[OScubed]

Originally Posted by robostangs548

I mean, isn't that all part of the fun, i think that it is pretty awesome working under a ton of pressure with the "hype" up music blaring in the background and the crouds cheering.... I would have to say, that without the loud music, the competitions would be much less interesting....

don't get me wrong. I'm 47 but I love the pumpin' techno as much as the next guy. I was probably the one someone had to keep telling to sit down instead of dancing. But I was doing it with my earplugs in because it was too loud for too long. It's not the loudness in and of itself that's the issue, it's volume and duration that make the magic for ear damage. Anytime you're over 90db (and the measurements show that happened frequently and at least a few times during the event continuously) you are doing damage to your ears - damage that NEVER HEALS. It's cumulative over your lifetime. My dad is nearly deaf from lifetime exposure to loud noises - he now wears hearing aids in both ears and cannot carry on a conversation in a room of people because of hearing loss - even with the aids. I don't want to end up like him, nor do I want anyone on my team, (or my son) to end up the same way.

There is such a thing as building to a crescendo - and these guys apparently haven't heard of that. They just put it on "freakin loud" and left it there all day. For short durations (under an hour at say 95-96 db it's actually ok to have it loud. But not for 2 days straight.

Furthermore - I for one think it's WAY more fun to be able to hear the cheers of my team and the other teams than to hear announcing, music and buzzer sounds that drown everything out.