Points updated - inaccurate

[Super Dave]

I also am a long time ccs license holder(but younger and better looking than Dave  ;D) and I think things are WAY better then it used to be! You should have tried to chase points and plates in 1994!

Well, there were fewer classes.  

Came a long way?  I don't know.  Same only different.  Current technology isn't used either way.  I used to be able to call and get a reasonable answer.  Usually tried to make sure that I was far enough up front to coast in points anyway.

Am I actually older than you?  I know I'm wiser...   ;D

[tug296]

In 1984, AMACCS days, when Roger Edmonson ran things, we did not have the points update problems, show up at the next race and they were posted on the board. They would also send a copy of the points via the U.S. Mail.
 Of coarse not many people were on the internet then, now folks expect the updates in a timely manner, because there IS a points page.
All it takes is money, pay some geek to fix the thing and move along.
Problem is CCE apparently doesn't want to pay to fix the problem.

I've had a sponsor helping me since 2002, he wanted to see the points page for himself and was disappointed when the span of time was 3-4 months before they got it wrong, then corrected in a week or two. He still helped me but not as enthusiastically as he could / would have.
I'm sure I'm not the only one effected by the apparent lack of intrest within the organization to fix the problem as far as sponsors are concerned, every little bit helps.
Someone needs a talking to in the upper, upper ranks.

[digitalRoost]

CCS SW website was built by a racer with guidance and direction from the new CCS SW staff.

CCS uses an OLD dos program for scoring, points, etc. It's VERY OLD and hard to do anything with. I know they had someone somewhere developing a newer version, but it was volunteer work and not getting done very fast (obviously). I think they like it but it's buggy, so they cannot switch yet.

For CCS SW, the developer had to take the binary files that the dos program stores results in and translate them, parse them, and then load them into a database. From the database, points can be calculated. Times are also retrieved and stored in a similar way, although the only output the timing system has (a different dos program) is word perfect files...also not fun to parse.

Developing the CCS SW solution was a time consuming process and is not optimal as it's based off output from a buggy dos program.

In summary, CCS needs to throw some money at getting a new system and/or get someone else to work on it. They obviously need it, but aren't prioritizing it high. It's pretty obvious there's the talent all over the place in CCS ranks who are willing to do the work for little or no cost. The CCS SW region wanted change, so they made it happen.

[Roger@ASMA]

Spoken like the racer that developed the website and sorted through all the crap  ;)

[ecumike]

I developed the USGPRU site, the results, rider profiles, points and standings, as well, the personal stats on the profiles pages, rider stats, etc, etc.. are all integrated.
It wasn't very hard at all.

Granted the results are manually entered, but it's just a matter of selecting a rider's name from a list for each position. Very simple. Points are auto-calc'd from the finishing position, standings, etc, etc.. all automatic.

As digitalRoost said, and anyone who does database/Web work, the hard(est) part is getting the raw data parsed (into) the format or database in a way you can use it.

BTW I did the USGPRU site for free.

[digitalRoost]

that's an awesome site and one I based a lot of stuff off. I used the best ideas from there, MRA and a few other good sites.

We thought about rider profiles (and are still thinking about them), but USGPRU is a little unique in the target audience and how many racers there are. With CCS, there are TONS of racers to consider and manage. Would be lame if we did it an no-one gave valid data.

As you said, data is always the biggest problem.

[Super Dave]

About three or four years ago, I was told that the top ten experts from the previous years points would could have rider profiles on the CCS page.  

Didn't happen.

Occasionally, rider profiles have been entered for FUSA Team Owner program riders.

Riders that follow a series generally have probably a $10,000 plus investment in a season each year.  Anyone feel that I'm out of line?

Given that amount of investment, I'd think there should be some reasonable amount of support of the actual racing program from the organization.  Some press, some reasonable amount of support as spelled out in the rule book, some amount of accountability for items such as points and even a little bit of PR in the form of letting someone come to the race track and write something.

But with a Sunday entry for a spectator pass costing $25 now...

I might as well just have my neighbors take me out to Applebee's rather than come see me race locally.  If the club scene is a stepping stone to FUSA and then AMA spectating, it's gonne a be crushed.  

If you have sponsors, who's gonna know anything about you?

Might be better off attending a track day in getting some team and individual recognition.

[Jeff]

Sat (spectator) entries are $25.  Sun only are still $15...

[SliderPhoto]

As you said, data is always the biggest problem.

Yes, garbage in = garbage out. It really needs to be done by the organization OR they need to make a commitment or accept a commitment to supply data and a strategy for making changes.

The system I wrote parsed the actual HTML results. There was a reconciliation after parsing because riders names were entered differently and numbers weren't always the same. I never had access to original data and had to wait for results to be posted to the site--so really not much better.

Another problem is when CCS has to make a change or fix an error. That's why it has to be an official process or at least something CCS has to committ to in order for the data to be reliable. Since making a correction in one set of data makes the other set unreliable.

[SliderPhoto]

If you guys want press coverage, find someone in your ranks, or a couple people where someone would go to each event. Write something up and submit it to Road Racing world and Cycles News and whoever else will listen. They'll gladly accept it and publish it. Talk to whomever is there taking photos and see if they will give you one good photo from the weekend.

[SliderPhoto]

If you guys want rider profiles, build a site. Find a couple of people interested in it, get them together and plan it. Make it a complete community. charge riders $5 or whatever a year for their own section. Allow them to edit it freely with maybe a photo album. Give them a place to put a couple logos and their current stats. Let them edit the stats themselves. It would be a place where their sponsors could visit to check up on their team. If that's what you guys need, build it.

I know I would volunteer some time toward a group of people who might want to do it.

[ecumike]

...There was a reconciliation after parsing because riders names were entered differently and numbers weren't always the same. I never had access to original data and had to wait for results to be posted to the site--so really not much better.

Another problem is when CCS has to make a change or fix an error. That's why it has to be an official process or at least something CCS has to committ to in order for the data to be reliable. Since making a correction in one set of data makes the other set unreliable.

Yea, for the USGPRU it was feasable to do this. B/C as you can see from the "Useless stats and figures page" (http://usgpru.net/riderstats.php) we've only had up to 290 different riders. That's nationally. Just a CCS region alone can have 1.5-2x that many.

Reconciliation of data... that's where my 'rider profile' idea came in. The rider profile is the 'backbone' of it all. Each finishing position is a simple name select from a drop-box, which is a query of all riders in the database. This 'ensures' accuracy of names, numbers, etc, etc.  If a rider changes numbers from 1 year to another, simply update the profile and bam - everywhere he's listed on the site, his new number is listed. As well, you don't have to worry about mis-spelling first, last names from race to race, etc...

And the other point - All of this is done through an online content management tool I created, so that each East/West coast admin can log in, anytime, from anywhere and update/post any info to the site.. news, results, qual times, profiles, rider spotlight, schedule, track profiles, etc, etc..