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If the Uncle Earl's has been sold to an out of state sponsor because the sponsors, promoters, hosts, and organizers of the past would not address or attempt to fix the problem of poor quality hogs, I have one word:
Good!
Now it has been proposed that I am on a one man crusade here to "run down" the Uncle Earl's. Let me be perfectly clear about this: I don't care what anybody says about me. Talk trash all you want. I am here to make things better, and if that means running something down in the process, so be it!
The two judges I contacted after this years fiasco have both refused to openly discuss how many teams were disqualified for catching in the 2 dog bay, and the one who did respond to the issue of why so many catches, only wanted to blame "us" the competitors for not properly training our dogs to compete, and claimed that "we"(the competitors),
were solely to blame for so many catches and disqualifications because we were running catch dogs, and not bay dogs. I don't buy that because dogs who were winning all over the country before and after EU, got disqualified at Winnfield!
If the Uncle Earl's was sold to an out of state sponsor to avoid admitting we have a problem with the provision of quality hogs, I rest my case.
But let me advise everyone who is watching: I am just one man, and I will not single handedly fix this thing. If you care, I suggest you get involved and make your voice heard. And if you are not gonna step up and contribute to the solution, stop complaining about the problems if they persist!
Furthermore: I am not the problem nor the solution, but if we, all working together, could be a powerful force to change things for the better, imagine what the EU could be.
Why can't something as big and as profitable as the Uncle Earl's provide hogs like this one in the photo below?
Or how about this?
Now how is this for an attitude?
I want to thank Mr. Reggie Little for the photos above, and below and...for setting a standard in producing hog dog competitions that the industry needs across the board.
My daughter and I together, have attended every Uncle Earl's except the first one, and last year when it was cancelled.
She is now a freshman at LSU BR, and I hope she can make the EU 2012, if we have one next year.So looking forward, one issue we continue to have to address is: adequate access to water for our animals. This is not only for our animals, but us who have to go through an obstacle course to get to the water.
If we have a new sponsor, we are not exactly starting from scratch, but the new sponsor IS! And so, we need to communicate our issues to them, so these issues can be addressed well in advance of the event in order to be better organized when we all get there in March 2012. I hope we are notified soon regarding the future of Winnfield, because it hangs in the air as far as I know at the moment.
I believe one of the easiest applications to expand the water system at the fairgrounds is to run a water line from the livestock barn(where we already have water), heading east along the chain link fence with faucets on both sides of the fence so people can stop on the asphalt road and fill water containers,
and people inside the fenced area have access to several faucets also. There is much room for improvement of the facilities at the fairgrounds, and we can work on them from year to year. We don't expect everything at once, but a few each year would go a long way, because we the competitors, are in it for the long haul.
Once again, I want to thank Jimmy Young for personally renting and hauling Port-o-Lets to the EU 2011 on Friday morning.
Now on Saturday morning, I discovered that the Port-o-Let in our camping area was a mess on account of someone vomited in there, and I don't mean down the hole! So, I went and got water, liquid soap, and a brush, and cleaned up. I opened it to the morning sun so it could dry out, and then went to WalMart and bought some more toilet paper, and the women and children were once again provided for.
Point is: if something needs to be done, let's all chip in and get it done!
Ya give me what I been asking for, for years, and I'll give some back!
Before this year, it was never Jimmy's responsibility to provide for this, and once it was, he delivered a trailer full personally right when we needed it.
Now with all the people(and their money),
and all the dogs,
does it make any sense, that until this year there was only one water faucet on the whole fairgrounds, and it was in the middle of the livestock barn?
The photo above is a new faucet installed this year next to the food vendor next to the barn. What was nice about that was, I and others could back up a pick up truck right to the water faucet, and with a short hose, fill our barrels without going through peoples dogs. And it is an improvement, and there may be others I am not aware of, but after a decade and a half of hundreds of thousands of dollars being pumped into the economy of Winn Parish very year, you would think that a few more water faucets this year and a few next year, would not be too much to ask. But I guess for some people, maybe it is asking too much.
Now I am not sure, but I suspect the provision(or lack of), water for livestock and adequate restrooms for our families was the issue that caused the UE 2010 to be cancelled. And I don't blame Jimmy Young for cancelling, I salute him!
And if it was Jimmy Young who was standing up for us, demanding water and restrooms, that led to the standoff, and cancellation of last years competition, good for him.
I am not sure, but I wish I knew for certain what happened a year and half ago to cause Jimmy Young to cancel EU 2010, because we all know that is not what he wanted, but I will assume he did what he had to do, and he did it for us.
Now from this point on, I hope we can ALL demand a better provision of quality hogs with dubbed teeth, because like Jimmy, I have about had enough of the bullshit in Winnfield!
