I would like to thank Alydar, because without Patent's post from the Ragozin board I think I look like I'm nuts here.

Tone is a very subjective thing, but anyone can see the difference between Patent's respective posts on the Sheets site and the TG site. This is what I take issue with, not the Rags v. TG method argument.

As for censorship policies, there are basically NO posts on the Rag board that are critical of anything they do, whether it is handicapping related or on any other subject. Nobody is right all the time, and the compulsion to try to create what Jerry Jr. refers to a 'clutter free' environment is interesting given the obvious knowledge that Friedman and others bring to the table. Every prognosticator has to face the chant of "you suck" now and then. The way I look at it, a person who hasn't heard that they suck hasn't really lived.

This whole 'clutter' thing is baloney anyway. It's not like using a scroll bar or clicking a mouse qualifies as hard work. Click, push, move on. Next case.

As for the figure making method, from what I know, the wild card in this, the one thing that will separate the products (assuming equal trackman input) is the variant, or what you add or knock off the numbers. This is not a scientific formula. The equation for wind resistance is a scientific formula. Variant making is totally subjective, and whether it's Jerry or Ragozin doing it, you are paying for their judgement of the vast accumulation of races they have seen on each circuit. No matter what numbers you prefer, no matter what the weight each figure maker assigns to each variant variable, you are paying for an opinion, not a fact. I'm not that dogmatic on Rags vs. TG since I've seen guys get good results with both. The person interpeting the figures is probably the biggest part of the success equation for both products. HP