Some responses and thoughts.
Should I have waited until Heat #2, when run #1 was about to go? Wait until
Heat #3? End of day? No matter when it was announced, it would have a
profound effect on everyone (if they hadn't heard it already from word of
mouth). There was no good time to make that announcement. I hope to never
make anything like it again.
Steve H. wrote:
>>Whether I was informed 15 minutes later would have been of no consequence.
Would anyone have been hurt by waiting until after the heat was finished to
make the announcement?<<
I'm not sure I'm comfortable of any organization telling me when to announce
something of this magnitude. Isn't SCCA run by the members? Not vice versa.
No, I won't yell "fire" in Langdon Arena (laws prohibiting this do exist). I
announce and will continue to announce on the basis of "speak as if your
mother was in the stands." This is one of the edicts for the announcing
crew. Yeah, mom would be upset hear my announcement, but no worse than
anyone else. Why shouldn't I be allowed to decide?
Steve H. wrote:
>>Why it was Matt's decision to make?<<
Ron's post below mentions a good reason to have made the announcement.
Ron K. posted:
>>Fact is, yes, 15 minutes could have made a difference if you had a friend
or loved one in the upper floors of the WTC, or on the last hijacked plane,
and he/she was trying to call you from a cell phone in the last minutes of
their life. Did that happen to anyone... I can't know. Probably not, but the
point is that with a tragedy this large, and so many people at the event, I
felt certain that someone, even if it's just one person, was going to be
touched by this personally. That person has a right to know *immediately*
what's going on. I was furious that NO announcement was made on the south
course at all.<<
Over the years, I have mentioned news items while I announced. So this was
not out of character. As an announcer, I feel it is me duty to inform (my
wife sez I blab). I have received replies, both private and public, pro and
con. Fortunately, none angry, but reasonable people disagreeing. I hope to
keep it this way.
Matt Murray
Where shall I source the news from, Falwell & Robertson?
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