NBL Recognizes Veterans with Free Memberships

The NBL announced this week that, beginning at the Freedom Nationals in Woodbridge, VA this weekend, a new program would provide free NBL memberships to Veterans of the US Military.

A press release said “To receive the free membership, veterans need only complete a membership application, [and provide] proof of veteran status.” While the offer fittingly begins at the Freedom Nationals, it will be available league-wide at nationals and local tracks alike, forward of May 8. It is open to 20″ and cruiser memberships, and Veterans racing both are welcomed to avail themselves of both memberships, compliments of the guys in Gahanna.

Notice that, throughout the piece, we have said “Veterans,” quite specifically. The offer is open to Veterans only, meaning non-active-duty personnel. When asked by a reader, why this innovative promotion would not be extended to Active Duty personnel, NBL Chairman James Bagwell commented on VintageBMX.com “there are more things to come as relates to “active” military. Stay tuned.” Stick with BMXNEWS for more details on this and other breaking news items.

BMXNEWS.COM wishes to take this opportunity to acknowledge, and thank, our brave Veterans and active-duty servicemen and women for their unwavering commitment to the freedom of our nation. The NBL definitely deserves our gratitude as well, for bringing more of these brave men and women to our sport, and recognizing the prior commitment of those already in staging.

NBL Flips the Switch on New Website

BMXNEWS got a glimpse of it last week, but today marked the day when the NBL officially flipped the switch on their new website. With eyes toward providing a reasonable alternative to their now-defunct print publication, BMX Today, the new site has a few solid “Web 2.0″ bells and whistles which will hopefully bring info-seeking members and prospective members to the site a time or two each month.

The “BMX Today” section was jumped on, in fairly short order, by Vintage members. But we think the site deserves some runway before the serious criticism is leveled. One aspect we find interesting, however, is the fact that stories served up online should probably not be as long as the ones that used to be published in the print version of the BT. The Christmas Classic story was fairly tedious to get through, reading at times more like prescription drug instructions than entertainment copy. That is the nature of the beast in the online setting. The story is probably better told in photo/caption form (but, we also noticed that the photos in the gallery were devoid of captions, so that may be tricky).

All in all, we commend the NBL on their efforts to polish up their online offerings. The old technology maxim “ship, then iterate” will undoubtedly be applied here as we start to see some of the other features NBL touted in their lead-up to the new site launch. We especially like the “Rider News” section this week, where you can find links to BMXNEWS Announcers Tower Podcast episodes featuring Arielle Martin and Donny Robinson.

Check out the new site at NBL.ORG

NBL Faithful Make Their Way To Louisville For Christmas Classic

With a paid pre-practice the week before, riders drove from as far away as Texas, some in the biggest Winter storm of the season, to get some laps on the Christmas Classic track in Louisville. Some were stranded on snowbound Interstates for as long as eight hours before turning back. Of the people who were in the house, the feedback was generally positive, with a lot of predictions that fortunes would rise and fall in the last turn.

There is more news and discussion about the X-Mas Classic on the VintageBMX.com forums. Check it out now.

Also, NBL announced today that they would be conducting some trials of a new RFID system that would automate registration and scoring. Check it out on the NBL Web site.

BMXNEWS will be covering the Christmas Classic, beginning Saturday, December 26. Keep an eye here for the lastes news, and our sister site, BMXNOW.COM for photos.

Above photo courtesy of VintageBMX.com user, Kevin Garrett