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| The History of Thread Headed Strangers The following history pages detail some of the history, the good times and the bad of "The Best Damn Group on the Board." The history, unless otherwise noted, was written by AA and is taken verbatim, as he wrote it for us, from AA.com. |
| The Birth of The Best Damn Group on the Board |
In the year of our Racing Gods 2001, a group of strangers from across the United States gathered upon the Stock Car
Challenge message board at ESPN/RPM for an intellectual discussion following the Spring race at Bristol, TN.
With just a few laps to go Jeff Gordon drove his #24 Dupont Chevrolet underneath the #20 Home Depot Pontiac driven by
Tony Stewart coming out of turn 4. Gordon tapped Stewart and put the #20 into the wall. Gordon fans cheered their hero
and laughed at the mangled #20. Stewart fans booed their public enemy #1 and demanded revenge! Stewart, not one to
let his fans down, drove his damaged Pontiac around the half-mile oval in search of Gordon. As the race ended and the
cars were pulling into the pit area, Stewart caught up with the #24 to discuss his displeasure with Gordon. Unknown to
Stewart, the brakes on his Home Depot Pontiac were damaged in the accident. Gordon stopped his Dupont Chevy on pit
lane just ahead of the brakeless Stewart. The #20 Pontiac slammed into the rear of Dupont Chevy, turning Gordon around
in pit lane.
Thus, the stage was set for the most in-depth discussion to ever grace the message board at the Stock Car Challenge
(SCC) Game. "#20 -- The Best in NASCAR!" cried Mojonascar, a veteran poster on the message board and an avid
Stewart fan. "#24 -- The Best in NASCAR!" screamed the Gordon fans.
Intellect flowed throughout the night. Intellect flowed throughout the following day. Intellect flowed freely for the next several
days until Mojonascar laid down the gauntlet: Form a group of intellects and settle the issue with a 5 race shootout to end
Segment 1 of the SCC Game. #24 fans against #20 fans. Thus the group "Thread Heads" was born. Bitching, bashing and
bucket fishing... at it's finest!
LauraLee, a member from the New England area won the shootout... and it escapes this historian's memory if she was a
Gordon fan or a Stewart fan. Hell, she may not have been either. Like so many posters on a message board that comes
and goes, she went. But the group remained!
Challenge message board at ESPN/RPM for an intellectual discussion following the Spring race at Bristol, TN.
With just a few laps to go Jeff Gordon drove his #24 Dupont Chevrolet underneath the #20 Home Depot Pontiac driven by
Tony Stewart coming out of turn 4. Gordon tapped Stewart and put the #20 into the wall. Gordon fans cheered their hero
and laughed at the mangled #20. Stewart fans booed their public enemy #1 and demanded revenge! Stewart, not one to
let his fans down, drove his damaged Pontiac around the half-mile oval in search of Gordon. As the race ended and the
cars were pulling into the pit area, Stewart caught up with the #24 to discuss his displeasure with Gordon. Unknown to
Stewart, the brakes on his Home Depot Pontiac were damaged in the accident. Gordon stopped his Dupont Chevy on pit
lane just ahead of the brakeless Stewart. The #20 Pontiac slammed into the rear of Dupont Chevy, turning Gordon around
in pit lane.
Thus, the stage was set for the most in-depth discussion to ever grace the message board at the Stock Car Challenge
(SCC) Game. "#20 -- The Best in NASCAR!" cried Mojonascar, a veteran poster on the message board and an avid
Stewart fan. "#24 -- The Best in NASCAR!" screamed the Gordon fans.
Intellect flowed throughout the night. Intellect flowed throughout the following day. Intellect flowed freely for the next several
days until Mojonascar laid down the gauntlet: Form a group of intellects and settle the issue with a 5 race shootout to end
Segment 1 of the SCC Game. #24 fans against #20 fans. Thus the group "Thread Heads" was born. Bitching, bashing and
bucket fishing... at it's finest!
LauraLee, a member from the New England area won the shootout... and it escapes this historian's memory if she was a
Gordon fan or a Stewart fan. Hell, she may not have been either. Like so many posters on a message board that comes
and goes, she went. But the group remained!
| NASVARVANNA |
In the weeks preceding Segment 2, two new faces appeared upon the SCC message board selling property in a
cyberspace Kingdom called NASCARVANNA. With promises of 50 luxury suites available, Donald Chump, the creator of
the cyber Kingdom, and the Juice Guy, the Chump's ace salesman, set out to fill their cyber vision. Deals were quickly
struck with the original members of Thread Heads and cyber moving vans were reserved for the move into their new
Kingdom. Incentives such as cyber juice machines were used to lure new members.
Segment 2 got underway with just a handful of unoccupied suites. During the first couple of weeks some of the vacancies
filled. Much to the dismay of a few, teams were brought in with big fat "0"s in the first and/or second race. Some bitter
words were spoken, especially when it was discovered there was something called "PAA" or "Points Above Average" in
which the ESPN/RPM SCC Game tracked group scores. The "0"s brought NASCARVANNA's PAA down.
Once it was decided the group was formed to make the game fun, the bickering stopped and members put their game
faces on. With 48 members continuously posting above average scores the group climbed the PAA ladder. By the end of
Segment 2, NASCARVANNA had become the BEST DAMN GROUP in the game with under 50 members.
It was during Segment 2 at the Brickyard 400 that the "NASCARVANNA Banner" was to be unveiled. Three members had
planned to meet there -- Mojo, Unk, and Anomie -- and roll out the banner for the crowd of 300,000 plus fans to see... and
hopefully get it on TV. An extended delay caused by a traffic accident caused Anomie to get way off schedule and arrive
just before the command to start engines. With no time to meet Mojo and Unk, Anomie decided to display the banner
himself in turn three during pace laps. A "Yellow Shirt" had other ideas. The banner was confiscated until the end of the
race, thus foiling the banner's debut.
Segment 2 came to a close with a mere school kid, calling himself M&M Crispy leading NASCARVANNA with a score of
7797 points over 13 races, just 75 points ahead of the Thread Heads' originator Mojonascar.
It was during the final weeks of Segment 2 that PaulieNY came up with the idea of giving away 1/24 scale diecast cars to
weekly race winners in the group. Thus, a new era was born...
It was also during this time that a member of NASCARITAVILLE (NASCARVANNA wannabe's) began a friendly heckling of
the Kingdom, with offers of sandy beaches and plenty of tequilla. This was the first appearance of Da Bugz.
| 2001 Segment 3... Got Diecast?? The Legends of Nascarvanna. |
Got diecast? PaulieNY does -- and plenty of it. PaulieNY opened the doors of his new "cyber store" ESP Racing and offered,
at a discount, 1/24 scale diecast cars to the group to give away. In this initial segment of the "new era" members volunteered
to donate "fun tickets" (U.S. dollars) to the cause. While at first just a few members agreed to donate fun tickets in order to
give away a prize to the segment winner, the response became overwhelming. It was determined the group could give away
a car each race to the member with the highest score . Everyone seemed to be happy about the direction in which the group
was heading.
But not all of the 47 members of The Legends of NASCARVANNA donated fun tickets and within just a few races a
"non-paying" member recorded the high score of the week. The fuse was lit to an explosive debate over what should be
done with the car -- give it to the highest scoring "paid" member or hold it for the segment winner.
Paulie declared the highest scoring paid member the winner of the car but some members cried foul! It was not up to
PaulieNY to declare who got what -- it was up to the group to decide. The "'Vanna Civil War" was on... the group was split
between the North, led by PaulieNY from New York, who wanted the winning to go to a "paid" member and the South, led by
CONVOYKING from Florida, who wanted the winnings to be held over for the segment winner. Bitter verbal barrages were
launched from both camps. Members who had grown to respect each other during the course of the season now seemed to
be bitter enemies...
For days the debate raged until it was finally decided to put the issue to a group vote. Both sides agreed to abide by the
results of the voting, thus the group was presented with three voting options: 1) Give the car to the highest scoring paid
member; 2) Give the car to the segment winner, and; 3) Give the car to the highest score of that race regardless of "paid" or
"non-paid" status.
All sides agreed to let group member Commonguy tally the votes in an E-mail balloting process. In a close race between
options 1 and 2, option 2 squeaked out the victory: The car would be given to the segment winner. Thus the South could
finally claim a victory in a Civil War...
Segment 3 also brought the unveiling of the NASCARVANNA Banner at the Fall Dover race. After the failed attempt to
display it at the Brickyard 400, Anomie shipped the banner to New York for Paulie to take to the MBNA 400. With some help
from fans sitting by Paulie the banner was finally seen by thousands of race fans. Although the banner didn't get on TV, it
made its debut.
After the race Paulie had the American flag that was given to fans at the race to commemorate the September 11th terrorist
attacks sewn onto it and shipped the banner to Jester in Texas. Jester took the banner to Phoenix where he met up with 220
and HOMRS. Jester added names to the banner of the races it had been to. 220 and Jester (shown with the banner)
displayed the banner to several more thousand race fans.
After the Phoenix race Jester sent the banner to JPremo in North Carolina to take to the Fall Rockingham race. The banner
has never been seen again.
Mac of the Maclords clan won Segment 3 with a 143 point victory over Amos Brown.
With the season over it was determined that if the group were to continue and give away die cast cars there would have to
be a set of group rules decided upon during the winter months.
at a discount, 1/24 scale diecast cars to the group to give away. In this initial segment of the "new era" members volunteered
to donate "fun tickets" (U.S. dollars) to the cause. While at first just a few members agreed to donate fun tickets in order to
give away a prize to the segment winner, the response became overwhelming. It was determined the group could give away
a car each race to the member with the highest score . Everyone seemed to be happy about the direction in which the group
was heading.
But not all of the 47 members of The Legends of NASCARVANNA donated fun tickets and within just a few races a
"non-paying" member recorded the high score of the week. The fuse was lit to an explosive debate over what should be
done with the car -- give it to the highest scoring "paid" member or hold it for the segment winner.
Paulie declared the highest scoring paid member the winner of the car but some members cried foul! It was not up to
PaulieNY to declare who got what -- it was up to the group to decide. The "'Vanna Civil War" was on... the group was split
between the North, led by PaulieNY from New York, who wanted the winning to go to a "paid" member and the South, led by
CONVOYKING from Florida, who wanted the winnings to be held over for the segment winner. Bitter verbal barrages were
launched from both camps. Members who had grown to respect each other during the course of the season now seemed to
be bitter enemies...
For days the debate raged until it was finally decided to put the issue to a group vote. Both sides agreed to abide by the
results of the voting, thus the group was presented with three voting options: 1) Give the car to the highest scoring paid
member; 2) Give the car to the segment winner, and; 3) Give the car to the highest score of that race regardless of "paid" or
"non-paid" status.
All sides agreed to let group member Commonguy tally the votes in an E-mail balloting process. In a close race between
options 1 and 2, option 2 squeaked out the victory: The car would be given to the segment winner. Thus the South could
finally claim a victory in a Civil War...
Segment 3 also brought the unveiling of the NASCARVANNA Banner at the Fall Dover race. After the failed attempt to
display it at the Brickyard 400, Anomie shipped the banner to New York for Paulie to take to the MBNA 400. With some help
from fans sitting by Paulie the banner was finally seen by thousands of race fans. Although the banner didn't get on TV, it
made its debut.
After the race Paulie had the American flag that was given to fans at the race to commemorate the September 11th terrorist
attacks sewn onto it and shipped the banner to Jester in Texas. Jester took the banner to Phoenix where he met up with 220
and HOMRS. Jester added names to the banner of the races it had been to. 220 and Jester (shown with the banner)
displayed the banner to several more thousand race fans.
After the Phoenix race Jester sent the banner to JPremo in North Carolina to take to the Fall Rockingham race. The banner
has never been seen again.
Mac of the Maclords clan won Segment 3 with a 143 point victory over Amos Brown.
With the season over it was determined that if the group were to continue and give away die cast cars there would have to
be a set of group rules decided upon during the winter months.
| The Winter Months, The Group's Own Silly Season |
At the end of the 2001 Winston Cup Season, Jeff Gordon, one of the group's parents, was named champion. Although
NASCAR's Silly Season starts months before the season is over, it is during the winter months, or the off-season, that most of
the changes to Winston Cup teams took place. It was also the time of the year that changes in the Best Damn Group On The
Board took place.
During Segment 3 in 2001, it was decided by most group members that if the group stayed together in 2002, some changes
needed to take place... rules needed to be agreed on and written. The majority of the group felt that group rules could have
prevented most of the arguments that occurred in Segment 3 -- most notably, the NASCARVANNA Civil War.
In the early days of the off-season a few members kicked around the idea of a committee of three to five members running the
group. This idea did not sit well with RACINGRIO, the member who coined the name NASCARVANNA, and a few others. RIO,
as he has lovingly come to be known, threatened to trademark the name NASCARVANNA and prevent the group from using it.
RIO's action touched off another bitter argument, which is now referred to as the "TM War."
Both sides of the issue battled daily, calling each other names and arguing like children. Everything from user names to
simple sentences were claimed to be trade marked. Every morning for a week RIO was greeted by a different web page
making fun of his stance. Anomie's web pages were ignored by RIO. At one time in the fighting RIO claimed no one could
come up with a better name than NASCARVANNA. Several names were suggested, but none seemed right. RIO's
"NASCARVANNA" was a tough name to beat.
Then one lonely night a stranger appeared on the board using the name Willie Nelson. "Willie" posted up the name "Thread
Headed Strangers" and rewrote the song "Red Headed Stranger" to sort of fit the battle that was going on. Over the next few
nights Willie appeared with rewritten songs to entertain the troops with. While some people thought Willie was nothing more
than stupid, RIO admitted the name Thread Headed Strangers was good and actually fit the group rather well. After all, the
group was made up of strangers and their common link was the threads of messages posted on the board.
Even though the name Thread Headed Strangers wasn't immediately chosen, it was decided that it was in the group's best
interest to vote for a group leader to run the group. What followed was weeks of negotiating rules and finalizing the wording of
agreeable rules. After the rules were finalized the first group vote for a leader took place in January of 2002.
Anomieacres, one of the original members of Thread Heads, won the vote by a landslide, thus joining Mojo, RIO and PaulieNY
as a leader of The BEST DAMN GROUP ON THE BOARD.
Facing an unknown number of returning members, Anomie and RIO, their differences settled and with a new respect for each
other, started a drive for new members. Hundreds of e-mails were sent to members of UBER groups. Mojo joined in the quest
and visited other game boards to recruit members. Although it came down to the wire, fifty members were in the group to start
the 2002 season.
Willie Nelson disappeared into the sunset, but the name he brought to the board was chosen as the group's new name.
Thread Headed Strangers was now the name of The BEST DAMN GROUP ON THE BOARD.
NASCAR's Silly Season starts months before the season is over, it is during the winter months, or the off-season, that most of
the changes to Winston Cup teams took place. It was also the time of the year that changes in the Best Damn Group On The
Board took place.
During Segment 3 in 2001, it was decided by most group members that if the group stayed together in 2002, some changes
needed to take place... rules needed to be agreed on and written. The majority of the group felt that group rules could have
prevented most of the arguments that occurred in Segment 3 -- most notably, the NASCARVANNA Civil War.
In the early days of the off-season a few members kicked around the idea of a committee of three to five members running the
group. This idea did not sit well with RACINGRIO, the member who coined the name NASCARVANNA, and a few others. RIO,
as he has lovingly come to be known, threatened to trademark the name NASCARVANNA and prevent the group from using it.
RIO's action touched off another bitter argument, which is now referred to as the "TM War."
Both sides of the issue battled daily, calling each other names and arguing like children. Everything from user names to
simple sentences were claimed to be trade marked. Every morning for a week RIO was greeted by a different web page
making fun of his stance. Anomie's web pages were ignored by RIO. At one time in the fighting RIO claimed no one could
come up with a better name than NASCARVANNA. Several names were suggested, but none seemed right. RIO's
"NASCARVANNA" was a tough name to beat.
Then one lonely night a stranger appeared on the board using the name Willie Nelson. "Willie" posted up the name "Thread
Headed Strangers" and rewrote the song "Red Headed Stranger" to sort of fit the battle that was going on. Over the next few
nights Willie appeared with rewritten songs to entertain the troops with. While some people thought Willie was nothing more
than stupid, RIO admitted the name Thread Headed Strangers was good and actually fit the group rather well. After all, the
group was made up of strangers and their common link was the threads of messages posted on the board.
Even though the name Thread Headed Strangers wasn't immediately chosen, it was decided that it was in the group's best
interest to vote for a group leader to run the group. What followed was weeks of negotiating rules and finalizing the wording of
agreeable rules. After the rules were finalized the first group vote for a leader took place in January of 2002.
Anomieacres, one of the original members of Thread Heads, won the vote by a landslide, thus joining Mojo, RIO and PaulieNY
as a leader of The BEST DAMN GROUP ON THE BOARD.
Facing an unknown number of returning members, Anomie and RIO, their differences settled and with a new respect for each
other, started a drive for new members. Hundreds of e-mails were sent to members of UBER groups. Mojo joined in the quest
and visited other game boards to recruit members. Although it came down to the wire, fifty members were in the group to start
the 2002 season.
Willie Nelson disappeared into the sunset, but the name he brought to the board was chosen as the group's new name.
Thread Headed Strangers was now the name of The BEST DAMN GROUP ON THE BOARD.
