Originally I was going to add this to the long list of comments concerning this event. However, this is not really about the event, but rather about the ensuing comments. The internet provides the public with a potentially wonderful venue in which people can express their opinions. We hope that the majority of these will be civil, informed and thoughtfully considered. Sadly this is often not true. When one reads posts that include phrases such as: "sounds like" or "I heard on Facebook" or "you can clearly see" the reader should be ready with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Comments by monkeyboy, larsonfan, flatrightrear and others of the same ilk exemplify the worst of what I speak. One wonders what is the goal of such comments, is it to inform, show empathy, or as I feel to simply inflame.

Wouldn't it be more prudent at a time like this to measure one's words and to wait until all the objective information can be gathered. I have logged thousands of miles in a small sailboat on the ocean and have faced emergencies of varying kinds. First rule is to stay calm, evaluate the situation and act rationally. I think the same thing applies here.

I once heard that great western philosopher Bubba the Love Sponge say (and I paraphrase here). "The internet may destroy us all". I hope not because it holds such great potential for positive discourse on such sites as this one.

That thread is now gone. And any thread that ever degenerates to that level will be, also.

Jerry

Agreed! Well spoken!

I wanted to take the opportunity to copy a couple of the forum rules below. I would encourage everyone to keep these in mind when posting and remember why my husband created this site!

1. Be Polite. This message board will be a fun, positive place to socialize and share information. All members must be treated in a respectful and adult manner. Do not attempt to disrupt the community in any way.

3. No "Flaming". Please do not post any messages that harass, insult, belittle, threaten or flame another member or guest.

I believe people should just offer alot of prayers, and remember the golden rule...

Yes, you you have a right to free speech, but not on a internet board that is privately owned and operated. The owner of the site sets the rules and regulations, and when you sign up and agree to these rules and regulations, you give up your right to free speech.

Please stop! We all got views and opinions and a group of either view is going to agree or disagree. IT HELPS NOTHING at this point.

Pray or give thoughts to all involved.
A young man is gone, Many lives are changed. It is really the only right thing to do at this point, Let the investigators investigate. Let a judge and jury decide.

Chuck

It is truly a shame that the thread is gone because I wanted to sort through it to see if I could gather any meaningful clues, reports from the ground, or other evidence to give me an idea of what happened. Now it is gone. Burn the whole library to the ground because it contains some banned books?

The right to free speech only ensures the government will not prosecute you for what you say. Whenever one of my employees bring this up i explain this to them. I also tell them if they work at McDonald's and someone orders a cheeseburger and you tell them to f off the government will not come arrest you. However you will probably find yourself with out a job. The same principle applies here. If your comment or thread is deleted your right to freedom of speech has not been compromised. If the government arrests you for your opinion on dirt track racing let us know because that does infringe on your rights.

# 1, This is an incredible tragedy, everyone involved deserves our thoughts and prayers.
# 2, Take a look over at the other message board, do we want this here? NO.

The media will have a field day with this. Our sport is about to experience un presented negative exposure.
Quibbling on a message message board over your freedom of speech at a time like this is mind blowing.

I applaud the monitor for taking steps to reign in things in this case. The ceaseless insanity that is on the web has done and will continue to do great harm to our sport. We all need to take a big breath here, this situation is going to have serious repercussions for all of us.

To the family and friends of all involved, you are in my family's thoughts and prayers.

Frank