Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. I have gotten probably a hundred or more letters from parents who are entirely pleased with my general policy of keeping profanity, offensive imagery, and any positive comments on 50/50-blend suits off these pages... and I have still decided to use the "s" word in this column heading. Well, there are plenty of bad words and offensive images yet to come... but don't worry, I will tone them down. This is still a family website. Actually, it is not a family website. It's my website, and I shouldn't be allowed near anyone's family. But I digress.
A year and a half ago I wrote about BMX Basement webmaster Rich Hetzel and the controversy he had dug himself into regarding the Fort Hamilton track. Sad to say, the waves he made back then are still washing up on shore, and the grammatically suspect, four-letter-word-packed e-mails are still arriving in his mailbox today regarding that old column he wrote. It would be easy to understand if Rich chose to never upset anyone ever again... but luckily for us, he has made plenty of new enemies since then.
Today, dear reader, you are going to see something the color rags and sanctioning body mags would never show you... the mechanism by which people who speak out in BMX are, ever so slowly and gently, told to shut up by the factories and their hired lackeys. You will see the manner in which pressure is applied, in which people are insulted, threatened, and made to feel unwelcome... and eventually defeated.
We'll start our story in Morristown, Tennessee, where an unlucky rider broke his Answer forks. Rich snapped this photo...
and published it on his site. Why did he do it? There were several reasons, I think. The first was that, like me, Rich doesn't like seeing riders get hurt by "gimmicky" equipment. The second was that it was a great photo and would interest his readers. And the third was that, as a rider who is sponsored and assisted by S&M, Rich felt such a photo would drive home the idea that buying simple, Cr-Mo forks like those made by S&M is safer than buying multiple-piece, occasionally failure-prone, forks like those made by the MTB-oriented companies. Whatever the reason was, Rich did the unthinkable: he posted a photo of broken equipment on his site. I've done the same thing myself in the past, but let's face it, the factories gave up on intimidating and silencing me a long time ago... and in the case of my July 2002 column, which dealt with a broken Clayborn, I had the advantage of dealing with Richard Bunt, who is one of the more sensible, intelligent, and trustworthy owners in our sport.
Rich wasn't so lucky. Shortly after posting, he received the following email from an Answer representative. Read it, and read into it. What is Rich being threatened with?
Rich, Thanks for posting the picture of the broken Answer Fork. Its funny, that you post all of those cool race photos and there is ONE photo of a broken part and it just happens to be Answer.You are doing everyone ESPECIALLY yourself a dis-service by putting stuff like this on your website. As I told you before, the last time you did something stupid like this, you're too ignorant to realize how these postings effect your standing in the industry. BMXbasement is supposed to represent S & M and all other "real" BMX companies in a positive way. What are you thinking? As the director of marketing and product development for Answer BMX and Knucklebone as well, I'm still scratching my head as to why these things are on your site. You're putting the relationship between S&M and Knucklebone in a bad spot.
DAAAAA - Hello Mc Fly!!!
So... you thought S&M was a "hardcore", "out there" company, way too rough and rugged to ever worry about what a MTB "gimmick fork" company thought, eh? Looks like that isn't the case, and that this person expects to be able to make Rich's life pretty tough if he doesn't apologize and return to his "positive" ways.
What did Rich do that was so bad? Only this: he posted a photo that confirmed people's suspicions. Most of the riders I speak to believe that MTB-style crowned forks are too delicate for racing, but since the magazines and websites hush these photos up, they have only their own suspicions to go on. Photos like this expose the real danger that riders could be in if they use these products.
Of course, Cr-Mo forks break too. Anything will eventually break if you abuse it enough... but the color mags and industry toadies out there are always working to make sure you, the customer, don't see anything that might make you think twice about buying their products. Who cares if your safety is at risk. right?
When it was plain that his scare tactics wouldn't work, our friend at Answer apparently decided to try something else... destroying Rich's credibility. This morning, Rich received the following e-mail from Derek Betcher:
Dear Rich:
Alright, I've had enough of your bull****, trash talk. I was going to put you on blast on my website so everyone could read it. But for the majority of people who visit DerekBetcher.com don't know you or BMXbasement.com, and I didn't feel like plugging your site, but of course I could do it in an around about way... Like BMXBASSMEANT.net, or like you like to say "Amser". You know what this is about. I saw what your wrote in the Morristown issue, and I couldn't pass up the oppurtunity to blow you up with TRUTH. I read something last month on your site about "Amser" "Marzchi", and the rest of your "bush beating" nick names.Let me explain a little bit to you about TRUTH. The truth is, you are representing S&M in a Terrible manner. You try and run all other companys under the bus to try and get your point accross that S&M is the best, run out and buy it! Well, you need to keep Answer's name, Amser, whatever you want to call it, off of your website. Do you think Chris gets his Jollys off seeing you talk trash about other companys?
S&M is one of the most succesful companys in BMX, the name and the quality all speaks on it's own, without having some Wankster in 30-34 Novice preach S&M from the rooftops on some bull**** website. Moving on, TRUTH... can you get enough of it? The truth is, that Answer owns Knucklebone, who manufactuers the gear that YOU run, and that the S&M team runs. Do you see me, an Answer sponsored Athlete, out in the streets talking trash on FOX, FLY, or ONEAL, so that people will buy Answer instead. Answer products are quality, the name speaks on its own as well.
MORE TRUTH FOR YOUR THICK HEAD. I have been running Answer forks since age 15. I am now 21, and I have had 0 problems with them. You can always find me in pro sections, and I'll roll in at TJ Lavin's house with my Answer forks, any day of the week. For the record, the fork that you tried to diss back in September, The prototype Answer Scythe fork, that I was running at the NBL Grands, is still on my new Intense race bike. Robert Bebout, and Jason Richardson, other Answer Scythe test riders are ALSO still racing with their PROTOTYPE models, NONE of us have changed to the production model yet, because there is NO NEED. We have all been on the same fork for over 6 months, and we could all get new ones whenever we'd like at the simple drop of an e-mail, or phone call to Answer. What don't you understand?
I watched TJ Johnson prop an OLD Answer Mini fork on a block of wood and have the UPS truck run it over, for kicks. They spent about 10 minutes running the fork over, to get a bent steer tube. That is the mini fork, for young kids. Jason Richardson, Is probably a good 210. That speaks on it's own as well, why hasn't he broken the fork? My point is... you see Answer forks break, but you don't know where they have been, trails, skatepark... etc. The fork is made for racing and I'm sure noone breaks it from riding it strickly at the race track. My advice to you, if you don't like the forks, don't talk about them. Since you ran that **** on my fork, I haven't appreciated your website, but you don't see me out there bad mouthing you. You arey novice, you are not by any means "Smooth" so maybe you should stick to the S&M fork. Besides, Noone wants to hear a 30-34 novice talking out the side of their neck, ANYWAY!
Sincerely,
Derek Betcher
Well, Rich is a main-making 35-39 Expert, not a 30-34 Novice, but that's besides the point. You don't need to be a literary critic to see what Rich is being threatened with. Nothing is considered more damaging in this sport than to be scorned by the Pros. Not only can it be uncomfortable to attend a National and have every Pro there gunning for you - believe me, I know - the kids who idolize the Pros think that giving you a hard time will help their "status" in the National circus... and the kids who idolize those kids want to be like them... and so on. Before you know it, the NBL (or ABA) can be a very lonely place.
It's really rather sad. Only in BMX could a twenty-one-year-old, buck-fifty kid insult and threaten a thirty-six-year old former Army Ranger who now devotes his life to teaching the developmentally handicapped... and be the "good guy" in most people's books. Only in BMX could someone be bullied and humiliated (Derek decided to use today's update on his website to mock and parody Rich) for taking a photo of a broken piece of equipment and publishing it. Our industry toadies and poverty-level-paid Pros are like the freshman cheerleading squad of a suburban high school... annoyingly stupid, disturbingly blind to each other's faults, and devastatingly cruel to anyone unlucky enough to be on the outside looking in.
Which is where you, dear reader, most likely are. Unfortunately for the girls on the squad, however, (and I mean no real offense to the young ladies of freshman cheerleading squads everywhere, who are probably far more intelligent and pleasant than your average Industry Toady) you have the ultimate power over these Toadies and their Poverty Pros. You have the money to buy their products. You have the vote.
Consider the facts:
I don't see myself EVER buying an Answer product in the future - not the forks, not the clothing, not the videos, NOTHING. And I'll make an offer to the whole world. I will send free stuff* to the first person to send me a photo of the next Answer fork that breaks under race conditions... and the one after that... and the one after that. Get your cameras out, and let's pull the lilypads out from under these Toadies. And you might want to drop Rich an email of support, while you are at it. Check out his site. See you next month.
*Note: you may be horribly disappointed with your "free stuff". :)
Postscript, 13 March, 2003: After some back-and-forth emails, Rich pulled his comments about Derek from his website and Derek did the same thing regarding Rich. Some conciliatory communications have taken place between Rich and the folks at Answer. The next move is anyone's guess. Will Rich start running Carbo Pros? Will Answer introduce a unicrown fork? Stay tuned!