we've had a lively set of debates on a variety of issues lately, and perhaps the debate on chicagoland tri shops is most emblematic of what i'd like to say.
having been a multi-sporter for 25 years now, i've seen the big picture of how the battle lines are drawn, writing from the point of view of a triathlete. it's not this shop is good and that one is bad, this bike brand is good and the other is not. this RD is good and another is not. sure, if you and i want to express our views, fine. but if you're going to come down hard on somebody earning a living inside the tri community, it better be for a very defensible reason. otherwise, i'll come down just as hard on you. if you don't mind that, then say what you want. but sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. publicly humiliate those in our industry if you want, just be prepared to be publicly humiliated by me.
i don't care who you patronize. if you have a bug up your ass about wildflower triathlon, or nytro or mission bay, or hed or QR or whomever, okay, but in my book those who put their financial lives on the line to supply you with goods and services are givers. their customers are takers. if you're a taker, you have the right to take from whom you want. but you're still a taker. it would be nice if you could express your opinions in civil terms.
i was just inducted into the triathlon hall of fame two weeks ago, and if it wasn't for craig turner at nytro and bill linneman from MB i'd have been inducted into the debtors hall of fame a long time ago. i'll buy my last bike and last wetsuit from those two gentleman. will i let their expertise be the last word on which bike to buy, or wetsuit, or wheel, or tire? no. but whatever it is they lack in knowledge (which isn't much) is made up for by what is printed in slowtwitch and on other sites designed to empower the end-user. educate yourself. shop wisely. offer your opinions to others in civil terms. if you don't want to patronize an RD or an LBS, don't. but please honor those who've been there before you, building a marketplace that allows people like dave bunce, rich ducar and andy robles (california half-im) to even have a job in this sport.
without mission bay, rich ducar is earning his living as a financial advisor, attorney, maytag repairman, or whatever it is he'd be doing now. he called me about an hour ago, with a rather heavy heart, not sure whether to get into the fray, but expressing some anger to me that MB was being attacked by a small few people, and expressing his opinion that MB is today one of the top-5 tri shops in america in every respect. it's not a zero-sum equation. saying rich ducar is good doesn't mean somebody else is bad. patronize the bike, wetsuit, retail, race direction, magazine publishing, website authoring, company you want. think twice before making a jab at that one you're not choosing to patronize. realize that the only reason you're a triathlete is because there is a sport called triathlon, and the very RD or retailer you're jabbing spent his sweat and money building your sport brick by brick so that you could play.
Dan Empfield
aka Slowman
having been a multi-sporter for 25 years now, i've seen the big picture of how the battle lines are drawn, writing from the point of view of a triathlete. it's not this shop is good and that one is bad, this bike brand is good and the other is not. this RD is good and another is not. sure, if you and i want to express our views, fine. but if you're going to come down hard on somebody earning a living inside the tri community, it better be for a very defensible reason. otherwise, i'll come down just as hard on you. if you don't mind that, then say what you want. but sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. publicly humiliate those in our industry if you want, just be prepared to be publicly humiliated by me.
i don't care who you patronize. if you have a bug up your ass about wildflower triathlon, or nytro or mission bay, or hed or QR or whomever, okay, but in my book those who put their financial lives on the line to supply you with goods and services are givers. their customers are takers. if you're a taker, you have the right to take from whom you want. but you're still a taker. it would be nice if you could express your opinions in civil terms.
i was just inducted into the triathlon hall of fame two weeks ago, and if it wasn't for craig turner at nytro and bill linneman from MB i'd have been inducted into the debtors hall of fame a long time ago. i'll buy my last bike and last wetsuit from those two gentleman. will i let their expertise be the last word on which bike to buy, or wetsuit, or wheel, or tire? no. but whatever it is they lack in knowledge (which isn't much) is made up for by what is printed in slowtwitch and on other sites designed to empower the end-user. educate yourself. shop wisely. offer your opinions to others in civil terms. if you don't want to patronize an RD or an LBS, don't. but please honor those who've been there before you, building a marketplace that allows people like dave bunce, rich ducar and andy robles (california half-im) to even have a job in this sport.
without mission bay, rich ducar is earning his living as a financial advisor, attorney, maytag repairman, or whatever it is he'd be doing now. he called me about an hour ago, with a rather heavy heart, not sure whether to get into the fray, but expressing some anger to me that MB was being attacked by a small few people, and expressing his opinion that MB is today one of the top-5 tri shops in america in every respect. it's not a zero-sum equation. saying rich ducar is good doesn't mean somebody else is bad. patronize the bike, wetsuit, retail, race direction, magazine publishing, website authoring, company you want. think twice before making a jab at that one you're not choosing to patronize. realize that the only reason you're a triathlete is because there is a sport called triathlon, and the very RD or retailer you're jabbing spent his sweat and money building your sport brick by brick so that you could play.
Dan Empfield
aka Slowman