forget it!
Carol I don’t always agree with you, but you sure nailed this one. As a lot of people know I’m from Ohio and raced there for many years and never seen a promotor so arrogant and self centered as this guy that we call a promotor here in Florida.( Again we all know who I’m talking about) . With the long racing season we have here in Florida, you would think that a couple tracks in South Florida could work out a schedule that would not divide the cars and fans, but give the owners, drivers, and fans a choice of what divisions, classes, or events that they wanted to watch or participate in. I just can’t figure out the mentality of this guy, a poor business man for sure and it seems to me he only cares about his own self righteousness and could care less about anything or anyone else. Not much I can do about it, except to make sure I never give him any of my money…This message is approved by me Chassisdude ( Rick)
Carol I finally agreed with you and you made a great post and then you edit it, shame on you girl, now no one even knows what I’m talking about…
not to worry!
Plant evil seeds havest evil fruit. He’ll get his…
and they blame us!
i deleted it because i felt it was a total waste of words. i was not just talking about a track owner but also a series owner… they do everything they can to make us miserable and when we finally get sick of their lousy lack of professionalism and poor sportsmanship they blame the message board posters for the state of Florida problems. we are the damn sport. who will drivers race for and who will support tracks if the fans find another way to spend their weekends? racers have to race. track owners need racers… I DONT! i do it because i love it but it is so corrupt i sometimes feel dirty doing so much to help promote it!
i am so happy we have bobby diehl in charlotte county. he has made some mistakes but in general and always giving it his best, i think he has integrity and a TRUE love of our sport… i love that he supports a man like DON REHM…(you will be very lucky if in life you get to meet a man like Don… he is a true gentleman trying to make things better…if he fails it will be partly our fault for not supporting what he is trying to do! i am NOT talking bad about anyone else…just good about a man who deserves it!..) like the Karts, the TQs, the OSS and many more. i love that he listens and takes some advice… i love that he doesnt waste time “getting even”…i love that he doesnt compromise his values…
and please remember that whatever i write are MY feelings and MY words. i speak for no one else affiliated with the radio stations or administration. i am really angry at what is happening here in florida … a few people have done all they can do to ruin it for thousands! sorry but thats how i feel. People who post on forums DO NOT ruin racing…MEDIA DO NOT ruin racing. they report the truth to people who would otherwise be in the dark… put the blame where it belongs… the promoters who ONLY CARE ABOUT THEMSELVES! (i am greatful for the ones who care about the drivers and the fans…) yes there are a few!
carolwicks aka OZ
Will the Chosen One Reply
Will the chosen one reply to this post? It seems that some people can get away with certain things while other cannot! So have at it chosen one I am waiting on the word!
Signed: The negative poster whom isn’t happy with his life!(That was for you round mound).
I gotta disagree with Carol here. The “media” does NOT always report the “truth.” The media (both the mainstream media and the racing media here in Florida) has agendas, friends, and foes. The tracks that purchase ad space naturally get more attention. The tracks that make it easier for the media to get access, or that provide info and photos to the media, get more attention. And some people in the media are very opinionated, and they use their websites, interview shows, and message boards, to promote their agendas and attempt to smear all others. Not naming any names here, but we all know quite well what the deal is and how it works. It’s not pretty, but that’s how it is.
The “media” does NOT always report the “truth.”
that’s a big 10-4 good buddy, c’mon back.
could somebody pm me exactly what is going on here? i can’t stand being on the outside of a crapstorm and not having any idea what’s going on.
:huepfen024:
Hey BJ…just because someone has a web site or a podcast does not qualify them as “media”.
As for media bias issues in racing and in the rest of the world: There is no media anywhere of any kind that does not have an agenda. It would be very silly to assume otherwise. “Unbiased” media is almost an oxymoron. The bias is what separates one media outlet from another. During the period of our Revolution, the time during which the “freedom” of the press was established in this country, it was an accepted fast of life that a newspaper, broadsheet or what have you was promoting a “bias”. Not to mention the fact that everyone of the ‘big names’ such as Franklin, Jefferson and even Adams routinely used aliases or the good old “anonymous” to publish. The reasons for those facts existing then are the same as they are today.
KARNAC.com has published thousands of articles (besides race reports) over its nearly 12 year span. Many of those articles have been "biased’ in one way or another, as the writers of them intended they should be. But we have and will publish any well written piece by anyone with any “bias” they choose as long as unsubstantiated personal attacks are not part of the article.
We also do not normally publish our “news articles” on message boards. We know that many people view message board posts with a jaundiced eye and therefore, except in helping spread announcement prefer to publish news on News Pages, which are archived and available going back in some cases 10 years or more.
Far too many in times past, and even these days, use the term “media” to get free access to tracks without providing much if anything in return to the track and or the racing community at large. It is hard work and time consuming work to earn the use of the word.
When the last word is written about stock car racing, it will be written by the media but it will not be written BECAUSE of the media.
BTW…Not a word of what I wrote previously was aimed at Karnac. Rather, it was aimed at something else that is hiding under the guise of “media” and presents itself as such. I think you and I both know what that is and where it originates from, so there’s no need to start pumping out that septic tank again.
I guess the real question is exactly what constitutes “media” these days. I worked for 12 years in broadcasting before coming to Florida so I have a definition based on my experience. You may have a variation of that definition in mind based on your experience. But the average person out there, be it a racer or a fan, or even some promoters and track owners, may still have a far different definition of what the “media” is, and their definitions tend to be far more emcompassing than ours do.
My point is mostly that I don’t really consider myself as “media” although I use that term. I also don’t consider other people or websites as “media” because the term doesn’t fit, and yet they use the term just as freely as I do. The difference is I use the term to clarify and simplify the description of what I do for Ocala Speedway, as I write up a report on a night of racing, report on an upcoming event, or post some news or info that needs to be distributed to the public. Perhaps using the term “publicity” better describes my role at Ocala Speedway, and maybe I should change my job title to reflect that. Of course, if I was to be totally honest, my job title at Ocala would be, “dude that writes the stories and sends out results.”
It is one thing to label one’s self as media in an attempt to get into race tracks for free and supposedly “report” on what is going on there. I think you and I agree totally that it is incorrect to label one’s self as “media” and then use that label to somehow create or suggest legitimacy as to what information is contained therein. Just because it calls itself media does not make it media, nor does it add one shread of credibility to anything it might be associated with or attempts to promote.
Bottom line here is that the public needs to be educated as to what deserves our attention and what does not, and the public needs to understand that just because its out there does NOT mean that it is truthful, inbiased, or does not promote some hidden (or obvious) agenda.
I respect Karnac because it is all pretty much out there. It is presented as is and nothing is twisted or misreported in a deliberate attempt to misinform. Accidents happen and that’s to be expected, but it’s not a ongoing trend that never stops. When it comes to some other websites, the opposite is true and some unwary people fall for it.
OH BOY!!! Now ya really got me going!
the original post was not about media… it was about bad business! it was about people who are not leading racing in the right direction! but now that you brought it up…
KARNAC… is MEDIA… every single thing that happens in florida racing can be found somewhere in the karnac, Real Racin, Inside Florida Racing, etc etc site! it is all written and spoken by people who are 100% dedicated to bringing you RACING news…
i wish more people would appreciate the hard efforts of the people who work from dark to dark compiling all the information and bringing it to you… I SPEAK ONLY FOR KARNAC and its links!!! I AM NOT BERATING ANYONE ELSE!!! you decide what kind of journalism you want and go there. but dont be surprised what you find!.. you have a choice!!! if you choose to read things that offend you or insult you then please dont come on this board B**^%$ing and crying!!
if you think this message board is what KARNAC/RRUSA is about then you have not done your homework. take some time and scroll thru the entire site and see thousands of stories and listen to miles of radio shows that have been archived for your convenience…not to mention there are thousands of awesome photos!!!
the Herald Tribune are media and the Inquirer are media… what kind of news do you want to read. News about what is going on in washington (affects you!) news that goes on in Iraq (affects us), news that goes on in your community (affects us)… OR news that is personal and done for money and gossip and sensationalism…DOES NOT AFFECT US!)
KARNAC is the “Herald Tribune” of racing! You will find its reporters at every single major event in florida and even in georgia. you will find others at different locations promoting a special event. you found them at the Sunshine Reunion, you saw them at the Modified Reunion, at the DIRT/ASPHALT race, at the closing of USA…
so please save your whining … it is YOUR CHOICE WHAT SITE YOU TRUST IN! WHAT SITE IS REALLY DEDICATED TO RACING
CAROL WICKS aka OZ
p.s.
i take full responsibility for everything i write… i am NEVER influenced by anyone elses opinions and my opinions do not in any way reflect the opinions of KARNAC etc!.. sometimes i am wrong… i know you will tell off in spades when i am… you let it rip… im taking the kids to the beach! have a nice day and God bless…
cw
Okay, my turn.
GOLDEN NUGGETS of WISDOM:
“I SPEAK ONLY FOR KARNAC and its links!!!”
“i am NEVER influenced by anyone elses opinions and my opinions do not in any way reflect the opinions of KARNAC etc!..”
hmmmmmm…something seems wrong there but I can’t put my finger on it…
KARNAC is one of the best racing websites that I know of. For sure it is hands down the best for Florida Motorsports coverage. I enjoy reading the stories that Jane, Jack, Rick and all the others write about racing. Racing is definitely better off with the quality of representation that they provide. I, for one, am grateful for their hard work. I’m pretty sure I’ve said that before. I’m also pretty confident that if folks didn’t appreciate and enjoy their work they would have figured it out a long time ago and KARNAC wouldn’t be as popular as it is today.
So…what in the world does that have to do with this message board? Help me out here cuz I’m stumped. You’ve drawn the two together but what is the reason? I can never seem to follow your logic.
“the original post was not about media… it was about bad business! it was about people who are not leading racing in the right direction!”
Let’s look at that for a minute.
You’ve stated an opinion of yours that you arrived at because someone else didn’t run their business the way that you decided they should. You know, “in the right direction”.
So how is this different from anyone else posting their own opinions and observations? And why should their posts be censored but then you are allowed to run someone down for the choices they made regarding their racing business?
“if you choose to read things that offend you or insult you then please dont come on this board B**^%$ing and crying!!”
Ummm…isn’t that what got you going in the first place? Might want to heed your own advice. Boy…that sounds familiar. Yeah, I think I’ve written that to you before.
So many times I’ve read posts by you, Carol, “B**^%$ing and crying” about the people you think are unsupportive of some promoter or owners new fangled ideas and gimmicks for promoting his track. Always whining that the racers have no idea what it takes to make a track succeed so we should all just shut up and blindly support any decisions made strictly for the love of racing and the fear of “losing another USA”.
My question is this, Carol:
How’s it feel to be one of the haters now?
Holy Crap
Wow, my brain is swellin’,hearing is reduced to hearing racing engine noise only, and I think I’m impudent.
Maybe I’ve been exposed to too much ‘media’ and not enough racin’ lately. Think I’ll go out and rebuild my new carburator…
or have a few :ernaehrung004:…have fun everyone.
–JIM–
By all means, keep exposing yourselves to media. Media is good. Very good.
Especially the media found at Ocala.com.
[QUOTE=Joe;14024]By all means, keep exposing yourselves to media. Media is good. Very good.
Especially the media found at Ocala.com.[/QUOTE]
SHAMELESS PLUG THERE JOE.
-------JIM-----
P.S. Aren’t carbs supposed to have matching jets ??? DUH :ernaehrung004:
Carol…
My point includes your point. As you say, bad business practices are ruining racing. And as I tried to point out, certain people claiming to be media are using their assumed credibility to mislead people into believing that those bad business practices are actually good. They take the facts and twist them in ways that appear to make the bad look good, and they report “news” that is highly misleading in order to further their agendas. Unfortunately some people fall for that angle believing that because someone operates a website, a internet show, or a message board, that they have credibilty. Sorry, while sites like Karnac and others fight hard to be truthful, that doesn’t mean everyone else does. The public needs to look carefully before accepting anything as truth, and by all means remember that just because it presents itself as media, it isn’t always credible.
Trust me, Carol. We are all talking about things that are VERY related!
BJ, that sort of works both ways. I wrote a story, for instance, for Speedway Illustrated magazine on Ocala’s first 12-hour enduro. A similar story also ran in the Orlando Sentinel as a section front. Wrote a story for AutoWeek on the Green Mamba’s comeback after the car was stolen; similar story ran in the Orlando Sentinel. Heard nothing, ZERO, from the racing community in general, Ocala managment in particular – not looking for praise, but when certain people whine about the media NEVER writing ANYthing positive about the local tracks, some response might be nice to take to my editor to say, “Look, we need to do more, we got some response.” Local drag racers and tracks, FYI, are different, tho… you write about them, and often they let you know they appreciate it.
But when I wrote the obit on USA Speedway, I and the Sentinel were slammed on here for only reporting negative news. I challenged one slammer in particular, said I would dig up positive references to USA I’d written, and if he would send me his email, I’d forward them. You think I heard anything? No, after spending an hour pulling 25 references to USA races that have run in the Sentinel the past two years. Which, as you kow, is a lot, since the track didn’t race weekly.
And finally, I started Racing Radio that ran first on Orlando and Melbourne’s 1080 and 1060 AM, then moved it to 740 AM, the largest sports station in Central Florida. Sent emails to local track mgt, inviting participation. Aside from Dave Westerman, nobody took me up on the offer of free publicity, and no local tracks EVER bought ads – not that they had to, but it would have helped keep the show going, even though it lasted nearly 6 years,and I never took a dime out of it. Local tracks don’t buy ads in the Sentinel, either, but I still kept reporting weekly on local races, and did that 52 weeks a year for almost 7 years. Still, I kept writing about them… a column on the Charity Trucker’s race at Speed World I did last December drew, let me see, ZERO emails or calls. A full-page profile on Rusty Marcus winning the promoter of the year award… zero. On driving a figure-8 bus in a Crash-A-Rama, which ran in AutoWeek and the Sentinel, zero.
Bottom line: Local racers would rather complain that do anything proactive. If you local paper or media does something positive, LET THEM KNOW you appreciate it. The radio show is gone – ended up being nothing but NASCAR, anyway – and while I’ve been thinking of doing a weely local racing feature in the Sentinel’s sports section, I don’t think anybody would care, except to complain that it was long enough, or I missed their home track, and that I profiled a driver that ran them into the wall six years ago.
Like I said, I’m not looking for praise, and never have, but I get POed when criticism comes from sources that oughta know better.
Just to let you know that some do call to say thanks…I did so in the last month to the person that got a story in a local paper about a family member.
Rick
You hit the nail right on the head, Yeller! Do it right and no one gives a damn. Do it wrong (or do it in a way that someone perceives as wrong) and you’ll hear about it! When I do write ups for Ocala Speedway I rarely get complements for anything I write. It’s simply a matter of looking to see that it’s done, then expecting it to be done for the next night of racing. It’s a job and I do it, and that’s how it should be. Hopefully at th end of the season the owners will thank me for my efforts and invite me back to do it next year. But make a mistake and oh oh! That’s when I hear it, and I definately make mistakes from time to time. Then again, that’s to be expected, right? If I screw up then the only way to know that is for the track owners or the public to inform me of it so that I can fix it.
But when I do get complements and thank-you’s (and I really do get them for everything from article content to announcing at the races) it feels good and it makes the whole effort worthwhile. I just wish more people who got a positive feeling from my work would let me know about it, because the ones that don’t are not shy about letting me know their opinions!
This thread is not stirred enough
Ugh, I’m going to throw this out there and maybe someone can bring it to light for me.
This does not include monthly specials (1 out of 4 weeks) neighboring tracks CAN make this work.
Two gas stations close together, everyone wants them to compete against each other to get customers.
Two race tracks nearby each other racing on the same night weekly wanting the customers (fans, drivers) at THEIR TRACK but the masses seem to think they should work together so track A loses this sat and track B will lose next saturday.
These are businesses.
Without the me me me me and my right to (fill in the blank) someone tell me why one business should lose money, or not try to make more money than another?