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At first I wasn't going to share this piece here because the topic is message boards themselves and Derek quite frankly isn't a fan. However, he has some ideas that you can either agree with or tear apart, to change and possibly make message boards better. More importantly, if you cannot laugh at his characterization of various people that you will find on message board sites then you might need to actively look for humor in your life. Enjoy!
http://www.wfopenwheel.com/2014/06/2...th-the-boards/ |
Re: Derek Fishers new blog post
I remember Derek Fisher. That's the guy who joined this forum just because he hated Bryan Clauson and continually bashed him, when BC was like 15 years old. I've read some of what he's written. He's not really a very creative guy. He's a one track race fan, who has a real small bag of metaphors that he uses over and over again to decscribe what he's seen. And there's one thing he's good at and that's taking cheap shots. Continually trying to tear Haubstadt down, even though he never goes there. This stool sample of an article is just another example. A long time ago, someone made him mad after he was taking cheap shots at Rich Vogler on the anniversary of Rich's death and he threw a hissy fit and stomped of, sending a PM to Bill, asking him to delete his account, as a last dramatic act.
And now all these years later, he's still trying to use what Bill has built here at IOW to make a name for himself. No matter how many cheap shots he takes, he'll never be read by even one five-hundreth of the number of people that anybody who shares their racing experience here on IOW will be. Jerry |
Re: Derek Fishers new blog post
I know Derek and definetly don't agree with everything he says, but there are some points on this that I feel are valid. Not all, but some.
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Re: Derek Fishers new blog post
Originally Posted by Jerry Shaw: |
Re: Derek Fishers new blog post
I agree with Shaw on this one, This guys got no ground to stand on as he was as guilty of negativity as anyone.
We'll call him. Hypocrite Guy |
Re: Derek Fishers new blog post
Is Derek, by chance, the son of Gary or Scott Fisher ?
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I haven't laughed that hard in a while. But it is really true in many aspects. Don't remember who it is but someone in this board wasn't allowed to have an opinion by the others because he didn't go to as many races as they did. I was there. It happened.
Do I agree with it all? Nope. Just like I didn't agree with the Dave darland article on many parts of it and hell I'm involved with the site and show. I'm thankful for this board. Bills an awesome dude for sure. But there sure are a lot of things that happen on here just like Derek describes. And I don't know Derek personally, but from the convos I've had with him? Stand up dude that for sure isn't afraid to stand behind a statement. Right or wrong. |
Originally Posted by : It's impossible to manage or "regulate" a message board exactly how every person wants it. It doesn't matter what I do, someone will always be happy and someone will always be "disgusted". Message boards aren't for everyone especially people who think their own opinion is flawless. The fist thing posted in the forum rules is this.... Originally Posted by : |
Originally Posted by Bill Gardner: |
Re: Derek Fishers new blog post
I think he said he was Gary's son in the piece about Dave Darland. I guess I agree with Charles. My problem is I don't see how he is any different (other than trying to make a better argument) than anyone who complains on here. I understand he's writing a blog & has to take a stand. I'm not going to make him out as the devil for his thoughts or even say I completely disagree. In my opinion if you aren't smart enough to weed out the bs on here or anywhere that's your fault. I for one can say that this site hasn't made me a fan, but it has made me a bigger fan. Helps me figure out where to go and stay connected to what's going on. I'm a big fan of horse racing & this site doesn't hold a candle to the complaining and hatred I see on some of their sites. If nobody had any opinions & didn't care it wouldn't be nearly as fun. I understand some of you are way more involved and it is way more serious than for me just the casual fan. For me racing is awesome. If it wasn't fun then I wouldn't want to go to the races every chance I get. Every time I go to the races I'm amazed. These guys are bad ass. Not only do they do things I can't do. They do things I can't even think about doing.
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Re: Derek Fishers new blog post
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. |
Re: Derek Fishers new blog post
Originally Posted by streetglider: 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 |
Re: Derek Fishers new blog post
Originally Posted by Jerry Shaw: But bottom line is Bill is right: It's impossible to keep everyone happy. He does the best job I've seen with an auto racing message board. My suggestion to the IOW faithful: Do something positive this week. P.S. I don't think Derek & I are related but there are times we think alike. Jim Fisher |
Originally Posted by fish: 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. |
Re: Derek Fishers new blog post
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. |
Re: Derek Fishers new blog post
Originally Posted by fish: |
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. |
Re: Derek Fishers new blog post
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
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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.
I'll hang in as long as I can. |
Re: Derek Fishers new blog post
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 |
Re: Derek Fishers new blog post
Originally Posted by Bill Gardner: On balance, IOW has been a plus. Bill is the main reason (of many) why this is so. In my aging eyes, he is a prince among men. He has endured and persevered. You don't have to like the guy as I do, but if one cannot admire or respect the man and what he's done here, it says more about you than him. I've learned to either laugh at much of what's posted here, take with a good sized grain of salt, or simply ignore it and consider the source. Now it's time to complain that LPS is rained out. Lovers are going to love, haters are going to hate, complainers are going to complain and funny guys are going to be funny--and so on. |
I will also say... There are only two message boards I've gone to in my life that's been a community. Here and onlineracing.cc back in the day.
There are always jackwagons and always will be. But we can all agree on one thing... At least its not hoseheads. |
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