Morning All, having suffered probably one of the worst weekends in my pigeon career, thought I would put out a thread giving food for thought. 1. Were the pigeons that I was going to send racing bred for the job. I.E. From sound healthy stock, breeding birds that perform. 2. Were they in good health. Each to their own here, ours are treated as required at start of season and subsequently throughout season if a problem arises. 3. Were they given the fuel to fly the appropriate distance. Again each to their own, my opinion that the days of tic beans/wheat and fresh water are long gone. 4. Did I do my homework regarding weather conditions for racing. Have spoken to numerous fanciers at marking that are of the attitude "it's Friday so it's race day no matter what" On the subject of sending or not sending, the final decision lies with the individual fancier whether to send or not to send. Control the race yourself, don't go blaming somebody else. If you look in the mirror, sometimes the person at fault is looking back at you. This is by no means a defence of controllers, they act on information available to them, remember many of them have their own birds on the transporter. Lastly, if you think you are up to any of the posts that get blamed, unjustly on occasion, get along to your Club, Federation or National, and put yourself in the "hot" seat Hope this post gives food for thought and wish all a good, rest of seaon. AW THE BEST P.S. I have not gone into the BOP problem on purpose, only tried to cover the areas that we have direct control over.