PROMOTING OUR SPORT: Save Our Current Fanciers by Bob Prisco Promoting our sport is always a hot topic and very much a necessity for its continued longevity and success. Introducing new people is necessary and the only way to bring in new fanciers. I applaud and support all individuals and organizations for their efforts and hope they continue with excellent success. But this article is not about bringing new fanciers into the sport, it is about keeping the current ones. Our sport seems to want to punish and ban individuals for continued success. Does the following example sound familiar? A fancier has started to win and be very consistent with his race results each week. He was always a nice guy when he was not winning, but now he must be doing something illegal. He must be cheating. How is he cheating? Now the rumors and gossip start: check his clock, his loft survey, he is using something, he has 2 lofts and is clocking at a shorter distance. Frequent loft visits to catch him start, as well as spying on him from outside his yard to catch this cheat, etc. This fancier becomes the topic of discussion when he is not around: How can we catch him and get rid of him? No one can prove he is doing anything wrong, but he must be cheating. No one can be that consistent, especially if he is a relatively new flyer or an older flyer who never had success. We can vote him out of the club. We can place him out of our boundaries. We can try drug testing his birds. We can isolate him at the club, not talk to him and make him feel very uncomfortable. Maybe he will quit! If he wins money in a futurity race, we refuse to give it to him! The “witch hunt” continues. Eventually, the majority wins and we lose this fancier. He quits the sport, and the club members are happy that they have protected our sport from a very bad person. We could never prove it, but we know he was cheating. Let’s look at what we have done. We punished a fancier for winning, without proof of wrongdoing. We lost a fancier from a sport that already is losing members every year at an alarming rate. The fancier we lost has other friends outside the pigeon sport, children, grandchildren, family, neighbors, co-workers etc. He touches the lives of hundreds of other people. Many of which have been to his yard, observed his loft and birds and have heard him speak about his hobby with enthusiasm, enjoyment and all of the positive things that make it so much fun for him. Many people listen to him. Could there be a possible new fancier in the group? Everyone knows him as a very nice individual and hard worker, willing to study, learn and always trying to achieve positive results. He spends time and money to be the best he can and has fun at a hobby he loves. BUT HE QUIT! WHY? He was successful. He listened, studied, obtained competitive birds, trained, medicated, had a feeding program and spent quality time with his birds. He was enjoying his hobby. Some of his friends, neighbors, family, co-workers, children, grandchildren, etc. shared his experience and were happy for him. Now the loft is empty. He no longer has a passion for the sport and very seldom speaks about it. Why? He was accused of something that he never did, and the people he respected in the sport turned on him, because he was winning. No one could prove he was doing anything illegal, but they were sure he cheated. They are happy they got him out of the sport. They pat each other on the back for saving the sport and protecting it from this cheater and dishonest person, because individuals like him are going to ruin our sport. Sometimes his children, grandchildren, friends, neighbors and co-workers ask him why he quit. He may tell them the truth. He was accused of cheating, thrown out of the club for winning, friends in the sport spread rumors that were not true and his enjoyment in the sport was soured. It was no longer a pleasure for him, his family or his friends. It became a real “HELL”. Or he may just say he lost interest and quit with out going into the painful details that drove him from a sport he loved, enjoyed and shared with individuals that knew him. Could this fancier have been a person that would have promoted our sport and maybe introduced a few new fanciers? Probably, but he cannot. Why? Because, he knows he was wronged and forced to quit a sport and hobby he loved and enjoyed for no other reason than he was successful and forced out by jealous and greedy club members. Is he going to encourage his children, grandchildren, friends, etc. to join the hobby that caused him a great deal of aggravation, false accusations and disappointment for something he did not do? I DO NOT THINK SO! Does this really go on in your sport? Yes, everyday. Whether you want to admit it or not, it does exist, and situations just like this are really not protecting our sport, but hurting it badly. I do believe we need to continue to protect our sport in a clean and orderly fashion. We do need certain measures in place to correct and establish moral standards and protect the integrity of the sport. I do believe in tossing the winner of a race to make sure that he homes at the correct loft. I do believe in 2 day shipping to control what a bird receives 12-36 hours before a race. I do believe in checking survey for accurate distances and loft positions. I do believe in checking and maintaining clocks. I do believe a club has right to expect reasonable social and moral behavior from its members, that is positive to the sport and fellow club members. I do believe in an accurate drug testing policy: one that has been proven 99.99% accurate and spells out what can be used by fanciers, what is not allowed and the time frame for usage and dosage before a race. I DO NOT BELIEVE: I do not believe a fancier should be placed outside the boundaries of a club or race because certain members do not want that fancier in the race. I do not believe a fancier should be denied or thrown out of a club because he is accused of cheating. IT MUST BE PROVED, NOT RUMORED BEFORE A CLUB TAKES ACTION. I do not believe a fancier or loft should be denied admission to a race or club because of his past accomplishments in the sport. I do not believe a fancier should be denied admission to a club or race because he openly practices a certain type of system (darkening, light, widow hood, etc.). I do not believe DRUG TESTING should be used until we have perfected its accuracy, and all members are given the opportunity to understand what is being tested for, the amounts, time frame and what products are forbidden for the fancier to use. It is the drug testing committee’s direct responsibility to provide this information to the fanciers. These tests should be random, as well as testing for all money winners, if necessary. At present, our tests are flawed because we take our samples well before the actual race. We have no thresholds for the legal amount of substances allowed at the time of testing, whether done before or after the race. I do not believe in the obvious “WITCH HUNT TACTICS” that many clubs use to remove a fancier for his success. They give a 1 year suspension from races, etc. because they think he is guilty, but cannot prove it. They tell him, “We will let you back next year and everything will be Ok.” We all say we want to strengthen our sport and continue to promote it in a very positive way, but sometimes our actions are counterproductive and driven by jealously and greed. These actions deter possible new fanciers and hurt our sport way more than we can ever measure. Let us reward the hard working fanciers that achieve their results honestly and learn from them, rather than kick them out and try to eliminate the competition to make it easier for us to win. It is a great sport and hobby! Let us protect it and promote it in a positive way so others can enjoy it for years to come!

PROMOTING OUR SPORT: Save Our Current Fanciers

by Bob Prisco

Promoting our sport is always a hot topic and very much a necessity for its continued longevity and success. Introducing new people is necessary and the only way to bring in new fanciers. I applaud and support all individuals and organizations for their efforts and hope they continue with excellent success. But this article is not about bringing new fanciers into the sport, it is about keeping the current ones. Our sport seems to want to punish and ban individuals for continued success.

Does the following example sound familiar?

A fancier has started to win and be very consistent with his race results each week. He was always a nice guy when he was not winning, but now he must be doing something illegal. He must be cheating. How is he cheating? Now the rumors and gossip start: check his clock, his loft survey, he is using something, he has 2 lofts and is clocking at a shorter distance. Frequent loft visits to catch him start, as well as spying on him from outside his yard to catch this cheat, etc. This fancier becomes the topic of discussion when he is not around: How can we catch him and get rid of him? No one can prove he is doing anything wrong, but he must be cheating. No one can be that consistent, especially if he is a relatively new flyer or an older flyer who never had success. We can vote him out of the club. We can place him out of our boundaries. We can try drug testing his birds. We can isolate him at the club, not talk to him and make him feel very uncomfortable. Maybe he will quit! If he wins money in a futurity race, we refuse to give it to him!

The “witch hunt” continues. Eventually, the majority wins and we lose this fancier. He quits the sport, and the club members are happy that they have protected our sport from a very bad person. We could never prove it, but we know he was cheating.

Let’s look at what we have done. We punished a fancier for winning, without proof of wrongdoing. We lost a fancier from a sport that already is losing members every year at an alarming rate.

The fancier we lost has other friends outside the pigeon sport, children, grandchildren, family, neighbors, co-workers etc. He touches the lives of hundreds of other people. Many of which have been to his yard, observed his loft and birds and have heard him speak about his hobby with enthusiasm, enjoyment and all of the positive things that make it so much fun for him. Many people listen to him. Could there be a possible new fancier in the group?

Everyone knows him as a very nice individual and hard worker, willing to study, learn and always trying to achieve positive results. He spends time and money to be the best he can and has fun at a hobby he loves.

BUT HE QUIT! WHY? He was successful. He listened, studied, obtained competitive birds, trained, medicated, had a feeding program and spent quality time with his birds.

He was enjoying his hobby. Some of his friends, neighbors, family, co-workers, children, grandchildren, etc. shared his experience and were happy for him.

Now the loft is empty. He no longer has a passion for the sport and very seldom speaks about it. Why? He was accused of something that he never did, and the people he respected in the sport turned on him, because he was winning. No one could prove he was doing anything illegal, but they were sure he cheated. They are happy they got him out of the sport. They pat each other on the back for saving the sport and protecting it from this cheater and dishonest person, because individuals like him are going to ruin our sport.

Sometimes his children, grandchildren, friends, neighbors and co-workers ask him why he quit. He may tell them the truth. He was accused of cheating, thrown out of the club for winning, friends in the sport spread rumors that were not true and his enjoyment in the sport was soured. It was no longer a pleasure for him, his family or his friends. It became a real “HELL”. Or he may just say he lost interest and quit with out going into the painful details that drove him from a sport he loved, enjoyed and shared with individuals that knew him.

Could this fancier have been a person that would have promoted our sport and maybe introduced a few new fanciers? Probably, but he cannot. Why?

Because, he knows he was wronged and forced to quit a sport and hobby he loved and enjoyed for no other reason than he was successful and forced out by jealous and greedy club members. Is he going to encourage his children, grandchildren, friends, etc. to join the hobby that caused him a great deal of aggravation, false accusations and disappointment for something he did not do? I DO NOT THINK SO!

Does this really go on in your sport? Yes, everyday. Whether you want to admit it or not, it does exist, and situations just like this are really not protecting our sport, but hurting it badly.

I do believe we need to continue to protect our sport in a clean and orderly fashion.

We do need certain measures in place to correct and establish moral standards and protect the integrity of the sport.

I do believe in tossing the winner of a race to make sure that he homes at the correct loft.

I do believe in 2 day shipping to control what a bird receives 12-36 hours before a race.

I do believe in checking survey for accurate distances and loft positions.

I do believe in checking and maintaining clocks.

I do believe a club has right to expect reasonable social and moral behavior from its members, that is positive to the sport and fellow club members.

I do believe in an accurate drug testing policy: one that has been proven 99.99% accurate and spells out what can be used by fanciers, what is not allowed and the time frame for usage and dosage before a race.

I DO NOT BELIEVE:

I do not believe a fancier should be placed outside the boundaries of a club or race because certain members do not want that fancier in the race.

I do not believe a fancier should be denied or thrown out of a club because he is accused of cheating. IT MUST BE PROVED, NOT RUMORED BEFORE A CLUB TAKES ACTION.

I do not believe a fancier or loft should be denied admission to a race or club because of his past accomplishments in the sport.

I do not believe a fancier should be denied admission to a club or race because he openly practices a certain type of system (darkening, light, widow hood, etc.).

I do not believe DRUG TESTING should be used until we have perfected its accuracy, and all members are given the opportunity to understand what is being tested for, the amounts, time frame and what products are forbidden for the fancier to use. It is the drug testing committee’s direct responsibility to provide this information to the fanciers. These tests should be random, as well as testing for all money winners, if necessary. At present, our tests are flawed because we take our samples well before the actual race. We have no thresholds for the legal amount of substances allowed at the time of testing, whether done before or after the race.

I do not believe in the obvious “WITCH HUNT TACTICS” that many clubs use to remove a fancier for his success. They give a 1 year suspension from races, etc. because they think he is guilty, but cannot prove it. They tell him, “We will let you back next year and everything will be Ok.”

We all say we want to strengthen our sport and continue to promote it in a very positive way, but sometimes our actions are counterproductive and driven by jealously and greed. These actions deter possible new fanciers and hurt our sport way more than we can ever measure. Let us reward the hard working fanciers that achieve their results honestly and learn from them, rather than kick them out and try to eliminate the competition to make it easier for us to win.

It is a great sport and hobby! Let us protect it and promote it in a positive way so others can enjoy it for years to come!