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There ain't no cure for the competition blues

It is impossible to look at the accomplishments of Greg Moss without giving credit to the efforts and ideas proffered by previous championship directors. Additionally, any change in the way the competitions are structured inevitably causes new problems and criticisms. Here's a look at some of Greg's major accomplishments and problem areas he sees for the future.

Major Changes Under Moss' Direction

1. AWARDS. The IJA used to give certificates or ribbons. Now formal trophies and plaques (and prize money at this year's U.S. Nationals) are the norm for winners.

2. STAGE SETTING. The first competitions were held on the floor of the gym. "By moving it to a theatre," says Moss, "we started making it look more like a show, with the curtain opening and closing for each act."

3. SCORING WITH JUDGES. "As random as it may seem now," Moss says, "When I took over there were no guidelines. It was 10 points for presentation and 10 for technique with no breakdown. The judges just flashed a score. There was a big cry that the Judging wasn't consistent.

"That's one thing I feel pretty good about: We broke down the point system and tried to make it more consistent. I had a meeting with the juges in Santa Barbara and we broke It down and put point values

on things like costuming, number of tricks, difficulty of tricks and drops."

4 VIDEOTAPING. The competitions are now videotaped. IJA members will soon be able to buy copies to help would be competitors see what they might be up against and help them understand the judging.

5. NUMBERS CHALLENGE. "I think this is going to be the direction of future numbers juggling, " Greg said of this competition, which was introduced this year. "The five club and seven ball competitions were becoming boring endurance contests that people didn't want to sit through."

6. JUDGES TRAINING. This year, judges watched a representative performance from a previous competition. They then were able to decide scoring criteria before the event began and give more consistent scores. In the past, the criteria were determined in a judges huddle following the first performance. Not only did this lengthen the competition, but Moss felt it looked somewhat amateurish.

7. NAMING THE NATIONALS. The former "Seniors" division was renamed the U.S. Nationals last year. Moss feels the current name correctly identifies the competition for what it is.

8. QUALIFYING ROUND. A qualifying round for the U.S. Nationals was instituted this year to obtain a more manageable event and raise the quality of the competition. With only 10 chosen now to compete,

the event can be held to a 90 minute length whereas past competitions with up to 30 competitors ran for hours.

9. 60/40 SPLIT. A competitor's technique took on more importance than performance for the first time this year, as the in favor of technical juggling over showmanship.

Future Problem Areas

1. AMATEUR PRO COMPETITIONS The entry of Albert Lucas, a seasoned professional, in this year's U.S. Nationals raised a question among some people about the fairness of the event. Moss pointed out "The title could help a Vegas performer as well as a rising star." With increasing participation by professionals, however, he conceded that competitions may eventually need to be divided between professionals. and amateurs.

2. COMPULSORY JUGGLES. Moss thinks the membership is evenly divided on whether competitions should be preceded by a compulsory routine. One major problem he pointed out is that such an arrangement could hurt an otherwise superb juggler who was weak with just one compulsory move.

3. TECHNIQUE/PERFORMANCE. The current weighting of 60/40 between these two aspects of a presentation is similar to an ice skating competition. Though there will always be those wanting a different arrangement, Moss feels this makes sense for juggling. He pointed out that the hotly contested battle at last year's U.S. Nationals event between Anthony Gatto and Allan Jacobs ends with the same results whether the final score is calculated according to a 50/50 or 60/40 technique/performance split.

4. SCORING PROCEDURE. In many competitions, two or more contestants finish with virtually the same score. Should the judges be allowed to adjust scores at the end of the event to more clearly identify their choice of a winner? If the judges could see the impact of their score before posting it, they could adjust it to set the order of finish in the way they perceive it. As an experiment, a computer and program to test such a system may be on hand at next year's competitions.

5. TV COVERAGE. Moss said, "Yeah, I'd like to see it on Wide World of Sports. It would give us a lot of credibility and help launch careers."

6. PRIZE MONEY. This year saw the advent of cash prizes, with $1,000 split between the top three U.S. Nationals finishers. Moss says both the concept and amount are topics for further discussion.