  A possible subclass of gamma-ray bursts -- those with few, wide pulses,
spectral lags of order one to several seconds, and soft spectra -- has been
identified. Their Log[N]-Log[Fp] distribution approximates a -3/2 power-law,
suggesting homogeneity and relatively nearby sources. These mostly dim bursts
account for ~ 50% of the BATSE sample of long bursts near that instrument's
trigger threshold, suggesting that this subluminous class constitutes a more
common variety than the more familiar burst sources which lie at truly
cosmological distances. Theoretical scenarios predicted such a class, motivated
by their exemplar GRB 980425 (SN 1998bw) lying at a distance of ~ 38 Mpc. The
observations are explained by invoking off-axis viewing of the GRB jet and/or
bulk Lorentz factors of order a few. Long-lag bursts show a tendency to
concentrate near the Supergalactic Plane with a quadrupole moment of
-0.10+/-0.04, similar to that for SNe type Ib/c within the same volume. The
rate of the observed subluminous bursts is of order 1/4 that of SNe Ib/c.
Evidence for a sequential relationship between SNe Ib/c and GRBs is critiqued
for two cases, as simultaneity of the SN and GRB events may be important for
detection of the expected gravitational wave signal; at most, SN to GRB delays
appear to be a few days. SN asymmetries and ultrarelativistic GRB jets suggest
the possibility of rapid rotation in the pre-collapse objects, a primary
condition required for highly non-axisymmetric SN collapse to produce strong
gravitational waves.
