Re: Bravo to the National Hurricane Center !!
Posted by Cape_Fear_NC on 8/24/2009, 11:05 am
Now that's a reply I can understand; thank you Derek.

If Bastardi is disrespectful to his peers, that is indeed unprofessional - but from my limited experience in seeing him on video - it seems not a habit. In fact, I've only seen him do it once - and that was years ago.

Some, heck - in this politically correct day and age, many - are nearly incapable of receiving criticism of any kind without getting bent out of shape. And countless people consider things to be "criticisms" when they are in fact not.

If I were to say "the NHC track is wrong because they don't know what they're doing" - that of course is a criticism - and a disrespectful one if I'm a peer.

But if I say "the NHC track is wrong because they're missing X, Y, and Z - am I criticizing them or am I simply being declarative?

You would make up your mind by watching my mannerisms - but reality is, you'd have no choice but to guess at my intent and all my inner feelings.

How YOU see Bastardi, and how I see Bastardi can be two very different things. You might see a criticism while I, a casual viewer who doesn't take things so seriously, do not.

What I do see with Bastardi, is a guy who doesn't take himself or the world too seriously. He's intelligent; has a friendly attitude; and is a great communicator. The NHC is a textbook; Bastardi a novel. Bastardi is to weather what Michener or Vidal is to history. And his sign-off leaves a pleasant, personal connection between Bastardi and the viewer. What more could I want?

If you don't like Bastardi because he's shown disrespect to his peers; fine - at least you're up front about it. (I figured I'd draw this truth out of someone one way or another.)  

And then you say something of great importance...

"...are his claims valid... we cannot quantitatively say because he never provides a specific forecast."

BINGO! TILT! BINGO! TILT! BINGO! TILT! BINGO! TILT!

I didn't hear you or anyone else speak up when the original poster said "Bastardi was off by 400 miles" even though anyone paying attention knew that was an INSANE statement.

I watched his videos and just as you said - THERE ARE NO BASTARDI TRACKS. He chats with the viewer about various possibilities, explains them in an interesting way, then selects the one or two most likely. The closest thing to a specific was his saying "I think Bill makes it to the 40/70 benchmark." So it didn't - whattya wanna do, shoot him? LOL!

He ain't giving away specifics in public when he has his own private service - why in the world should he? Businesses pay him for information of all sorts, all year round. If there was a better, cheaper source - they'd go elsewhere.  Simple logic that leads again to the point - Bastardi wears many hats, he's not a competitor to the NHC so why do so many act like he is?

Thanks for replying; and I hope you have an exciting season!

Tim in NC


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Bravo to the National Hurricane Center !! - HSNN4, 8/22/2009, 9:26 pm
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