Wednesday, March 5, 2008

AMA About to Sell Pro Racing?

Cycle News is reporting today the sale of the road racing properties of AMA Pro Racing will be announced tomorrow. The reported buyer is a Daytona, FL investment group led by Jim France, president of International Speedway Corporation.

While the France family has its detractors, there is very little downside to this purchase if it happens. Given the state of the AMA, aligning motorcycle racing with arguably motorsport's most successful business model can only be a step up. Plus, the France family has shown a decided interest in and understanding of the need to maintain a healthy grass roots involvement through their "Come Home to NASCAR Dirt Track" promotion effort.

It was earlier reported that all the racing properties -- including motocross, supercross, ATV, and offroad -- would be sold as a unit. this no longer appears to be the case. Not sure if that's good or bad. Professional Motocross could benefit from a business model like NASCAR. For more on this topic see AMA Motocross Is Not NASCAR, The Cost of Inner Conflict, and The Nonprofit Professional.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Guest Response: Which Helmet Is Safest?

After reading the Sunday, March 2nd, Muddy Waters blog titled "Which Helmet Is Safest" I did a little research to find out the AMA's position and recommendation on safe helmets, and helmet testing. Boy did I come away surprised. So much so, that I feel compelled to hijack this thread away from helmets and onto the AMA's part in helmet safety. I went to the AMA rule book for help, here's what I found.

E. Competition Apparel
It is the sole responsibility of the rider to select a helmet and apparel which will provide appropriate protection. The AMA does not endorse or certify any manufacturers or products. The rider must rely on his own judgment in the selection of any helmet and apparel for durability and safety.

I was surprised to discover that not only has the AMA not been at the forefront of motorcycle helmet safety but their involvement has been almost been non-existent. In over 80 years that the AMA has been in existance, they have played almost no part in helmet developement. In fact at this time they are soliciting for DONATIONS to fund a US study. The helmet study is expected to only cost less than $6 million of which the Feds will pay half. The question that comes to mind, as why didn't the AMA fund this study years and years ago? Why doesn't the AMA use some of the pile of money they collect from sanctioning Supercross to fund such studies?

Unless I have it all wrong, I thought the mission statement of the American Motorcyclist Association is to "protect and promote the interests of motorcyclists while serving the needs of its members."

If the AMA isn't taking action or funding studies to protect the motorcycle riding public, what good is the AMA? Frankly, I am astounded at the inaction of the AMA on an issue that affects all riders, racers, and parents of riders and racers. So what have they been doing all these years? I'm not really sure, but it doesn't really seem like they have been serving the needs of its membership.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Opposing the Wholesale Closure of Public Lands

This note comes from my friend Robert Bergman in Phoenix, AZ, via the TMSuzuki Yahoo! Group. Advocates for Access to Public Lands is sponsoring a petition to fight the California Wild Heritage Bill S-493, the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, and other such wholesale closures of public lands. Take a minute to add your name to the Public Lands Petition. Also be sure to check out the BlueRibbon Coalition, one of the leading public land access organizations in the country.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Contact Your Congressman On Insurance Anti-Discrimination Bill

The AMA is looking for help in getting Congressional support for H.R. 1076, the HIPAA Recreational Injury Technical Correction Act. According to this AMA press release:

The AMA is calling on motorcyclists and others who face health insurance discrimination to urge their U.S. Representatives to support H.R. 1076, known as the HIPAA Recreational Injury Technical Correction Act,” said Moreland. "Time is short. The bill has broad bi-partisan support but we need 218 votes for passage. If we don’t act by April, we will likely miss our chance for legislative action in 2008.

The problem is that employers, and some other health insurance providers, are beginning to discriminate against motorcyclists and others who engage in legal recreational activities that the employers don't like. Often they won't disclose this little tidbit, they just won't pay if you run up a bill for a motorcycle (or horseback, or climbing, etc.) accident. If we had anything resembling an open market for health insurance this wouldn't be an issue. But we don't have a market - we have a government subsidized, bureaucratically-managed fiasco that has evolved to limit our coverage options to either what our employer provides, or nothing. So we pay out the ass for healthcare premiums (because the government has mandated that employers must provide coverage for all employees if they provide for any) but the government doesn't require that employer to actually pay claims for that coverage if it's an activity the employer doesn't like. Great idea.

Apparently this brilliant little loophole is a result of the jackasses in Congress passing a bill – the Health Information Privacy Privacy Protection Act – back in 1996 but abdicating the writing of the actual rules of the bill to the Dept. of Health and Human Services. This stellar bureaucracy screwed up the rules, creating this money-saving opportunity for employers. H.R. 1076 is a corrective bill to fix their screw up. I don't know the history behind it. I don't know if the AMA played an active and important role or if someone else did all the work and the AMA is just taking credit. I hope this is something the AMA really pushed for and made an impact. This is the sort of thing they ought to be doing instead of running around organizing races.

In any case, this is an important bill. The AMA has a simple, online tool to help you contact your elected representative and tell them to actually do something useful and sign onto this bill. Click the link and do it now. If we don't act together we may not have the chance to act at all.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Dakar Rally Canceled For Terrorist Threat

One of the great things about motorcycling, whether it be off-road or on, is that you can forget about the world around you and just focus on the terrain, the ride, the wind, and the experience. It's like the rest of the world just doesn't exist when you're out there riding. Sadly, the rest of the world does exist, and it's taking an ever greater toll on our passion.

Today ESPN is reporting that the Dakar Rally has been canceled due to threats by al-Qaida-linked terrorist groups in north Africa.

[...] But the threat of an al-Qaida-linked attack pushed the element of risk to levels organizers deemed unacceptable. They canceled the epic race on Friday, meaning terrorists have ensured there will be no spectacular images this year of dune buggies throwing up clouds of dust and lone motorcycle riders spinning their wheels in Saharan sands.

It was the first time that the 30-year-old rally, one of the biggest competitions in automobile racing, has been called off. The Dakar is one of the most prominent public events to be canceled since the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, when many sports events in the United States were canceled or postponed -- some as a result of airport closings or in mourning for the victims. [...]

We like to think that racing is immune from such things, but the stone-age cretins of islam are bent on attacking everything that is Western Civilization, including our sporting events. It is a sad day for motorsports.