...If you go to Gandy or CCC on Saturday nights, you're part of 'the problem,' and you're asking for trouble.

I honestly don't care what arguments anyone wants to pull up against me, or if anyone thinks I'm being insensitive (in light of recent events), but I see so many threads and news stories about shit that happens there, and it's a haven for hoodlums, brawlers, trouble makers, street racing, and drunk drivers. You're going to find these types almost anywhere you go, but why the hell so many of you (I know there's quite a few attendees on the forums) flock to a weekly clusterfuck of trouble brewing is beyond me.

There's plenty of kids out there that are just going to go there because it's the cool thing to do (defying the law, risking lives, misbehaving, showing off double digit horsepower = cool), and they may or may not learn in a couple years, but there's so many people that go out there, that I honestly expected better from. I've heard countless self-declared 'mature', 'smarter' people joke about going to Gandy or CCC to "laugh at the ricers," or "watch the idiots," etc. I've seen those exact quotes countless times on these boards, as well as many other snide remarks about people driving 20+ miles to pretend they're better than anyone else out there. It's definitive hipocrisy.

If you're heading to one of the weekly culdesacs of crime to watch the drama unfold, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. Gawkers, criminals and showoffs only go there because so many other people like yourselves are there. Whether you're watching or participating, you're adding fuel to the fire. That's where everyone goes to race on the streets, and open a 6-pack for a bunch of misguided teenagers. Even the most well-meaning car enthusiast has no place there, as it's certainly not a wholesome place, and even the safest driver could be the next victim of derailed street racing or a DUI partyer.

At least once a month there's mention of mayhem at one of the two ricefests, usually ended with complaints of the cops breaking it up. Truth is, the cops have every right to go there and jail at least 75% of the jackoffs there, and it's about time they do so. If you're complaining about how dumb everyone else there is, try to justify yourself as being any different than another aimless trouble-seeker adding to the mess.



That's about it.

 

thank you for that very opinionated post. you'll have your biased point of view, we will have ours. so uhhh delete the thread now, cause you know exactly what drama your stirring up by posting this. and if i am correct, this is specifically the type of pot stirring the admins don't want. Be such a shame to have a hypocritical staff member in the mix.

 

Troux poses a great point, and delivered it in such a way as not to offend anyone. It was a well thought out post. If you agree with what was said or not, you can understand what the point is.

Why aren't Moderator's allowed to start threads that express concern, or disapproval. If i was a 16 year old kid, new to TR, and read this i might not go out there and contribute to the mayhem. i might go to a TRack Day event instead. this post could potentially shame some one into not being killed by a drunk driver, or street racing incident. Why can't the Tampa tribune writers read more posts like this? That's because there aren't many.

 

It's a long shot, but this is ALL I was hoping to get from this thread.

 

I agree with Troux, but you already knew that.


EDIT: ...and for once, somebody said it better than I did.

 

I think that if you race your car and/or bike then that is the problem. People who watch aren't the reason why people crash IMO. I go to Gandy to talk to my friends and look at the few nice cars that go out there. That's it. I don't race and I don't encourage racing but I do go out to chill with friends.

 

I agree with Troux, but you have to look at it this way. no matter what u situation u look at in life, theres ALWAYS gonna be two sides to everything. sneakon deacon may still go out there to see his friends. theres nothing wrong with that as long as he acts in a responsible manor and not acting like a complete fucktard like alot of these little ricer kids that go out there today. but me personally you wont find me out there anymore.

 

nice post dude .. every week i hear from people i know that go out there . and i can't get it though there heads thats the wrong place to be.. and one day there going t be a big bust or some thing because how dangerous it is out there ...

but sadly untill they find something else that cool or they think is cool they will not stop going . going to the street race is not a true show of your cars power or performance but they don't get it . but hey good post thanx for posting it

 

If there was a drive-by shooting @ CCC once a month, on a saturday between 11pm and 2 am....would you still go out there?

 

You obviously didn't read/understand the thread or point Troux was trying to get across...

He's saying that if you stayed away from there in the first place, a lot of the "omg my friend was just killed due to gandy/CCC drifter/racer!" or "cops arrested me for nothing on gandy/CCC!" or "huge wreck on gandy/CCC!" threads won't show up.

You contribute to the problem in the following ways:

• You encourage more of the little ricer kids to keep doing what they're doing (Hey we got a crowd now!)
• By promoting it in the forums with "i was at gandy last night, omgz beer bottles all over the streets!" threads tell the younger members that its ok and fun to head out there
• You contribute to more of the clutter of cars and traffic heading there
• More, but i want to keep this short so you don't lose too much interest too fast.

The problem with that is, these are the results:

• You come to one of these "events" and you get sideswiped by some retard going 120mph
• Your friend gets run over because someone's trying to drift on a straight road.
• You could potentially get pulled over/ticketed/arrested/fined/whatever and you come out with "i hate the po-po" threads
• More traffic = more possibility of someone getting hurt.
• More people start coming out, contributing to the problem

Are there solutions? Of course!

You want to hang out with your other car club buddies or whatever:

MEET SOMEWHERE ELSE. It doesn't even have to be in another county or 15 miles away, go down dale mabry for maybe 5 minutes... It'd help the situation tenfold.
Just make it a few of you guys, make sure that you have no scraggly little kids coming in and ruining your fun by doing burnouts or street racing with themselves.



I'm not going to lie, i've been there maybe twice a long time ago. Its not much better than just hanging with your crew elsewhere.