Matt Vassallo

There is a reason I am typing this thread up, and this reason is VERY important to me and Rob, the other moderator of this forum.

While moving files around on my computer last night, browsing my /video/ directory of mattweb (which, if you haven't seen, is insane), I saw a filename that seemed kind of familiar.


doritenvol1.wmv

a simple windows media video file reminded me what drifting was about, with the message as clear as a 400x300 mpeg4 compressed video file possibly could.

A group of friends gathered behind private property, a medium sized small parking lot / truck loading area, hooked up 5 large garden hoses they purchased from The Home Depot (not to be confused with "the ho' depot" ) and proceeded to wet down the parking lot so they could learn how to drift and slide their cars around together. They proceeded to slide around, have a good time, fall in the water, watch themselves spin out, and do random antics with their cars all while spinning out hundreds of times, sliding all over the place, and having quite possibly the most fun they've ever had with their cars.

That group of friends was us.

Why is it that people can't hang out anymore and have fun together? Why is it that people suddenly are competing against each other? That's not what drift is about. Drift is a big joke, lets keep it that way! Who cares who has waht body kit, what engien with more mods, who has what tail lights, who has waht front end conversion, what size turbo, what horsepower, what coilovers, what arms, what not!!!! It's lots of fun, its good times, it's doing flips off of fences, it's sliding around with the rear hatchback open on an rx-7, it's all of these things that are fun. How come people are 'chicken' if they dont' slide their car into a wall? How come people are worried about if they win this competition or that competition. Don't you know that these competitions are a big 'who's coolest' contest anyway? Have fun for yourself. I know I do, every time I get behind the wheel of my car. I want all of you to think about waht's going on and what has happend in the past 6 months. It feels like drift is the biggest competition now, and nobody has fun anymore.

I miss those evenings where people would call each other up, it would be raining out, and everyone would just go around in the rain slowly through industrial areas and maybe slide around a bit, but usually just go hang out.


it's gotten way too lame lately.


now , with the legal events that I am making a point to try and protest the competition, just keep it hangout style, people should be having tons of fun, everyone helping everyone to go out there and slide the hell out of their car, but it jsut seems like everything is going down the drain.


If this forum cannot maintain quality any better than a sewer, then I will warn you one time, and then ban you from it for a period discussed with the uppers of TR. If you still think you're so cool to just do whatever you want on this forum, than do it on drifting.com, because you won't be allowed in here.

90240sx

pin this up to remind us of what its all about.

DoomReaper

very very good point matt

Jonas

yeah, i remember that video... i think that there is just more negative talk to each other in the drift community, probably because everyone is worried about being better than the other guy, or stock 240's being driven better than modded 240's... also probably personal relations with certain people... i started super target meets for the clearwater people so we can have weekend hangouts, not as good as the old rain night drift days but its still something... not to mention %60 of the cars that come out are drift enthisuasts...

Funk

i miss those days.

i miss us all at robs house laughing our asses off.

i miss getting pulled over.

i miss the late night antics.

i think we need to leave the competition behind.
fuck if we want to compete, we can compete mother fuckers we dont know. fuck them, we grew together and we should continue that. we all need another chinese food night.
seriously.
lets do it, rob?

evlonedb

hey if you want the footage of you guys at the old builders square when bill was sliding my 95 4 lug with lsd i still have it just let me know how to get it to you.

DETriment

ive got that video, its never been about competition for me, i just hate my rear tires

neurovish

A rhetorical question I guess, but I will answer it anyways ( thereby negating it's status as a rhetorical question, eh omega? )

the social nature of the 'scene' has changed with the introduction of the events, a new hierarchy has developed. Before we were all just pretty much on the same field...same were better at drifting than others, but there was no real hierarchy...everybody was some kid sliding around illegally on somebody else's property.

Then with the events, new classes were automatically created, the event holders, sponsors, those invited to draw attention and coverage, etc. To make matters worse there's exhibition drifting and photo shoots thrown in ( at dday1 ). Suddenly, all the drifters are not equal...some are deemed more worthy than others and gain more track time than the rest in addition to invitations and special treatment. The spectators appear, who want to see D1, and thus start talking shit when they see the scenes that usually take place behind warehouses and on abandoned industrial roads late at night (aka people spinning and generally doing things uncool). Before the only audience to witness such events were your fellow drifters learning along-side you.

At the events, you are also throwing together several diverse groups...many of which have been driving together for years, some who are just trying out drifting for the first time. This hasn't really seemed to be a problem at the events though...from what I saw all the drifters were still largely trying to help each other out, riding along, giving ride alongs, swapping cars, etc (especially at the hialeah parking lot event).

One of the things that made street drifting so great was the informality of it....what is the greatest number of people you've ever seen at builders square? Compare that to the number of people that showed up to dday and the miami events.

I really miss the days of randomly driving by BS on a rainy night and finding people drifting there. One such time I was on my way to my parents' from UCF...had been driving though horrible rain for 2 and a half hours, finally getting to st. pete around midnight. I stopped by BS before heading to my parents' and there were several guys out drifting, so I hung around and drifted for another hour or so. It was easy for everybody to play nice (for the most part) when the community was small and largely consisted of friends who knew each other.

Now the egos seem to be getting bigger, the exposure is greater, and those who just want profit are trying to cash in.

...and internet message boards, it's much harder to be civil when everybody's trying to wave their 10" dick in your face.

sucio

man this happened to us in orlando..

Garage Battle

i think its all on a personal level on how we let ourselves look at things. i totally agree that it does not need to be hateful or competitive.

good call matt. i agree with this completely.


No Drama Drift Team Member #2