Mod Nationals coverage

[Steve Johnson]

After reading the APBA nationals Coverage in the October Propeller, I sure feel like the Mod portion was glossed over. Anyone else feel unsatisfied with this? Since all were racing for is recognition, it would be nice to get some. I know the authors are doing the writing from the goodness of their hearts but something must have got lost somewhere. Maybe a proper recap next month? yeah FEH was great, but what about everyone else?
Steve the disgruntled race fan

[hydroracer25]

same thing last year

Steve,
I haven't received my Oct. Propeller yet, however last year no one was even "contracted" to do one. It happened that I was there and was writing race re-caps for our club website and Tana asked if she could use it. If you noticed it last year it was written primarily to talk about the MHRA club members and how they faired. There was also no one to take pictures last year. Again, we were somewhat lucky, because Bob Koschka was taking a few.

You are correct though, that at our level we don't get much recognition and you expect the 1 big event of the year to be covered well. All I can say from my experience with both the Stock and Mod Nationals in 2003 is that I think the sponsoring club or SORC/MORC should make sure that there is someone there to do both a story and take photos. We were fortunate to have Roland there this year for the picture side of it. Looks like you better sign up next year.
Mark

[STEVE FRENCH]

We are all kinda to blame in this area.

Jo Brewster E-mailed me for help with this article. -------I never even mailed her back.

My experience at the nationals was more on the embarassing side as far as my driving/missing turn markers. Although I did have luck winning door prizes.
I was going to suggest she cruise throught the posts on this sight for info. Usually these posts are fresh with memories and excitement and pics!

Would it be ok to use info from here for refference material??

The people writing for propeller need to hear from us.

Maybe we should forward posts after a race to your regions Propeller/club writter.

What do ya think Dana/Brian??

19P GOING FASTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"AS A CHILD FRANKINSTINE NEVER SCARED ME...............BUT MARSOUPIALS DO..........CAUSE THEIR FASTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[Steve Johnson]

I knew if I started this thread that I would be in line to do it next time. It looked to me that maybe more was written and that the end of the story simply got super condensed to fit. I'll always have my memories (sigh)
Steve

[brian]

I second Steve's suggestion that he should do it next year!!!

[Brian10s]

You guys are correct, it is ALL of our faults. I have not received my Propeller yet but I can already see what happened. The same thing that happens every year.

There is no one to blame but ourselves if the one person who volunteers to do it, has a slant or does not remember all that happened. The 2003 mod national results were posted in the Propeller came from this site (I posted them from Big Dave Augustine's motor home and added some nicknames for fun. I never thought "Magic" Mark or Billy "The Iceman" would make Propeller). And we should not knock those that do volunteer. Without them, you get no recognition. And it wasn't as if APBA had a ton of stories to choose from.

Mark is correct, if we want the recognition for our accomplishments, them WE have to make sure it is recorded. Wither it is one person or a group of people who colaborate, it must be done/decided on well in advance. It does not matter if the SORC or MORC want/ decide this is important, it is up to the racers themselves to step up and get it done.

We have 2 choices:

We get the SORC/ MORC or the race Committee take an already too tight budget and hire a professional for the week. The SORC/MORC need all the funds they have to do the things they already do. The Race Club/ Committee already are working at 110% just so all of us can go racing. But I'm sure they could pass that cost over to the racers. How about a $5 per class surcharge to cover recording the week for publication? Last years entry fee was, what, $35 or $40 per class? I'm sure NO ONE would complain about an increase in entry fee's, right??

Or option #2
I would propose that a group of people volunteer to record their "versions" of an event and a group to record pics of the event and 1 person "combine" those versions and pick the best pics to follow the combined story and submit it to APBA. This way, it is not up to one person to do it/ remember it all. Maybe, those that do it would get a beverage of choice bought for them by their fellow racers.

Just some thoughts but if this is to be done and done correctly, we need to have a plan well in advance of August. We wait to the last minute again, without people stepping up, no one should complain about what is published.

It is your/ our fault, not those that scrambled to make sure something/ anything was published.

Just a my thoughts.

Brian10s

[hydroracer25]

a little more after I've seen it

Brian,
I was at my dad's today and saw the Oct. Propeller. Steve is correct, the only ink on Mod is the FEH race (no otherclasses written about). With that said, the top 5 in Mod were listed in each class. I agree with you that it is up to us to make sure it happens, however my suggestion of the SORC/MORC or race committee is that we/they get together w/ APBA (Tana) and set some minimum standards for Nationals coverage. This is by no means a slam against Tana because she only puts in what is submitted. I remember the Pro article being 3 pages w/ pictures and I'm sure that is becaus it was a longer article, but back before SO and MO Nationals were combined each got a 2-3 page article. Now we are combined and get 1 page each. That is not right. For many, this will be their only win, the only time they place, so give them some ink.

I feel at a minimum for a combine event we should get 3-4 pages with article and top 3-5 listed for each classe in each category. If the article isn't that long then fill it up with pictures.

It should be noted that in this months propeller there are 2 (I believe since I only glances at it) OPC articles with 2 pages each. Which goes back to what Brian said, they many times have someone hired to do the coverage where we only have voluteers. I do agree that it would be a good idea to have 3-4 people take notes thoughout the week and pool or compare and combine to make sure everything is covered. Sign me up to do some at either the SO or MO Nationals next year. It also might be time for someone to get people lined up for the Winter Nationals in Ocoee?

Mark

[sam]

Mark, that is an excellent suggestion. I will actually volunteer to watch and take notes for some of the 2005 Mod Nats. Having more than one person take notes is also a very good suggestion.

[Steve Johnson]

Steppin up

O.K I'll offer to do the rough draft. You'll need a large crew to proof read though.
dissidents unite
Steve

[Brian10s]

Mark,
That is exactly what I was saying. We can't complain about the coverage we get if we aren't willing to put forth the effort ourselves. I do beleive that OPC and PRO either have hired a professional or have a dedicated volunteer (or more than one) that make sure they get the print.
Tana only prints what she gets (or in our case most liklely she has to go hunting for. I have seen either her on this site asking for details on races and mostly we have given her the brush off), so it is up to us to make sure we get the ink, if we want it. Along with a couple of nice pictures.

However, I do beleive that this should be more than just a once a year deal. I would think that we want our equal ink time all season long. Why aren't we doing the same thing for our bigger Regional races (some already do this but not all). We should be doing the same thing on a Regional basis so that kneeldown racing has ink all season long, not just the Nationals. And our current Region Reporters should be involved as well. It seems like they are always having to dig for stuff to write (right, D. Holt, L. Jenning, B. Pavlick & others?) I would think they could benifit from this, as well. More indepth reporting from all the races, not just the big ones.

The Nationals should be our most featured event but it must not be the only time Stock & Mod racing gets ink. For those volunteers who are already submitting their races to Propeller, we should thank you. But the rest of us need to step up and help you out, as well. There are so many good races across the contry that I'm sure we could come with 2-3 of the best per moth for Propeller.

Then Tana can start complaining that we send her too much.

Brian10s

[14-H]

Who is APBA???

APBA is us (you and me); There ain't no "them" in a membership organization. By the way, why not write the article now for the 2004 Mod Nationals coverage? I'm sure Tana could use the article for the December issue which is usually pretty slim. Remember, Tana is the editor, she is not the correspondent. All of us are the article writers. Perhaps we need another printing (with updates) of Stan Fitts' "How to run a boat race" manual (this topic being included)? Ed.

[sam]

I think every APBA club needs to be mailed a new copy of it, Ed.

There are a lot of simple suggestions that can make our events better, better known, better attended, better reported ....

[David Weaver]

Race Coverage

Write it, submit it and they will print it. Well, most of it anyway. The PRO national coverage and USTS coverage is generally a collaberation of volunteers (writers and photographers). This year Teri Ziemer pulled together the photo's and various articles for the overall coverage. Good job Teri.

On occaision, the total submissions have far exceeded the available space and the home office has to make some choices. Generally, an article will be printed at a later date, rather than just "tossed". Sometimes, a couple USTS articles have been rolled into one.

Also, you can submit coverage for viewing on the APBA web-site (under NEWS).

DW

[Dave M]

Mod Is Covered Next Year

APBA is us (you and me); There ain't no "them" in a membership organization. By the way, why not write the article now for the 2004 Mod Nationals coverage? Ed.

The Mod division has taken it upon themselves to obtain professional coverage for Mod races next season. I already have the dollars approved in the budget through the chairman. Now I am working on APBA to change the Propeller to be color and not the same boring stuff all the time. I want to see the sport grow. This is a step. Ed, if you are interested, anwser the emails I have sent you in regards to this for the Stock category. Like I said the Mod division already put it in the budget to pay this boat racer to cover MOD events. We might have to pay more for the Nationals, that has yet to be negotiated.

This person wants to do it, has the knowledge to do it, the equipment to do it, and the will to do it for next to nothing. I just hope APBA is willing to change the format a little for the propeller magazine.

Also, look at the October Propller, Dana Holt has an ad there for the company he works for, makes promotional videos. he might be good to look at for promoting your Natioanals. he has the skills as well, and he paid to put an ad in Propller, most of you have seen his work on this webpage, the promotioanl video for the USTS.

[14-H]

Ed, if you are interested, anwser the emails I have sent you in regards to this for the Stock category. ***

What emails?