Forum exposure

I recently started a thread about Gareth Pepper. Not to insult the guy but just to get "the pulse of the masses" so to speak. I knew if it got back to Mr. Pepper or anybody who knew him there would be certain responses. I didn't expect to be called a "jealous hater" but I know that it was not really meant in a nasty way.

The second part of this experiment was to see who actually reads these forums and if we can get more of the industry leaders to comment?

Well I think I'm satisfied that these forums/blogs get read by a lot if not most of the industry professionals. This would include jocks, trainers and certainly the big brass from Phumelela/GC/RA/NHRA ect.

Today after race 2 when MJ Byleveld was interviewed he made a very interesting comment when he thanked his sponsors. He said that offspring of VAR won over an extended trip in the week which was great as "some people" said VAR doesn't go on with it......The thread he no doubt is referring to is the thread about VAR on this site. however the thread did not say VAR horses don't get a trip, it is speculated in the thread that VAR horses don't train on to be as good at 3 and 4 as they are at 2!!!!

I can only come to 1 conclusion, even though my conclusions may be a little off.

It seems that if we insult (joke) the right people on here or if we start talking about things that are super controversial, perhaps we can get more people involved into talking to us via all these forums?

I'm pretty excited about the Garreth Pepper response as well as MJ's comments at Fairview today..............Now if we can just get him to tip us a winner we would all be very much happier



Comments?

Did i tell you a got a mention in the Thorough Bred times this week ?

Yep you did. The more exposure the better. Sometimes we need to think outside the box to get the other industry players involved. I'm not suggesting we have a go at somebodies mother or something similar , but there has to be a way of getting these guys interested so that they contribute.

The goose with the golden egg would be to get somebody on the Phumelela board to take note of us, perhaps get so upset that he HAS TO POST

Would love to get these guys involved in some manner!!!

Yes come on ''Winker'', seeing as your buddy 2cents is on holiday(God knows why he needs a holiday in such a cushy job:) come join the forum....gooi us a few winners ''winker''.....

That's the way Greggo....I we cannot get them let's BAIT them until they comment

We will prevail, one way or the other!!!!!

Tommy

The goose with the golden egg would be to get somebody on the Phumelela board to take note of us, perhaps get so upset that he HAS TO POST grinning smiley ...............

The Trainers, Jockeys, Solicitors (attorneys), owners, bookmakers, RA, PHUM and GC have taken note...of all the issues addressed on this site..
And they are doing the RIGHT THING....
SILENCE...........
THEY HAVE TO.........

They are all aware of the challenges in the industry, tote payout issues, dope issues, jockey club testing processes, horses losing a few lengths at the start, bookmaker - jockey relationships,and many other things...

Their objective is to SECURE and MAINTAIN the integrity of the INDUSTRY..
Should they admit that these issues are real, the industry will fall apart, their stronghold will be gone..

If you evaluate the various replies, press releases from the RA, PHUM and GC, you will see that they chose their words very carefully.
They don't deny the existence of these issues, they just don't know how to address it...
By being vague in the replies, press releases - they hope to defuse the issues for a while.
Typical example is the RA on the AUDIT of the TOTE.

IF WE DON"T say anything, the issues will die a slow death...

IF WE ARE GUILTY, by making a noise and retaliating confirms our GUILT....then everyone knows we pressed the right buttons..
Hence their strategy is RIGHT - SILENCE

I guess my want for a level playing field and open cards is one of the "pie in the sky" variety. Having said that the happenings of the last day or so shows me that more people than we think either read the blogs/forums on a daily basis or bears knowledge of the postings on these forums through friends, family members or "girlfriends"

This makes me upbeat that perhaps more and more people involved (perhaps not the administrators ect.) can join us in discussing the industry in healthy debate!

We wait in anticipation!

Tommy_Hotspur Wrote:

---

> I guess my want for a level playing field and open
> cards is one of the "pie in the sky" variety.
> Having said that the happenings of the last day or
> so shows me that more people than we think either
> read the blogs/forums on a daily basis or bears
> knowledge of the postings on these forums through
> friends, family members or "girlfriends"
>
> This makes me upbeat that perhaps more and more
> people involved (perhaps not the administrators
> ect.) can join us in discussing the industry in
> healthy debate!
>

Tommy, I KNOW lots of people read these forums... cos when I label a lurker ...the price always halves
> We wait in anticipation!

"Tommy."

Never gonna happen.

Don't take it personally, but these types of boards are never going to attract the type of serious people that you have mentioned because of the manner in which they present themselves and how the posters behave.

Here is the problem in a nutshell: THE INTERNET ATTRACTS GUTLESS PEOPLE THAT HIDE BEHIND SCREEN NAMES SO THAT THEY CAN ACT LIKE THEY HAVE TESTICLES.

I have not spent enough time in South Africa to know whether you have a thing prevalent in the United States known as "talk radio," in which there is a host that fields phone calls from listeners. This type of program brings out crazies on such a regular basis that one wonders whether there is a full moon each and every day. Only talk radio is worse than Internet message board, because the sound of these people intensifies the unpleasant experience.

Look, Tommy and Scotia, if you want to be taken seriously, then present yourself in a more serious fashion. I would start by insisting that people use their real names. This will show a serious intent on behalf of the poster, because people that use their own identities are signaling that they are taking responsibility for their actions.

People that cannot even give their true identities are saying, in essence, I can say anything I want, because I am not using my own name and I am on the Internet, so I can be as outrageous and irresponsible as I want and there will be no consequences.

The real world doesn't work like that and the Internet shouldn't either.

And that's just for starters. . .

I could go on and on, but based on my experience on line (which I would imagine would be longer than anybody else that posts herein with perhaps a few exceptions), this will never happen, because the people that boards such as this one attracts are people that like not having to be responsible for their comments.

Before everybody goes off half-cocked, I will say that in the main, there appear to be more geniuine people that post on these boards than on most I have seen, as a lot of the real jerks have taken their shots and left, some out of boredom, because they cannot get a reaction, which is all they want anyway.

Summing up this brief commentary, I suggest that if you really want to have an impact on things, you will seriouisly consider sprucing up your act and think of presenting yourselves in a more inviting light.

I like the ABC boards, otherwise I wouldn't waste my time here.

But if attracting comments from serious people is really something you want to do, consider what I have written.

As a writer and editorial commentator, I have spent the last 40 years shaking up The Establishment. I know what I am talking about. If I acted like a terrorist (which, in fact, is what some of you sound like), none of the issues that have been imortant to me would have been positively impacted by my writings. If you want interaction, think about what I said.

Cheers gents and thanks for the inputs.
Not the easiest game in town and would say that very few posters are "unknown" to us, the "Who are You Thread" was a step in the right direction and our registration process has been improved.

However we will continue to manage this forum to the best of our capabilities and always appreciate constuctive posts and views from a fairly mature group of posters.

txs

Dave

Dave, c'mon...that's way too politically correct.

Skirts the testosterone issue, so to speak!

You know I'm right, you just don't want to offend some posters and lose too many others.

Until people Man Up, nothing is going to be achieved.

Nobody's got time to sift through pages and pages to find out who somebody might be.

@Barry Irwin:

As a fellow media man (as amongst the first ever black to major in Communication and having studied then new concept of American free'sheets / 'knock 'n drop', besides the various theories on mass communication from the late '70's), as a former struggle activist, I would be on par with you when you refer to 'shaking up the Establishment'! For freedom of expression, we faced a myriad of lmedia laws!

Most importantly, I am not hiding behind anonymity- my name Umlilo (fire) is earned from the struggle days when I was a SACCAWU Shop Steward at Makro (they eventually fired me by hook or crook!)

As a media man, you should know the constraints and the avenues available for people to express their opinions/views (whether here, or other media, such as radio, press, TV, etc)... The point remains- it's not who posts.... it's what's posted.

It's for the rest of us to eschew whether that is relevant, topical, educating, questionable, identifiable with, etc.

That decides the merits of a thread, whether it will persists or die (as happens with most of my threads / responses)!

We do live in different worlds!