[2006] Region West Atlantic: USA East

Marion Karr · Post by **Marion Karr** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 4:32 pm

RACE ANNOUNCEMENT:

Downhillbillies May Slalom Showdown
May 19, 20, 21, 2006

May 19- Hybrid/GS CamperWorld (or possible new Course) Statesville, North Carolina

May 20- Dual Lane Tight/Hybrid on the now Famous Court Street, Downtown Statesville
(Here's your chance to ride the Dixie Cup Course before November)

May 21-Park Slalom at the new Grayson Skatepark in Charlotte, North Carolina
(Approval Pending)
Watch for further details on the Down South Forum

Corky, can you please put this on the calendar and accept our request for BASIC points status?

Lynn Kramer · Post by **Lynn Kramer** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 4:37 am

Thanks Corky, for updating the best and most complete ranking system we have to date.
Lynn

Hans Koraeus · Post by **Hans Koraeus** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 12:48 am

Lynn,

The status decisions are made in each regions forum.

Canada region decided (Canada region here) that 3:rd Dovercourt Open 2006 will have Main status this year.

I try to update the outcome of all discussions in the region forum for each forum and on www.slalomranking.com. What cones/statuses that are registered on the homepage at www.slalomranking.com should be correct.

There is also an overview at www.slalomranking.com but that is not completeley updated I noticed. I'll try to update it this weekend.

Otherwise the SS calendar or the NCDSA calendar is a good resource.

Lynn Kramer · Post by **Lynn Kramer** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 6:25 pm

Corky, can you post the cone-weights of races on slalomranking.com to match what is on this site? I'm planning my travel calendar and I see that Ottawa is a Main on slalomranking, but not listed here. Is there an official list somewhere?
Thanks
Lynn

Marion Karr · Post by **Marion Karr** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:31 pm

John Gilmour, your last two posts were great.

The good news for the DHB is that we can stand up to the Status we have received based on your criteria.

For this year we are working on more cash prize money for the top racers but we have the other things you mention:

1. Good surfaces (Camper World is a 7, Court Street is a 9, and Hobby Park is a 7, out of 10....Hobby Park's speed makes it more like a 9....the only 2 problems, is it could be longer and the guard rail is sketchy.)

2. Good organization (we spent a great deal of time on this component of our race planning).

3. Access to two good Airports (Charlotte 45 minutes and Greensboro 1 hour...all interstate drive).

4. Hotel accomodations are great and one is located at the base of the Friday Night Outlaw course. (Statesville Convention and Tourism Board is one of our sponsors and is funded through the hotel occupancy tax).

5. Weather is typically dry here in North Carolina the last two weeks of October and early November. Temperatures range from 50's to 70's with little humidity (After Nov 15th or so it goes all to heck)

6. After Party- The DHB were born to party.

7. (One I think you forgot) Racing in front of a crowd. (Our Saturday dual lane tight/hybrid is in the middle of a fall festival that brings in 20000 people into our downtown)

The only major negative we have is the fact that we are forced to limit the field of participants because of lack of daylight/close of the festival.

Look forward to riding on the same hill as you JG soon!

John Gilmour · Post by **John Gilmour** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 2:58 am

Yes... La Costa should not be a basic- almost purely based on the talent pool it attracts- I think that promoters should work together out of respect for one another and cough up the status of their competition if they feel the other one will have higher level courses, more prize money, better organization, and a deeper talent pool attending. This should not happen at the last minute. And for now- certainly the ability to change a Main to a prime or vice versa should be there. Majors....they should not change status, but venues should change each year if possible. Promoters should work together because the statuses should rotate around if possible to keep the venues fresh.

IMHO I think 3 months prior should be the absolute limit for changing the status of a competition upwards and 2 months prior should be the limit for changing a status downwards. If the promoter hasn't started about thinking about his race 3 months in advance... it probably won't be well organized and wouldn't merit an increase in status.

Hans- I also find it odd when people say "they don't care about points and that the WR system is flawed, and that no one cares about points"...... then when statuses are assigned for contests those same people really start howling. Perhaps they should start trying to figure out the ranking for a races in Latvia, Austria, Germany, Italy, France, Sweden, Russia, etc.......and do it correct the first time.

Which is fine...and the WR will sort itself out over time. Perhaps World ranking- RIGHT NOW is too strong a name? Mostly becase there are a few anomalies in there where a person is ranked way above another that the higher ranked skater has never beaten historically. You could call it "World (Cup???) Points Leaders" for now...and later when if through, corections and modification, it very very closely reflects actually ranking...then I think you could change the name to World Ranking.

No one is argueing about Mollica or Luca's placings in the WR... it's the people further down- and as points quickly drop off for placings, you see the Ranking and the Points starting to skew from one another. That means that either contest or the drop off in points for placings are not weighted correctly. Frankly it will never be exact- but I do believe it will get closer. Also you may have a skater that Sucked 2 and 3 years ago and now...just this year...he is doing extremely well (and no I can't think of any examples)...and that skater is complaining about his ranking not being current...well the rankings again are longer term cumulative rankings and skaters have to realize that before they start to get upset. It's a MULTI year snapshot in time...and just because it gets updated regularly...it is still a 3 year old snapshot, just updated a month forward. It usually won't reflect CURRENT ability levels unless the skater has been on top for years. People just don't seem to get this point.

---

back to statuses...

I do feel that certain things have to be done to make skaters travel and be able to afford to travel.

Mains and Majors should always been somewhere within an easy drive of a major airport. What's an easy drive? Well...one that you could do with an injury for instance. say 2 hours or so. One that would allow you to get home the same day (make hte last plane) after the competiton to save on hotel charges- or certainly catch the earliest flight out the following day without having to wake up in the dark.

It is fine to have things difficult in the beginning, but by now I hope we have learned from mistakes.

One way to help promote this is to have deadlines for Majors, Mains, and Primes. With the Major deadlines being selected first, then mains..a month later , then Primes. You want to throw a World Championship...well you should have hosted at the very least a large succcessful prime/Main event before and be planning a year in advance.

Basics...hell- announce them any time you want. they don't need to be near any airport, or offer lodging, because they are usually 1 day events. They SHOULD be spontaneous- they should occur when the stoke moves people to have them.

Basics should be local contests with Longboarding fundamentally included as a requirement for basic and be designed around pockets of slalom. They should be for kids to be introduced- and I think having highschool grounds as race areas would be Ideal. I've been thinking about coaching for a local highschool- hell....they might even pay.....lol.

Hans Koraeus · Post by **Hans Koraeus** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 5:27 pm

JG, great to see that you are starting to get in shape again. Both physically and post wise.

Great ideas. I'm looking forward to see what comes out of it. For next year maybe.

I do think though that Prize money is only a big carrot for a lucky few. And racing pro can equally be a non-carrot for many since they just pay double entry fees to be able to race.

The idea with the WR points was to give everybody a carrot. I think that carrot is bigger than what you might think. Of course there are those who say they don't care about it but funny enough it's often those same people that just have to say "I don't care" all the time. Which means that they do care because why else would they put down the energy to even make comments on it.

WR points is not everything of course but any carrot we can through in to the slalom scene to give people more motivation to train, travel and pay time and money to meet up with slalom friends to race is good. For me, just an amateur, the higher the status the more I will take time and money to try and go to that event. It may not always turn out that way but it's a big factor in my early year race plan.

John Gilmour · Post by **John Gilmour** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 8:41 am

A lot of skirmish for points Major, Main, prime basic.

my .02

A race series is always stronger than separate races. A race series benefits from (hopefully) even spacing of events + Sensible logistics, consistent rules and organization etc etc etc.

So for Promoters. If you want more attendance you can either rotate the status from year to year with other promoters within your series.

Here IMHO is what motivates most top racers.

1. Prize Money + Prizes.

2. Great race surface and hill and orgaization

3. cheap decent accommodations and easy airport access.

4. Temperate weather- little likelyhood of rain.

5. Killer after party.

Many top racers would be want to attend ones with prize money to make their hobby more affordable. A set of wheels doesn't cover airfare or hotel.

Good accommodations for less money in a good area means...bring the family. It's a mini vacation.

Easy airport access means you can expect some racers from far away to attend and add some International flavor.

Is it going to be rainy, or 40 degrees or 110 in the shade? If so I'm either going skiing up North or hitting the beach instead. The fam won't come to freeze or roast by the race side.

Killer after party? This the main attraction for skaters that haven't won prize money yet.

So my advice to promoters is to take an honest look at what you are offering (course- hill surface, party access, prizes) and talk with other regional promoters and sort it out.

I am for breaking down the Main and Prime status within competitions. Only if the hill dictates. So if hypothetically looked at The Gathering...Lots of racers BUT only
...OK hills for TS, AND nothing Main status about their GS hills.

IMHO Don't confer high status to contests on poor hills with bad pavement.

If you can form a series with other promoters in your region all attendance goes up.

I think a great fear of a promoter is that if his contest gets Basic status..that attendance will suffer. And IF there was a MAIN contest on the same day or following week....this could happen.

SO I would suggest that Promoters select dates according to the quality of the race venue and organization first. Giving those promoters with the best sites the higher status and rights to select dates first. And don't put any on the same weekends.

Those promoters should then select dates with the concept in mind to have racing in temps between 65 and 75 degrees. (Ideal spectator weather). So Northern most promoters would have races in the hotter months. More southern promoters would have races in the early spring and late fall.

That way the Prime and Basic races will not be in conflict- date wise with Main or Majors and should not suffer attendance drops.

Giving the USA races more Main status races means Europe has to the the same and in the end we just end up bumping everything up. IMHO it accomplishes nothing.

Its good to have Basic races for the locals in harder to get to locations without major airport access and Main/Major races with easy airport access where we draw racers from far away. It is fine to have many BAsic races across the coun try on the same dates so long as they are not in the same region.

IMHO it should be possible for a racer to do well in a regional series. And fly to a Major and perhaps either drive to 2 mains or fly to one of the two mains and have all the points he would need to be champion.

Total weekend warrior travel allotment 2 long week ends away from home. 2-3 regular weekends driving some distance. and a couple local 1 day races within a easy drive home for dinner.

Now that same racer could get more points by attending both Majors and not have to do as many small weekend races.

Finally the way to look at dividing the USA into regions should be done according to skater populations and airport access. Figure out where the pockets of slalom exist and divide that way. We can always rearrange later.

Give special notice to contest with gateway airports. for instance LA, NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, ...any airport hub where there is a significant slalom population deserves consideration. Unless you get free gas you'll find that discount flying in the USA is often cheaper than driving when you add up wear and tear on the car, the extra hotel night, speeding tickets, and lack of hot foreign stewardesses on the roads and your time. I can fly to St. Louis for $167 roundtrip fro Boston. Florida is $79 each way.

So travel access is more important a determining factor for dividing up the USA than distance. For instance It is far far far easier for me to fly from Boston to Salt Lake City than to drive to drive back home to Boston from the Gathering on 1-95 on a Sunday afternoon (last time I think it took about 14-18 hours with TK).

Only Mollica and Claude and WT are the road warriors that will drive more often than fly. Though the west coast skaters end to drive a lot farther before deciding to fly. (So they need more local series)

Here is the simple easy way to figure it all out with fancy math.

So get out a map- start sticking pins in it.

Put Big red circles in for gateway airports. (the circle diameter is a 90 minute drive time to the airport.
Put thumb tacks in for the races (if the race/racer lands in a red circle it is close to a gateway airport).

If a race has a great GS course rate it with a number of yellow push pins right on top of it. If a race has a great TS course put in a couple of white pins.

Now start sticking in small sewing pins for racers. top racers get special pins ...lol.. There are not so many american skaters to make this hard. (take a picture of the map and post it).

Pretty soon you'll get a visual picture of which races should be which status and when those races should occur. You'll also see what racers have access to airports.

Keep in mind that racers with nearby gateway home airports are in less need of local races because they would gladly change their weather to fly cheaply to another gateway airport race.

Local Basic races are most important in areas without easy cheap gateway airports.

For instance...regularly In November I actively look for races in California and Florida to beat the dreary North East Doldrums and would have little or no interest in attending a North East race in cold windy dark wet leaf November.

You can bet a Texan in 105 degree July starts looking with great interest at a race in Cool crisp Maine. So do skaters from the humid areas like DC and NC.

I hope this helps.

Marcos Soulsby-Monroy · Post by **Marcos Soulsby-Monroy** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:43 am

I'm with you Ricky! I was happy that the Sizzler went prime. But speaking for myself, it would have made no difference at all. I would still have put on the contest.

Ricky Byrd · Post by **Ricky Byrd** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:17 am

Well said JBH. It done for the fun, not for the status (from an organizers point of view). See you in St. Louis.

Jonathan Harms · Post by **Jonathan Harms** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:47 am

I have no comment on what status this year's St. Louis race should have. But for the record, it's being planned for the last weekend of MAY--just as it has been the past three years--not September. I have no idea where that September date came from.

I also don't want to speak for Goad, who is more than capable of doing that himself. But regardless of what status this year's Slalom St. Louis has, it will likely once again be a very fun race. And wait 'til you see the trophies...

Hans Koraeus · Post by **Hans Koraeus** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 12:04 am

After a nights sleep I realized that maybe I was too hard and that you did do decide after all. I mean that is what all those points are about after all.

So this is it for 2006...

Main status subjects (2 Main)
- Statesville and Winston-Salem, North Carolina | 2nd Annual Downhillbillies Dixie Cup | November 3-5 (38 points)
- Vista, New York | The Farm 6.0 | Aug 4-5 (33 points)

Prime status subjects (3 Primes for 2006!)
- Columbus, Ohio | The 2nd Annual Buckeye Open | June 23-25 (27 points)
- Chicago | Chi-Town Shootout | September? (21 points)
- Jackson, Mississippi | Luna Slalom Jam | May 5-7 (18 points)

Other candidates
- Athens, Georgia | Red Clay Cup | June 22-25 (18 points)
Red Clay with same date as Buckey took Red Clay out.
- St Louis, MO | Slalom St. Louis | September
St Louis was not in the vote and did not show interest for the Prime status.

Ricky Byrd · Post by **Ricky Byrd** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:38 pm

Notice how I stay out of this discussion. I feel it's up to the racers to decide status not the organizers. I'm not campaining either way. It would be an honor to be voted Prime by the racers. That's one of those things that makes the work worth it. It feels good to know the racers respect the event enough to make it Prime. It will be the same race no matter what to me. Luna will be a cool event this year. We are guaranteed many, many spectators due to the awesome location. We are involving all skaters in this event, slalom, longboard, street.

I did withhold the contest calendar on the other channel just because I wanted to be sure I had the spot before hand. The date has been set for a while now on this site.

It's up to you guys. I'll be at the timing table Friday, May 5th, no matter what. I hope to see you there.

Wesley Tucker · Post by **Wesley Tucker** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 2:12 pm

Luna is on the NCDSA Contest Calendar with a full slate of events.

Marty Schaub · Post by **Marty Schaub** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:47 pm

I agree that Luna should be a prime if not for the sole reason that on 2/01 Goad said he did not want that designation. Honor his request and let Luna have the prime and St. Louis go basic.

Pat Chewning · Post by **Pat Chewning** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:27 am

YES. I think Luna should be a prime.

Reasons:
1) Historically a great event.
2) Spread events out over the year.
3) Early PRIMES are better than late PRIMES.
4) Possibility that # of primes can increase this year, and it would be a shame to miss Luna in the (potentially increasing) number of PRIME events.

I am not in the Eastern USA region, but this is my opinion anyway...

-- Pat

Hans Koraeus · Post by **Hans Koraeus** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:48 am

I have read through the posts above and it is hard to draw any conclusions. I can't see any descision made from you guys in the region. Descisions are hard. Would you rather like me to decide?

Luna or St Louis?

For me Luna looks better since it will spread out the statuses over the year. St Louis is in September where you already have a Prime (Chi-Town). And having Primes early on in the season makes more sense to me than having them very late in the season.

But... if not more people speak up for Luna today (Mar 15) the Prime status for that event is gone.

Marty Schaub · Post by **Marty Schaub** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 2:43 am

Corky,

I already thought that Luna was a prime?

Hans Koraeus · Post by **Hans Koraeus** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 1:03 am

Claude Regnier wrote:Corky! Why exactly is Luna too late? Is it because there is no registration yet?

Ricky is trying to confirm everything before posting it on the Contest Calendar. It has been anounced for quite some time.

I'm trying to twist some arms. And look, a Canadian comes to the rescue. Let's give it 1-2 days for the region to decide. If not enough people is speaking up for/deciding Luna as a Prime, well I guess it is not a Prime. You know best.

Prime should be decided 2 months ahead. Luna being set to May 5 means limit for Prime status was March 5.

Many events are registered 2 months before but that doesn't mean it's a Prime status. The region have to decide.

It is/was between Luna and St Louis.

Hans Koraeus · Post by **Hans Koraeus** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 9:52 pm

So this is it then?

Main status subjects (1 Major 1 Main) or (2 Main)
- Statesville and Winston-Salem, North Carolina | 2nd Annual Downhillbillies Dixie Cup | November 3-5 (38 points)
- Vista, New York | The Farm 6.0 | Aug 4-5 (33 points)

Prime status subjects (3 Primes for 2006!)
- Columbus, Ohio | The 2nd Annual Buckeye Open | June 23-25 (27 points)
- Chicago | Chi-Town Shootout | September? (21 points)
- St Louis, MO | Slalom St. Louis | September

- Jackson, Mississippi | Luna Slalom Jam | May 5-7 (18 points)
- Athens, Georgia | Red Clay Cup | June 22-25 (18 points)

So St Louis takes the 3:rd Prime.
Luna have passed the date limit for a Prime.
Red Clay same date as Buckey will take Red Clay out.

Marion Karr · Post by **Marion Karr** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 5:13 am

Keith, I hear you dude. I agree with you that now is the time, more than ever, that we need to all be pulling together to make this thing work rather that sit around and complain about it. That was my point on the other site when everyone was talking about "someone needs to do this, or someone needs to do that" blah, blah, blah. That "someone" is all of us.
Stepping up to the plate, taking a leadership role, investing our time, etc. Otherwise this sport will again fade into obscurity and we will back where you were before: without equipment, without races, and without anyone driving it.

Regarding the concern about having to pay money to join ISSA to be a voting member: The majority of us are willing to pay twice and three times that as an entry fee to a race. Why would we not pay a one time membership to an organization that is actually trying to help the sport we participate in? Competitive cyclists, be it road racing or mtn. bike, have to pay a membership to USA Cycling and/or NORBA, or they can't even participate in a race. This is an annual fee that is far more than $25. I grew up on mill hill (translation: upper lower class) and I have a deep respect for how much $25 is to the majority of us. I also know a pair of wheels most of us ride cost that much. So for the price of two wheels we are not going to join and support basically the only organization out there for now that is remotely developed enough to support our sport? Do I think ISSA is perfect and doesn't need change? Absolutely not. Have I heard even one good alternative to it with someone behind the idea that actually can pull it off? Absolutely not. By joining the association at least you can put yourself in a position to help influence it's direction. Otherwise, you are left on the sidelines bitching and complaining about something you have no remote possibility of ever improving. Man, I am amazed daily at the number of people in this life who want to complain about everything under the sun but never will put forth a positive effort to change it.

There is a third prime up for the offering in the USA East. Goad, I appreciate your attitude about the ranking thing because that is the same approach we took with the Dixie Cup. We left it up to the racers to decide what status we were given rather than lobby for this level or that level. It may have not been the most effective way to do it but that was the point of the poll that was taken. I posted it then and I will post it now, regardless of the status we will work hard to put on the best event possible for the racers.

Maybe we should revisit that approach in deciding where the third prime should fall? Then, with that info go to Corky and say here is the data. This would not require "membership" just the time it takes to vote. What do you think?

Keith Hollien · Post by **Keith Hollien** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 3:59 am

First, I want to thank Corky for all of his hard work. The system is not perfect but, it is a good systems that is evolving.

When talking about which race will be given a certain status their must be many different factors taken into consideration.
How many times has a race been held? What was the highest and lowest number of racers?
Does the race promoter want a race with less than 30 racers or 50 or more? Does the race promoter have official premission to hold the race? How far in advance is the race posted? Does the promoter want the race to be for amateurs only or pro only? I have been to many races, some have been big and well run or not. The same can be said about small races. Just because a race was run well with 35 racers does not mean it will run smooth with 75 racers. To just randomly switch status year to year not a good idea.

I have to say I am tired of hearing how negative most Americas are on the world rankings and this forum in general. If you care at all about slalom skateboard than work together. I rememmber THE FEELING years ago when I realized I was running out of slalom equipment and the stuff was not made anymore. I am thankful I have new Radikal trucks, foamcore decks and wheels as fast as ever.

For this sport to cotinue to grow we need a world ranking and a governing body. Is this the final version of the world ranking? I do not think so. Is the ISSA the governing body? I do not know but, I will support it. The sport does not need to be turned into roller-derby-fighter-whatever to grow.

Keith, Teams Radikal & Pocket Pistols & Oust.

Jeff Goad · Post by **Jeff Goad** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 12:23 am

st louis(me) does not what shit.
i dont care what you voters want.
my post are to piss you off and get something done.
i think it worked.

basic for st lou.
give a prime to someone who cares.

come to st louis for the fun and the people, not the points.

Marty Schaub · Post by **Marty Schaub** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 1:19 pm

Wow....Progress.....Unfreakingbelieveable.....

I shouldn't ask, but why was the push of November & December for the East unproductive until the WEST started complaining about thier situation in January?

This just villifies my belief that the USA needs a major overhaul. WT proposed 3 regions instead of 2. He did quite a bit of research on it based on population, travel, etc. It's good reading, go back to page one.

Here is my counterproposal. Why does the West have 3 & 3 and our "Eastern Progress" gets us up to 2 & 3?

At LEAST match the Eastern US to the Western US for 2006.

ADD ANOTHER MAIN TO THE EAST ALONG WITH THE PRIME THATS BEEN OFFERED. Or give us 2 & 4.

Because here is the 10 dollar question. Who gets primed? Chicago? St. Louis? You only have one to give so the other will still feel shafted.

Also begin the overhaul of the ranking system so all of the interested parties go into 2007 with a clear understanding of what to expect for the year.

Ok back to work.....

Christopher Bara · Post by **Christopher Bara** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 4:05 am

That's great news Hans........

Hans Koraeus · Post by **Hans Koraeus** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 3:23 am

Tway,

There is another way.

Did you read this about Splitting Pro and Am statuses

What do you say?

Hans Koraeus · Post by **Hans Koraeus** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 3:14 am

According to the problems with statuses in USA East region here is a proposal for 2006.

2006 statuses proposal
The ranking status limitations was set up in 2003 to make some sort of balance to the current world slalom scene but also taking into account and push regions with less active slalom scenes. But it was always said from the beginning that this could be changed over time depending on the current development of the world slalom scene. I still think that current Major and Main statuses should stay the same and be a way of filtering out the top world ranking events in each region every year. But the current number of Primes for each region could be seen as a base limit. And could be increased for regions in need of it. For the moment USA East is the only region having this need as I see it and I will propose that they get one extra Prime status for this year (2006).

Meaning that for 2006 you will have...
- 2 Main statuses
- 3 Prime statuses

Christopher Bara · Post by **Christopher Bara** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:28 pm

exactly...and how many you go to......
but i guess "it is what it is"....it's only a problem if folks put too much weight into it

We all know what races are the best run and most competative

which riders are the fastest....

...and all that

Jeff Goad · Post by **Jeff Goad** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:26 pm

i think this is a joke, just who is Corky anyway?
do you think his(this) system is working?
do you like getting ripped off?
do you think your world ranking matters?
do you think your world ranking is right?
its not how fast you are its the race you go to.

William Tway · Post by **William Tway** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 10:12 pm

To promote the growth of slalom, the statuses should be altered every year. (As stated before)

If the Farm is a Plain for '06...can SL and Chi-town both get Primes?

If the US East is allowed 2 Mains and 2 Primes can we also have...

1 Main / 4 Primes
or 5 Primes
or 3 Primes and 6 Basics
or 2 Primes and 12 basics
or 1 Prime and 20 Plains

**I personally like the idea of having 5 Primes.

Tway (formally ranked 69th)

Donald Campbell · Post by **Donald Campbell** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:36 pm

voting power in a yet non-existent community?

Christopher Bara · Post by **Christopher Bara** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:31 pm

what do i get for my $25?

Jadranko Radovanovic · Post by **Jadranko Radovanovic** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 8:30 am

The system was 3 years ago. The scene isn't the same as it was 3 years ago. It is bigger and there are many more races.

Look, if Corky has to change something in the USA, than he will have for sure some changes in Europe too. And there will always be people who want to change somthing.

You can't compare the size of cities between Europe an US, it makes no sense. What you have to compare is the number of racers, and how easy or not easy they can reach a high status event. This must be the most important criterias for the balance of the ranking.

I understand you guys. You have to travel a lot because of the size of the country.
What i didn't understand, that no one want's to join the ISSA. There you have the chance to change it, not for this season maybe, but for sure for next year.

There are now 40 members from 7 countries. Join the group, give your thoughts and we can make some changes.

This isn't an European or US problem only. We have this problem and we have to fix it together.

/J-Rad

Christopher Bara · Post by **Christopher Bara** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:02 am

interesting thing about Chicago is your Outlaw spot is probably one of the most scenic downtown spots in the nation........great pavement....spectators......it kind of goes against every preconception of what an outlaw spot is, ya know?

That paved walkway on curving around on the right side was the racecourse

Chris Favero · Post by **Chris Favero** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:37 am

hey,let me get my point straight.i totally have respect for the other races and luna,ohio,georgia have some prime venues.my point is simply if chicago is basic,expect outlaw in september.does not make any sense to ramp up for a basic status race in regards to time and money spent for all involved.goad,we'll come down for your race,you come to ours,detRIOT,you all come we will set up some crash pads and tear it up.cf

Christopher Bara · Post by **Christopher Bara** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:02 am

shortened version.

Don, you hit the nail right on the head

by the way....mark your calendars

Buckeye Series dates
March 11/12
April 8/9
May 13/14
(race on saturdays, rain date on sundays)

The Buckeye Open still the grand daddy on June 23-24-25

more to come soon

Wesley Tucker · Post by **Wesley Tucker** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:00 am

Donald,

I already tried that. I divided the United States into THREE regions that had approximate popluations of around 90,000,000 each. I had an East, Midwest (Chicago, St. Louis. Texas) and a West. My proposal is on PAGE ONE of this thread including a map and charts and all kinds of neat statistics backing up my suggestion.

Corky said no.

I posted polls online for the skaters to vote for what they feel different races should have for their status. Some people liked it, some people bitched that it was a hose job.

I quit trying. I'm not going to argue about it. I've already been to two events this year, signed up for another four in the next two months and will go to six or seven more. Whether or not a race is Basic, Prime or Main meant absolutely nothing to me in choosing where to race. I just go for the chance to go someplace and ride my Ick Sticks.

All I hope for is no promoter decides not to have a race because they don't like their status or some promoter raises their entry fee because they think they're a big shot because of their status.

I just want to ride through some cones as many times as possible.

Donald Campbell · Post by **Donald Campbell** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 11:25 pm

i think i know where the problem is:
most europeans have no idea how big the united states of america really are.
uncomparable with any european country.
the current system,which is a good one,originates from europe.
with the growth of the sport,some realignments have to be made to keep the system alive and progressive.
wesley-your turn...
you seem to be a spokesman and maybe you should take your time to explain this to corky.
it is helpful to copy and paste a few european countries and implement them on the us continent in actual size.
this makes the problem and my suggestion more understandable.

again:flexibility is the magic word.

besides that it's not that difficult to give good races the status they deserve

it won't affect the ranking system that much,when the seeding for each racer stays the same.

Jadranko Radovanovic · Post by **Jadranko Radovanovic** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 8:12 pm

We start the discussion in the "ISSA members private forum"
Every one can join the Forum when he get the ISSA Membership. 25 $ paypal to issa@slalomskateboarder.com

We can change some things for the 2007 season when we get the ISSA running.

We have the same thing 92 rider's in 2005, The best European Pros raced there for now 3 year's. It was the race with the most European Competitiors for 3 year's.

We had a main for 3 year's and for this year we have a prime.

It is important to do somthing, and that we can do when we have an organsiation.

contact Jani jani @ slalomskateboarder dot com to be added on the list.

/J-Rad

Wesley Tucker · Post by **Wesley Tucker** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 7:07 pm

Christopher Bara wrote:(besides, i thought we had 3 primes?)

Maybe we do. I'm not certain. So, if that's the case, who should get it?

Chicago
St. Louis
Red Clay

I thought it was two mains, two primes per region. It may be three. Corky has the rules online at Slalomranking.com in a document that's as big as the phone book. It's not something I've taken the time to study.

Quite honestly, it doesn't matter to me. I'm going to the same seven races I went to last year plus anything else I can afford no matter what the status.

Christopher Bara · Post by **Christopher Bara** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 7:05 pm

why not come up with a scoring system for the states, that incorporates all the races, east and west, in a rank order based on size, scope and destination?

Rick Stanziale · Post by **Rick Stanziale** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 7:02 pm

St. Louis

Christopher Bara · Post by **Christopher Bara** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 7:02 pm

two primes....in the fastest growing region in the states.....
talk about a buzzkill for "growing the sport"

(besides, i thought we had 3 primes?)

Donald Campbell · Post by **Donald Campbell** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 6:57 pm

so we need more flex to the rule:

there could be more primes,very easily

2 (the best results) count for the worldranking stats

how about a poll for that idea?

it's not that bad

Wesley Tucker · Post by **Wesley Tucker** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 6:53 pm

CBara,

The USA EAST is only ALLOWED TWO PRIMES. That's it. The Farm and The Dixie Cup are Mains. So that leaves two primes between the following races:

Buckeye Open
Red Clay Cup
Luna
St. Louis
Chicago

From what I can discern it looks like the Primes went to Luna and The Buckeye. Remember the vote? If I remember Luna correctly scored ahead of St. Louis in just about every way I could figure to do the statistics.

Please don't get mad at me. I'm just reporting what happened. There are only TWO PRIMES for the USA EAST. That's not my rule. TWO PRIMES had to be spread among several races that had a history of success: Red Clay, St. Louis, Luna, Chicago and the Buckeye Open.

So, you ask, "If St Louis has been going on for years . . . why isnt it a prime?....this should be a no-brainer . . . wtf?" my answer would be, "who do you think should give up a prime status, Luna or the Buckeye Open?"

Christopher Bara · Post by **Christopher Bara** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 5:30 pm

maybe i'm just an idiot, but i'm confused here.
If St Louis has been going on for years,
always the same weekend,
always the same location.
A two day event at a great race site,
after-race party,
the whole nine...

why isnt it a prime?....this should be a no-brainer

wtf?

Jeff Goad · Post by **Jeff Goad** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 4:23 pm

Adams: In slalom, there's a definite winner... I think slalom should make a big comeback, because it's so competitive, even though it's a little gay. It's like skiing, in a way.

Dressen: Some of those slalom guys are kind of jocky. They're kindo of Euro-dudes

Jeff Goad · Post by **Jeff Goad** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 4:15 pm

Hans Koraeus wrote:So everybody seems happy with this.

Jeff Goad · Post by **Jeff Goad** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 4:09 pm

i vote to make st louis a basic.
what do you think?
i think you can suck me off.

Chris Favero · Post by **Chris Favero** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 4:39 am

this is our third year,without a serious ranking for the event i am not even going to waste my time trying to throw a bigger event.if its basic again,we will just throw an outlaw.basic is not even worth the headache.muchas amour,su compadre,cf

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[2006] Region West Atlantic: USA East

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St. Louis

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YES: LUNA PRIME PLEASE!

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Nice step

Re: Prime Status

Prime Status