Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

From its founding year in 1998 (I believe, it all runs together) until about five years or so ago, this dayum message board was one of the best out there for sprint car people - if not THE best. We had Mr. hoser himself join and create topics, drivers, owners, owners wifes, series officials, just people in the know posting topics that were of interest and if somebody had an opinion we all agreed to disagree. There was none of this "I know what I am talking about and you don't" crap. There were no belittling of companies or full-fledge verbal/posting assaults on drivers. We liked who we liked and we disliked who we disliked - and everybody was okay with that.

But my how things have changed and it is not for the better. Is it the younger generation that is getting on here thinking they know everything? Are some middle aged and new to the internet that they think they know more than those of us that frequent here?

I will continue to come here and check things out, just as I did when this message board/hoseheads was founded, but they day of looking forward to reading each and every post is long gone as it sickens me what I read. Thus I will continue to not read as such.

And we wonder why dirt track racing, and maybe racing in general, is in a sad state of affairs.

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

Member of this message board since 1997

Me too, Hawker.

Ah hell I was close, started writing my tidbits columns for him right around there and then Jeff developed the tidbits website as a piolot project and that was 1998 but hoser and I were right there with each other.

Either/or statement still stands...

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

No doubt!

Everything always turns n2 a pissing contest!

David,

My sentiments exactly. Younger people these days,have no "hero" with any integrity possibly. ( I hear this all the time from the educated people anway). Who knows.

I would say at least sprint car racing would have to have another Ted Johnson, to rekindle the good things back into open wheel racing.

Think about it, ,once Ted sold WOO were has the integreity went,at least at the sprint car racing level. Very much the same situation when the original generation passes their "business" to the second generation. Down the tubes she goes,,,,usually,,, the time frame just varies,,from business to business?

Sort of the same scenario with individuals involved at various levels in motorsports in general including posters to this MB...

I guess I may be too old.

You brought out a very current but, sort of depressing state of affairs in open wheel racing .

Thanks for kicking this out into peoples minds... Food for thought!

Take Care

BC

Are we dating ourselves again?

Stan Meissner

I miss it too. It was great when it was a "one stop shopping" for information etc.

Everything changes but the older I git the more I resist the changes, just a fact of life I guess. I used to read the NSSN on my dad's lap and became a life long subscriber. I realized the internet would effect it but never envisioned causing its demise. I just knew that Dave Argabright would inherit Cris E's leadership. Someday Alan's life work will be replaced too but for now it is the current racer's bible I enjoy it as that. It has and will undergo changes, not all of which I welcome but I gladly tolerate.

Keep up the good work Alan and thanks.

I've been running a racing website since sometime around late 1996 and got my domain in early 1999 which was around the same time as HH's. I believe that we both originally had message boards provided by a company called "Inside the Web" that ended up going out of business. The way I remember it is that the HH family of forums were started a couple of years after we had acquired our domains in 1999 but the exact timing is a moot point.

I'm not claiming to have ever done a racing website on the scale of Hoseheads, I've got a day job and no desire to be that busy. Nevertheless, I have dabbled in the web enough over the years that I think I've got a handle on the direction things are going.

This is just my opinion but I think that the new social media like Facebook and Twitter along with YouTube channels and streaming audio/video are making the biggest inroads into the territory of the traditional photos and text type racing websites and message boards. I get most of my information from other sources these days and I think it's just the direction the internet racing consumer is heading. For example I had some setbacks recently that are forcing me to sit out the month of June from racing and hopefully start back up next month. I like the UMSS, the IRA and the Outlaws along with Knoxville and Husets because they race in our area. On Sunday I was able to watch the UMSS Features and the IRA Feature. If I had not been busy on Saturday night I could have listened to the Outlaws or Knoxville and followed some of the racers that post live on Facebook and Twitter.

I still get into the message boards because I'm the moderator for my board and there's another local board I like to check. If I want text results the next day I always look first on the track website and only check the boards if they're not posted. It's hard to remember back 10 or 15 years ago in internet years but for the newbies on the internet imagine a time when most of the tracks didn't have websites and almost none of the drivers or sanctions. They were all pretty slow to get on board and some of the tracks put up quite fight trying to resist the popularity of the web.

It's been an interesting ride.

Stan Meissner

David,

I appreciate your passion, but I think your post is a little "over the top".

We should all strive to be respectful; exercise restraint; and refrain from attacking another person's character. I agree that not all threads are perfect.

With that said, I think a little spirited debate is healthy. We don't need to handle every topic with "kid gloves"...

When a driver punches an official, or throws a flower pot, or sniffs white stuff up their nose, don't ask me to glorify them because they set quick time in time trials. Respect is earned both on and off the track.

When a marketing company screws a new client, I want to know about it. When a tire company fails to produce a safe product, it's OK to complain about it. When greed prevents growth and competition, we should have the courage to talk about it.

Sometimes I get discouraged, sometimes I get upset, sometimes I get frustrated when someone disagrees with my position.

Sometimes the hoseheads message board is "messy", but it's still a good source of information. It still drives accountability. It still provides a discussion platform.

The sky isn't falling and we don't need anymore apology tours. Sprint car racing is still a great sport and hoseheads is still a great place to meet. Have a cold one David!

Posted By: Hawker on June 06 2011 at 03:59:29 PM I share your thoughts David....BTW, it was 1997...

Hawker you've been one of the first posters to throw out insults and degrade other posters since day one. David's post is about people LIKE YOU.

Member of this message board since 1997

Derp, I think you're barking up the wrong tree. The Hawker I know (although I haven't spoken with him for several years, because my race attendance has become limited due to work schedule, loss of my wife, and financial instability in this lousy economy) is a "stand up" individual.

David Smith, Jr., I agree. I wasn't one of the originals, but I have been around since about '99. This used to be where I spent my morning wake up time every morning with my cup of coffee or Mt. Dew, and would check in again almost every evening. It was a great place with a wealth of information and a lot of "no harm intended" bantering. I got to know a lot of good racing people, and made a lot friends thanks to this place. Now it seems it has become 90% pissing matches, slamming drivers, and press releases (I thought press releases were meant for the main page?.) I still check in everyday, but read very few posts, and rarely post.

be careful of dating on the internet. i hear a congressman got himself in quite a pickle over it.

to indy and beyond!!