The Ben Siegel Contest Tragedy

[JLC]

I know many of us are aware of what happened at Ben Siegel's Midnight Madness contest this past weekend. We've got one thread about it running in QT right now, and I want to thank everyone in that thread (that I've seen so far) for the reasonable and respectful manner in which they have conducted themselves. The reason we put that thread in QT was not to "hide" it, but because we weren't sure how it would go and we did not want to find ourselves overwhelmed with a dozen different threads, potentially full of wild speculations and/or accusations, all about the same topic.

I'm creating this thread in the public forums so that we also have a place to openly discuss the situation. My personal understanding of things so far is that this is a tragic accident that no one could have reasonably foreseen. My heart goes out to Eddie's family, and to Ben, his family and his employees. It's human nature to want to find someone to "blame" and "punish" whenever something bad happens, but at least as of now, I fully believe that there is no indication that anyone did anything wrong.

I'm not going to post any of the numerous links that could point to this story or things related to it, but y'all are welcomed to post links if you wish, so long as they comply with our TOS, as any other links posted here.

There are bound to be numerous new threads started up as individuals hear the story for the first time and try to share it. Those threads will be moved to QT...not to "hide" them, but simply to keep things from getting messy and confusing. Point those newly aware of the situation to this thread and invite them to share here.

Lastly, I would just ask that those who feel compelled to make public statements about what has happened to do so with respect and understanding for those involved. No one wanted this. No one could have foreseen it. And the kind of "hindsight" that this kind of freak accident brings about does nothing except make us paranoid about living our lives and enjoying them.

From myself, and all of us at BP.net...our deepest condolences to Eddie Archbold's friends and loved ones.