Make new fans? Hurt the sport? Not from my view. Yeah theres the Wing vs NW and etc.
About the only thing I'd agree with him on is the Annonymity. That B.S if someones not got their name in their board name or signature.
I can tell you about ten things the boards have helped for me.
1. I sat in the same damn grandstand as a heck of a lot of good people for years, Even decades and never met them. Some of us don't even see eye to eye on tons of issues but at the track, We're fans and somewhat family and I sure as heck am glad I met em. Can say Hi to em every week or two. Keep track of em and help if I can when bad things happen.
2. Terre Haute, Face it, THE TRACK WAS GONE. Id never gone and other than a few people in years past saying it was something to see. I thought I never would get the chance too after D.A ran it into the ground. If not for this board and a ton of fan support. Even USAC leasing the track a few times. IM Possitive I'd of never got to see what's become my favorite track in Indiana for Sprint Cars.
3. I know one things for CERTAIN. Its used as a marketing tool by promoters and even fans to get the word out and maybe not making new fans, It can sure as heck get more fans to a track, Than what would have been without every tom, dick and henry on here telling people what they've found out. Oh, Terre Haute is running sunday, Spring Fling? I didn't know nothing about it. Thanks for telling me.
4. Can save everyone a hell of a lot of money, perhaps hes right a board should have a membership fee but I can find as many reasons against that. Some mentioned here as to not too. Bill has a donate button, Top of the page! The save money is, You can find out a race has been cancelled, INSTANTLY instead of spending mass fuel money to get there and find out its cancelled looking around and wondering why like every other person who pulls in. Oh, ITS A DARF, HARF, BARC NIGHT? Cool beans! I can make that show. Buy a dog and a drink and still be ahead or take a friend or the kids and be out less than I would have or actually be able to go instead of renting a movie.
5. Made the sport a lot more than just the racing to me. I bet I've met a couple hundred people from this site alone and probably a third of them from way out of state. Its fun to get to a track way early and just bench race with people.
6. Since the boards came about and a few other reasons, Sprint Week, Midget week and several other weekends aren't mainly just local fans. It's INTERNATIONAL and draws tons of states instead of just OH, IN, IL.
7. Every track has improved in some way.
8. I notice more fans in the stands and I think thats a credit to the promoters taking into account the things they learn that they can control. Good track, clean restrooms. decent food and being able to get the word out in many ways. The boards included.
9. The ability to quash a rumor or falsehood almost before it gets started. Oh, Gas City made no effort to run, What a crock. Hey Buddy! The track was raceable, But the parking lots were mud pits because of the 4 inches or rain this week or even the parking lot and entry were flooded as was the case at the Burg one week a couple years ago, Complete with a pic of the promotor in a Kayak in the parking lot.
10. Friends made through racing and or the boards. Lost but not forgotten.
Originally Posted by streetglider:
Jerry, don't forget the recent thread that Derek posted that blasted Dave Darland. That post was pathetic as well.
Yep, that's the same guy. Dave was his other target. For some reason he doesn't like him at all. So he would have had a real bad time if he went to Bloomington Speedway, tonight. Even if you're not a Darland fan, how could you not at the very least, have a ton of respect for him.
The bottom line is, ANYBODY who's ever came to this message board because of their love of racing, has been welcomed. That's what this place is all about. Some of the best people I've ever met are because of Bill Gardner and Indiana Open Wheel. Many of which I will now be friends with for life. But if you're someone who comes in here to cause trouble or to just litter the place with a bunch of negativity and only negativity, then you're going to have problems. Because the people who enjoy this place don't have a lot of tolerance for that. And that's what that guy did, so he didn't have a positive IOW experience.
But this is a guy who uses negativity to get attention, so I need to stop, because I've given his rant more attention that it deserved.
Jerry
A man is about as big as the things that make him angry.
Originally Posted by fish:
Make a name for himself on a message board? Now that's funny right there.
Jim Fisher
Enough about Derek's rant... He's entitled to his opinion and he chooses to stay away. I'm fine with that.
Jim, that one actually makes sense.
I started this website way back when. I was a nobody, Not a single person in pits or grandstands knew who I was and I was fine with that. I wasn't there for them. I was there for me.
As this site got bigger and bigger I began to meet people. Some pleasant folks, some moronic folks, and then there's the people who you admire. Everyone knows there names.
To my surprise, some of those people wanted to meet me.
To this very day I'm friends with so many great people who I respect. And none of those friendships would've been possible if it weren't for my ownership of IOW. I created IOW but IOW really made this Bill Gardner.
Regardless of what anyone says about my efforts here. I will be leaving with more friends than I started with. I'm still a nobody but a few people now know my name because of a message board.
Bill, I think you do a great job with this board. I bet you wish you could control people's thoughts. Charles, the point you made about meeting people that you saw all the time, but never knew who they were, is a big plus for this board. It is probably the best part.
I am going to share a private story. One that was intrusted to me by one of my best friends, that I have never shared. I had a friend named Randy Mortland, who I met many years ago at Terre Haute. Last year during Sprintweek he was terminally ill, and too sick to attend. It was the first time since USAC had become part of the event that he was unable to attend. To say he was bummed out would be a huge understatement. He got on here to follow what was going on and he told me all everyone was doing was complaining. Too many seats were saved, the bleachers are uncomfortable, this place won't let me bring in, what I want. The track is too dusty. They watered and now the track is too wet. He said he would have given anything to be there, and all anybody was doing was complaining. He then wrote a long post telling everyone they needed to quit complaining, and realize it ain't that bad. After he wrote it he reread and was going to post it. He said it bothered him so much that he just shut off his computer and cried. As I said before, For sure I don't agree with everything Derek says or does, But a lot of negativity can be generated here. This sure as hell isn't Bill's fault. It is ours. If you want to make Derek look bad, all everyone has to do is clean up their act. My friend passed away shortly before hot laps of the final night of the Smackdown. If he would have posted that, I believe it would have been his last post. Just something to think about.
Brent, I'm sure Randy and I share similiar thoughts. I've experienced those moments myself. I'm an extremely aged cancer patient. I've been considered terminally ill for roughly 3 years and fighting it for 17 more years. Right now, I'm experiencing the most continuous physical pain I've had in 20 years. My days going to the track to watch the driving studs are pretty much over.
I feel like the "family" atmosphere or whatever you want to call it, that created many of my early friendships is no longer present on IOW.
A couple weeks ago and for the first time since I've owned this site I looked into when/how I could shutdown IOW. I recognize the problems. I wish the solutions were as easy as deleteing posts, banning members or enforcing rules but they're not. People have to choose useful information over useless info and they must want the friendly atmosphere. If they don't want it ... It won't happen.
It's seems to me people would much rather live in their own little world. For the most part message boards expose people to a wide variety of thoughts and opinions. Some are obviously moronic but that is part of it. If people want useful information they must be willing to correct people or contact me when they think something needs changed.
Do you want to guess how many reported posts I've had in the last 2 years. Other than spammers... You can count them using 2 hands. 2 years.
For now, I've provided the platform... If you use it right it can be useful.
As I said I think you do a great job, and the good outweighs the bad. Sorry if the story hit too close to home. I wish I could have said it so everyone other than you could have read it. There are many terrible things that happen in life, but other than death or injury none of them happen at the racetrack. That stuff is minor. Going back to what you said about people wanting to meet you. I remember meeting you at a HARF banquet, and I remembered you from working on Brian's car when I worked at Kokomo Speedway. Hang in there
I'm glad you shared the story, you didn't bother me at all. I'm dying. It's part of life. Like I said... I'm an aged cancer patient. My emotions have been hardened over time. That's why I call so many people jack wagon.
In this area, we're all so lucky. We have one of, if not the best racing scene in the whole country. People all over the racing World would give anything to be us. Some move here so they can be one of us. The land is dotted with little dirt ovals, some of which are between 50 and 100 years old. And if those ovals could talk or write, they could not only write a book, but they could all write a novel that could rival War and Peace. You can go to any of these tracks on any given weekend night and quite possibly walk away having seen the best race you've ever seen or at least the best one you've seen in a very long time. If you walk into every race track with an open mind. It's best one to view a race with, any way.
Occasionally, you go to the track and the track it's self throws you a stinker. But that's just part of it. A small part. 10 percent or less. But the percentage of complaining in message boards like this one is way higher than that, because some people spend most of their time focusing on what they don't like, as opposed to what they do like. In my definition, that's what known as the key to unhappiness. And that's not just on the message boards. It's at the track. too. I know people who are at 60-70-80 races a year, that when I'm at a race, I won't sit with, because all I'm going to hear about is:
-How they would be doing track prep if they were in charge.
-What drivers they hate.
-How the other track sucks.
-How dusty it is.
-How late the show's running.
-etc., etc.
That's just the way some people are. And some of them are good people, but for some reason, it's just their nature. So, it's just not something that happens on Bill's board. Bill's board is just a microcosm of our racing scene, it's self. It ought to be, after all. There are over 7,200 registered members here on IOW. There have been up to 2500 people on here at one time. And their are routinely 400-500 people on here at some peak times during the week, so there are VERY FEW places that more race fans, drivers, teams, etc. from our race scene congregate, than do here on IOW. So, yes you can make a name here on IOW. Every time I go to any track, I can put a name to at least 100 faces. And that's because of Bill's board. Did I have to put up with or wade my way though a bunch of stupid and/or negative posts to get to that? Yes I did! But the good out weighs the bad. The good, lively debate with people who know their racing and real time, up to the minute racing news I get here outweighs the crybabies, whiners and dumb asses, who's posts I mostly don't even read.
Jerry
A man is about as big as the things that make him angry.
Even if you're not a Darland fan, how could you not at the very least, have a ton of respect for him.
