put there Heart and Soul into there posts. I entered and spent a long time, Days, trying to say something that would touch others as my life has been touched. Good luck in cleaning up the fallout.

Snagly, I wasn't going to reply to this post until I saw Bigstew bashing you. Thank you for standing up and saying what you did. I was hurt by the hat drawing selection and let me explain why.

Listen up Stew, Since I did enter.

1) At first I felt the letters may have not even been read. There were a lot. I felt, hey I could have played the lottery to see if my numbers came out of the hat. With no thought. Give me a quick pick.

2) Then I realized there were a lot of good ones. I can't imagine my wife and I agreeing on the same story anyway. If Marty and his wife hit the same block I can understand throwing up the hands and drawing a number.

3) Then I remember sitting on a Scholarship board and committing to narrowing it down to one or two who showed the initiative and met the requirements. Sometimes this was painstaking.
But it was a commitment and we followed through. And yes we were volunteers also.

4) As you can tell I am weighing thoughts here. I wish a first place had been chosen along with a second and third. Just to show those who participated that their efforts were worthwhile and their stories appreciated. I understand what Snagly was trying to say.

I must log off now to avoid ridiculing or flaming on imature responses here. Lots keep the standards up that have been re established here after we cleared the bilgewater last time.

[ 07-02-2001: Message edited by: ol tuna skipper ]

[ol tuna skipper]

TH, I don't really expect you to provide rods to more than a first place. I just wanted to know how the stories were received. All those I read were very good. I have my personal favorite, but would only share my opinion if asked, (hint Jennie.)Their are some wonderful expressions of the way people have come close to fishing through the experiance with loved ones.

Now if ifish wants to host a DRAWING. I'll buy tickets. I would love to be the proud owner of one of your custom rods.

Thank you for donating to the CONTEST.

[ 07-02-2001: Message edited by: ol tuna skipper ]

[Harvey Fish]

There does not need to be a second rod donated. The contest is over, and a winner has been decided. I do not agree with how it was decided, and I have made my opinion known through private channels.

Up until two years ago I had been a volunteer judge for over 10 years at a local oratorical contest for school-aged kids. Myself and three others would in some years come close to blows over who was the best choice. It's not an easy job, but it was one that I had taken upon myself and with the help of a worksheet that awarded points on numerous different issues I was able to make the tough decision. The winner would get a scholarship (not a big one, but it was something). Second and third place got to find out how close they had come.

Again, it's over and lessons have been learned.

Now that two people have posted who did enter the contest, maybe he'll lay off of Snagly.

[ 07-03-2001: Message edited by: Jennie@ifish ]