SHARKEY-IMAGES

OK, maybe it's time to stop this thread. Now we have more people attacking each other and we're running out of popcorn. Damn! I just finished the last beer! Who's making the beer run???

[ 01-27-2002: Message edited by: SHARKEYMARINE ]

Shorgasm

I've learned how to handle this now.......

All I do is let this topic go for a week or so and then check it......

Ya know what I find??????????

A bunch of *****es!!!!!!!!

That's right........a bunch of girls yelling and cyberhair-pulling.....

Who cares how much racing info you have or don't.......somebodies always better than someone else........RELAX.......you guys are returning hate with hate......

And you know that hate consumes you!!!!!!!

Kent Perroux

Wasn't Steve David president of APBA at one time? I seem to remember it losing a lot of money then and on the decline.

Gene Whip did help get some things started, mainly the Sarasata race, but Offshore did not "take-off" until someone else took over. Who are the people complaining about APBA?
Spectators? Absolutely not. More boats, close competition.

Sponsors? Nope, lots more airtime

The Cities? Nope, they are sellimg more rooms, more food, more gas, etc..

The manufacturers? Most no, one yes, but why? his racers keep getting caught cheating?

Boat dealers? Nope, they have been able to sell more boats with bigger engines

Individuals? There are some. The ones I have seen complaining seam to be those tied with those that do not like the strick racing rules.

Can't make everyone happy, but I believe APBA has made a tremendous difference in cleaning up the "good ole boy" system that allowed the same people to keep winning.

[ 01-27-2002: Message edited by: Kent Perroux ]

boatinjoe

Kent,
Yes Steve was APBA President and in my opinion one of the best. Government in the sunshine. Steve tried to do his best, he left office when his term was up (not allowed to run again). His sucessor promply changed the rules to turn his term from 2 years to 4.
APBA in it's entirety has lost members for 15 years.
Gene Whipp took over from Don Jones. When Gene took over APBA didn't have the first race signed! Gene turned the whole program around. When Gene took ill he resigned and MA was elected chair. If I remember correctly Steve even appointed MA to the position until the election. I could be wrong on that count but he did appoint MA to the Board of APBA. He then took it "private" with the LLC.
Please don't try to equate Steve with any negativity in Offshore.
I would also ask you to get the facts right.
How many cities did APBA Offshore lose last year? Doesn't look like they were happy.
As for the cheating drivers for one manuf. Show us, show us the proof,Gilbreath and Robertson were both thrown out for "unsportsman like conduct". Opps another gag deal.

Adivanman

Mike are you thinking of hanging up the sticks and beating M.A.'s drum professionally? I can see it now...Mike C. president and founder of the M.A. and A.P.B.A. fan club and mutual admiration society.

Come on, M.A. is a big boy and can stand on his own two feet. Like you said, the BIGGEST law firm in FLORIDA is on HIS side! Unless you are speaking on behalf of the LLC?

"just my opinion"

C_Spray

iTrader: (2)

Fever Mike: Since I know something about llamas, that qualifies me to make a contribution:

Try "Butter Blast" from Jolly Time - it's got LOTS of flavor. Two thumbs up.

Urp. Need 'nother beer.

Kent Perroux

Oh, yes, thanks for reminding me Jeff, Unsportsmanlike conduct. Read the rules, know them, stretch them if you can (just weight the risk against the rewards), if you screw up, get caught or disagree with the call, either take it like a man and get ready for the next race or protest through the official channels. Getting terse with the officials or others is just not cool and presents a bad image to the fans and sponsors. I agree with the actions taken, but also hope to both of them again this year. Both guys are top notch racers, and I have a lot of respect for them, but I also feel we need to present proffessional appearances.

About my facts on Offshore? I don't claim to know everything (or anything for that matter). My refernce to SD was a question, not a statement. I first got into paying attention to Offshore about the time he left office. I do remember that funds were very tight. I even had the APBA Office send me the financials to review. (I am sure they have that on record) I do remember the numbers being VERY slim.

How many sites did APBA lose? Not sure, How many did they gain? Why EXACTLY does APBA not have these site you are referring to? As soon as the suit becomes public record, I am sure we will all find out. Discoveries bring out all sorts of interesting details.

KIWI Craig

For what its worth, yes Ron H we have known each other for some years and now you are an offshore expert!! While I am not getting drawn into sides in this fight, I will go on record as having been around APBA "offshore" since 1980 ( and have set up and raced a few offshore boats) and includes also racing in the early days of OPT and that;
"THE RACING THIS LAST YEAR IN APBA HAS BEEN THE BEST I HAVE SEEN AND BEEN PART OF FOR MANY MANY YEARS. THIS SPORT NEEDS LEADERSHIP AND NOT SPLINTERS. YOU GUYS THAT BASH THIS SIMPLY DONT LIKE COMPETITION AND WANT TO WIN FOR THE WRONG REASONS." Stop your *****in' and get behind the best racing we have seen for many years!

Craig A

BAR57

If you really want some mud slinging check out what APBA Comp Dir has to say about John and all of the so called misfits.
What Mike has forgot is the TRUTH. Johns best defense is the truth and that is what will put the nail in Mikes coffin.

----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Miklos
To: Ron Hill
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2002 8:30 PM

First of all this is not even close to frivolous lawsuit John is going to get a gigantic judgement.

Here is one example;

John writes that Tommy Bahama was caught cheating in Canada at the same time David Woods was and Mike let Tommy Bahama off the hook. The fabricated big scandal was that Mark is a LLC partner and Woods is not.

I personally spoke to MR. Crouse and told him that Tommy Bahama was damaged and was not even in Canada he called me a liar.

Then he called Mark N. of Tommy Bahama and ask for his side of the story. Mark told him neither his team or boat was in Canada and gave john a specific statement he was to print if he used his name at all to represent Marks side of this ludicrous fable. John printed the story anyway without Mark or my quote that is not proper journalistic practice.

It gets worse if John would have checked the results (like a responsible journalist) on our website or about 20 others he would not find an entry for Tommy Bahama in Canada.

While all of this may be all in good fun for these guys Tommy Bahama is a major sponsor they are mad Mark is mad. It takes hundreds of thousands of dollars to field a Supercat per year and John Crouse just makes up stories for the fun of it.

Unlike you or me he is selling his stories and that puts him in the same situation as a newspaper. The law says you must give the writer a chance to retract before seeking damages (7 days) he has not as of today.

You can expect both Mark and Tommy Bahama to also seek damages after APBA gets done with him.

There is still more. Mr. Crouse was given a large document identifying all of errors if he wanted to he could have retracted any or all of the things he said. Needless to say he did not even on about 11 items where there is absolutely no chance that he is correct and many others where people have already called Mike and said they were misquoted and will say so officially.

If I go on the Internet and say Ron Hill stole my prop that is kind of serious

If Powerboat picks up the story and says Ron Hill steals props without checking out your side of the story then you would own a good portion of powerboat if they did not retract.

On the San Diego race APBA LLC spent around $220,000. On that race most races are about $130,000. Mr. Grannis was on the LLC and Popra's pay roll and could not deliver any sponsor money along with many other discrepancies. We have welcomed Mr. kidrick (spelling) to try and get any more money through the legal system because then we could find where all of the LLC money went.

Bob Leach then got personally extorted out of the rest of the money Kidrick wanted. For the record what is his relationship with Bayfair now? What is Grannis doing?

On the protest money Reggie short paid his race fee so he got his right away on the Formula money there was a mistake they were cool with it they knew APBA got screwed and never made anything out of it. Once the LLC became aware of this the money was sent the same day. If the Formula protest money was ever an issue I really do not believe Formula would have signed up as a sponsor again.

Granville was actually bought out for a small profit to him he it seems he owed more in entry fees and TV commercials then he paid to buy in the LLC.

On the lane change issue watch the Video that?s all you will need to do. I am sure you know Mike Tomlinson he is an honest man he called the lane change not Mike A. These guys are just a bunch whiners when they get a penalty. Funny Benny was not whining when they called that same penalty on Jim Arvis the race before for cutting him off. But then we all know Benny cannot win in equal equipment quite frankly he sucks.

If Crouse wants to write dirt why not write about Benny?s business dealings and his failure to support the twins he fathered or they way Art Lilly always gets locked up for not paying child support at the St Pete race. A better story would be the way Gilbreath stole the wife of the Dr who was rehabilitating him. But the best story is the strange MSO I received when I bought a Fountain race boat. Who is Fountain Racing Powerboats? How can a boat go down the production line of a publicly held company but the check goes to a different company? Why doesn?t Mr. Crouse check out who owns Fountain racing powerboats that would be a hell of a story! The answer is simple he was paid or convinced to write a negative story and had to result to stretching the truth and just plain fabricating. John Crouse is potentially a victim here but that is his own doing I personally tried to get him to look at the facts on several of the issues that will cause him to lose this case long before he wrote this article.

On the subject of Steve David he screwed my friend Nigel Hook. The sites he picked up both wanted an APBA race at a discount as does Texas still but the fact of the matter is they snoozed and we moved on.

The Savannah race that replaced Sarasota is a $200,000 (not purse sanction fee) event. The event that replaced Ft Myers uses the Seven-mile Bridge as bleachers has a paid gate and a Backstreet boy?s concert. So although it looks great on the Internet it really means very little. They are trying so hard to mess with us that they had Watson our insurance guy going with them not us to Savannah to prove the site was not insurable.

On the subject of Gene Whipp. Gene was a friend of mine he introduced me to Offshore racing. My first race boat was Gene?s. Before Gene died he warned Mike about the current group in Sarasota they are scum. They actually refused to give Gene?s wife parking pass or credentials for the race last year once he was gone. When they (Steve David and Kevin) went to the club to vote on having an SBI event they all voted yes, except the only two racers on the board they opposed it and still do. They will have the smallest fleet in Sarasota history you can count on it.

Quite frankly Ron the LLC I know has a good bank balance and two major players who want in Reggie knows all to well who one of the guys is and what he is about. They are not going away trust me. Reggie wants Mike out but his company is in terrible financial shape he should concentrate on selling product and stop trying to kill something that is not going to die. Many people now view Reggie as a silly old man.

Earlier you suggested that Mike and john Crouse should go have a beer and work it, that cannot happen now. I think it is a good idea and something you both should do in Seattle.

Steve

Why the confussion in Steves letter, he must be drinking the same Koolaid that Mikes been serving for the past few years

BAR

[ 01-28-2002: Message edited by: Wrongfully Accused ]

BAR57

A few questions for Steve.
Concerning the San Diego race, you say Mr. Grannis was on your payroll.
You imply that money was missing and you don't know where it went. Who
wrote the checks? APBA didn't have a set budget before hand? Did APBA
pay all of it's obligations or did they leave San Diego holding the bag
for unpaid moneys. You imply that your answer was "so sue me"! Am I
reading that right?

Bob Leach extorted? By whom that is a pretty serious charge.

Did Formula get it's protest money? When did this happen/ Or did they
write this off? Why Formula, wasn't the money to come from the
protesting boat? Did Formula own the boat?

Isn't it at the very least bad form to say Beny sucks, by you an
employee and officer of APBA? It shows exactly where you are coming from
so much for unbiased judgment, by the APBA Competition Director. Can you
ever be trusted to do the right thing in dealings with any driver? Who
will be on your next "he sucks" list?

Gilbreath STOLE another man's wife! HE HE HE Steve come on now who is spreading
rumors and innuendoes.

Well who is Fountain Racing Powerboats? What is the problem here or are
you trying to insinuate something that doesn't exist.

On to Steve David, who has tried to be a friend to Mike. Who publicly
asked APBA to joint sanction the races, races APBA had already lost for
whatever reason. Like greed maybe? At least he saved these races for the
offshore racing community, and I might add for no personal monetary
gain.

As for Savannah, another racing group was already negotiating for the
race site when APBA Offshore muscled in. As for the insurance a member
of Savannah's Race Committee called Mr. Watson the APBA insurance
carrier and discussed the insurance. Not anyone from SBI, FORCE, RSVP,
Fountain or any other paranoid entity. If you had looked at the site you
could see it isn't near big enough to hold a offshore race. 800 frickin
feet wide!!! The insurance company said NO. No big conspiracy here.

Once APBA Offshore starts taking care of their sites and drivers and
playing fair and honest with them then and only then can APBA Offshore
grow and prosper. Whether you like it or not APBA has created one
controversy after another after another. It has used threats,
suspensions, withholding of moneys, and now lawsuits to try and get what
it wants. None of which has done anything to help offshore, just rip it
apart. APBA Offshore and it's chairman/ president has brought all of
this on his own head.