Discovery Hustle – The Devils Ride Season 3

The Devils Ride – Season 3

This is the most important thing you’ll read today!  It’s like a twist of color on the tweed surface of life.

Yeah, I’m talking about The Devils Ride.  You know… the “reality” TV show about a couple San Diego motorcycle clubs who are sightseers on a mission.

Season 3 started last week and here I thought the Biker Club ‘rode through the pearly gates’ and was buried, but somehow the show was resesitated for another season.

Sure every time I mention the show I get hits.  But, I’m not looking for Google pennies because I don’t run ads!  I’ve been consistent.  About the show’s producers, the reality TV “actors” and how the show leaves many of us feeling embarrassed.

For the uninitiated here is a quick recap:
The Devils Ride is a “reality” TV show about “outlaw” motorcycle clubs centered in San Diego.   Spoiler Alert:  In case you didn’t know, reality TV employs screenwriters whose job is to feed the character dialogue.  Viewers get to watch The Laffing Devils and the Sinister Mob Sindicate, two faux enemy clubs battle for the right to dominate the ‘Dago’ turf they call home.  It seems these clubs can’t have a conversation unless they literally breathe on each other.

While most of the club members have blown their chances at any Father of the Year award, they’ve assured themselves placement in the annals of reality-TV history thanks to their affinity for odd behavior and outrage as a form of communication.

For Season 3, viewers will witness even more stink eye stares, and name calling. It’s just some of the many incendiary moments on tap by the producer’s that are staples of this riveting reality TV show.  And don’t forget that male announcer with a deep bass voice employed every 7 minutes from a commercial break — the booming phrase, “in a world where…”

I remember when The Discovery Channel started out as an educational media format and was more polished than PBS.  These days they have put a lot of time and effort into insuring that its credibility is no greater than that of a tabloid seen at the supermarket checkout.

Previous rants on this “reality” show are HERE.

Photos courtesy of The Discovery Channel.  The “Hustle” photo created by editor.

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The Devils Ride Final

David Pritikin Posing

The Devils Ride executive producer, David Pritikin of Discovery Channel has a new diet and exercise regime for motorcycle club reality TV.  It’s call apply more pressure to capture increasingly more dramatic footage.

Could anyone be happier than Eric Bishoff who offered to present viewers with an “inside look” of a Dago MC, but is really selling us counterfeit merchandise?  The last episode of robbing a street corner drug dealer to keep the “heat” off the club house.  Really?

Spoiler Alert:  In case you didn’t know, the show actually employs screenwriters whose job is to feed the character dialogue or create a general storyline arc in hopes that the audience will not tire of the show when the real sequence of events seems too boring.  This occurs on each show to preserve the illusion of unscripted reality TV.

The Devils Ride is a whole cascade of negligence and one has to wonder if the autopsies are pending?

And speaking of autopsies, a recent report by the L.A. Times showed that some reality TV programs cut corners on safety, exposing cast and crew to hazardous working conditions.  A combination of tight budgets, lack of trained safety personnel and pressure to capture dramatic footage has caused serious and in some cases fatal incidents.

The Real Life Sons of Anarchy. Really?!

I’m not implying that The Devils Ride cuts safety corners, but in February an unnamed TV show being filmed for Discovery Channel resulted in a helicopter crash that killed three people.  It was one of the worst film set accidents in recent years.  It’s not clear what caused the crash and it’s being investigated by the FAA and NTSB.  And then last June, Terry Flanell was killed while shooting a pilot for Discovery Channel called “Brothers in Arms” at a Colorado shooting range when two smoke bombs detonated sending a metal pipe toward Flanell.

I see a trend.

Sons of Anarchy

Of course the Discovery Channel is well insulated from the specific filming activity.  The shows are produced by a separate company (example: Eyeworks USA) and they use Film L.A. Inc., to obtain film permits/permission and to pass filming code the L.A. County Fire Department assigns an advisor to the site to provide guidance on any issues.  But, it’s well known in the industry that many incidents go unreported because crew members sign non-disclosure agreements, and many in the show are non-union workers or are classified as independent contractors.

The Channel

The Devils Ride self-promoters are rampant, but what’s stunning is a TV show that most everyone from “clubbers” to motorcycle enthusiasts vehemently dislike is averaging about 1.2M viewers a week (Nielsen Media Research).  The show is capturing about 800K a week for the prime 18-49 adult demographic.  Although the show ranking is typically in the bottom 10% of the cable shows and where both Teen Mom II on MTV and Dinners, Drive Ins and Dives on the Food Network outperform there is obviously a number of people who think it’s the best show on Monday night TV.

This is my FINAL blog post on the TV show.  I’m providing “oxygen” to something that should be pulled off life support.  For those begging to see more, below is additional information I’ve researched on the various cast members and producers.  Twitter accounts are flooded with “fan boy” comments wanting to get closer to the 15 minutes of shame.

Executive Producers
Jason Hervey
Eric Bischoff –  or web site
Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment
David Pritikin (Discovery) –  or David Pritikin Filmography

Motorcycle Clubs
Sinister Mob Syndicate MC Club (Sin Mob MC)
Laughing Devils MC

Sin Mob (Sinister Mob Syndicate MC Club)
RRKnockout –  Ralph “Rockem” Randolph
Bubba
Grizz
Diesel
Headcase

Laughing Devils
Danny Boy (Prez) – Facebook
MadMax (VP)
Slider (Tres)
Sancho
Sandman
Bonez
Spyder – or Facebook page
Chris Boultinghouse (WhiteBoi) –  Facebook page  or web site

TV Show MC Women
Melis – Sandman’s ex-wife.
Laughing Devils Ol Ladies – Group of women related to members of the LDMC

Other Notable Bits Of Info
Howard “Rusty” Irvine Coones –  Twitter; Guest star on first season also appeared in episode 509 of SOA.  Previously President of Orange County HAMC chapter.
Attika 7 – Rusty Coones Band; In Oregon prison he picked up the guitar again.
Illusion Motorsports –   Company run by: Rusty Coones, Rodrigo Requejo, Katherine “KO” Coones.
Knockout Motorcycles –  Company run by: Ralph “Rockem” Randolph); former HAMC member.

Reality TV Research
Levin, Gary. “Simple Economics: More Reality TV.” Usatoday.com. USA Today. 09 May 2007.  Web. 2 Nov. 2009.
Booth, William. “Reality Is Only An Illusion, Writers Say.” The Washington Post. Washington Post, 10 Aug. 2004. Web. 2 Nov. 2009.
Ventre, Michael. “Just how real are reality TV shows?” Msnbc.msn.com. MSN. 14 April 2009. Web. 2 Nov. 2009.

Photos courtesy of Discovery.

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The Devils Ride – Twenty Feet From Stardom

In case you missed it, it might have been the untold story of the cast on the TV series called The Devils Ride.

Sure the actors members of the Laffing Devils outlaw motorcycle club have an appearance that is designed to intimidate the general motorcycling community… what with those glove-free hands, unwashed Levi’s, well-used black t-shirts and conditioned leather vests.

The Devils Ride, which started out as a reality TV show centered on the hard-hitting San Diego biker club drama, has really settled into its soapy role.  Each episode is dumb-and-dumber as the audience is told numerous times about what just happened, as if 6-minutes of commercials made us forget that the script and actors are the shows weak spot.

But, the big reveal on this Oscar weekend is this newly uncovered “second-team” of stand-ins performing (HERE).  Could it be the stand-in actors from the TV show?   We know that stand-ins are the unsung heroes of movie making and are picked based on height and body shape similar to the stars of the show.  Stand-ins are helpful to the production process and you’ll notice in the video they fulfilled a rather tedious task in a bar scene which has yet to air on the TV show.

This video is either poetic justice or a bit of karmic retribution from all us viewers who have no time for mediocre and who believe a baseball cap should be worn in the direction that your life is traveling!

As Ringo Star said in the movie “Hard Day’s Night” when ask “Are you a Mod or Rocker?” he replied “I’m a Mocker!”

And guilty I am.

Photo courtesy of College Humor.

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The Devils Ride Gets No Respect

I’m not talking about the comedic belligerent loser, Rodney Dangerfield, who penned It’s Not Easy Bein’ Me: A Lifetime of No Respect but Plenty of Sex and Drugs.

Rather my reference is about the TV show called The Devils Ride… which gets no respect.  You may remember it as a TV show with an ambitious teaser ad, but was instead a jaw-doppingly dis-functional motorcycle club (MC) reality train wreck that most bikers have no respect.  It’s a TV show about what happens when you take a testosterone supplement and ride a motorcycle.

To be fair, maybe you’re one of the few who have waited all winter for the MC “reality” series to return and lucky for you it does for a second season in just a couple of days.  Premiering Monday, Feb. 18 at 10 p.m., the new season of The Devils Ride will follow the DAGO biker “war” as it gets EVEN bigger and deeper.  As if that’s really possible!

The San Diego-based Laffing Devils Motorcycle Club (LDMC), was once a growing club.  The boyz got into a tiff over something that no one can remember and split into two separate clubs. Now in the second season viewers will get a sensory overload of club members going head-to-head with the rival club, Sinister Mob (or Sin Mob).  The 2nd season promo states that the Laffing Devils’ leadership is in turmoil: founding member “Danny Boy” and “Sandman” are butting heads not to mention Sandman’s off camera legal trouble with the ex-wife and the original founder, “Gipsy” is missing in action.  Maybe because he also has his own set of off-camera legal issues with a minor.  Meanwhile, “White Boi” — recently released from prison — is causing ripples among the club members.  Yawn.

Anytime a television show is promoted for being hard hitting or “smart,” someone’s laughing all the way to the bank — some company called, Discovery Channel and Bischoff Hervey Entertainment.

This is garbage TV.

Let me tell you how I really feel.  All you have to do is take a couple steps back and you’ll quickly realize that we’re looking at blended baby food made out of corn syrup. It’s just a blob of tasteless, high-calorie paste that will work well with the LIPITOR ads.  And the Discovery Channel medium dispenses the paste to people who can’t feed back, can’t change it, who only get it in 17-minute bite-sized chunks interrupted by 14-minutes of commercials.  It’s written by a team of writers who all have one thing in common: They’re not allowed to say whatever they’re thinking! They’re not allowed. We’re definitely not getting motorcycle club insight or truths; we’re getting lies and acting so heinous they should issue a police ticket.

You might disagree and call me out for not being a credible TV critic.  To be one, I’d have to write a 50-page review of each episode which would take longer to read than it does watch the show, while espousing in a pseudo-intellectual way, the show details so that the masses can talk about it over a latte at the water cooler with their new devil horned t-shirts.

The conversation we’re not having is: there’s a couple hundred million of us watching an average of six hours of TV a day… a one-way transmission that only tells us we have a lot of physical and mental ailments… there’s 5-hour energy drinks to perk us up, Lunesta to put us to sleep and our clothes will look brighter with Tide detergent as we recline in the lounger to watch the TV show.  The one conversation no one is having, not a single one of us is having is a debate about whether or not liking The Devils Ride makes us smart or stupid.

It’s my judgment that the show is a full-on assault of our intelligence by “actors” who have taken a faux role way too serious.  It should be noted that the crap troop breeding this ignorance is executive producers Eric Bischoff, Jason Hervey and Steve Stockman along with Discovery’s David Pritikin.

I will say props for riding some some nice motorcycles!

Photo courtesy of Discovery Channel and Bischoff Hervey Entertainment.

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Harley-Davidson Continues Sons Of Anarchy License Deals

Maisto “Sons of Anarchy” 1:18 Scale Bikes

There is now the Sons Of Anarchy collection of die-cast motorcycles.

Back in December, Maisto announced they worked closely with 20th Century Fox and Harley-Davidson to bring fans of the show 1:18 scale die-cast versions of the SOA motorcycles in association with the TV show characters: Jax, Clay, Opie and JT – the SOA Motorcycle Collection.

Not only can you now dress and ride like SOA outlaws, thanks to a flurry of licensing deals that includes everything from actual motorcycles at Bartel’s H-D to hats, games, stationary, jewelry, calendars, stickers, wall graphics and more.   Now while sitting in your work cube thinking about the winter cold you can have your very own die-cast outlaw motorcycle to stare at and think about how you can’t wait to ride in warmer weather!

The Maisto brand name was registered in 1990 by May Cheong, a vertically integrated manufacturer based in Hong Kong. The company has been manufacturing die cast replicas for over 40 years.  They have over 11,000 employees worldwide, and manufacturing facilities covering more than 2 Million square feet.

Sons Of Anarchy merchandise sales have grown 70% year-to-year since 2010.  This is not a U.S. only concept as the TV show is a hit in U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Germany and the Netherlands.  And with the TV show committed through a seventh season merchandise sales will only increase.

Previous SOA/H-D license deals blog post HERE.

Photo courtesy of Maisto, 20th Century Fox and Harley-Davidson.

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Domestic Drama Lands Laughing Devils “Sandman” In Jail

Robert Joseph “Sandman” Johnston

Mister Sandman, bring me a dream.
Make her the cutest that I’ve ever seen.
Give her two lips like roses in clover.
Then tell her that her lonesome nights are over.

It’s ironic how this song, which was most notable in the movie “Back To The Future“, mimics the reality behind the reality TV show called The Devils Ride.

I’m referring to Robert Joseph “Sandman” Johnston, a member of the Laughing Devils MC and one of the more popular characters on the reality TV series.  He was arrested for attempted murder after allegedly stabbing a man during a burglary just prior to Christmas.

Mister Sandman’s Melis

There is some speculation (HERE) that Mister Sandman wanted to surprise his ex-wife? — SATIRE ALERT — with a belated Christmas gift.  After realizing that he’d misplaced the house keys he let himself in and then discovered another man in the bedroom, and became concerned… came to her defense by stabbing the “assailant” three times in the back.  The police somehow misunderstood his good intentions.

I’m sure the show producers are salivating over all the possible plot twists for a second season.  This is all just another sad chapter of reality TV – salacious, exploitative, celebratory violence, abusive and predatory behavior – not to mention an extraordinarily colorful life of a motorcycle club member.  Not only do we have to turn the channel to avoid the “vast wasteland” called The Devils Ride, we have to endure nit wits like Kim Kardashian and Jessica Simpson, uneducated goofs who are followed around, their every activity plastered on magazines and online, who’ve got nothing to say.  They’re not entertainers, and to keep it real there isn’t much reality in reality TV.

And before you fire-up the keyboard to tell me that I don’t get The Devils Ride or am stupid or there is something inferior about me or I’m just not as far out there on the motorcycle outlaw frontier as Sandman is…  Keep in mind that The Devils Ride is the creation of the Santa Monica production company Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment and that show producer, Eric Bischoff is the author of the acclaimed memoir Controversy Creates Cash.

There are a number of things I am looking forward to in 2013 and high on that list is that The Devils Ride implodes and gets cancelled.

Previous posts: Laughing At The Laughing Devils; Laffing Devils Are The New World Order;  The Laughing Devil Tickle Monster;

Robert Joseph “Sandman” Johnston photo courtesy of Discovery Channel.  Melis photo courtesy of Twitter page.

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Harley-Davidson Licensing Deal With Sons of Anarchy

Limited edition Son’s of Anarchy motorcycles

I called this back in 2009 with a post called Bottling Ideas.  UPDATE: Actually now that I’ve re-scanned the blog it was even earlier with a post in 2008 called Harley SAMCRO Limited Edition Motorcycle HERE.

I’m talking about the FX television series “Son’s of Anarchy (SOA)“, and a new deal with Harley-Davidson for custom motorcycles made by 20th Century Fox Consumer Products as part of a flurry of licensing deals for SOA that includes clothing, leather jackets, hats, t-shirts, games, calendars, stationary and much more.

Thanks to Bartels’ Harley-Davidson the bike maker will produce 100 limited edition Son’s of Anarchy motorcycles that will retail for about $25,000 each at Harley dealers this fall.   Now TV viewers can further tap into the motorcycle club fantasy… who doesn’t want to pretend to be a ‘clubber’ and ride a faux outlaw biker motorcycle, right?

I can’t think of another TV show that cuts across multiple gender identities, social boundaries, is a taboo breaker, a mainstream manufactured product for the rebellious and the dispossessed.  If ever there was a Harley-Davidson brand ambassador it would be Kurt Sutter’s (@sutterink), Son’s of Anarchy!

SOA is about to enter its fifth season, and is now the most-watched show in its history among total viewers 18-49. The most recent season the show averaged 5.5 million viewers per episode. It was also the number three DVD release among TV shows in 2011.  And after growing online merchandise sales for FX’s top-rated show about 70 percent year-to-year since 2010, Fox is shifting to brick and mortar retailers like Spencer Gifts, Transworld/FYE and Hastings.

I wouldn’t be honest if I failed to mention that this feels like a disaster for any person who rides to a rally thinking they’ll have instant club admiration.  However, it could be shrewd marketing of misbehavior and we’ll see a formal offering from the motor company every year!  Any of the “noise” generated in the press and blogosphere helps in terms of show profile, helps H-D reinforce how the middle finger of rebellion built the brand.  And isn’t that all that matters in the end?!

I don’t have a Kurt Sutter man-crush, but he does deserve a big shout-out for remaining true to the setting in the TV show without becoming stereotypical.  We know it’s hard work compared to the Laffing Devils crap the Discovery Channel is trying to pass off as good TV.

Here are some previous SOA blog posts made over the years: OMG New Media Darlings; Men of Mayhem; Bikes, Bullets & Brawls; Mail Room of Life; Bottling Ideas; Be Good & You’re Lonely; Sutter Shout Out; Season 3 Ideas; Working The SOA Trail

Photo courtesy of SOA and RatRodStudios.com.

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Laffing Devils Are The New World Order

Eric Bischoff Web Site

You might be interested to know that if it wasn’t for Hulk Hogan, we wouldn’t have The Devils Ride, a parody TV show about an outlaw motorcycle club that is produced for the Discovery Channel by Bischoff Hervey Entertainment.

Yeah, I did it.  I just connected the dots of Lex Luger, Ric Flair, “Hollywood Huckster” and the Giant… to a semi-glorified American motorcycle TV show.  It’s a long read, but click HERE for the details.  I’ve previously laughed at the Devils HERE.

It turns out that Eric Bischoff, one of the Executive Producers of The Devils Ride along with Jason Hervey, was instrumental in redefining the WCW wrestling landscape with clowns, midgets and other outlandish characters and has now applied his wrestlemania ‘magic’ to a TV show about the world of motorcycle clubs and the sometimes simple-minded members of San Diego’s — The Laffing Devils (LDMC).

Clearly with today’s lowest common denominator of TV viewers we face a real crisis in mainstream society’s media preferences.  The measurement bar was on the floor, but everyone wants it lowered!  Just when you think it’s become increasingly difficult for producers to insult the intelligence of the American public the Discovery Channel announced this week that the Laffing Devils is officially a hit after only six episodes and it has been renewed for a second “season.”  Is it futile to hope that none of the original cast members return?!  For Discovery Channel, David Pritikin is Executive Producer of The Devils Ride.

David Pritikin – Discovery Channel Executive Producer of The Devils Ride.

As the competition for the stupidity dollar grows ever more fierce The Discovery Channel has repeatedly stated that the television show is about a “real” club.  They even brought in the real and apparently retired Hells Angel Rusty Coones.  Coones is the former President of the Orange County (California) charter of the Hells Angels.  Back in June 1999 he was arrested on federal drug charges and sentenced to eight years in prison. One of his defenders with an 8-minute attention span limit was celebrity bike builder Jesse James who married Sandra Bullock, then divorced, but in his spare time somehow made some Hollywood business connections. After he got out of prison Coones with the help of James connections made some show business connections, too.

So for viewers who need to be spoon-fed credibility, one episode of The Devils Ride featured Coones sending a group of Laffing Devils to repossess a bike for him in Las Vegas. It’s unconfirmed, but one could speculate that Coones was compensated for his appearance.  With a lot of free time in prison Coones continued to play the guitar and also began writing songs. He now plays lead guitar for a heavy metal group named Attika7 and is an owner at Illusion Motorsports.

No-one is better at pandering to an outlaw image or their bad tendencies than Kurt Sutter, so the Attika7 songs have been placed in episodes of the Sons of Anarchy (SOA) TV show.  Meanwhile Coones appeared in a second episode to play with his band in the Laffing Devils’ new club house where they all seem to smoke expensive cigars while sipping expensive glasses of wine.

Thank you Discovery Channel you complete me!

Clearly it’s all about this symbol —  $$$ — because the old fashion stuff like ethics, morals and honor are way down on the list for a TV producer.  It’s interesting to note that the trademark registration for “Sinister Mob Syndicate MC” was filed by Bischoff Hervey Entertainment Television, LLC of 1754 14th Street in Santa Monica on May 18, 2012. That application listed Tommy “Gipsy” Quinn, the founder of the Laffing Devils as the last listed owner of the mark. However, that application was withdrawn and re-filed on May 24, 2012 without Mr. Quinn’s name.  I smell a new round of t-shirts and hoodies for the very lucrative stupid-person market.

Photo’s courtesy of Eric Bischoff web site and Twitter

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Resolutions For 2012

Happy New Years!

Now that the champagne toasts are made and the ball dropped, it’s time to start thinking ahead:  What’s your riding resolution for this year?  Will you ride your motorcycle more often to work?  Take that epic journey or stay close to home?  Will you buy a new ride or enhance the existing one?

Before going forward let’s take a quick look back.

Over the years I’ve posted the occasional summary of the more popular and least liked stories from the past 12 months.  It’s not my “helper-monkey”, but the good folks at WordPress.com state their rankings algorithm is based on how many people read a particular article.  The average is the sum of views divided by the number of days and its gets even more complex if you are the sort of person who likes to verify computations.  I don’t.

The final tallies can be a little mystifying, to be honest.

Are readers giving a “thumbs-up” because they liked the content of the article or just the topic itself?  I don’t find these summaries a really useful exercise because some of the better written articles (IMHO) will sometimes have the fewest views.  It’s the old adage that writing about or reposting the nip slips, exposed undies and ever-presence dysfunction from the celebrity train wrecks for the whole world to see will bring a whole lot more views if that’s your goal.  But, if nothing else, the summary does provide a snapshot of what struck in my readers’ collective fancy during the past year.

In 2011, I posted 88 new articles (about 7 per month).  That brought the total archive on this blog up to just over 800 posts.  I uploaded 165 pictures (or about 3 per week).  The busiest day was September 25th (during the Vagos and HAMC shooting in Reno) with 1,120 views on an article I posted in 2008 (HERE).  Clearly the social behavior and the attraction of the events in Reno was a big draw, but I’m mystified why the more current article (HERE) had fewer views?  Maybe it’s a SEO thing.  I also want to provide a shout-out to the large number of UK viewers who consistently visit the blog.

Here are the 2011 most viewed highlights:

Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs Flying Colors in Oregon

OCC Family Feud Ends

Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs Are New Media Darlings

Vagos MC Meeting In Grants Pass

Harley SAMCRO Limited Edition Motorcycle

Harley-Davidson’s SwitchBack

Vintage Motorcycles – Honda CB750

Harley Engine History

“Green Nation” Busts On Saint Patrick’s Day

No Angel

The Day Laughlin River Run Changed

Men Of Mayhem

A “Legend Bell” Full of Mystery

Harley Snubbed In Benjamin Button Movie

Operation Black Rain Nets Oregon Mongols

I enjoyed this past year—and I hope you have, too.  If I’ve done my “job” right as editor of this blog, then your visits will have helped make your motorcycle hobby a bit more meaningful.  Hopefully you’ve become closer to your motorcycle and grown your relationship with friends that you’ve met on the road.

Happy 2012!

Photo’s courtesy of WordPress.com and Northwest Harley Blog.

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Innocents Caught In Toy Run Ban

About a week ago in Josephine county it was time for the 7th annual Grants Pass Toy Run.

In case you are unfamiliar with toy runs, they are about bikers of all persuasion getting together to help disadvantage children during a bad time in their life.  Or another way to say it is these are children who would have a minimal or no Christmas had it not been for the direct effort of a toy run event.  Most if not all of the toy runs are supported by ABATE members and ABATE of Oregon exists to promote the rights and interests of all motorcyclists, both patch holders and independents alike.

But, there is an unfortunate pattern developing in law enforcement in some parts of the country which was visible in Grants Pass, Oregon on October 3rd.

Officials stated that police and fire personnel would not to take part in a charity “toy run” because members of the Vagos MC were in attendance.  Specifically Deputy Chief Bill Landis told the Daily Courier that the city considers the Vagos MC to be a criminal organization and took what amounts to a “there goes the neighborhood a’tude.”

Motorcycle clubs are often prominent at charity events, such as toy runs.  The non-motorcycle riding public might conclude from the city’s police and fire personnel actions that any motorcyclist attending a toy run is possibly affiliated with a criminal enterprise.  It’s true that the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) has weighed in on the topic complaining of the bad publicity for motorcycling in general caused by so-called “outlaw” clubs.  They’ve previously stated that the presence of these clubs at charity events has actually harmed the needy by driving down public participation and reducing donations. The shootout’s between rival motorcycle clubs in the midst of a charity toy drive have not helped.  In fact, they have influenced authorities in some states to attempt a ban on certain clubs from charity events, or to restrict the wearing of colors at those events.  This in turn prompted litigation in Pennsylvania on the unfair exclusions.

Before you get the wrong idea… does giving presents to boys and girls make up for bad things that some of the motorcycle club members do?  No.  But, neither should we consider ALL cops bad because some of them instead of catching criminals ARE criminals?

I’ve participated in a number of toy runs and find this maneuvering and attempt to cast a guilt by association on what otherwise would be acts of kindness for kids very disappointing.

Previous posts about the Vagos MC in Grants Pass are HERE and “Operation Everywhere” HERE.

Photo courtesy of ABATE.

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