Don't be so sure of that.

It's kind of strange that whenever he was interviewed by ESPN during the first two races KB was quick to credit the support from the fans, I wonder if he still feels that way after this thread? This latest move by KB combined with the upcoming Rock Star sponsorship of Toliver, makes it an easy decision as to which energy drink to buy.

Paul this is one thing regarding KB that I whole heartedly agree with you on.

OMG! In my opinion, that would be a huge mistake!!!

Wasn`t Mike Kloeber part of that crew also...before going over to Prudhomme?

You seem to be looking past the fact that the IDRC (Internet Drag Racing Community) make up a very small percentage of people who watch drag racing, whether at the track or on TV.

The majority of fans don't know (or care) what allegedly happens behind the scenes.

I mean, I'm sure the commentators will make mention of it, but I doubt your average Joe Blow sitting there with his wife and kids indulging in an overpriced hot dog will start bellowing about Bernstein doing this and that and being greedy and whatever else people are crying about.

I disagree - with a contract integrity wouldn't have been an issue because he wouldn't have had the option to leave - his contract, in theory, would've prevented it. Integrity exists when a contract isn't required and you can take a man at his word. And that, my friends, is sorely missed in today's "business world." But that's just one man's opinion - mine.

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Gordon 'Flaps' Carlon
Work the solution, not the problem.

Perhaps you're right. But if one were to take the number of folks on this site alone who are clearly displeased with this situation and expanded it proportionately across the drag racing fan-base, one might conclude that Monster Energy Drinks may be in for a rude awakening. Having said that, maybe I'm wrong.

Look, I know and accept that folks will disagree with me, but I personally choose to associate with people who have integrity - both in their personal and "corporate" lives and I'd like to think I'm not alone - but again, perhaps I'm wrong.

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Gordon 'Flaps' Carlon
Work the solution, not the problem.

That could well be the case, but then again us "hardcore internet fans" are often "educated" (or at least we like to think we are) on the details of these sorts of situations, whereas average folk aren't. They see it as some guy left one team to go to another, just like they have probably left one job to go to another. There was a post a few pages back where a guy listed a bunch of similar situations. Was their massive fan backlash against those guys and their sponsors?

This might be a strange analogy, but being a life long wrestling fan (laugh all you like ) the internet is often ripe with rumors about "backstage politics" and "backstage bullying" and all that sort of stuff, that the internet fans will often get upset over but the average guy sitting in the crowd couldn't give a **** about.

I mean it can extend to many things. Does the average family that sits down and watches Lost every week care about what's happening with the actors contracts? No. But you can bet your arse there's a heap of forums with big arse threads talking about it.

The Toliver/KB/Monster situation. Did the average fan care about that?

And yes, there is a bit of a drug problem over here. Thanks for inquiring.

Reminds me of a quote from Merlin - aka: Alan Johnson (and I'm paraphrasing here)... "Believe about 1/2 of the things you read in the newspaper & NOTHING you read on the internet."

Your point is well taken though. Time will tell...

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Gordon 'Flaps' Carlon
Work the solution, not the problem.

What "word"? There is an assumption that Walsh had an agreement that was more than race to race. I agree with your presentation that contracts work in theory. The problem, in my opinion, is that sometimes integrity is tested when the "green grass" offer becomes apparent and the contracted individual chases the "shiny object". To opt out is where the issue begins.

Isn't it at all possible, after the Bernstein job became available, Walsh called Tuttle and offered him the right of first refusal in spite of the fact there was only a handshake arrangement. If so, I'd offer, that was a fair and prudent gesture.

Without contracts, there is no "business world".

You might not be too far off Gordon... Today I'm visiting with my buddy Scott- alot like me: lifelong drag fan, good knowledge of what it takes to get a car down the track, would like to sink a buttload of money into the sport if he had it if it meant he could have some fun, has his particular favorites- some of which have been for as long as I've known him...

Anyway, he is NOT like us, in the terms of getting his info from the Internet- he prefers to go to the races with his camper for the weekend and have a good time- his schedule doesn't allow him to surf as much as some of us here for up-to-the-minute drag information.. He'll catch what he knows from the track or the TV broadcasts, and I still consider him pretty knowlegable about the sport.

I told him about the KB situation- Jimmy coming over as crewchief and leaving JR/Tuttle kinda hangin (as far as we know, at this moment). KB was on Scott's list of all time favs, but his attitude about this was all down on Bernstein; not on Tuttle for not offering more $$, not on Jimmy for having the integrity to stay... It was focused on Bernstein about how he could steal somebody's crewchief, especially from a team that was starting to show promise.

If Scott is like that percentage of fans that you are mentioning, Monster may see a minor, if any, hickup at their end. The person taking the majority of this hit from the perspective I saw today will be the man doing the hiring. It may not be fair, but there is a guarantee that someone will not come out smelling like a rose after all this, and not just because of a few fans on the Internet. This, when it goes "public" will need really good spin from SOMEBODY to help keep Mr. Bernstein in a favorable public eye with true fans of the sport that may not use the access to the sport that we have here.

How this will affect the product he represents is going to be interesting to watch.

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a.k.a. 98percentnitro

http://www.myspace.com/relentlesslightingdesign

[quote=Gordon Carlon;46881] a quote from Merlin - aka: Alan Johnson /QUOTE]

Looks like my nametag stuck to him, it's a good one. Now he needs a proper "wizards hat" with stars and moon.

Anybody seen Skuza ?

As I'm a couple days removed from the initial shock of this situation I'm trying to view it with a wider lens & given that distancing, your point is well taken.

Having said that, what concerns me is that nobody from the Bernstein camp, nor the Tuttle camp (to my knowledge) has gone public on how this went down. Now don't get me wrong, it's none of our business & I completely understand that.

But the Bernstein camp has to know how the Drag Racing world (at least the internet drag racing world) has reacted to this news, yet they choose to keep quiet rather than defend their position. If, as you suggest, Walsh called Tuttle and offered the right of first refusal or some similar gesture, I would think they would be making this information available as soon as possible in an attempt to put out a few of these fires.

I would think Tuttle would've come forward with similar information from his end had it been handled anything like you suggest. Why wouldn't he?

The further removed we become from the initial announcement the less a description of what really happened is going to matter because as someone mentioned above, the Spin Doctor's are working hard to control the collateral damage and it will be difficult to determine fact rom fiction.

Speaking strictly for myself, Kenny Bernstein is going to have to do something(s) pretty special for me to be a fan again. And I'm not talking about on-track performance...

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Gordon 'Flaps' Carlon
Work the solution, not the problem.