...Yep, there's a lot of that going around these days, sad to say. Just
recently someone made some claim that Tim Suddard and a batch of BMW folks
promoting the new Mini had no business being at Nationals. But we have yet
to hear from that person any concrete reasons for such an accusation. Maybe
that person came back from lunch and found a Mini blocking access to their
paddock spot or something, guess we'll never know.
> mjb
Well Mark, I think this little topic has gone on too long and as someone has
put it, gotten too vitriolic. But you have weighed in and asked a question.
If anybody on this list deserves an answer and an apology, its you. I based
my original opinion and qualifying for the Nationals on the paradigm of
qualifying for the Runoffs. When I was a teenager, my father raced and we
went to the runoffs in 1974. My thought was, the SCCA Runoffs represent a
culmination of a season of hard work. Only the best from each division get
to go. So even the guy/gal who finishes last in his/her respective race
knows that irrespective of the finishing order, every competitor in the race
is a cut above all the other National racers who did not even qualify. I
then attempted to transfer that same paradigm to the SoloII Nationals,
saying that I thought that only the best should get to go to that event. I
reasoned that with the current all-comers setup, the last place finisher in
a particular class could indeed be the worst autocrosser in the nation. The
remark about Tim and the BMW guys sprung from that. To be precise, I said
that I thought the BMW guys didn't belong there, not Tim. My reasoning (at
the time) was that GRM should not be hijacking the SCCA Nationals into a
personal corporate shmooz event and that the Beemer guys did not represent
serious, committed SoloII'ers. (irrespective of whether they are "great
guys" or their previous/subsequent motorsports activity). Then of course,
there was my comment that "any bozo can compete". Some took that to mean
that I thought it was easy to win a National. My intent was exactly the
opposite. In fact, I was including myself in the "bozos". As I've said to
others, it just seemed wrong to me that someone like myself (having not
actively autocrossed in years), could take my (automatic transmission) Dodge
Neon commuter car and enter a National Championship event with no prior
qualification.
If you look at the digest, you will see that I made my original post (which
was about the need to attract new members), and was immediately answered by
hostility (I believe my opinion was dismissed as "complete and total
BULLSHIT"). Perhaps its my competitive nature or just inherent in my
personality, but I have never been one to "turn the other cheek". I tend to
answer hostility with hostility. The thread then escalated to someone
publicly challenging me to express my views, " then let the rest of the
world explain why it won't work". From there the thread just went from bad
to worse. Many things were posted, by myself and others "in the heat of the
moment" that might not have been posted if heads were cooler.
Over the past 24 hours, I have read several very thoughtful answers from
Rocky Entriken and others. These thoughtful responses have educated me a
great deal on the subject of the SoloII Nationals and made me rethink
the items outlined in my first paragraph. As Rocky put it "Crowning a
national champion is almost a byproduct". I had not accounted for the
social aspect of the event, which (from some responses I got), certainly
equals and may surpass even the competition part of it. If the first
responses I had received were as equally well thought out, I am sure that
the hullabaloo that ensued never would have happened. I would have made my
initial post, I would have been intelligently informed about "why" its the
way it is, and we would have all moved on to other topics. But that is not
what happened...
Anyway, I apologize to you Mark, and any of the innocent bystanders to this
episode who were offended, or annoyed, or just got their mailboxes filled up
with all this stuff. I've learned my lesson. You can be sure that I will
not be a part of any episodes like this in the future.
Hugh Barber
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