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And again appearances are...

Again: Appearances are deceptive

 

Did you read "Appearances are deceptive?" the article I wrote May 3rd?

And did you read what I wrote about "brothers B?"

Well, last Sunday those "Brothers B" participated in four races:

- Quievrain yearlings. They won 1st against 76 birds.

- Quievrain old birds: They won 1st against 41 birds.

- Noyon 78 birds: they won 1st

- And Noyon 150 birds: They won 1st and 3rd (2 birds in the race).

Is the entry ridiculous? You are right, it IS ridiculous.

But you only know part of this story yet.

 

COMPETITION

"Brothers B" got 2 birds together from the race of Quievrain; An old cock and its son.

So the father beat 40 birds, the son beat 75 yearlings. The speed was 1.474 mpm.

Is not it amazing that those birds separated themselves from about 80,000 birds from a distance of 100 kilometers only?     

But what is even more amazing?

These birds had the highest speed of the whole province. From those 80,000 birds

not one "made" 1.474 mpm.

And it is the same story nearly every race, the highest speed is made in the club of B.

The difference with other clubs is that the entry is far higher there.

There the winner may beat 500 birds, 1,000, or even more.

In the club of "Brothers B" 100 birds is "a good entry".   

Therefore it is useless for "Brothers B" to send in results for a National Ace or Provincial Ace. They will never have an Olympiad bird either.

"Useless" because the coefficient of their winners would be a joke.  

So the following thing may happen:

"Brothers B" clock a bird and 2 minutes later their neighbour clocks a bird.

"Brothers B" win 1st against 75 birds, the bird that was beaten by them wins 1st against 750 birds in another club. And such prizes you need to get a Provincial or National Ace.   

 

STRANGE

Even if "Brothers B" would have a pigeon that has the highest speed of ALL Belgium in all races it has no chance to be a National Ace, due to the low entry.

You may wonder why then do "Brothers B" not race in another club. The answer is simple. In their club is pretty much money. And they like to play for money.

And believe me, in Belgium more than 50% just have no chance to get an Ace bird or Olympiad bird. Because they race in clubs where the entry is low.

And the funny thing is that it is in these clubs with few birds where competition is often toughest.

In clubs like that of Brothers B most fanciers enter 2 or 3 birds only.

Which ones may be clear, their best.

And why is that? Because pretty much money is at stake!  

In some clubs very few fanciers race 5 birds or more.

In other clubs few fanciers race less than 30 birds.

Most fanciers prefer a winner of 750 birds to a winner of 75 birds. They assume that is the better bird. Now you may understand why a winner does not mean that much to me. I want to know where the bird was raced and against whom.

750 Birds may have been entered by 15 fanciers and 75 birds may have been entered by 30 fanciers. Would 30 fanciers not have more good birds than 15 fanciers?

 

NO CHANCE

Now that I am writing this it is May 29th.

To-morrow is Bourges, the first national race of the year in Belgium. The BIG race.

Early this week I made my forecast, but I changed my mind. This is because of the pretty strong Western wind to-morrow.

Some fanciers will be sensational. Some will get visitors from abroad to buy their National winner late in the evening. One thing is for sure: Those lucky guys live in the East of the country. I would not be surprised if birds that are first prize winners in Flanders, so in the west, will have a speed that would not be good enough to be on the prize list in the East.

The conclusion is simple:

This race will not be a contest between the best fanciers of the country.

I daresay that the bird that wins say 50th National, did a better job than the winner, if'it belongs to a fancier in the west.

This bird had to fight the wind and the mass of birds. But that is pigeon sport. One of the few sports where the winner need not be the best.

 

ABROAD

Fanciers here and abroad are interested in National Aces, in good results, in stars.  

That is normal. And to become famous (abroad) you should:

- Race very many birds. Few foreigners realise that some fanciers hardly race a handful of birds while others race 100 or more.

- Race Long Distance. Long distance races get all the attention in the media.

- Race in an area where competition is poor.  

 

How frustrating it must be for "Brothers B" to live where they live.