Originally posted by kat2220
Buckster, anything on the Net about it???I just started on the net in 2000
Nah, it was just a bunch just like this. Prodigy bulletin boards were hot and heavy at the time. Most race fans quickly found a place to chat, and it grew from there. The main reason for it's being formed was so we could more or less filter out the BS that usually came with smart mouth kids. We had a rule that said that you couldn't bash any driver, period or we would block you. It worked, and though it was only one thread, as it is known here, that's where everyone gathered. We called our place the "Animal House Lounge" From there, we had the Bowtie bunch who sat around that table. Of course, there was the Blue Oval table, which is where my wife and I sat (Elliott fans). We had some of the girls getting all decked out in their nice little costumes as waitresses. Some even wore spike heels!
The boss (RCA) was the bartender and would cut you off if you got a little rowdy. Of course, all of this was not nearly as quick as it is here. In those days, we had mighty 2,800 baud modems. We would read all the posts and then add our own. There were no graphics at all, so we couldn't add any pictures. Everything was done by the written word. I got in trouble once because I was buying a certain lady a lot of booze and as it turned out, she was only 16. One of our members claimed to be a judge and put me on probation for six months.
I later adopted the young lady. Our group finally was forced to move when Prodigy upped their fees and most of us fled to a small service called Genie. It was not nearly as nice as Prodigy, but it had some really nice features, one of them was live chat. Finally, the Internet became a force, and Genie became a thing of the past. We have been staying in contact via e-mail since. I have met many of these people and they are from all over the country. We've had a couple of Gang getogethers, but those are now in the past as well. When I married my wife, about 15 or so attended the ceremony here. My best man was from Daytona. We had several from Virginia and of course, right here in North Carolina. Our group has done many things, including a charity thing called Stocks for Tots, a charity that I belive Rusty Wallace was involved in at the time. We even got mentioned in the Winston Cup Scene for our contributions. That was way back in the early '90s. Since we began, several of our members use AOL and have started another branch there. It is a place for the group to grow, but since I don't have, and won't get it again, AOL, I had to find a place where the people were warm, the food was good and the beer was cold. I found it here and I hope I can be with you people for a long time.
