I thought for a second MattBerg and I might actually agree on something, but then the thought of Hell freezing over got the better of me.

I WILL be at the Secret Meeting on Friday night (since I'm really the ringleader of the whole movement - don't do me any more favors, Scott! ). I've seen no secret agenda, I don't expect any votes to be taken, Barry (nor anyone else) has been lobbying for my vote and I fully expect nothing to result from that meeting other than a better understanding of the issues that each region faces. But unlike MattBerg, I AM willing to admit that I could be wrong and I'm being deceived by those clever few bent on destroying SEDIV for their own personal gain.

The SEDIV racing calendar is extremely crowded, which promotes worker burnout and makes it difficult for a fledgling racing region to hold events. In my mind this is very much analogous (that means "similar", MattBerg) to the I-A vs. I-AA battles in the NCAA. Before scholarship limitations, schools like Alabama (my God, do I detect a trend here?) and Oklahoma would offer scholarships to guys they knew would never play just to keep the competing schools from getting them. Fair or not, the scholarship limitations have made college football more enjoyable. The difference is, we already have race limitations in total events, mileage between events and consecutive weekends. Perhaps those rules could use some tweaking, but NOT wholesale change.

Will such tweaking come out of the meetings at Jekyll? I don't know. What I DO know follows (and this is supported by my RE, Tere Pulliam as well):

1. Any REAL proposal (i.e. - a motion to be voted upon by the RE's) to redistribute races within SEDIV will have to be brought up during Sunday's RE meeting.

2. IF (notice the capitals) such a proposal is presented, I/we will argue that any vote be delayed until the Mid-Year meeting to give time for membership input.

3. CFR's Board of Governors has already directed their RE Rick Balderson to "pursue other affiliations" (not their specific words, but I don't have the e-mail from Rick here) should their racing program be arbitrarily cut back in any way (i.e. - they will explore dropping out of SEDIV).

4. Atlanta Region is happy with our current race program and would explore similar options should SEDIV try to further limit our options.

5. Based on #3 & #4 above, SEDIV as we know it today would cease to exist should any proposal similar to the one as interpreted by MattBerg is adopted. There may POSSIBLY be some SEDIV RE's that would like to see that happen, but not near enough to carry the vote.

The part MattBerg and I almost agree upon is that you need to help your elected officials do their job. Let them know what you think (you already know my views) about how racing is carried out in YOUR division. Just say it once, however - camping on their doorstep and shouting over a bullhorn that they're idiots just ticks 'em off!

What pi$$es me off is that after no vote is taken nor proposals result at the Secret Meeting, MattBerg will take all the credit for having influenced the outcome. I guess I'll have to live with that.

I'm done here until after Jekyll. When we get back I hope to have an official announcement about the Atlanta Region Labor Day Double SARRC for 2006 (and beyond)...

Butch Kummer
Atlanta Region Comp.Director