As noted by Paul Fisher on another forum, it seems that there has been a decided lack of enthusiastic banter leading up to next week's York Meet.
I'm kind of interested in knowing if others also share this view, and how they might account for it.
In all the years I've been on this forum, I can't recall a single other occasion where there appeared to be less interest in the meet, and less discussion related to it.
I will be very interested in learning--if possible--how the attendance pans out at the event next week. When I attend, I usually use parking lot availability (or lack thereof) as a measure of the meet's overall attendance. I do not give much credence to the Eastern Division's "official" figure, released after the meet, because that includes far too many folks like me who have registered to go (this time at least) but who do not attend. It's also somewhat skewed in other ways.
Perhaps it has something to do with the lagging economy? Or, perhaps it's somehow related to uncertainty prompted by the government slowdown/shutdown? Or, maybe it's just a matter of many folks having more than enough trains and preferring to just avoid the travel expenses? Then again, maybe it's a function of changing demographics? Could even be that lifting the cellphone ban has taken some steam out of the discussion and that forum members haven't come up with a new target for their views.
Whatever the reason or reasons, I find it kind of interesting...