Interesting Times, But Don’t Mention The War

There is a Chinese proverb which consists of three curses in ascending order of severity and it goes like this:-

I love the racing forums.  Not so long ago someone asked me why.  Well, they’re a great platform for people to speak their minds and also a great barometer of what people are currently thinking / concerned about.

You see, the racing crowd are a secretive lot and with all the complicated allegiances, loyalties and unspoken do’s and don’ts it’s often hard to get a straight answer out of anyone.  It’s that real ‘Don’t mention the war!’ syndrome (and if any one does, we have the trusty backup plan ‘bury our heads in the sand’ – for more information please see page one of the administrator’s manual).

The forums and the relative freedom they offer with their pseudonyms break down the barriers of reserve and allow a slightly more direct peek into what’s really going on out there.  If you hang around long enough, there’s also a good bit of humour, a fair bit of history and a lot of wisdom available if you know the right posters to follow.  And so we chat and squabble and generally have a thoroughly good time.

Unfortunately this seems to annoy the operators no end as there is a silly policy for admin not to join in any of the fun (which is rubbish as you all seem to know an awful lot about something you supposedly don’t take any interest in).  The moratorium on communication with the outside world has sadly resulted in a big divide between the administrators and the racing enthusiast and a bit of an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality.  I’m not sure why exactly, as administrators are generally recruited from the ‘enthusiast’ crowd and one would think that we’re all pulling in the same direction.  But it seems that once you cross that divide, the communication and information sharing stops.  Dead.  Oh, and check your sense of humour in at the door please.  Let’s not go having any fun or anything.

The trouble with any closed community is that you become so insulated as to be almost unaware of what is going on in the real world and independent thought and opinion seems a foreign and dangerous thing.

With racing personalities and stories usually being larger than life and people being rather gregarious by nature, we have a natural tendency to talk about things. And because information from the halls of authority is seldom forthcoming, this absence of information creates an ideal hothouse for gossip and speculation.  What was that about not mentioning the war?  Trouble is, we’re not administrators.

So for those of you without a modem, the latest who-ha to hit the airwaves is the on-going speculation about the Gold Circle divorce and potential marriage of the Western Cape to Phumelela.  Actually this is not exactly breaking news (researching the WC/Phumelela merger, I found news articles dating as far back as 2001), but as they say, some things are so old they’ve become new again.  Anyway, as with all good yarns, a third party has allegedly appeared on the scene and (shock horror) someone has not only found out, but mentioned it in public and now all is in disarray.  Interesting times indeed.

There appears to be a great deal of dissatisfaction stemming from that fact that a lot of work has gone into the idea of the Western Cape running off into the sunset with Phumelela.  Now that there might be another option on the cards well, that might require some actual thought and consideration and a great deal more work all round.

Well, I for one don’t think it’s such a bad idea to shake things up and make us take a step back and re-evaluate things.  It may even be exactly what we need right now.  The WC/KZN marriage that is/was Gold Circle has soured so badly and degenerated into such blind animosity that I think the original (rather sound) principles it was based on have sadly been relegated to the wings.  Instead we’ve all been distracted by the big personalities and personal agendas enjoying centre stage, putting on reruns of ‘Pass the Buck’ and the ever popular ‘My Constituency’s Bigger Than Yours’.   As tends to be the habit with these sorts of situations, we’ve all got distracted by the big, er, egos on show, all eyes have been on the wrong balls and generally not a great deal of work has been done.

Now it’s all got into a bit of a mess, everyone is cross with everyone else and we’re all looking for a knight to come swooping in on a big white horse to save the day.  But do knights on white horses really exist ?

Phumelela (and our alleged suitor no 2) are both JSE listed public companies and thus have to focus their energies and commitments on producing shareholder dividends.  This is by no means necessarily a bad thing, but usually involves cutting costs, rationalizing and under Phumelela, has resulted in the unpopular selling off of assets and inevitably an effect on the stakes pot.

The original Gold Circle model on the other hand, chose not to go the public company route and instead was built around the principles of ploughing money back into racing in order to sustain and regenerate.  Sound principles built on the legacies of senior statesmen like the Laurie Jaffees and Graham Becks of the world.

If those core principles still hold true, then why the unseemly rush for a deal with a public company now?  If we’ve been living in interesting times for 11 years already, surely we can wait a few more weeks while we give due consideration to a counter offer?  And even if we do want to ‘go public’ so to speak, a merger will no doubt result in cutting costs and rationalization, so why can’t the Western Cape and KZN simply carry out the necessary exercises themselves?  Surely they will achieve the same end result, with the difference being that they actually get to keep the proceeds themselves?

Warren Bennis said “Leaders keep their eyes on the horizon, not just the bottom line.” Good management is a skill.  It requires a clear head and the ability to focus on the objective at hand without allowing personal interests and conflicts to cloud one’s judgment.  I’m just not convinced that we’re employing good management practices in either our divorce or our proposed pending nuptials.

I don’t have all the answers.  I don’t even have all the facts !  I’m simply saying that there is more than one option out there and I hope that the members of both the WC and KZN chapters will a) get off your collective butts and show some active participation;  b) take the time and effort to demand and examine all the facts and options available; and c) make an informed decision.  But I can only present you with the options.  The rest is up to you.  Just remember – all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.  It’s our actions that define us, ladies and gentlemen.  Make them count.

Right, I think I’ve managed to annoy just about everyone today, but if anyone is feeling left out, the Pity Train has just derailed at the intersection of Suck It Up and Move On and crashed into We All Have Problems, before coming to a complete stop at Get the Hell Over it.  Any complaints about how we operate can be forwarded to 0860-waa-waaa.  This is Dr Sniffle Reporting LIVE from Quitchur Bitchin’.

(PS.  No columnists or colour holders were harmed in the writing of this column – I’d consider it a great favour if we could keep it that way !)