He’s Been Makin His List…Checkin it Twice

No, we’re not talking about Santa Claus–that’s not for two weeks. Late Friday, the NBL released their list of riders who will be automatically bumped up (as of 01/01/11) to the next proficiency class under the rules of “The New NBL.” The list was originally scheduled for release earlier in the week, but was given a line-by-line review by NBL staff this week, to ensure the list was correct (thanks for that, by the way, as it provided the perfect holiday-inspired headline).

In a departure from the long-practiced “number-of-wins” method of proficiency move-ups, the NBL, has instituted a formula which, applied retroactively, gives a much-needed nudge to 1292 rookies (some of whom have been “Rookie” for as long as 14 YEARS).

When a system that has been in place as long as the previous moveup policy is suddenly changed, you can expect some ruffled feathers. Applying it retroactively–even moreso. But we can’t imagine any other way to apply such a new ruleset. Putting everyone back to zero and starting the moveup clock again hardly made fair sense.

Granted, the formula for moving up in 2011 is much more complex, and reads like either a love note between two mathematicians, or do-it-yourself stereo instructions, written in English, translated into Japanese, then back to English. But that’s what the customer service phone number is for (reportedly now staffed with fresh new smiling faces). Lots of it centers around “gate drops,” that is to say how many times you have actually raced a moto, quarter, semi, and/or main. In the Rookie class, 40 gate drops is one of the significant factors to moveup (Props to the first-year Rookie with 302 Gate Drops, by the way…give that kid the “perfect attendance award” on his way up to Intermediate).

A total of 414 Novices are getting an Aragon elevator ride to the big leagues. And while some of the double-digit “years in competition” figures seem to scream “sandbagger!,” you might hold your horses for a second on that. Lots of the older guys race once or twice a year, and keep their NBL memberships rolling for old times sake. News can see an upcoming editorial on the wisdom behind letting those once-in-a-while gate warriors keep their Novice stripes versus their expert eagles (“for those that wants ‘em”).

That said, if you have over 1,000 gate drops before you have your drivers license (that would be an average of 250 races entered), it might be time to give Coach G a call and welcome that expert card coming to your mailbox soon.

For 2011, the NBL is also introducing proficiencies to the Girls classes for the first time anywhere. This has its own special set of considerations, and fog-enshrouded mystery. Some are screaming bloody murder because they ended up in the intermediate class, when they are a nationally-ranked hotshot and feel they deserve top-class placement. Others are outraged that they’re an expert and are going to challenge their way back to Challenger class

(editors note: Challenger and Intermediate classes are the same thing. The word “challenge(r)” is, in our opinion, overused in the NBL lexicon and causes confusion among our readers as to what we are actually talking about when using that term. Thus we will rarely/never be using it in reference to the Intermediate class, the Middle-Level Membership or the Regional Series. Can you imagine a tongue twister that has us writing “a Challenger can use his Challenger to race the Challenge?” here on News, and other Fiodan ASG sites, you’re likely to see it written as “An Intermediate can use his Mid-Tier Membership to race the Regional Series.”).

We have to chuckle at how the forums lit up after the list was published–like a list of all the people in town who haven’t paid their parking tickets or somesuch.

Download the 39-Page List to see if you, or someone you love (or hate) is on it.

Don’t like what you see? You can always request a move-up or move-down hearing from NBL Director of Competition, John Pingol (who will likely be busier than a long-tailed cat in a rocking chair factory in the coming months).

Download the Move-up Request Form

Download the Move-Down Request Form

Meanwhile your new classmates will see you in the gate, effective January 1 (yes, you don’t have to cancel your X-Mas classic reservations).