IMHO I hope that both sites do well and the amount of censorship on NCDSA.com probably has more to do with the format than anything else. People try to shout each other down there like being in a crowded room and trying to get people's attention. Eventually people say things they are extreme. It's more the format than anything else- less to do with Adam N.'s viewpoints than the format.
On NCDSA Some people get caught up with being embarrassed, or regret saying something. At times things get out of hand. I have asked Adam N. about 2 years ago to remove something which I felt was not slalom related and offensive and inappropriate.
What is great though is that people are passionate about slalom to stick their necks out and say something! Give an opinion, as opposed to being silent. (When slalom was ignored by the media in the 1970's the slalomers did not make themselves heard)
In the past some people looked at what the Pros were saying and disregarded what an "unknown" might say in opposition. That happens - but it is important that the newer people to the sport voice their feelings- because if the new people to our sport don't make their feelings heard.....how can we make this sport accessible or attractive to them if we can't hear what they want?
I do tend to stick up for the newbies.
Sometimes I don't agree with what they say in regards to some things (Mostly about things that they would have to experience on a "pro level" to understand how it affects them) but I am ALWAYS interested in what they have to say.
Sure I expect a new racer to say something like "We had a race and used handheld stopwatches and it worked fine- no one complained and stopwatches are good enough". And there is truth in that statement....for the New racer and a small group of WIDELY spaced other new racers. But of course get to a race where you have 10 guys within .2 seconds of each other and you see the arguement goes out the window. You can't place the racers accurately with handheld stopwatches when racers are separated by a few hundreths.
So long as both points of view are presented I am happy.
We have some slalom rules which are set for the purpose of having fair racing. My take is that any rule which makes the racing fair should be respected.
For example- This past season we have been using a common start in duels. From a newer racers perspective the common start might be prefered because a newer racer can work on his start very easily as opposed to developing higher level slalom skills- and hence make greater "performance strides" in a shorter period of time.
However in the case of racers being extremely closely seeded in regards to times a commmon start can tend to more greatly "mis-seed" racers in qualifiying as the times might not be reproducible. Such can be the problem of Duel racing. As a less experienced racer to the European circuit I voted for a common start- hoping that it might make the sport more interesting in duel racing - but ultimately it makes the results appear more "arbitrary" and less reproducible. I regret voting that way- and my vote was a swing vote.
My feelings are that racers should be rewarded for practice and that a racer that practices a lot- even alone...should be able to come to one of the Races and automatically do well on his first try- without having to "accustom" himself to the start.
That being said there are some newer racers who would likely hope that someday they would be racing a top racer that they would never normally beat....and the newer racer might get a great start and the older racer a poor start. The elasped time through the course for the older racer could be a magnificent run....but the newer racers wins on his good start.
Sounds great to the newer racer.
But the reality is- the pros have more experiences (races) "practicing" the start....they make it further in the deeper rounds having more time to get used to the system (They get more practice on a system that isn't "available for practice").
The reality is the pro will put in a fast time through the course that it is haed for the newbie to match AND put in a better start than the pro.
So what about the fast newbie who practices at home...gets a fast time through the cones, is a skilled slalomer, and comes out to race and blows a single start in one of the ten races required to get to the top. Well that Newbie is out. And I look at that and think that it does not encourage the newbie that he might have to come out and race 10 events (not place well in them because of a single bad start) and pay 10 entry fees before he can get his starts up to a competitive level with the pros. It is discouraging to the newbie.
The LAST thing we want to do is discourage Newbies. The newbies drive the sport, buy lots and lots of gear (making it more affordable with more choices for everyone), and provide new excitement in racing. And the Newbies shouldn't HAVE to have access to coaching by a pro to become good. They should be able to develop their skills on their own.....and if they have a question they should be able to ask it- and certainly if they have an opinion they should be able to voice it- and not be censored.
George G. doesn't want to pay $350 for trucks. (Frankly I don't either, but I also don't want to pay for a 1000 horsepower Bugatti, yet I like the fact that they exist).
It is important to hear what a newer racer thinks about $350 trucks. But I don't think that should limit price levels. If ALL racers were outraged the inventor might decide not to produce such a truck. So the inventor must guage the acceptance of his "price/quality + performance" ratio.
All that being said- will PVD trucks make a newbie a superstar? No. Will it make the newbie faster...PERHAPS if he doesn't set them up wrong (look at people with aftermarket cars stuff and all the ridiculous set ups). Will it make the newbie get a better placing.....PERHAPS in a large field where times are close together near the newbies "normal" time....but in a small field with widely varying times SKILL will determine the placing not the gear.
So for George G. it is likely that the PVD's will have little to no effect on his placing unless he is in the top 20.
Yet George might gain confidence + greater safety, adjustibility, and cool factor by going to PVD's- but unless lots of people are really close to him in times all the $ won't buy him a better placing....or knock him down in placing. (Unless he races me and offers me $20,000 to lose
But if George is discouraged from racing we might never know if George was really fast and would lose another racer and that would suck.
No one is making big bucks from this- and likely people will continue to attempt to scratch out a living unsuccessfully. Slalom is fun- it's not about racing yachts and vacations with unlimited spending. It is about bros and pros. Its a fun game you can play for less than $1000 and play with the best in the world- quite a bargain.
Comparitivly speaking, Vlads post about the Cateks is to illustrate that the Scene of alpine snowboarding is bigger than slalom skateboarding ....there is a small market for the Catek binding- (I own the newer 2004 step-ins and they rock!) The Catek is the most adjustable binding on the market and has almost no moving parts. The PVD's have much more going on. They serve a smaller market and hence should be more expensive. There are few to no economies of scale on the horizon for Peter Verdone and his trucks. But for the amount of machining and development- they are certainly not expensive.
In Alpine snowboarding on Bomberonline.com People have railed against the expensive Bomber bindings and Catek bindings VS a cheapo Burton binding. But most people once they try a higher performance thing are happy that the choice is there - and once they try it they aren't as upset about the price because they can see the justification. Also they can feel like Superman for a few runs