What Did You Think of the 2013 WUSV? - Page 4

Waves 'Hi' to Ibrahim     I believe Hexe is female ?

 I'm glad my recounting of the experience helped to bring you both closer to the event. 

<whispers: Ibrahim, for the record, I'm a she, not a he. "Hexe" was the name of one of my GSD females I had when I joined up here; it's the German word for a female witch.>

I almost forgot a rather crucial point regarding the venue, especially from the view of the competitors:  The noise surrounding the stadium was a real factor for the teams.  The stadium itself is settled just off to the side of the access leg of a large suspension bridge [see pics below], so the resulting sound from the vehicles crossing the structure was ever-present, fluctuating with open-piped motorcycles, rumbling 18-wheeler trucks and all manners of personal conveyances.  That wasn't the worst of it, though.  The stadium also sits just to the side of a railroad track that saw several train passages per day; and to add to the cacophony, the train was required to blow its horn for a substantial length of time because there are no gates or flashing lights at the road crossing for those tracks [which is situated EXACTLY at the entrance to the stadium parking lot for the competitors].  The third element in the racket was the result of the stadium's proximity to the airport--planes in their take-off and landing passes were low-flying and loud.  Alone or in combination, the potential for a handler's commands to be drowned out by these sounds was significant, and it did happen in some instances.  It is one of the aspects of the venue that probably wasn't given enough consideration, if any at all, but it is an aspect that can be responsible for taking a performance that was on it's way to V-level scoring down to an SG, or even a DQ.  I'm sure it's of no consequence for soccer [football] and rugby games, but for any sort of dogsport that has to be factored in to the equation.

Either way, on top of my favorite list 

I thought this was a really cool shot of the stadium and bridge. You can see it going right over into New Jersey.


The weather really was cooperative for the most part. It was almost hot in the morning when the sun was shining right on us spectators. Then as the afternoon wore on, it crept behind the stadium and it most definitely was cold. There was a brief time the sun snuck in from behind and kissed us on the back of our necks, and we rejoiced, but after that, well, we were getting cozy sharing in the blanket Ruger1 was clever to have brought. She has veins of ice, so she wasn't feeling the chill I was.

I pretty much ate her leftovers, too. While the fare was typically processed and cheezy, at least there was plenty of it. The only problem then became, thirst. I discovered bottled water cost $4.25, but it was handed to me by a very cheerful, stadium employee. When I was surprised at that amount ... for water? I was informed, somebody had to pay for this lovely stadium! I had no idea they had me in mind! LOL 

I don't understand why people say this couldn't be a sport for any one. If there had been even a meager attempt to publicize this event, I think some people would be surprised. Simple signage with a few follow me type arrows, or a strategically placed balloon would have helped some of us more navigational challenged types.  I know how to get to and from these places at least two different ways from any direction, now, but it was a learning experience. Well, I can't say that for sure, maybe I would manage get to where I was going but never the same way, twice. I found it easier to just follow somebody else back to the hotel.

Once, I made one wrong turn and Denwolf and I laughed to see this mostly crumbled, neglected area, suddenly be brightened by one owner's optimistic view on life. They had painted their front door, eaves and lintel a wonderful metallic, shiny gold! 

Back to the stadium and the people. I must say every single person I did meet was fun, and nice and helpful! The ladies behind us did not seem to mind answering newbie questions. And we sure had them! So, I am not going to try to sound like I knew much about anything I was seeing. Still, even I could tell when a dog and trainer were working so well together that the exercises were a thing of beauty. Watching a dog running full tilt and make the drop on the spot, was always a crowd pleaser. During some of the heeling, I did keep thinking the dog was getting stepped on at first, during one point where they dropped and the handler kept going, but I learned they were supposed to do that and I stopped gasping, eventually. Seeing the dogs run and plop to a stop in front of the barbells was a heartbreaker!  Some moments were just funny! Yes, that strange shout out at blind six... who could forget that? It was hysterical. And Hexe was correct about watching that youngster from Estonia. He was very enjoyable to watch for his poise and accomplishment to make to the world stage.

The scoreboard delay was a tad annoying if one wanted to use it as a way to keep track of photo taking of the competitors in order. There were errors in posting the correct dog and handler. I have some shots I haven't posted already but not sure if they are worth posting, now that all the good camera operators are making themselves known. I'll just leave you all with these few!  



Maybe we can play... guess the dog? LOL 


 

bee, that shot does show the proximity of the stadium to the bridge much better--but then again, I didn't have the bird's eye view you ladies had!   

We were camped out between blinds 2 & 4 at the lowest level possible so my friend didn't have to climb too many steps, and I'm not big on heights anyway so I never ventured any higher in the stands.  Most of my shots are about the same as yours, since I hadn't brought a camera & had to use my tablet. [My suitcase on the way in was already 49#; the camera would have put me over!]

I was in attendance, and here are my observations, some the same as others:

Venue was gorgeous in a bad part of town.  Only problem with that was how far you had to drive for food if you didn't want to eat at the stadium and the ticket prices because the venue was so nice.

I thought the "marketing department" could have done a better job with publicity.  I saw one news crew there and for a world event, I expected at least a shout out on ESPN or something right?  maybe I just missed it

Everything else has been thoroughly covered I think.

Oh did anyone else discover the stadium boxes were unlocked and the bathrooms upstairs were super nice?

hehehe@Ruger! 

 NO nadera? How did you know to do that? !!! Which news crew.... do you know? 

I think I saw Dan Yee once. Same guy who went on to complain about the tracking areas being compromised?