Ask Chuck Kennedy

[jHarr]

- Any pro with a rating under 970 can enter am divisions EXCEPT at Championships like Worlds.
- Any pro who wishes to return to Am status may request it by petitioning the Competition Director.
- Anyone classed as an Am on their membership card is eligible to play any Am event regardless how high their rating goes.
- Any Am may enter a pro divison, receive merch instead of cash if they finish "in the chips" and retain their Am status. They immediately become a pro if they accept cash.

how often are petitions received? are they ever denied? like, say, playin pro master locally next yr 'til worlds time then shootin in the request to excuse my cash and take me back ... and Im guessin you don't get another one generally speaking so if you took the cash again somewhere you'd be back to square one- prob just have to admit you're addicted to it and just play pro...

since the petition thing is new I think people have the perception that a guys takin cash one week and playin am the next, when in reality its just recently granted but lifelong am staus (if you wanna keep it that way), an oath of eschewing the caysh and throwing noncommercially with your humble am brethern... or something

/came up trying to explain to an outsider-
-that Im playin 2series; 1am & 1pro- but takin merch so I can play a couple more big ones am...
-that lower rated players who've taken loot somewhere can't play against much higher rated ams in those real big tournies, but they're good to go as an AM at the pretty big ones like Atiers and below as long as a rating update doesn't bump them over the 970 mark ...
-why I can't just take the cash now and pay for gas then write a letter later to play worlds...

thanks for your time chuck
sorry for blathering on........

[cgkdisc]

I really don't know how often petitions are submitted and approved or rejected. That policy has been around a long time. The only twist was the special blanket amnesty going into 2007 with no questions asked to revert back to Am as a one time deal.

[atreau3]

Hey Chuck!

Quick question about round ratings...

This past weekend I played in a tournament where I hurt my throwing hand. Rather than DNF, I played through it and had my worst rated round ever. Needless to say, the round is rated about 150 points lower than my rating.

Do you still drop abnormal rounds when caluculating one's rating?

Thanks!

Erick

[cgkdisc]

Any round more than 100 pts below your rating will be dropped.

[bazkitcase5]

what if your say a 930 rated player, and you have a couple of 860-870 rated rounds that have contributed to your lower rating - then, you get hot for a few months and eventually work your rating up to 970 - will those past 860-870 rounds now be dropped being they are 100 pts below your rating?

[cgkdisc]

The calculation is done each update with your latest set of round ratings. Your example could happen theoretically, but from a practical standpoint, we don't have players with at least 6 rounds improving that much from update to update. Those rounds are much more likely to drop off just because they eventually become more than 12 months old.

[ChrisWoj]

The calculation is done each update with your latest set of round ratings. Your example could happen theoretically, but from a practical standpoint, we don't have players with at least 6 rounds improving that much from update to update. Those rounds are much more likely to drop off just because they eventually become more than 12 months old.

Yep, you do. 825 rated round counted in the Aug-07 update for me. Didn't count anymore when Nov-07 came around. Not just theoretical

Chuck, this may have already been covered, but...

When calculating a player rating, the most recent 25% are doubled.
So lets say I have 40 rounds. The most recent 10 will count twice.
Say all of my tournaments are 4 rounds each. So that means the most recent 2 tournaments will be doubled along with 2 rounds from the one before that. Do you double rounds 3 and 4 from that other tournament or do you use rounds 1 and 2?

Thanks

[cgkdisc]

We use your highest rated two rounds from that event so you get the best you could have. All rounds from the same event are given the same "official" date in the database. So even though rounds are actually played on different days, the database doesn't track that.

[SarahD]

Hey Chuck, what is my PDGA membership card for? I keep getting them in the mail and put them in my wallet, but.....??? then what?

[skaZZirf]

Me too. Lets just stop making them, and put that money toward something more beneficial in the long term.

[cgkdisc]

Ya know when you get something stuck in your teeth... (j/k)

Perhaps it's sacrilegious but I haven't carried mine for several years but I do carry my Official's card instead. But then most know that I'm probably a member at events. The card is your assurance that you don't pay the $10 non-member fee or making sure you get in an A-tier with a walk-up reg. I know in some areas, clubs and disc retailers provide 'disc'ounts if you show your PDGA or club membership card.

I think the cards may have collectible value at some point considering the kinds of things that people value that are 25 or more years old. And who knows? Maybe you'll become famous and signing the cards could supplement your retirement.

With the world becoming more hi-tech, I'm thinking down the road, people will have that rice sized data chip embedded on the back side of their arm. When you pass by the chip reader at check-in, they'll know you're a member if your chip got "renewed" that year.

[SarahD]

What would the cost of production for, say, 15,000 small plastic cards be? Full-color printing front size, black and white backside. According to this site, for 10,000 it would cost 27 cents per. At this cost, there's $4,050 of membership dues for something I've never once used.

http://spectrumadvertising.com/item_info...1E-FC47021E4238

[cgkdisc]

Just because you don't use it doesn't mean that others don't think it's worthwhile. And I'm sure some TDs look at them if they don't have their member printout. I also think some members may have flashed it to their buddies when they have rules disputes as if the card indicates some level of authority. It may be used when dealing with Park Departments on course issues to provide the person some initial level of authority. It's like a fancy receipt. Some people save those and some don't. It's similar to the trophy discussion on the other thread. You like some and not others but getting something is still nice.

[ArtVandelay]

I also think some members may have flashed it to their buddies when they have rules disputes as if the card indicates some level of authority.

Utilizing the provided rulebook seems to work well in these situations.

[cgkdisc]

Utilizing the provided rulebook seems to work well in these situations.

It's hard to say but more members may have their member cards on them in casual rounds than rulebooks.

[accidentalROLLER]

well probably because i get a membership card every year, i have only gotten a rulebook once, and I had to give it to a group of rec players cause none of them had one at a tournament. but I always make sure someone on my card has one.

[cgkdisc]

Maybe we need to print the member card into the back cover of the rulebook?

[accidentalROLLER]

best idea you've ever had

[janttila]

I use my PDGA membership card all the time. Need some back up ID if they question your license at the bar, PDGA membership card. BAM! Works with chicks too...hey girl, can I get your number...uhhh maybe, PDGA membership card. BAM!

[cgkdisc]

Do you hold your thumb over your rating so the chicks or bouncer can't see that?

[janttila]

NICE!

[cgkdisc]

You set'm up. I'll try to knock'm down.

[tacimala]

Someday I'll be able to use my PDGA card too Joe. I renewed back in January so I'm crossing my fingers for my renewal packet in June.

[KDiscin]

I used my card to break into my house once.

[savard1120]

i used my card once to throw farther then dowd

[padobber]

not hard

[savard1120]

im going to use it tonight to pop open the caps of my #9

[padobber]

chuck
who will win euro 2008? i have $ on spain. wise?

[cgkdisc]

Hard to bet against Jesper (Sweden)
http://ec08.de/site/players.html
You must be talking about a different Euro 2008