http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/ This is the official home of NASCAR Collectors! en Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:47:15 GMT vBulletin 60 http://diecastcrazy.com/community/images/misc/rss.jpg http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/ http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/87-race-pool.html Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:29:16 GMT Before the season started, me and some friends decided to get together and have a weekly racing pool. There's a total of 8 of us and we agreed to put up $50 apiece into the pot. The pot will pay out three winners at the end; $50 for third, $100 for second and $250 for first place. Racing, money and friends. How could I say no? :thrasher:

So anyway, we're what, halfway through the season now? I've been in first place since week 2 or week 3 and have controlled it pretty well. Our points system is unlike anything I've done with racing before, but here's the lowdown. We each get three drivers per week. We get a point for whatever position they finish in. If Driver A finishes third, we get three points. Also, if Driver A leads a lap, that's a -2. If Driver A also leads the most laps, that's another -2. To greatly reward picking the winner, the winning driver actually gets us -10, although it's really -12 because that guy obviously led at least one lap. We also get -5 if one of our drivers gets the pole. It slowly evolved as we got used to it, but basically we have three rounds where we each get one pick. Each round is randomly picked by a random member. That way, no one has the first pick in each round unless they get pulled that way. The order is pulled on Monday and picks are made on Tuesday. Unfortunately, we don't get see any practices, but that's okay. Like I said, there's 8 of us. First off, there's me, no need for further description. Then, we have Caesar, a long time friend of mine, works for Pepsi and is a Jeff Gordon fan. Next is Joaney, wife to Caesar, bit airheaded and loves Kasey Kahne, could have been in those Allstate commercials easily. Next is McCall, longtime friend of Caesar, all around good guy, big time Junior fan. Then we have Lisa, also known as Doc (pharmacist), childhood friend of Joaney and a fan of Jimmie Johnson. Then we have Steven, boyfriend of Lisa (known as Smurf now because of his height) and fan of Kyle Busch. Then we have Jimmy, brother of Lisa, Junior fan I believe. Last we have Butch, father of Lisa and Jimmy and also a Junior fan.

Having this pool going on has made the races a lot more intense and interesting while watching it with one or more of my fellow competitors. Bad luck for some driver makes for a lot of trash talk among us. Those are the basics and I'll update each week. ]]> Believe http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/87-race-pool.html http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/47-eyes.html Thu, 29 Jan 2009 01:57:01 GMT The eyes are the window to the soul. The eyes are your windows to the world around you. Eyes, do you take them for granted? You don't think so? Next time you're in a crowded room or walking down a crowded sidewalk, cover both eyes or shut them, doesn't matter, and see what happens as you walk. Or rather, feel or hear what happens as you walk. Imagine a world of darkness of total blackness that is still full of familiar voices, familiar sounds, familiar smells. We love to "watch" races, we love to "see" our friends and family. Ever notice that a lot of times when you are at your most frustrated or most angry, that you shut your eyes? Maybe it's instinct, your mind closing the blinds on the windows to maybe stave off the flow of frustration. Ever notice that your eyes widen and dialate in those "fight or flight" moments? Its as if your brain throws those blinds up as high as it can in order to take in as much information as it can so that it can process it quickly to help with the situation. Our eyes shut when we sleep. Is it to keep our eyes damp? Surely not, as we would continue to blink. Its almost as if the brain steps in again and tells us to take it easy and enjoy the movie that it plays on the back of our eyelids. Those dreams are mostly good, too often bad and way too weird at times. Just imagine if you couldn't make some of those dreams come true that you "see" in your brain. If you do nothing else tonight, today, tomorrow or next week, make sure to keep your blinds thrown high and take in what you see around you. You never know what the world holds, but your eyes can behold a lot if you let them. ]]> Believe http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/47-eyes.html http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/35-friday-night-lights-out.html Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:58:23 GMT Taylor County paid a visit to my Dixie County Bears Friday night for a tough district matchup. Neither team sported that good of a record coming in,... Taylor County paid a visit to my Dixie County Bears Friday night for a tough district matchup. Neither team sported that good of a record coming in, but Taylor is never a team to take lightly. The fallout from last week's game was evident when the kids came out to warm up and Cody Spurlin was wearing his jersey, but with no pads and wearing jeans instead. His younger brother Shawn has decided to not play the last two games because their mom just can't take anything else like what happened last week. He's only a freshman and he'll be back next year.

Before the game started, our own celebrity was in town and was at the football game. Nick Collins, starting strong safety for the Green Bay Packers, was there and unfortunately for him, he had a tough time enjoying the game. Kids, young and old, crowded and followed him everywhere he went. He graciously signed and smiled for the cameras for quite a while. It was also Senior Night, the last home game for the seniors. My nephew Cody is a senior and was escorted across the field by my sister and his step dad. Good feeling, although I knew it was sad for him because it was his last home game. He was going to get his first action at fullback and he was amped up for it. It was all good and great. For a while.

Dixie received the ball to start the game and promptly worked their way down field for a touchdown. Then, just like last week, the breath and every good feeling was sucked out of the stadium. On the ensuing kickoff, another player was hurt. He lay motionless on his side. Fenicks Jackson, #32. It looked bad and only got worse. They brought the ambulance out on to the field and after about 15 minutes they loaded him up and took him to Gainesville. Last word I had on him was that he did have feeling in his legs, but that due to a spinal injury, he will probably never play football again.

After that, the guys just didn't have it. Missed tackles, missed blocks, long plays. My nephews first few plays at fullback didn't go so well. I don't think he made a single block, either because the linebacker was already gone or the play collapsed behind him. I could see by his body language that it wasn't going like he wanted it to. On the next series though, I saw him make a damn good block that sprung Rodney for about 9 yards and a first down. He came out and they went to the single wing formation until they scored. When he came out on defense, I noticed he was acting kinda gingerly on his left side, like his side or his hip was hurting. He played a few plays but you could tell he was hurting. I looked for him a little while later and he had his pads and jersey off and an EMT was fashioning a sling. Slight seperation of the left shoulder. Man, he was so upset. Means that more than likely he's done. They told him no way he plays next week and depending on how well it heals, he may not play in the last game of the year in two weeks. He's a senior and no chance of playing at the next level, so he knows its more than likely over.

One of the few regrets I have in my life is not playing football. I was scared of getting hurt, I was a pansy. Now, I don't know whats a worse feeling, his or mine. I regret never playing and he hates that his was possibly ended short due to injury. I tried to console him and tell him that he's lucky he even got to play and he's lucky that he wasn't taken away in an ambulance like two of his teammates have been the last two weeks. Either way, this long and frustrating season is almost over and looking at some of the kids Friday night, I don't know that it can get over fast enough. Several have lingering injuries, some are afraid of being the next to get carted off and some are just so small that they almost look comical next to the big boys. I just hope we make it through the next two weeks without any more injuries and such. ]]> Believe http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/35-friday-night-lights-out.html http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/31-bittersweet-victory.html Sat, 18 Oct 2008 02:37:33 GMT My nephew is a senior in high school and plays nose tackle and defensive end for the football team. He's undersized for the positions, but he has a pretty good motor and a lot of heart. I've been thinking about posting after each game on Friday nights, but have never gotten around to it. Coming in to tonight's game, we were 2-4 and coming off a pretty emotional loss to Fort White last week. Head coach was thrown out, the crowd was ready to lynch and it was all around just ugly. Referees could have done a much better job calling the game and controlling the game as well. Not the reason we lost, but there was a lot of questionable stuff going on. Anyway, 2-4 coming into tonights game.
Tonight was homecoming, so of course there was more pomp and people and just all around comraderie. Hamilton County was the opponent and they came in with a winless record and not much of an offense to worry about. No head coach for us, so the play calling was going to be vanilla. Dixie's star player is Rodney Scott, a tailback who has verbally committed to Auburn. We have a few good tailbacks and we rely on the run. We pretty much controlled the game with basic offense and were leading 14-0 at the half. Scored quickly after halftime and it was 21-0 with just 4 minutes left in the game when something happened on the sideline. I couldn't recall a play occuring at that point of the field near the sideline, but it was announced that one of our players was hurt. I couldn't find my nephew for a few minutes, but thankfully I finally saw him kneeling off to the side. We heard that it might be one of the Spurlin boys and when I saw their mom and the way she was acting I knew it had to be. The younger one came running in front of the stands taking off his jersey and pads, so I knew it must look bad. They brought the ambulance up and loaded him on a stretcher pretty quick. Once loaded in the ambulance, they wasted no time in getting the ambulance moving. I later found out that the ambulance was stopped one county over and he was carried by helicopter to Gainesville. The whole game changed and it was very somber after that. We scored one more time to make it 28-0, but the crowd really couldn't generate much applause and support. Everyone could only wonder about Cody Spurlin and thank heavens that it wasn't one of their own. To add to the somberness of it all, Cody Spurlin's father passed away a couple months before the season started from a heart attack at their home. It's only his first season on varsity, but he has become just about the best player on defense this year. Cody's mother has been through quite a bit and we can only hope that things are okay. The mayor told me that he heard that Spurlin only had a stinger, but was having trouble staying alert, but he wasn't sure. My nephew, also named Cody, told me that he thought Spurlin got a concussion early in the game and didn't tell the coaches. He noticed him acting a little woozy and shortly before the problem on the sideline, Cody noticed Spurlin breathing heavy and getting short of breath. I think thats when people started noticing something was up. From that point on, I can only speculate, but I'm guessing he must have passed out on the sideline. We heard that he was unconscious and not responding when they loaded him into the ambulance.

Its rough any time a kid gets hurt and even worse when you have no idea whats going on. If this was big time football, there'd be reports coming from every network there is. Around here though, we do have the good old country network and first thing tomorrow morning, I'm sure we can make some phone calls and know what happened. I can only hope and pray that everything works out for that family, because they need everything we can do for them.

Its always a great thing to get a win on Homecoming night, but its not supposed to go like this. Keep them in your prayers, please. ]]> Believe http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/31-bittersweet-victory.html http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/26-two-years-ago.html Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:26:07 GMT I know the last time I wrote something here, I created some stuff because of a song I heard, but what I'm about to write is true, but does coincide with the song "Lightning Crashes" by Live. Nothing made up here, just the truth...

Today is September 29th and it marks two years since two life changing events that happened. Two years ago today, I was at work and preparing to leave work to head to North Florida Regional Hospital in Gainesville. The first reason I was headed there was to visit my Grandma who was admitted a few days earlier with pneumonia. She had a rough go with it, but she was getting better and getting stronger. The second reason I was going was because two very good friends of mine were expecting the birth of their daughter and she arrived a little after noon that day. Around 2:30 I was getting ready to take off and I got a phone call. It was my Mom. My Grandma had passed away from complications brought on by pneumonia within the last hour. Man, it was rough. I walked out of the store with people asking me if I was alright, what was wrong, all the cliche questions. I just sat in my truck and honestly cried like a baby.

My Grandma was the last living grandparent that I had. I sat there in my truck and all I could think was that I had not gone to visit her near enough. Everything she had done for me rushed into my head and all I could think was that I probably had not done enough to pay her back. The house I live in and the land I live on came from her and my Grandpa. I was more or less living here until she could convince him to move from Tampa, but there was no way he was leaving Tampa. He said he was born there, he was gonna die there, and he did. Shortly after the property and house were signed over to me. My Grandma was always sweet to me, but she had a temper and could get fiery and like most older people, I never really "knew" her until it was too late and she was gone. Her and my Dad were very much alike and it was the reason they didn't get along too well. But anyway, she was great to me and I loved her a lot and I wasn't sure I had shown her just how much.

The little girl that was born that day was named Toni Breanne and I consider her my niece. I don't have kids of my own and I've played a big part in helping raise my nephews. This little girl is something special though. It's funny, but something I didn't know about me until my Grandpa died was how I did not pronounce my name "Bill" the way it sounds when I was little. I pronounced it "Beell" and people thought it was so cute and funny that they would have me say my name over and over. Well, my Grandma always called me "Beell" whenever she was hugging me or telling me she loved me or just about any time other than when I was in trouble. Now, Breanne calls me "Beell" all the time. She talks to me on the phone, tells me she loves me, gives me hugs, kisses, eskimo kisses and is one bossy little girl. Very much reminds me of my Grandma. I go to their house and she grabs me by the hand and tugs me to her room saying "Toys!" and as soon as I get in there, she tells me to "Sit down!". If I don't, she gets a little upset, so I have to go in there and play with her to keep the peace.

I guess what I'm really rambling about is the theory of "One enters the world as one leaves the world". I never found out the exact time of death for my Grandma in comparison to the exact time of birth for Breanne, but I know it was a matter of minutes and no more than an hour and a half. I never made it to the hospital that day to say goodbye and I never made it to the hospital to say hello to Breanne, but since then I've tried to love that little girl and maybe make up as much as I can to the spirit of my Grandma. I really believe there's a little bit of my Grandma in that girl, as if her spirit made a stop in that delivery room and told Breanne a few things to do and to keep me straight before my Grandma made her way up. Not many days go by that I don't see Breanne or at least talk to her on the phone. It seems like every week that passes, the phone calls get a little more in depth. Used to be just "Hi Beell!" or "Luh you!" or "Bye Beell!" but other things are slowly working into the conversations. It's safe to say that that little girl has a 6'2 275 man wrapped around her little finger, just like my Grandma, who was only about 5'0 tall her self, used to have me wrapped up.

So, in honor of my Grandma, I'm letting everyone know how much I loved her and how I'm going to do my best for Breanne, not only for Bree's sake, but for my Grandma as well. ]]> Believe http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/26-two-years-ago.html http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/20-real-story.html Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:24:45 GMT First off, I don't want to answer any questions. Secondly, I wouldn't believe your sincerity. Lastly, does it matter if it's true?

Most of you think you know why I root for Bobby Labonte. Really, you know what I've told you. I used to date a girl named Rachel when I was in school and then into college. We graduated together and got closer when we started going to UF. We were both freshmen at one of the top universities and top party schools in the entire country. She was a huge racing fan and I just never got it. She rooted for Dale Jarrett, but when he went over to Yates Racing, she just couldn't root for him anymore because he changed his number. She only rooted for him because he drove the 18, which was her number in volleyball and the day she was born on in May. She was going on and on about Bobby Labonte replacing Jarrett and how she wasn't sure if he had what it took. DJ had won the Daytona 500 for JGR and that would be a lot for a young gun to step in and replace. I was falling for her and so I started rooting for the 18 as well.
Things were crazy and we weren't always as careful as we should have been. Life away from home and the restrictions no longer on us from parents turned us into the wild kids we always stayed away from. The wrong crowd here and the wrong party there and the next thing you know, we're running out the back door of someone's house to avoid the cops. We didn't get caught, but the seeds were sown. In more ways than one, we later found out.
Drugs were something I thought only bad people used and I thought I was far being a bad person, or so I thought. Rachel began to experiment with some things and started acting more and more distant in the spring. I tried to keep things patched together and I even watched the races with her. The more I watched the races, the more I liked Bobby. He seemed like a good guy and was pretty funny to boot. Then the bomb dropped.
Rachel called me one day in April and informed me that she was pregnant. Pregnant?! I didn't know what to say. The way things had gone, I almost wanted to make sure it was mine, but of course it had to be. I was speechless and she was crying. I spent the night with her, which was something I hadn't done in a while. We talked a lot. About everything. She assured me that the baby was mine, but that she had spent a few rough nights and she wasn't sure what had happened and she had woke up somewhere other than home. Being the guy that I was, I listened and made sure she knew I would support her through thick and thin. Things started to look up in a hurry and we even started discussing marriage.
The end of the school year came and soon we would no longer be freshmen. Memorial Day weekend rolled around and everyone was getting ready to leave Gainesville to go back home and be with the families. Rachel and I decided to watch the 600 at my buddy's house, even though she said she'd rather watch it somewhere else, alone. I knew I should have probably leaned that way, but I had promised my buddy and other people that we would be there and enjoy one last party before the summer. The race went great and the party was, too. Bobby won and it was great! The party was hopping and then things got weird. I went to see what was keeping Rachel and I found her in the kitchen with my buddy. Oh boy.
They were having one hell of an argument and I was shocked, because they never even disagreed or talked much. They were talking this time, though. First thing I heard was "What do you mean he doesn't know?" After that, it was all a blur. "Tell him the baby is MINE, already!" The blur moved faster. "He knows you were staying with me, right?" The blur stopped against his head. The blur kept moving as I knocked him down again. Before I could do any more damage, several hands were pulling me off of him. The last time I saw my 'buddy', he was laying on the floor, stricken by the blows and full of guilt I hoped.
Rachel would not talk to me. My friends and her friends would not let me get near her to talk to her. Someone took her home and they made sure that I was not going to follow. I could only sit there with my head in my hands and wonder what the hell went wrong and how it could get even worse. In situations like that, you should never ask yourself that question, because it will inevitably get worse every time. I packed my bags and loaded up all my stuff and headed back home.
When I got home, my mom was awake and waiting on me. She had heard about the fight and was worried about me. Wanted to know why I jumped him. Wanted to know why Rachel's best friend wanted my mom to call her when I got to their house because she was worried about me going to Rachel's house. So I told my mom everything. I told her everything that a mother never wants to hear from her son, or daughter for that matter. I did my best to cleanse my soul that night, to release all the pressures that had built up. The next morning, I found out that Rachel had also done something to release all the pressure on her soul as well.
The phone call seemed like a nightmare and the blur lead to several holes in my wall and a broken bone in my right hand. Rachel had gone home and "borrowed" some Valium from her "best friend" to calm herself down so she could sleep. She took a week's worth of valium to sleep. She never woke up and neither did the baby.
Since then, there's been no one else for me. Of course, I still root for Bobby and hope that he wins. I hope that he wins and I hope that I wake up the next morning and my world has hit "reset". That "reset" would return me to 1995 and Rachel would be here and we'd be planning our family. That "reset" would wipe out all the burdens I laid upon my mom and she would never know of the things I had done. That "reset" would make me happy again. As I sit here now, it's been almost five years since he won in the Cup series. Yes, he's won in the Busch series since then, but that's different, it's far from the same. I believe that it can happen, I believe it WILL happen. All I can do is believe, really. People tell me that it never happened. That's what they want to believe. I believe it's all in my head. Do you? ]]> Believe http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/20-real-story.html http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/14-even-more-new-roles.html Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:12:50 GMT While I don't "get" the whole body art and body piercing thing, I know that it's grown in popularity in the last 10 to 15 years. While there are plenty of white bread, doughy conservative guys like me, I know there are plenty of people out there who have fell in a vat of paint, slipped and landed on a box of tacks and of course, gotten into a fight with a nail gun and LOST. Those people need a leader, and that leader is Joker20! Eric, lead them forth into the forum known as I Fought The Nailgun And I Lost!

The internet is also loaded with a ton of geeks, nerds and just all around people that are way too smart. Believe (pun intended) it or not, some of these dorks actually think they're cool! Some of them are even pretty vain and like to portray themselves as some hotshot stud and give themselves names like RacersImage! Give me a break! What the hell is that all about? Which of course is the reason he'll be the head of the new website known as The Collectors Lounge.

My last forum for now is one that is very practical in use. We sit here and debate cars and drivers that most of us will never meet or see in person. We discuss football, fighting, and other spectator sports and we may never go to another one ourselves. We need a forum that is well grounded, one that is part of our everyday life. Some of us mention doing yardwork, some of us do it religiously. I decided we needed a forum that would contain tips and such for anything that pertains to Landscaping in general. For this, I will actually have to recruit some high profile people, but for other parts, I've already got some members in mind. For our "Hug The Trees" subforum, I intend to recruit Al Gore, for obvious reasons. For our "Proper Care of Your Grass Is a Wonderful High" subforum, I'm going to pursue Ricky Williams in the offseason, or whenever Miami cuts him after he fails another drug test. For our final subforum, I intend to nominate and convince Ron3fan, Gotadew, FFighter, Spool and Ronmcc as the Committee That Cares and let them lead and direct the "Shrub Section" of our new Landscaping Forum.

Let's hear it for all our members and their new roles! :pcguru: ]]> Believe http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/14-even-more-new-roles.html http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/10-more-new-roles.html Mon, 01 Sep 2008 07:18:56 GMT Between the late hour and the oh-too-much caffeine, my wandering mind (I've got it on a leash now) keeps coming up with stuff.

One thing every site needs is a "Welcome Center" and I believe (pun intended) that TCL should be no different. Many neighborhoods have little old ladies that deliver fruit baskets and such to the new neighbors when they move into the community. Other communities, or even businesses, have someone who seems a little fruity, flaky, off their rocker even, that is very ambitious and excited when someone new joins the family, and I have the perfect person in mind. Who doesn't think Geebi would be perfect for that role?

While the main theme of this site is collecting, we try to incorporate parts of our everyday lives into the site. We mention our families, cars, jobs and other things, but one thing that is frequently left out is our four legged friends, in particular dogs. I'm not sure who I'd like to run the new "Pet Section" just yet, but I have someone in mind for the "Dog Food Subforum", Ron3fan! Many people know that a lot of dog food is supposedly made from horse meat and no one and I mean NO ONE can beat a dead horse to death any better than Ron. I wonder if they make those cans of dog food in 1/64 scale?

That's all for now folks! :evil: ]]> Believe http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/10-more-new-roles.html http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/9-new-roles-around-tcl.html Mon, 01 Sep 2008 06:29:30 GMT With Racer's latest announcement of a new direction around here, it got my mind to wandering. I know, I know, my mind is small and to let it wander is only asking for trouble.

Racer has asked for new leaders to help lead and develop different sections of The Collector's Lounge. He has made it known as well that we may even have new sections and forums on the site in order to get more involvement and to recruit new members. Now, we don't want to just throw someone into a particular forum just because we like them. We need people with particular talents and people with interests in certain forums and areas. We'll need people to volunteer and such, but we'll get into that. Right now, I'm just trying to think of new forums and the people I think would be the best to lead them into success!

The first new forum I thought of was an "FAQ Forum". Nothing new or spectacularly original I know, but a FAQ is something that nearly all forums and sites have. Most forums refer to it as they're "Frequently Asked Questions", but not ours. Ours would be short for "Frequent Asker of Questions". Who better to lead this forum than our own Ken King? I can't think of anyone better to represent this new forum.

The next new forum would be somewhat of a "Telemarketer's Forum" and would require a lot of phone work and a very stubborn, yet helpful personality. We could have this section set up as a place to phone new recruits or just to make calls to different collectibles companies to give them a hard time or to explain to them why we know more than they do. Who better to represent this new section than Karl Spool?

Something that we could also try out, even though it wouldn't be a forum per say, would be a new "Customer Service" section for the site. We don't really sell merchandise and a Leader is usually around to lend a helping hand, but a centralized location to take care of any issues might be a big help. We would really only need one person for the Customer Service Desk and I would like to nominate Nick for that job. With all the returns and refunds he's received, who else do we know around here that spends more time around a Customer Service desk than Nick?

Lately, we've been trying to think of ideas that would bring more people in general and one thing that seems to be missing at times, is something for the ladies. Now, there's only so much of me to go around, so we've added the Arcade because it puts everyone on the same playing field to compete against each other. I know I will probably catch hell for this, but our lady friends tend to run on the......well.....the temperamental side at times and they would need someone to "talk shop with", so to speak. We could open up a "Ladies Only Section" for them to discuss all the newest fashions, accessories, or whatever the hell else they talk about. Since we would have to have someone who can relate and be a little, um....temperamental themselves, I would like to nominate Heath (Gotadew) as the Section Leader!

For now, those are the only new sections I can think of, but as time goes on I'm sure I'll think of a few more here and there. Until next time folks, let your keyboard dance and keep your blog in your pants. :evil: ]]> Believe http://diecastcrazy.com/community/blogs/believe/9-new-roles-around-tcl.html