Homepage Forums UBMXRC Council Discussions Topic 13 Reply To: Topic 13

#34256
Caveman
Member

OK, well I hope this is a safe place to talk about such things.

First of all, are we over reacting to the cancellation of the state meeting? Is it possible there are legitimate schedule conflicts? And they have to reschedule it for some time and make it public so I have to think nobody’s trying to do anything underhanded there.

That being said I think we need some changes.

I’ve been racing BMX for 20 years and ten of those years as pro. I’ve raced both sanctions but in 98 I came to the conclusion the NBL sucked and quit going to NBL nationals. I chased the ABA national series. However I continued to support the four NJ NBL track’s local programs, by racing, announcing, shovelling, you name it. I raced opens at state qualifiers when they had them but other than that I didn’t care about the state association and never went to meetings because it was NBL. I didn’t care about the President’s Cup. I didn’t care about the overall health of NJ BMX because it was controlled by the NBL.

Now I’m thinking I do care. I’d like to see things done better, smarter. I’d like to see people who care in charge. I’d like to see people question the stupid things we keep doing year after year instead of doing it because that’s the way it’s always been done.

If we go to the state meeting and create an us vs. them attitude with the state organization we won’t make any progress and we’ll all quit trying. If we want to see changes made we need to be cool about it. Finger pointing and arguing will only make matters worse.

For example I have an idea but I want to present it in a way that won’t ruffle any feathers. If it’s true that six people went to the Competition Congress on the state’s dime last year, that’s a joke. Bob Tedesco is an imbecile and to pay to go listen to him is a complete waste of money. That does NOTHING to make BMX in NJ better. Sounds to me like we paid for six people’s Vegas vacations.

I’ve got a better idea. Take that money and buy a decent PA system like both the NBL and the ABA bring to their nationals. I envision a system that could be portable to use at all the state qualifiers. But also to get our money’s worth out of it, it could be resident at one of the tracks so it would get used more. A good PA system would greatly add to the state races. I think all three track’s PA systems have a lot to be desired and I can certainly say EHT’s sucks. I don’t know how much a good PA system would cost but it’s a WAY better value than sending anyone to the CC.

Another thing I’d like to push for is switching all three tracks to the ABA. I’ve always dismissed that idea assuming it would never fly in NJ but I think it’s time. Who says we can’t go ABA? I can think of one person who would stand in the way of that.

That’s a HUGE item and it won’t be easy but I think it’s time to push for it. If those of us that have raced both can see the ABA is better and we know BMX would grow in NJ if all three NJ tracks go ABA, why are we going to let a few people who have never raced ABA shoot it down?

All of this being said, everybody please keep all of this to ourselves and don’t start spreading rumors. We need a plan before we start shooting our mouths off. Brett, I’ll be at the UBMXRC meeting this Saturday and I think it will be a good thing because those of us that want to see changes can get our shit together and come up with a coherent plan and figure out how to present ourselves at the state meeting so as not to get shot down.

Whatever the outcome I’m also going to start attending those state meetings and get involved in NJ BMX. I hope everybody else will too.