new Lottery for Kona

I see your point, but...

Where would they get all those tear-jerker stories of people missing the cutoff to show on CBS in December, if they didn't have a lottery? I enjoy watching the pros, but I really get into the age-grouper stories they feature during the edited broadcast. It's the one time of year a few Americans actually have a chance to be exposed to Ironman, and I think many of us here on BT were probably inspired by watching those broadcasts. If it were all pros, probably no one would think, "Maybe I can do that someday."
 

If that was really true,, then they should only have the pro's..   regardless of time.. AG'ers are just AG'ers

I"d think that someone who has finished 12+ IM's would be doing this a while and have pretty decent times anyway.

I'm all for the changes.  As someone who has historically had horrible luck on anything involving random chance I like the idea of increasing my odds the longer I keep trying.  

Now as for lottery or no lottery, I agree that having the AG'ers of all abilities makes the race so much more special.  If they made it only based on qualification times and let in AG qualifyers who have finished in under 12 hours for example then it makes the last 5 hours of Kona non existent.

I think it's great.  I can think of a lot of very talented and able IMers who will now get their chance after being VERY close to the cutoffs (or not) in their other IMs.  

I've been thinking about Biggest Loser's Tara Costa and her day at Kona.   I think she did GREAT on a challenging day and had a very respectable sub-14 race.  But, she was the last person in her age group (ahead of the DNS/DNFs).   I would have a hard time with that because it sucks to be last in a race like this, so I give her a lot of props for making it happen and doing well in my opinion.

But somewhere in-between the super fast folks and the people who have friends at NBC we have a lot of people who would just like their turn in the sun.    As long as there's any sort of lottery, I think this is a fantastic change.

I'm not so sure I like the automatic entry if you've done 12.

That's all well and good RIGHT NOW, but 6-9 years from now that will be an impossible bargain to uphold without expanding the race.

I do like the "more chances the more times you've entered the lottery".  Definitely cool!

x2.

It always amazes me the amount of time we'll spend debating how WTC should run THEIR corporation.

I love the change, gives me a chance someday.

The general consensus I'm reading at ST from those in the new system is that it seems the slots come from lottery slots. This can only INCREASE the talent in the field overall, as some of those lottery slots that would have gone to a one-and-done person, will go to regular IM finishers.

I'll never get there any way but lottery, but I wouldn't have any problem having them make it harder on a guy like me to get there. For that matter, the AG slots should only go to 140.6 races, not 70.3.

All that said, don't forget the lottery is not a new concept, but the everyman component of it is vital to its roots and growth. And there are what, 200 slots out of 1800? That's barely more than 11%.

Kona is several races in one, and that's part of its appeal. I watched the pro men and women finish live online, went to bed, got up and watched the last 5 minutes of the finish line. If Chrissie and Craig can be there for those folks too, that tells me something about the character of the uniqueness of this world championship.

Exactly.  At least for now, the number of lottery participants won't increase and not everyone who has done 12 or more will get in the first time around.   It just makes the people who get in a little bit more qualified to be there.

 Yea.. like the 70.3 when it was in Clearwater, 

 True, but an amatuer is still an amatuer, People don't tune in to watch the TV broadcast for AG athletes, unless it's family. It's the special interest stories and the Pros are what have driven the ratings making it what it is today.

Plus doing 12 doesnt' guarentee a person a slot for that year, just gets them on a seperate list of entries taken from the lotto pool. It could take years once a person completes 12 before they head to the island, and I'm still of the opinion that a person that has done at least 12 IM's through the years will most likley have a better finishing time than a lotto person that has just entered that is new to the sport. So the thought process of it watering down things is mute IMHO

While you're correct that it could take a while, I doubt that it will take years--especially after the first couple of years under the new system. 12-time IM finishers is going to be a fairly small group.  12-time finishers that want to do Kona even smaller. Will be interesting to see.

From what I understand, if you've ever been to Kona you are not eligible.  So the list of people who have done 12+ and not Kona should be pretty small.