Just What Was 2004 All About?
Isn't it Ironic?
2004 for the big boats was just rife with irony. Right off the top, the series had breakaway factions that wanted to go away from the sanctioning body, and either do it on their own or have some sort of alternate race program to avoid the alleged demons of Hydro-Prop. When other sports have done this, those sports were typically enjoying a high point of popularity and someone wanted to get in on the action. This is just simple economics. The most recent case would be the Indy Racing League (IRL), formed with the Indianapolis 500 as its centerpiece. They did this when open wheel racing was extremely popular and drew big TV ratings.
Now let's look at unlimited hydroplane racing.
The participants and promoters in the sport, for whatever reason, decided that now, when the sport is at one of its lowest points in history with regard to races, boats and television, that it should be split in two.
Owners didn't go to some races, but did others depending solely on who was running them. The promoters cried poverty and wanted guaranteed fleets or reductions in prize money. Of course, none of the independent race promoters considered doubling or tripling the prize money on their own and watch teams beat a path to their race site. And the boat owners never considered they were hurting the sport as a whole, or more importantly the fans, when they made a conscious effort to sit at home on race day. Then there were the leaders who thought scheduling two races on the same day on two sides of the country was a bright idea.
And what about the bittersweet dilemma of Kim Gregory? After landing several sponsors for the race in Detroit, he has to try and figure out how exactly to fit The Dick Scott Automotive Group Presents Miss Detroit Yacht Club on one of those small Gold Cup plaques. You certainly don't want to leave one of your supporters off the big trophy.
Perhaps the strangest twist in all of this is that no one really heard from the primary sponsor of so much of the sport. But then again, they're bailing out at the end of the year, so why should they worry? Did any one else find irony in the fact that the Budweiser Columbia Cup was not part of the Budweiser Hydroplane Series, and the points for that race would not count in the O'Doul's high point championship that would ultimately decide who won the Bernie Little trophy? But a race is a race, and a split series by any other name is still a group of races, and the sport rolls on with its never ending alphabet soup of new groups and organizations that have acquired the rights to this and that, all in the name of furthering the cause of unlimited hydroplane racing.
But the most ironic twist really has nothing to do with all the infighting over control of the series. It's a feud that's been going on for a half-century, with this publication and others contributing to its never-ending war of words. At a time when the sport is at its lowest level, and the possibility of extinction is real, the descendents of what could be legitimately called the founding fathers, Ted Jones and Anchor Jensen, are still trading barbs over just who invented all this to begin with.
(Unlimited NewsJournal, November 2004)