Red Bull Team vs. old USPA

[airbushido 0]

So, the scuttlebutt of the week seems to be the upcoming takeover of USPA by the Red Bull Team. That's awesome. If you care, that is.

I can see all the 'younger' jumpers voting for these guys just because they are the Red Bull Team - high profile, dynamic wonders of the sport. Guys who inspire us to achieve great things, or at the very least, give us cool stuff to watch on You Tube. I've heard a bunch of old fuddyduddies bitching about it, and they have a point - I've seen the Team show up at a couple of DZs to do a practice jump before an event, and they are horrible ambassadors. They are everything a hero should be - cool, aloof, able to do fantastic things, but very distant and apart from the DZ they are at. No respect for local rules and customs. They basically show up like rockstars - too freaking cool for the losers around them (unless you are a hot young chick...)

I went to read the synopses of each candidate in Parachutist. Very interesting. These guys have all been around. Very experienced, for the most part. Definitely a younger generation with very pronounced ideas for a brighter future and ideas to implement it. I was impressed. These guys come off as very smart. But no one will vote for them based on that. These guys will get votes because they are affiliated with the marketing juggernaut of the most fantastic sports marketing company the world has ever seen. And that's the cold hard truth.

And who are they up against? Business owners and instructors who have had a vested interest in the sport for decades. The very guys and gals who taught the Red Bull Team to skydive. People without trust funds. People who own aircraft and DZs. People who have real jobs. People who have been in USPA for eons. Experience. That's what the Red Bull Team is up against. Experience at dragging out long boring forums at DZO Conferences. Experience at revamping training programs for tens years only to return to what was in use 'back in the day'. Experience at experience. How boring.

Maybe the young bloods can do something. Maybe they will be able to revitalize USPA in these frightening times of a dying membership. Maybe they can bring to light modern ideas and modes of governance and leadership and really change USPA into a vital and powerful organization. Maybe. Maybe not.

It doesn't work in Congress - it ain't gonna work here. Go for it - vote for whoever you want. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't.

[IanHarrop 43]

A lot of discussion about Red Bull and USPA here:

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3360755#3360755

"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me" Dorothy

[quade 4]

The sky and sport is big enough for everybody.

A couple of these guys on the BoD isn't going to kill it and they certainly don't have enough votes to get ALL of them on. I have no issues with voting a couple of them in just for the purposes of getting new blood in and having representation across the entire spectrum. I think their "mistake" was trying to get so many on all at once. That just fractures their votes and might mean that they end up with fewer than they would have if they had picked, say, 3.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[slotperfect 7]

Let's keep this thread going:

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3360755#3360755

Arrive Safely

John