So my boy won his Pack race today...

[fatdaddy]

And I could not be more thrilled Being both Cubmaster, and the emcee for the event (I am a stand up comedian by night, so ti wasn't a stretch for me) it was hard not to gloat or get too excited, and I really did try to do a good job of getting everyone to cheer for all the boys. We use an old wooden track, I think about 35 ft, he was running times of 2.66 and 2.67, with a fastest and pack record 2.65. It was a great day both for him and I. Now of to district, where I have a feeling we'll get stomped, hopefully my getting aggressive with the COB (3/4 of an inch in front of RA) will help him on the longer aluminum track at district.
Thanks for listening to me rant about my kid, I'll post pics in the next few days

Big Dave

[ProQuest]

Way to go Dave. There is no better feeling for Scouts and Scout dads than winning a derby. Congrats.

ProQuest/Steve H.

[fatdaddy]

proquest said:

Way to go Dave. There is no better feeling for Scouts and Scout dads than winning a derby. Congrats.

ProQuest/Steve H.

Thanks Steve. The response this year from the parents as well as the kids was awesome. We are looking to buy the pack a new aluminum track next year, and I have offered to buy the old track, as I want to run a racing league locally, amybe start with some dad's drinking beers and racing, and add soem kid divisiosn eventually. It's amazing how dad's can bond with their kids and each other over PWD

[Smokinjoesracing]

Congrats. Just experienced the same joy Feb 13th. On to Districts 3-15-08 and then historic Churchill Downs for our council race at Scout-O-Rama.
It sounds if the Pine bug has bitten another.

[SpeedGeek]

Fatdaddy,

Enjoy your son's victory and ESPECIALLY the sportsmanship of the entire pack. My son won the pack race last year for the second consecutive year (by a substantial margin) and set his third track record 3.001 s.

The pack literally turned into a pack of wolves. He was accused of cheating, pushed, shoved and harrassed for months. I finally had to turn to the principal and the cubmaster for help.

Just when we thought the harassment was over, the Committee Chairmen just sent an email message to the entire pack parentage informing them that feelings were hurt last year over "the fact" that the winner really didn't build his car - "it was too well done" and blah, blah, blah...

[fatdaddy]

smokinjoesracing said:

Congrats. Just experienced the same joy Feb 13th. On to Districts 3-15-08 and then historic Churchill Downs for our council race at Scout-O-Rama.
It sounds if the Pine bug has bitten another.

More like the pine bug cam out of long lasting hibernation, as I was bitten as a webelo many years ago Congrats on your victory as well, and good luck in the district race!

[fatdaddy]

speedgeek said:

Fatdaddy,

Enjoy your son's victory and ESPECIALLY the sportsmanship of the entire pack. My son won the pack race last year for the second consecutive year (by a substantial margin) and set his third track record 3.001 s.

The pack literally turned into a pack of wolves. He was accused of cheating, pushed, shoved and harrassed for months. I finally had to turn to the principal and the cubmaster for help.

Just when we thought the harassment was over, the Committee Chairmen just sent an email message to the entire pack parentage informing them that feelings were hurt last year over "the fact" that the winner really didn't build his car - "it was too well done" and blah, blah, blah...

That's ridiculous. People ahve nothing better to do than teach their kids how to be bullies. As Cubmaster I had to lay down a zero tolerance policy (which I think the BSA runs anyhow) at a leaders meeting last month, because things are happening at school and in meetings that shouldn;t be going on. Our pinewood parents are pretty good about things, everyone wants to win, but no one complains about cheating unless it seems like there are parts on the car that shouldn't be there. We all generally feel as a group that the internet is available for anyone to use, so there is really no advantage from one boy to another. with the advent this year of an open class, soem fathers built cars, and we are even talking about doing a monthly Dad's beer league on saturday nights. I'm sorry your son had to go thru that, it's uncalled for and should anything close happen again, contact your BSA office, and your district director. It's not tolerated, and it should be handled swiftly. As far as your committee chair, find out who your charter rep is, and file a complaint with them, and the District Director. As leaders, we are taught not to question a parent on what they claim the child has done. If one of the parents in my son's den says he did 89 wolf electives, it gets signed off, no questions asked. Now while I don't think that's the perfect way of doing things, as it can lead to the parent just wanting their kid to get the most awards, it should prevent what happened to you from happening, but apparently it has not. Good luck to you, hopefully it gets solved quickly.

[SpeedGeek]

Thanks for your words of encouragment, Fatdaddy.

I forgot to mention the Committee Chairman's son took second place behind my son. No conflict of interest there.

The District Director wasn't interested in dealing with the situation. I talked to her today. "There's nothing we can do." she says.

Imagine Lord of The Flies in Scout uniforms.

[fatdaddy]

speedgeek said:

Thanks for your words of encouragment, Fatdaddy.

I forgot to mention the Committee Chairman's son took second place behind my son. No conflict of interest there.

The District Director wasn't interested in dealing with the situation. I talked to her today. "There's nothing we can do." she says.

Imagine Lord of The Flies in Scout uniforms.

Wow. I'm honestly appalled by your situation. I guess I am spoiled, our District Director was our comittee chair last year, and his son is the same age as mine. In fact this year his son took second to my son, after his son won it all last year, and I beat the director in a grudge match I honestly hope things get better for you, I say beat the pants off of them again next year, and if the harassment continues, file police reports. The only way to stop people like that is to take it the legal way.

Well, the only way to stop it and not get in trouble yourself

[Go Bubba Go]

fatdaddy said:

...with the advent this year of an open class, some fathers built cars, and we are even talking about doing a monthly Dad's beer league on saturday nights.

You wouldn't happen to be close to Northern Illinois, would you?

Bubba

p.s. Congrats to you both, and good luck at Districts!

[RacerX]

Fatdaddy,

Congrats to your son and you !!!!!!

I really wish people understood that with good parts and proper technique, a very fast car is not that that hard to build and is a thing of pride and beauty to the builder. The problem is that if you do not understand how to do it, you had to loose to a cheater. Want to have some fun, next time you hear someone accuse someone else of cheating, ask them how they cheated, boy will you get a blank stare. We did several quick alignments here in the shop with boys and Dads to get them ready, I had the boys work with me on all of them and they understood the concept. All of them won by a sizeable amount and 2 were accused of cheating. We will be helping those boys step up their cars next year and they will be doing the work, they will see what fast is next year!!!!

The Pinewood bug is a funny little creature, I remember it biting me in 1st. grade when I saw the neighbor kid building a PWD car, I said "I have to do that!" That was a while ago.


Race Fast

Racer X

[fatdaddy]

racerx said:

Fatdaddy,

Congrats to your son and you !!!!!!

I really wish people understood that with good parts and proper technique, a very fast car is not that that hard to build and is a thing of pride and beauty to the builder. The problem is that if you do not understand how to do it, you had to loose to a cheater. Want to have some fun, next time you hear someone accuse someone else of cheating, ask them how they cheated, boy will you get a blank stare. We did several quick alignments here in the shop with boys and Dads to get them ready, I had the boys work with me on all of them and they understood the concept. All of them won by a sizeable amount and 2 were accused of cheating. We will be helping those boys step up their cars next year and they will be doing the work, they will see what fast is next year!!!!

The Pinewood bug is a funny little creature, I remember it biting me in 1st. grade when I saw the neighbor kid building a PWD car, I said "I have to do that!" That was a while ago.


Race Fast

Racer X

Thanks Racer X, I owe a lot to Derby Worx, for without their parts and tools, this probably would not have happened