A bit delayed posting this with the Christmas season, but NOTRA rule proposals are due by Jan. 1st. I wanted to discuss the rule that I proposed and explain the reasoning for it. The rule proposal was number 10 (THIS IS NEARLY IDENTICAL TO THE CURRENT WRA RULE): 10) Protesting a Race when Video Cameras are Used Purpose: an owner will be able to protest the placement of a dog’s finish when a finish-line camera is in use. Rationale: The possibility exists that there may be a disagreement between placing judges in which a camera is present, but due to a majority ruling, may not be used. If an owner feels the placement of his/her dog is incorrect, they should be allowed to view the camera finish and have the results corrected. The added rule would be: 3.6.1.4 An owner may protest the FINISH of a race and must do so before the re-drawing of the board for the following program. The judges will view the tape and rule on the finish. The owner will be allowed to view the video of the protested race with the judges but may not participate in, or attempt to influence, any discussion of what is viewed. If camera results vary from line-judged results in the protested race, adjustments will be made to the scoring of the dogs. My reason for writing this was an incident at the 2014 NOTRA Derby. In the first HP Kenny placed second in the race according to someone standing next to me (I was running the lure). As we were waiting for a re-run race, Kim told me that Kenny was given 3rd. I checked the finish line camera and he did indeed finish 2nd, without any dispute. The result was already written on the board, and despite the fact that the program wasnt finished, the race committee decided there was no backing in the rule book to allow a camera review and change of the board, despite owners of both dogs involved ok with having the results corrected. So did this alter the outcome of the meet??? YES, the dog with the incorrect placement should have dropped from the highpoint and would not have been able to make it back to the HP. Instead he goes to the HP and ends up winning the meet. Some people asked if this rule would slow down the meet. To that I say, not much if at all. The rule is present in WRA and hasnt caused a slow down. Most people didnt know we had a challenge by an owner at the WRA National the day before. The owner had mistaken dogs of similar color and was sure their dog had placed higher. We showed the video at the race secretary tent before the next program was drawn and confirmed the placement was correct and the owner was happy with the outcome. I certainly dont think this happens often, but when it does, we should be able to get the placements correct. People spend lots of time and money to travel to meets, they deserve correct results. Heres the still shot from the finish line camera. The 3/white dog is first across, the 1/red, clearly second, was placed 3rd, and the 4/green was placed 2nd.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 20:18:46 +0000
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