@Skull:
He can use sniping, but hes not limited to sniping. Notice during his fight with Luffy that he didn't use anything that could be considered sniping practically at all, while he was more than capable of close range fighting with the dials and all. A well rounded Usopp who uses what he has to his advantage is what I want. Not a plain sniper. I want Usopp to actually get some confidence and development and not have his character reduced to just a sniper.
That's why he lost. Usopp knew that at close range, Luffy dominated. That's why he used the impact dial and the caltrops to distract him while he filled the air with gas. When he fired the fire star to ignite the gas, he was a great distance (the explosion was huge). But once Luffy ignored his distractions and got in close, he finished Usopp in a single punch.
Time and time again, Usopp's ranged skills are what have helped him most. On Little Garden, he sniped Mr. 5 with a hot sauce star, Burned Luffy's shirt in order to break him from Goldenweek's hypnotism, and set fire to the rope that blew up the Candle Set.
It's been shown in other arcs, too. During the Chuu fight, when Usopp was in close range, he got clobbered. But when he got a distance from himself and Chuu, he managed to ignite him by breaking booze on him and then setting fire to it. The Usopp Hammer X 5 and rubber band combo was just a finish to that.
Usopp uses his brains and his sniping skill together to succeed. His melee skill isn't all that great,
Usopp could easily make something like what Nami has for himself by the way, if Oda let him. Having Nami being able to force Kalifa to lose (she should of won easily) and kill tons and tons of Marine fodder whole Usopp gets none at all is the problem. And all of Usopps stuff would "cut it".
Usopp got his numerous fodder marines to fight and did snipe them, including Spandam. It was the lack of a greater villian that's the reason he didn't shine in the arc.
But I do agree about Nami's fight being stupid. If Calipha had stuck to her Rokushiki entirely and not her power, Nami would've been owned.