Bustedcrawler

This past weekend at ECC I had something odd happen that got me to thinking I know it's a scary thought... me thinking and all... but bear with me here...


As we were chilling in the cabin and I was talking to the devil, well not really it was only Patrick aka 666, and BillyGoat, who are from CO I realized just how long I've been in this and how much things have changed. It all hit me when 666 was telling me about the conversation he and BillyGoat had where BillyGoat was trying to think of my name, and all he could think of was I was originally from CO. 666 asked him if he was thinking of an OG that knew all the old timers from CO. Now that is the funny part here. I was the youngest guy from WPaC there by a few years, and definitely the young pup in the cabin at the time, but here I am being called an OG.

I mean me an OG? It is true my RCC member number is in the very very low triple digits, and I have a few rules that are in place in my honor, but I don't think it's been that long has it?

Well, I guess it has been 5 long years since I got my TXT. It was actually in April when I got it from my buddy, and sitting in my frat house room tore it (a Bustedcrawler) apart and got it going.

A few short months later I'm in my first comp going against clods and an Xfactor. I broke soo many rod ends, that Griz looked at me and said "we are going to have to give you some points for this as its getting unfair"... and you now know why there is a points penalty for repairs

More comps came and went, the TXT went through a lot more changes. Life was great, beating the snot out of the TXT at comps and a Nylint for just general abuse yes I had a 1/6th one . Then I am moving due to a job loss.

Well I get out to Knoxvegas, and hook up with Raytard, Raptorman, Fishmaxx (again as he flew out to CO for a comp), RXcrawler, Heavy, Sven, CSR, Highmark, and a few more. Some of them are stil laround some aren't. I was very sad to hear from 666 that Heavy is out of the game now, he was my boy . CSR had told me he was out earlier last month as I was hoping to meet up with him at ECC.

Now the KTown crew, now ETRCRC, was looking to start up a club and comps. After the first M&G that I was at, some how I ended up handling comp set-ups and helping set up the club and teaching others to judge. Right as things were taking off, I move up to Pitt.

I get to Pitt and go to the first M&G for the soon to be WPaC up at Casparis. Once again, my prior knowledge was tapped and I was voted in as Rules Nazi . That has been 3 short years ago.

It is amazing how somethings change while others don't. Always have been a die hard shafty guy. Ask Rckcrwlr how I was when I first moved up here. Or ask Griz or Ace about how I was anti-clod back in CO. I still remember bench racing in Ace's camper with him and Griz, talking shop and how they thought the TXT was the perfect trail truck and the clod was a perfect comp truck. That lead to a debate on could you build a shafty to hang with clods... and 2 years of relentless ribbing and follow my clod there shafty good times...


But in talking with 666 at ECC I was reminded of just how big of a part this stuff has been for me. Where it has taken me, what it has given me, etc.





Now I look back at WPaC, all 16 of us at the first M&G and I'd say maybe half or so are still here. Not a bad thing as we are much bigger than we were, but I'm not seeing much change in how things are run.

Now I know for some the whole club thing is a bit much, and for others competing is just not their cup of tea. But, having been a part of now 3 clubs from the start, I can tell you it is more than just new faces that makes a great club. We need more people in some of the roles that a few of us do to help grow this club into its full potential! We need everyone to be active and to claim ownership in this club.

John and I have been working on some ideas to help out with teaching folks the ins and outs of judging as that is a hard job. It is tough, you are a jack off if you make a bad call, and you get no respect as Rodney Dangerfield would say. But it is needed to help speed up our comps. If we could have a few more judges, we could do a free crawl format with all 2 or 3 courses running which would let us play more or go home sooner.

Getting active would help to show some of our vendors the support we have for them and reassure them of their efforts and investments.

I'd love to see us do a once a month dash for cash at the crawl space. BillyGoat told us about the one in CO... $10 buy in and then $5 mulligans to redo a course for a lower score, winner takes all!!!
But with how busy most folks are, and given everyone's current worries on the current state of the economy I don't think there would be a big turn out .. but I'd love to be proven wrong.

Now this isn't a lashing, or a bashing, or a flaming... it is just me wondering where do we go from here? We have a great base of members, we just put on a great comp at Motorama! Where WPaC goes from here is up to us.

Will we rise to the top like MOAs and the 2.2 class. Mind you the first time I saw a 2.2 was back in CO when PinchFlat and Katweo brought theirs out from UT and we all laughed and called them a fad boy were we ever wrong! They are by far the biggest class going now!

We also thought Supers would never see a decline... oops!

I guess what I am trying to say here, is what do YOU the WPaC members want to see out of the club and us officers. Where do you see us going in the years to come? What events, activities do you want to see us put on? How can we, as officers, help you the members get the most out of your membership?

I think I'm not alone when I say I want to see this grow and become a powerhouse... like ETRCRC or 801RC. I mean 801RC used to be the old UTRCRC with a whopping 20 guys lol. OR a powerhouse like the CO boys or SERCRC or even TSC. I know we can do it, but do we want it... that is the question.


So in the words of Bluto... "Who's with me?!?!"