THSCC Forums

Your post needs more cowbell.

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

Hijack...

For the "I wuz raized watchin' rasslin" crowd (I include myself on this one), who can name the guy standing beside Flair? Wes cannot participate.

"You may not like it, but you better learn to love it, because it's the best thing going. WOOOOOO!"

The Nature Boy, circa 1989.

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Tom Freeman
'98 M3/4/5 | '93 Spec3 325i | '12 TSX sport wagon | '03 Tahoe
Team Silver Bullets '91 240SX

For me, his avatar has a strangely hypnotic effect. I just can't stop watching. It just goes on and on and on.....

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Richard Casto
1972 Porsche 914
2013 Honda Fit Sport
2015 Honda Fit EX
http://motorsport.zyyz.com
Money can't buy happiness, but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Kia.

Looks like Arn Anderson from the 4-Horseman era. I was a Wahoo McDaniel fan myself.

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

Bzzzzzt. Hint: he's thrown more rolls of quarters and Italian loafers into the ring than anybody else in history.

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

Mike, seriously, what triggered this post? Obviously it was something recently, or has this been brewing inside you for quite some time?

I agree with others that need some examples of behavior in order to determine the attitude change necessary.

If I'm the problem, feel free to PM me. I'd rather know than be in the dark. - AB

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'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

Could it be JJ Dillon?

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Stephen Westerfield
2009 Infiniti M35 | 2007 Honda Fit Sport | 2005 Ford Mustang GT |2000 GMC Sierra |1992 Acura Integra LS | Super Westerfield Bros Acura Integra

Ding. We have a winner. JJ Dillon it is.

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Tom Freeman
'98 M3/4/5 | '93 Spec3 325i | '12 TSX sport wagon | '03 Tahoe
Team Silver Bullets '91 240SX

Years ago Harry Nicholos and I used to go watch Wrestling at Dorton Arena with the unwashed masses. We used to cheer for the bad guys. I guess this makes me an elitist A** which brings this thread back to the original topic.

I also installed a car stereo in Rick Flair's car when I worked for Highway Fidelity in the early 80's

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George Bright Member # 141
One of the youngest of the old farts.
Yes I voted against you joining the club.

If anyone here was even remotely interested in rasslin back in the day, whether you were a fan or not you should read Ric Flair's book _To Be the Man_. Great book, I thought. Here's a good interview from after the book, too:

http://www.midatlanticwrestling.net/Resource_Center/interviews/flair/flair01.htm


--Donnie

So far as I know, this reputation for elitist attitudes has been around long before I joined the club in 1995. Where exactly it started I don't know, but I do know that attitudes can be contagious, and the longer you're exposed to them the easier they are to pick up. So IMO this has been passed down "through the generations", and has become, unfortunately, part of our club's culture. Club pride is good, putting on good events and being good drivers is good, but it can lead to misplaced arrogance.

We may be the biggest fish in our pond, but there are plenty of bigger ponds out there, and our events and most of our drivers are nothing special by their standards. Since I think we have more Nationally-experienced autocrossers among us now than ever before, one might think that this arrogance would be on the decline, but it doesn't seem to be. Maybe it's like coming home from school and picking on your kid brother or something.

Others have pointed out the simple truth that we should be friendly, or at the very least not arrogant to those from other clubs, because whether we like it or not when we travel we are embassadors for our club.

Big heads also lead to closed minds, which lead to complacency and stagnation. IMO, if we want to remain the best in our pond, we need to keep our eyes open for what others are doing, watch for opportunities to learn and improve, and apply that knowledge to continue improving our own game. If any of our "elitist" perps (and I have no idea who they are) are folks who show up at our events, work and leave, they should be least able to boast. Most of the things that make us appear to be "best in class" have people putting a lot of time and effort into them, and some significant ones would decline severely or disappear if just 1 or 2 people quit the club. We're good to appreciate the efforts that so many people make for this club, but still probably 10% of the members do 90% of the work.

So next time you go to another club's event, watch how it runs. If it looks like they could use some help, volunteer whatever you can. If you see they do something well, make a note of it and mention it to our officers. We may not always be able to incorporate another club's ideas into our processes, but we all need a steady inflow of new ideas to keep our minds open.

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Carl Fisher

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=4651531

And be sure to pick up the 3 disc DVD set here: The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection

Now back to our previously scheduled thread.

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

I have a burning, and the only solution is MORE COWBELL!!! That was ranked as the 5th best bit on SNL per Comedy Central.

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02 Focus SVT
STF 9

Carl Fisher brings up several good points.

I'll add this. I joined in 1990 and remember as a new member being impressed by the large number of folks we have that pitch in and make things happen. I still am. I've said it for years and will repeat it yet again: we are blessed by this. At least one other club had 1 or 2 people running the WHOLE autocross program! Imagine what would happen if we suddenly had to do that??

Folks, we are spoiled here in the THSCC. Perhaps that leads to arrogance. I hope not.

Ron

I remember attending some meetings many years ago in the late 90s. In that day, I was totally clueless about everything relating to autocrossing. What was obvious was that the club leadership at the time promoted this rivalry between THSCC and Triad. I ran a fair number of Triad events back in the late 90s and was even a card carrying member for awhile. It was in the day of Alan Giles as Prez, and they ran some pretty good events. I remember experiencing some events that Tarheel didn't run that well and some events that Triad ran better than we did. I saw very few THSCCers at the the Triad events and even less reason for us to be arrogant or have an air of superiority about it.

Back then, our events and our courses were VERY different from each other. If you were only used to THSCC courses, the Triad courses were new animals--- and vice versa.

Anyway.. as I attended the Tarheel meetings, I was very turned off by the "rivalry" being so promoted. It was all in good fun, but I was concerned that the "Hey we're better than you are" attitude would tend to stick on some folks.

But honestly, I never really saw it demonstrated by any individuals that attended another event. I usually saw our folks helping out and being the friendly cordial people I had come to know.

So, while I can see why anybody that came to some of our meetings thought that about us, I am concerned if you have seen it born out in individuals.

I admit, that I did probably offer more than my .02 cents worth at the Wilmington event, but hopefully I made up for it by pitching in where I could. So, Doug, if I came across as arrogant, please PM me and let me know!

I agree with the others on one important point. Without specific examples (no names is ok), it is hard to know what you are referring to. Can you give us some??

I close with this... the membership will tend to assume the identity and attitudes of the leadership. This is largely shaped at club meetings, and to a lesser degree at driver's meetings. Yet, it is still the individual actions of our members towards others that leave the strongest impressions.

Miles Beam
First Autox 1988
Seriously involved in THSCC since 1997