... negative assessment of "the hobby".

Comparatively few people "in the hobby" participate in the give and take threads that occassionally evolve on this message board. There are over 3,000 members of the club (to which you admittedly do not belong).

While the sentiments expressed on this forum may or may not reflect upon the majority views of other club members, it is a reasonable sounding board to some degree. Many controversial posts between readers are between personal friends and aquaintances that have been made via thechipboard and I believe that it's healthy to let others know what is on their minds.

Personally speaking, I don't judge the health of the hobby by what I read on this message board. I would suggest that you (and perhaps Angela) come to a CC & GTCC Convention if you really want to guage the strength of the true commaradie within "the hobby".