[mrblaine]

The general slant seems to be that collectively, we are offended by the article. I was not.

I don't say much about this stuff, but I try to stay up to date as much as possible. What I read in the article seems to be a fairly accurate portrayal of most any summertime weekend on the Rubicon. I pick up bits and pieces here and there and not one thing that was alluded to in the article was or appeared to be untrue or made up.

As Rich said, we have them in every sport or hobby. The shining examples of what we don't like ourselves.

When I shot competitively, there were always a few that made frequent trips to their vehicles to toss back a few. Of course they always parked off of gun club property. When I fished, the buttheads were always there that were obnoxious, or downright rude.

I look at the article a bit differently. The way I see it, just maybe some of the average on the fence about getting involved, wheelers will read it and will be swayed to act differently. There is a fair contingent of people around that don't pay much attention or are even aware that things like this go on, and this may offend them enough to do something in our favor.

I do agree that almost any set of circumstances can be reported from any slant to be representative of a point of view. Sort of like statistics. They can be manipulated to show almost any view point.

The problem is there. The human waste is a problem. People do drink and as a result act in a manner that is bothersome, but also socially accepted. I also don't see it changing without closing down the trail. What are you going to do, put up an idiot filter at the entrance, a redneck filter, or what?

As far as Huel Howser or any other reputable source. How would you be able to convince any detractor that our way of doing things was not a set-up or an act put on for their benefit were that article to be written?

In order for it to have the most credibility we would have to be observed without our knowledge. I am certain that all of us would change some of our behavior were a journalist to go on a ride-along.

Maybe we would be extra careful where we placed our tires. That obstacle we always wanted to try would be put off until another day. We would warn the kids ahead of time that smashing cactus with big rocks is not an acceptable pasttime. The last guy that came out with us and imbibed a few too many, probably wouldn't be invited this time around. Maybe a cooler check would be in order in case the journalist wanted to snoop around a bit.

Who knows? I would venture a guess though that with prior knowledge, we would also act differently.