Why do people think they are so clever when they say stupid things? You know what I'm talking about. It's not the little kids that come up and ask you how you do a trick. Those kids are just asking a question. It's the smart-mouthed kids who stand a quarter mile away and go "I can do that!" It's the ones that are all over the web who think that "GT Sucks" is a well-rounded argument.

There is no question that stupidity runs amuck in a sport that is dominated by the buying power of 14 year-old kids. On the other hand these same kids need to either show some respect for others or be smacked around a little bit so they can LEARN the respect. I know that at 14 kids feel like they know everything and are the master of the world and that nothing can hurt them. But that isn't a license to be rude and stupid. The real problem being that they don't even realize that they are being stupid.

Calling someone an @sshole or gay doesn't mean it's true. It also doesn't even need to be said. In real life or on the Internet it just makes YOU look bad, not the other person. Especially since most of these stupid kids don't have the brains to put down the name of the person they are talking to. But there is usually a kid who knows who the comment is for and it hurts their feelings. Is that fun? I thought you rode your bike for fun... why be rude? What's even worse is that 99.9% of the time the kids that leave the remarks don't have the guts to leave an e-mail address or provide an argument in their favor- EVER. I will say that ONCE I pointed out how stupid a kid sounded and he came back and actually wrote a complete argument that was worth reading... not all stupid comments lead to stupid people.

There is no question that there are certain people that ARE jerks and need to be told so. But just calling a person a jerk doesn't mean that you are helping the person. You have to say "You have been e-mailing me 5 times a day and coming by my house at midnight on school days- you are being a jerk!" THAT is a valid argument. The same is true when you talk about bikes. You may not like GT or Haro or Huffy (I can't stand Huffy) but unless you put down a reason WHY you don't like them, it's just opinion.

What are some examples? Check out Protyle, check out alt.bmx (the bmx/freestyle newsgroup), join THE mailing list. There are constantly people saying how this person sucks or how that product sucks and then not giving any reason as to why. If there is no reason then you aren't making an argument, you are stating an opinion. Of course, opinions mean crap in a world that is dominated by opinions. Everyone has his or her own opinion and until you back it up it will be meaningless.

So what if you don't like the way a certain person writes, or the way their website looks, or the fact that they like riding a pink bike. YOU don't need to open your mouth and comment to them about it. Why waste the energy on something so lame? Wouldn't it be better, if you didn't like a certain picture at a website to make your own picture and e-mail it to the person and say "Hey, would you mind using this for a while?" Suddenly you are making a friend instead of an enemy. Suddenly you are using your head for something better than sprouting stupidity.

People may wonder what this is all about, why I care... The fact is that freestyle has a long way to go to overcome the stereotypes that people have placed on it. Kids that don't realize how good things are right now and how BAD things could get in just a few years if people don't keep impressing the world are the ones that will fuck it up. If you make fun of a beginner- telling him that he sucks... he may stop riding. Why would you want someone NOT to ride? Aren't beginners supposed to suck? Aren't they usually on crappy bikes? If you are so much better why aren't you helping the kid out? Or are you not as good? Are you the kid on the $1,000.00 bike with ZERO skills but you figure that you must be cool because you can ride a $1,000.00 bike in circles.

As is the way with the sport I have had the chance to interact with kids from 12 to 30 that ride. I've seen very few of the younger riders that are as good as they think they are. The BEST I have ever seen have been Matt (Hoffman) and Caitlin (click for interview). For their age they already know (knew) that they aren't as good as they will be and that they have a long way to go. Riding a bike doesn't make them, or you, a superstar. What makes your voice heard and respected is levelheaded argument.

I once had a LONG discussion/argument with someone on alt.bmx in regards to the quality of Huffy. It was on about the third reply that I felt it was important to point out that Huffy was now BIG into freestyle after not being in it for years. That they HAD supplied little kids with bottom of the line BMX bikes for years but had never given the sport of freestyle a single look until ESPN made it worthwhile for them. Now there are kids that think Huffy is a great company. What they don't realize is that if there should be another recession in freestyle (there will be) that Huffy will go back to the safety of their Wal-Mart bikes. I don't care and never have cared about Huffy's involvement with BMX, and my point was made. Now the Huffy discussion has shown up on the site again and again kids that know it all are putting out such intelligent statements as "Huffy Sucks- buy a Hoffman Bike". Of course Hoffman Bikes are made in Taiwan and aren't nearly as good as the first production HB's that were produced in the USA.

BMXTRIX supports open arguments. People saying harsh yet realistic comments to others... preferably of a riding nature, will be tolerated maybe even encouraged. But people saying things that aren't helpful or insightful or may just be hurtful to others... Those comments will not sit on the site for 24 hours.

I've said it before... I have my opinions and I'm allowed to have them. On this site I'm allowed to enforce them. I won't stop it from being said. I don't want people to stop thinking, and being angry, and having opinions.

I just want people to stop being stupid.