Could be better (16-01-24)
Many of us have lived through the time when every village, no matter how small, had its pigeon club. Sometimes even several. In the evening you could see one or more groups of widowhood cocks training above just about every street, hens were not raced in the older days.
Each club also had its champion parade with often more 'titles' to earn than the number of fanciers in the club, but that aside.
Most of the championship days were so boring. There was no end to it, also because, to prevent people from running away, the lottery was the final piece.
There was still a little bit of fun to be had in the sales of vouchers. That is still the case, especially when the microphone is in the hands of capable people.
Most voucher sales are now online and they could be better promoted. The descriptions of the donors are sometimes far too long-winded and then there is something else.
MISTAKE
Unfortunately I have lost them, but I once wrote down the names of pigeon clubs. Especially in Belgium, they were sometimes highly entertaining. I still remember the club name 'Early or Dead', although such a name might be wrong in 2024.
What you see some clubs do is only mention the name of the club when a ticket sale is announced. That doesn't invite you to read.
For example, there was that Belgian club from a well-known pigeon town that announced their ticket sale on a Dutch site. No one knew the name of the club, the name of the place everyone. I advised to mention it and that gave me 2 bottles of wine. Because of bids that skyrocketed.
The reason was that the name of the place is associated with fanciers from that area. Well-known fanciers or fanciers that people know. Curiosity is aroused and that may be followed by bids from home or abroad.
'P V the Winged Traveller' means nothing to many. That would be something different if, for example, the word ‘Berlaar’ were behind it.
OLYMPIAD
I am one of the many who are not enamoured with Olympiads. One of the reasons is that Olympiads refer to sport and there is no sport if everyone does not have equal chances and points are different in every competition.
But I certainly wish others their fun and hopefully the coming Olympiad in the Netherlands will be a success.
Fanciers were spoiled with a beautiful Olympiad book. For many, this was a sign that the 'NPO was also there for them'.
But something is never so good that it's completely right. Big names, who don't need it at all, failed to mention how many pigeons were raced with when mentioning the results. And then you may bet it is very many.
It can lead to pure deception, of which the media are also guilty.
PURE DECEPTION
Suppose a pigeon newspaper publishes the first 15 prize winners of races and that's it. Then you may read the following:
Jan Janssen won from Melun against 500 pigeons 3, 4, 11, 14.
Piet Pieterse won from Pont against 500 pigeons 3, 4, 11, 14.
On paper both are equally good, in reality pure gibberish or rather nonsense.
It's a waste of paper.
I will explain why. Janssen made a super result when he only had 5 pigeons in the race.
Pieterse also super, but super BAD when he had 70 pigeons in the race.
Therefore, I write it more often, EVERY medium should refuse performances that do not mention how many pigeons were raced and how many prizes were won. Especially in an Olympiad book, even if that is so beautiful.
The example given should have been as follows. Then it would have made sense.
Jan Janssen won from Melun against 500 pigeons 3, 4, 11, 14 (4/5).
Piet Pieterse won from Pont against 500 pigeons 3, 4, 11, 14 (4/70).