Proposal for Mike A.
07-15-2003, 08:45 AM
#21
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Originally posted by Dredgeking
settle it with pistols at high noon and get it over with for christ's sakes.
settle it with pistols at high noon and get it over with for christ's sakes.
T2x
07-15-2003, 08:51 AM
#22
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Originally posted by T2x
P.S. I whole heartedly endorse Mike A's plan....as long as he gets the LLC out of the APBA.
P.S. I whole heartedly endorse Mike A's plan....as long as he gets the LLC out of the APBA.
T2x
07-15-2003, 10:28 AM
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Originally posted by T2x
The wisdom of Solomon may not apply...but there is certainly an element of prostitution floating around.
T2x
The wisdom of Solomon may not apply...but there is certainly an element of prostitution floating around.
T2x
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07-15-2003, 12:33 PM
#26
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I thought this to be relevant:
Originally posted by Mike A. on www.Hydroracer.net
In 1996, Offshore was essentially bankrupt. Remember, the APBA leadership had
taken Don Jones, who failed at running Unlimiteds, and shoved him into the Chair
of the Offshore Racing Commission. There was no election and nothing democratic.
In two years he bankrupted offshore and saddled APBA with debt.
At the annual meeting in Detroit that year, things had gotten so bad and
Offshore had become such a huge liability, that APBA and many members of the
Offshore Racing Comission actually prepared a deal memorandum that would have
simply given Offshore away. That is right. They had made an offer to give the
offshore category away to USO and SBI, the two leading offshore groups of the
day.
The only reason that did not happen is because Steve David, Pepper Ernest, me,
Bob Teague and a few other guys went to Gene Whipp and convinced him to assume
the Chair. Steve then gave us the ok to fire Don Jones.
Gene then killed the give away deal. But Offshore still was very much upside
down, so APBA reached into its pockets and Gene reached into his pockets, paid
off the debt and saved the offshore category from extinction.
However, from a business standpoint, the offshore category was still a disaster,
so Gene proceeded to work harder than he ever had in his life. He secured the
help of many friends and personal business contacts to help him and offshore out
of the mess it was in. Gene invested 10's of thousands of his own money to
subsidize the category, pay prize money, produce limited television, and
subsidize events. Indeed, when Gene assumed control in January of 1997 Offshore
had only one race on its schedule and that was Sarasota.
So Gene worked his tail off and saved Offshore. But he was completely burned out
by midway through his second year. Things had improved drastically but SBI and
USO still outdrew APBA in many venues and Gene still had to subsidize the
category to keep it going. So much of the progress was a mirage in that once
Gene decided to pull the plug, if a like minded philanthropist did not fill the
void, Offshore would be right back to where it was in late 1996 - purely a
liability to APBA.
When Gene retired in 1998, APBA had a negative membership equity, which would
have been even worse had Gene reported the offshore category debt it owed to him
personally, on the APBA books, which he did not.
You know what happened? A great many supporters of the sport practically forced
the APBA leadership to allow me to become the Offshore Category Chairman at the
end of 1998.
I personally paid Gene back the approximately $80,000 the category owed him then
put several hundred thousand dollars of my own money andtime to continue the
subsidy of the category.
Then, realizing that the sport could no longer operate that way - ie as a
not-for-profit division of a not-for profit company - me and some other
interested parties approached APBA about the License deal. We ultimately
convinced APBA to allow the License deal and we have moved forward ever since.
Now, how has the License deal helped APBA? Let me count the ways:
1. The LLC has assumed all of the debt and risk of loss which APBA used to have
when it operated the category as part of its general operations. This meant that
while we were financing the growth and new programs of Offshore with our money,
APBA incurred no debt and no risk of incurring debt.
2. By assuming the risk of loss and debt, the LLC also allowed APBA to keep
hundreds of thousands of membership, insurance, sanction, and mailing fees and
put the money in the bank without risk of loss or incurring debt. THAT is how
and why the APBA equity number went from negative to over $1,000,000.00 positive
since 1998.
3. We have spent millions more promoting APBA and the brand.
4. We have brought a huge name sponsor in the form of GMC to the sport.
Now suddenly, from Edward and the friends' perspective, I and the LLC had
nothing to do with helping Offshore. Now suddenly, a legitimate business plan
and investing millions of dollars to help APBA and the sport of offshore racing
has become bad business. Now, suddenly, they know what is best for Offshore and
should be given the opportunity to run it again.
Open your eyes people: In 1996 Offshore was more than worthless. It was a
liability. Today, after WE have assumed all of the risks, all of the debts,
taken all of the chances and enriched the APBA coffers to over $1,000,000 in
assets, these guys are trying to throw us out and steal our business. That is
dirty, wrong and borderline criminal.
So Ron, Edward, Sam, Mr. Brewster, if that is your idea of fairplay and honesty,
then, we will not spend one more second trying to explain ourselves here.
We will instead stay focused on building our business and giving other
like-minded change oriented people an opportunity to better boat racing. We will
continue to assert our rights in court and let the chips fall where they may but
we are not going away.
In 1996, Offshore was essentially bankrupt. Remember, the APBA leadership had
taken Don Jones, who failed at running Unlimiteds, and shoved him into the Chair
of the Offshore Racing Commission. There was no election and nothing democratic.
In two years he bankrupted offshore and saddled APBA with debt.
At the annual meeting in Detroit that year, things had gotten so bad and
Offshore had become such a huge liability, that APBA and many members of the
Offshore Racing Comission actually prepared a deal memorandum that would have
simply given Offshore away. That is right. They had made an offer to give the
offshore category away to USO and SBI, the two leading offshore groups of the
day.
The only reason that did not happen is because Steve David, Pepper Ernest, me,
Bob Teague and a few other guys went to Gene Whipp and convinced him to assume
the Chair. Steve then gave us the ok to fire Don Jones.
Gene then killed the give away deal. But Offshore still was very much upside
down, so APBA reached into its pockets and Gene reached into his pockets, paid
off the debt and saved the offshore category from extinction.
However, from a business standpoint, the offshore category was still a disaster,
so Gene proceeded to work harder than he ever had in his life. He secured the
help of many friends and personal business contacts to help him and offshore out
of the mess it was in. Gene invested 10's of thousands of his own money to
subsidize the category, pay prize money, produce limited television, and
subsidize events. Indeed, when Gene assumed control in January of 1997 Offshore
had only one race on its schedule and that was Sarasota.
So Gene worked his tail off and saved Offshore. But he was completely burned out
by midway through his second year. Things had improved drastically but SBI and
USO still outdrew APBA in many venues and Gene still had to subsidize the
category to keep it going. So much of the progress was a mirage in that once
Gene decided to pull the plug, if a like minded philanthropist did not fill the
void, Offshore would be right back to where it was in late 1996 - purely a
liability to APBA.
When Gene retired in 1998, APBA had a negative membership equity, which would
have been even worse had Gene reported the offshore category debt it owed to him
personally, on the APBA books, which he did not.
You know what happened? A great many supporters of the sport practically forced
the APBA leadership to allow me to become the Offshore Category Chairman at the
end of 1998.
I personally paid Gene back the approximately $80,000 the category owed him then
put several hundred thousand dollars of my own money andtime to continue the
subsidy of the category.
Then, realizing that the sport could no longer operate that way - ie as a
not-for-profit division of a not-for profit company - me and some other
interested parties approached APBA about the License deal. We ultimately
convinced APBA to allow the License deal and we have moved forward ever since.
Now, how has the License deal helped APBA? Let me count the ways:
1. The LLC has assumed all of the debt and risk of loss which APBA used to have
when it operated the category as part of its general operations. This meant that
while we were financing the growth and new programs of Offshore with our money,
APBA incurred no debt and no risk of incurring debt.
2. By assuming the risk of loss and debt, the LLC also allowed APBA to keep
hundreds of thousands of membership, insurance, sanction, and mailing fees and
put the money in the bank without risk of loss or incurring debt. THAT is how
and why the APBA equity number went from negative to over $1,000,000.00 positive
since 1998.
3. We have spent millions more promoting APBA and the brand.
4. We have brought a huge name sponsor in the form of GMC to the sport.
Now suddenly, from Edward and the friends' perspective, I and the LLC had
nothing to do with helping Offshore. Now suddenly, a legitimate business plan
and investing millions of dollars to help APBA and the sport of offshore racing
has become bad business. Now, suddenly, they know what is best for Offshore and
should be given the opportunity to run it again.
Open your eyes people: In 1996 Offshore was more than worthless. It was a
liability. Today, after WE have assumed all of the risks, all of the debts,
taken all of the chances and enriched the APBA coffers to over $1,000,000 in
assets, these guys are trying to throw us out and steal our business. That is
dirty, wrong and borderline criminal.
So Ron, Edward, Sam, Mr. Brewster, if that is your idea of fairplay and honesty,
then, we will not spend one more second trying to explain ourselves here.
We will instead stay focused on building our business and giving other
like-minded change oriented people an opportunity to better boat racing. We will
continue to assert our rights in court and let the chips fall where they may but
we are not going away.
07-15-2003, 01:19 PM
#27
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Another Interesting Point of View:
Different perspectives.
It would appear, from mostly random readings, that there are other boating associations who have suffered at the hands of the APBA/Merc machine. Some "cringe," while others fear "clusterf***s." One such group in particular is the ODBA. These guys from what I understand were also wronged by the 'friends.'
This guy, 'Evin Rude' might just have it figured out:
http://www.byuboyz.com/forums/showth...+Guards+antics
There is a guy named Mike Alwiess that bought a lisence from APBA to run the offshore division.
He calls it APBA Offshore LLC.
Now he's runnin it completely separate from the APBA we know. He is runnin it in a for profit manner and doin purdy good. He got GMC signed on as a sponsor and a few other guys. It appears his boat count, rules and inspectors are also doing pretty good.
I think that is where the **** comes in.
We all know Mercury controls the old APBA 100% and they plan to keep it that way at all cost. Our guys found that out first hand. When you got the same guys runnin APBA that draw a 6 figure check from Merc, what does that tell you?
We all know Merc dont like competition in any form. They work to crush competition either by out performing it (tha best way), out lawing it (chicken ****) or just using politics to control/get rid of it (really chicken ****).
Now that goes for all forms of competition, both on and off the track. It looks like to me Merc got pissy when Allweiss got another sponsor (GMC) for his Offshore LLC that had more money than they did. The Merc/APBA brass (one in the same) started lawyering (excuse me for swearin) Allweis to get his ticket pulled so he couldnt run Offshore no more.
To me, the APBA/Merc brass look like a 3 year old brat lyin in tha floor kickin, cryin and screamin throwin a tantrum cause somebody wont give em what they want.
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
On the other hand, Allweiss appears to be runnin some purdy well conducted and managed races and just takin care of business in spite of havin to battle with the pissers and moaners.
Now I have been involved in runnin a race or two im my time. I aint sayin I done everything right, but I can tell you for sure, all *****ing is self serving. Meaning it is done to advance or improve an individuals (usually the *****er) own chances to win.
*****ing (some call it constructive criticism....LOL) is never done to improve racin as a whole, only to benefit the *****er.
Hard work is whats done to improve racin and from my experience, the *****ers will not lift a hand to do anything. They got the attitude that gracing you with their presence should be help enough. Seen it hundreds of times, over and over.
Allweiss seems like the kind of guy that seen a need for improvement. He didnt ***** and whine, he just jumped in and got tha fukk after it.
He got an agreement to lisence the management/running of the Offshore Division from APBA, took over and set off on a new path. He lined up GMC as a sponsor and started runnin big events, something the old APBA dudes never did. He pitched out a bunch of cheaters that were a bunch of APBA head office cronies.
In short, it appears to me, Allweiss took a pile of **** (APBA's Offshore Division) and made something good out of it, something really nice too, and now that he did all the work, the old guard want it back!!
I think the APBA Old Guards antics pissed Allweiss off so much, now he is thinking about doing the same for the kneel down guys he did for Offshore. Hell, he might even do the same for the drags!
I wish Allweiss only the best!!!!
I also wish I knew how to spell hiz name, but you get my point.
I aint got a bone to pick with APBA or Merc, they are irrelavant to me. Dont give a **** one way or the other. On this deal though, they sure as hell look anti-bote racin to me.
Just another guys' outside view looking in. This may or may not be of any interest to you, but what the hell...
It would appear, from mostly random readings, that there are other boating associations who have suffered at the hands of the APBA/Merc machine. Some "cringe," while others fear "clusterf***s." One such group in particular is the ODBA. These guys from what I understand were also wronged by the 'friends.'
This guy, 'Evin Rude' might just have it figured out:
http://www.byuboyz.com/forums/showth...+Guards+antics
There is a guy named Mike Alwiess that bought a lisence from APBA to run the offshore division.
He calls it APBA Offshore LLC.
Now he's runnin it completely separate from the APBA we know. He is runnin it in a for profit manner and doin purdy good. He got GMC signed on as a sponsor and a few other guys. It appears his boat count, rules and inspectors are also doing pretty good.
I think that is where the **** comes in.
We all know Mercury controls the old APBA 100% and they plan to keep it that way at all cost. Our guys found that out first hand. When you got the same guys runnin APBA that draw a 6 figure check from Merc, what does that tell you?
We all know Merc dont like competition in any form. They work to crush competition either by out performing it (tha best way), out lawing it (chicken ****) or just using politics to control/get rid of it (really chicken ****).
Now that goes for all forms of competition, both on and off the track. It looks like to me Merc got pissy when Allweiss got another sponsor (GMC) for his Offshore LLC that had more money than they did. The Merc/APBA brass (one in the same) started lawyering (excuse me for swearin) Allweis to get his ticket pulled so he couldnt run Offshore no more.
To me, the APBA/Merc brass look like a 3 year old brat lyin in tha floor kickin, cryin and screamin throwin a tantrum cause somebody wont give em what they want.
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
On the other hand, Allweiss appears to be runnin some purdy well conducted and managed races and just takin care of business in spite of havin to battle with the pissers and moaners.
Now I have been involved in runnin a race or two im my time. I aint sayin I done everything right, but I can tell you for sure, all *****ing is self serving. Meaning it is done to advance or improve an individuals (usually the *****er) own chances to win.
*****ing (some call it constructive criticism....LOL) is never done to improve racin as a whole, only to benefit the *****er.
Hard work is whats done to improve racin and from my experience, the *****ers will not lift a hand to do anything. They got the attitude that gracing you with their presence should be help enough. Seen it hundreds of times, over and over.
Allweiss seems like the kind of guy that seen a need for improvement. He didnt ***** and whine, he just jumped in and got tha fukk after it.
He got an agreement to lisence the management/running of the Offshore Division from APBA, took over and set off on a new path. He lined up GMC as a sponsor and started runnin big events, something the old APBA dudes never did. He pitched out a bunch of cheaters that were a bunch of APBA head office cronies.
In short, it appears to me, Allweiss took a pile of **** (APBA's Offshore Division) and made something good out of it, something really nice too, and now that he did all the work, the old guard want it back!!
I think the APBA Old Guards antics pissed Allweiss off so much, now he is thinking about doing the same for the kneel down guys he did for Offshore. Hell, he might even do the same for the drags!
I wish Allweiss only the best!!!!
I also wish I knew how to spell hiz name, but you get my point.
I aint got a bone to pick with APBA or Merc, they are irrelavant to me. Dont give a **** one way or the other. On this deal though, they sure as hell look anti-bote racin to me.
Just another guys' outside view looking in. This may or may not be of any interest to you, but what the hell...
07-15-2003, 03:21 PM
#28
Registered
I don't think anyone could or would say anything bad about Gene Whipp. I think you just have two different thoughts of what direction this sport should go. You have the guys that like "real off-shore racing" vs the "closed course" racing. I think the true offshore racing was great, but not something that is sell able to the public. I know people will complain that most people won't watch boat racing, but there are a lot of us that enjoy watching any form of good competitive racing.
I think the only way to get off-shore racing to grow, is to have one man be in control.
The first priority of a business is to stay in business. If it doesn't make money it won't stay in business.
RumRunner
PS I thought APBA lost there not for profit designation (like just about every other sanctioning body)
I think the only way to get off-shore racing to grow, is to have one man be in control.
The first priority of a business is to stay in business. If it doesn't make money it won't stay in business.
RumRunner
PS I thought APBA lost there not for profit designation (like just about every other sanctioning body)
07-15-2003, 04:09 PM
#30
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Originally posted by Ron P
14-H is very quite these days. Also, I thought he didn't speak for the board of APBA.
14-H is very quite these days. Also, I thought he didn't speak for the board of APBA.
They even have an entire section called "14-H Vs Mike A."
