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Geocacher of the Year award?


mrbort

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This topic has grown out of a growing general personal curiosity about Briansnat's "US Geocacher of the Year 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008" forum title. What is that award? I guess it is prompted by the quote that follows that explicitly does not equate geocaching with the Congressional Medal of Honor but does expound on a correlation of honor earned versus honor claimed. I read this post carefully because I think that if anyone could comment about what it meant (to prominent, honored members of the caching community) to claim caches that one hadn't logged it would be someone who had earned this award that I assume is sorta like the teacher of the year award. That got me thinking about what that award is and a google search brought up very little... So, out of curiosity, what is this award and how is it awarded?

 

Thanks in advance for any helpful posts. I am just curious and would love to know more :)

 

If it's a jest that I, as a relatively new cacher don't know about, then I apologize!

 

Here is the post that piqued my interest:

 

Why should anyone care about someone's cheating? Because it diminishes the game for all involved.

 

Really? So, the next time I'm out caching and I find a difficult, well camouflaged cache, and I'm feeling happy and proud of my accomplishment, if I should learn later that someone cheated by logging a find that they didn't actually find, my feeling of accomplishment will be lessened? That's odd.

 

It's against the law to wear the Congressional Medal of Honor if you didn't earn it. Why? Does the idea of people wearing it who didn't earn it diminish the accomplishments of those who earned it? No - and yes. The act of valor that the individual winner committed can not be diminished. When you see someone wearing that medal, you know that he is someone who did something very special. One of a select few.

 

Now if you could buy the Medal of Honor at Wal-Mart and everybody was wearing them, whenever you saw someone sporting the medal you'd probably think he bought it at Wal-Mart. You might even dismiss a honest to goodness hero CMOH winner as just another Wal Mart Medal of Honor "winner". In that respect when everybody has one and you can't tell the difference between a legit wearer of the medal and a phony it can diminish the meaning of the medal - not necessarily to the recipient, but to the general public. That's why it's illegal to manufacture them, or wear one if you didn't earn it.

 

Not to compare the act of finding a geocache with that of winning the Medal of Honor, but say Bob Q. Cacher bags bags a 5/5 cache that only 2 out of 100 cachers were able to find. He can rightfully feel a sense of accomplishment and pride.

 

Now if a bunch of frauds log finds on the cache it won't lessen Bob Q. Cacher's personal sense of accomplishment. You can't take that away from Bob. However it can diminish the community's perception of Bob's accomplishment because people will be wondering whether Bob is just another phony. Bob doesn't deserve that.

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This topic has grown out of a growing general personal curiosity about Briansnat's "US Geocacher of the Year 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008" forum title. What is that award? I guess it is prompted by the quote that follows that explicitly does not equate geocaching with the Congressional Medal of Honor but does expound on a correlation of honor earned versus honor claimed. I read this post carefully because I think that if anyone could comment about what it meant (to prominent, honored members of the caching community) to claim caches that one hadn't logged it would be someone who had earned this award that I assume is sorta like the teacher of the year award. That got me thinking about what that award is and a google search brought up very little... So, out of curiosity, what is this award and how is it awarded?

 

Thanks in advance for any helpful posts. I am just curious and would love to know more :)

 

If it's a jest that I, as a relatively new cacher don't know about, then I apologize!

 

Here is the post that piqued my interest:

 

Why should anyone care about someone's cheating? Because it diminishes the game for all involved.

 

Really? So, the next time I'm out caching and I find a difficult, well camouflaged cache, and I'm feeling happy and proud of my accomplishment, if I should learn later that someone cheated by logging a find that they didn't actually find, my feeling of accomplishment will be lessened? That's odd.

 

It's against the law to wear the Congressional Medal of Honor if you didn't earn it. Why? Does the idea of people wearing it who didn't earn it diminish the accomplishments of those who earned it? No - and yes. The act of valor that the individual winner committed can not be diminished. When you see someone wearing that medal, you know that he is someone who did something very special. One of a select few.

 

Now if you could buy the Medal of Honor at Wal-Mart and everybody was wearing them, whenever you saw someone sporting the medal you'd probably think he bought it at Wal-Mart. You might even dismiss a honest to goodness hero CMOH winner as just another Wal Mart Medal of Honor "winner". In that respect when everybody has one and you can't tell the difference between a legit wearer of the medal and a phony it can diminish the meaning of the medal - not necessarily to the recipient, but to the general public. That's why it's illegal to manufacture them, or wear one if you didn't earn it.

 

Not to compare the act of finding a geocache with that of winning the Medal of Honor, but say Bob Q. Cacher bags bags a 5/5 cache that only 2 out of 100 cachers were able to find. He can rightfully feel a sense of accomplishment and pride.

 

Now if a bunch of frauds log finds on the cache it won't lessen Bob Q. Cacher's personal sense of accomplishment. You can't take that away from Bob. However it can diminish the community's perception of Bob's accomplishment because people will be wondering whether Bob is just another phony. Bob doesn't deserve that.

 

As the 2004 and 2006 winner, I can vouch that Briansnat's claims of wins in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 are true (though I felt that I should have won in 2008 but the he unjustly influenced the vote, not that I'm bitter) :)

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As the 2004 and 2006 winner, I can vouch that Briansnat's claims of wins in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 are true (though I felt that I should have won in 2008 but the he unjustly influenced the vote, not that I'm bitter ) :)

 

For a second there, I thought you said "not that I'm Bittsen" LOL!!!

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As the 2004 and 2006 winner, I can vouch that Briansnat's claims of wins in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 are true (though I felt that I should have won in 2008 but the he unjustly influenced the vote, not that I'm bitter) :)

 

No no! I wasn't saying that the claims aren't true and I apologize if it seemed like that! I just want to know what the award is! Again, not at all trying to malign anyone or say that their honors are misclaimed. Seriously just curious about what that award is :) Grats on dethroning the king for those two years :D

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As the 2004 and 2006 winner, I can vouch that Briansnat's claims of wins in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 are true (though I felt that I should have won in 2008 but the he unjustly influenced the vote, not that I'm bitter ) :)

 

For a second there, I thought you said "not that I'm Bittsen" LOL!!!

 

I don't care who ya are. That there is funny!

 

larry.jpg

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As the 2004 and 2006 winner, I can vouch that Briansnat's claims of wins in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 are true (though I felt that I should have won in 2008 but the he unjustly influenced the vote, not that I'm bitter) :)

 

No no! I wasn't saying that the claims aren't true and I apologize if it seemed like that! I just want to know what the award is! Again, not at all trying to malign anyone or say that their honors are misclaimed. Seriously just curious about what that award is :) Grats on dethroning the king for those two years :D

 

Look, if you have doubts about the legitimacy of the award, you can call the board that selects the winner. It consists of my wife, step-daughter, mother. father and Aunt Jean. I'm still upset at the fact they chose Clan_Barron in 2004 and 2006.

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As the 2004 and 2006 winner, I can vouch that Briansnat's claims of wins in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 are true (though I felt that I should have won in 2008 but the he unjustly influenced the vote, not that I'm bitter) :D

 

No no! I wasn't saying that the claims aren't true and I apologize if it seemed like that! I just want to know what the award is! Again, not at all trying to malign anyone or say that their honors are misclaimed. Seriously just curious about what that award is :D Grats on dethroning the king for those two years :)

 

Look, if you have doubts about the legitimacy of the award, you can call the board that selects the winner. It consists of my wife, step-daughter, mother. father and Aunt Jean. I'm still upset at the fact they chose Clan_Barron in 2004 and 2006.

:):):D:P:D:grin::D:D:D

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2003 is in serious contention, even now. Auntie Weasel won it. NO DOUBT on that. Then she briefly moved to the UK and briansnat thought he could usurp the title, given that the Weasel was no longer a U.S. Geocacher.

I was second and it's mine, mine, mine. Or given that MzWeasel is now back in the U.S., maybe it's hers (?)

 

I've been quietly negotiating behind the scenes on this for some time. 'snat continues to be obdurate. And Aunt Jean! dang. Talk about trying to move mountains.....

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As the 2004 and 2006 winner, I can vouch that Briansnat's claims of wins in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 are true (though I felt that I should have won in 2008 but the he unjustly influenced the vote, not that I'm bitter) :)

 

No no! I wasn't saying that the claims aren't true and I apologize if it seemed like that! I just want to know what the award is! Again, not at all trying to malign anyone or say that their honors are misclaimed. Seriously just curious about what that award is :) Grats on dethroning the king for those two years :D

 

Look, if you have doubts about the legitimacy of the award, you can call the board that selects the winner. It consists of my wife, step-daughter, mother. father and Aunt Jean. I'm still upset at the fact they chose Clan_Barron in 2004 and 2006.

 

Ohh... I get it now :P I really wasn't questioning the legitimacy of the award or anything... I've just always been curious about it seeing it in your forum title. There's lots of geocaching I don't know about so I didn't know if it was a national award or a regional accolade or a neat thing that your family did :D It's neat. Thanks for the clarification!

 

Edited to add: I was thinking it was maybe something from geowoodstock or something... The fact that it was not every year made me think that it was a big national award. I really wasn't questioning the legitimacy of the award -- if someone put "world's best father" it similarly wouldn't bother me... Just in this case I didn't know what it was and was curious if it were something sanctioned that I didn't know about :grin: Thanks again for the clarification.

Edited by mrbort
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As the 2004 and 2006 winner, I can vouch that Briansnat's claims of wins in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 are true (though I felt that I should have won in 2008 but the he unjustly influenced the vote, not that I'm bitter) :)

 

No no! I wasn't saying that the claims aren't true and I apologize if it seemed like that! I just want to know what the award is! Again, not at all trying to malign anyone or say that their honors are misclaimed. Seriously just curious about what that award is :) Grats on dethroning the king for those two years :D

 

Look, if you have doubts about the legitimacy of the award, you can call the board that selects the winner. It consists of my wife, step-daughter, mother. father and Aunt Jean. I'm still upset at the fact they chose Clan_Barron in 2004 and 2006.

 

Ohh... I get it now :P I really wasn't questioning the legitimacy of the award or anything... I've just always been curious about it seeing it in your forum title. There's lots of geocaching I don't know about so I didn't know if it was a national award or a regional accolade or a neat thing that your family did :D It's neat. Thanks for the clarification!

 

Edited to add: I was thinking it was maybe something from geowoodstock or something... The fact that it was not every year made me think that it was a big national award. I really wasn't questioning the legitimacy of the award -- if someone put "world's best father" it similarly wouldn't bother me... Just in this case I didn't know what it was and was curious if it were something sanctioned that I didn't know about :grin: Thanks again for the clarification.

 

Oh, it's a legit national award alright. Hence US Geocacher of the Year.

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As the 2004 and 2006 winner, I can vouch that Briansnat's claims of wins in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 are true (though I felt that I should have won in 2008 but the he unjustly influenced the vote, not that I'm bitter) :)

 

No no! I wasn't saying that the claims aren't true and I apologize if it seemed like that! I just want to know what the award is! Again, not at all trying to malign anyone or say that their honors are misclaimed. Seriously just curious about what that award is :) Grats on dethroning the king for those two years :D

 

Look, if you have doubts about the legitimacy of the award, you can call the board that selects the winner. It consists of my wife, step-daughter, mother. father and Aunt Jean. I'm still upset at the fact they chose Clan_Barron in 2004 and 2006.

 

Ohh... I get it now :P I really wasn't questioning the legitimacy of the award or anything... I've just always been curious about it seeing it in your forum title. There's lots of geocaching I don't know about so I didn't know if it was a national award or a regional accolade or a neat thing that your family did :D It's neat. Thanks for the clarification!

 

Edited to add: I was thinking it was maybe something from geowoodstock or something... The fact that it was not every year made me think that it was a big national award. I really wasn't questioning the legitimacy of the award -- if someone put "world's best father" it similarly wouldn't bother me... Just in this case I didn't know what it was and was curious if it were something sanctioned that I didn't know about :grin: Thanks again for the clarification.

 

I appreciate you asking, Mrbort. I also thought it was an official award from Groundspeak or GeoWoodstock and my competitive sense had woken up and was making plans. I'm glad to know that I can cross this one off my personal list of angst.

 

Carolyn

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I appreciate you asking, Mrbort. I also thought it was an official award from Groundspeak or GeoWoodstock and my competitive sense had woken up and was making plans. I'm glad to know that I can cross this one off my personal list of angst.

 

Some people seem to think the "fix is in" but as the board has presented the award to others it is obvious that it is a fair, well thought out process.

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I appreciate you asking, Mrbort. I also thought it was an official award from Groundspeak or GeoWoodstock and my competitive sense had woken up and was making plans. I'm glad to know that I can cross this one off my personal list of angst.

 

Some people seem to think the "fix is in" but as the board has presented the award to others it is obvious that it is a fair, well thought out process.

 

You probably would have swept the awards if you had just cleaned out the garage in 2004 and not argued with your aunt in 2006 about if she could store her car in said garage. This brought the whole ugly incident on 2004 back up and there wasn't anything you could have done to pacify the board after that. Frankly I am quite surprised that they had calmed down by the 2007 nominations.

 

I am excited that for the first year I am in the top ten after coming in at 11th last year.

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I appreciate you asking, Mrbort. I also thought it was an official award from Groundspeak or GeoWoodstock and my competitive sense had woken up and was making plans. I'm glad to know that I can cross this one off my personal list of angst.

 

Some people seem to think the "fix is in" but as the board has presented the award to others it is obvious that it is a fair, well thought out process.

So what did you do to get yourself in the family Board of Directors doghouse in the off-years? :)
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As the 2004 and 2006 winner, I can vouch that Briansnat's claims of wins in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 are true (though I felt that I should have won in 2008 but the he unjustly influenced the vote, not that I'm bitter) :wub:

 

No no! I wasn't saying that the claims aren't true and I apologize if it seemed like that! I just want to know what the award is! Again, not at all trying to malign anyone or say that their honors are misclaimed. Seriously just curious about what that award is ;) Grats on dethroning the king for those two years :P

 

I think you're being hoodwinked. Besides, if there were such an honor, surely I'd qualify as much as anyone.

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That's funny, I am listed as the incumbant on the ballot I use.

 

Think that says 'recumbent'???

 

Bear in mind the BrianSnat is from North Joisey. Ever watch the Sopranos? Those of us in North Joisey are quite capable of using undue influence to change the outcome of elections. And remember what happens to those who oppose... The Meadowlands is a great place to lose people...

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