Posts
241
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Roseville, CA, USA
Edited Date/Time
1/22/2012 2:46pm
I hear the story repeated over and over again. Parents sacrifice everything to put junior on a winning bike and make a winning opportunity.
Some of these parents have sacrificed marriages, businesses, other members of the family, all for junior. Stories of 500K+ spent for a successful amatuer career are not unfounded.
Then, when junior gets his shot at the big time, the first people he wants gone are mom and dad. Usually it involves a gold digging pro whore, whispering in junior’s ear that “junior earns the money”, “what to they have to do with it?”, “get rid of them”, "lets party". Basically, junior’s new bitch wants the money for herself, and screw mom and dad.
Sadly, almost every young pro that goes this road ends up with a wasted career. I think the guilt factor starts eating at junior. Deep inside, junior knows what he’s doing is wrong. He owes “someone” big time; almost always the someone is; mom and dad. Junior owes them maybe 3x what they sacrificed. Junior should dump the pro-ho.
Happily, there are exceptions. Ricky Carmichael comes to mind. He and James Stewart are exemplary leaders in “doing the right thing”. Every up and coming young pro could learn a lot about family relations from RC and JS. I'm sure it has not always been bliss working out the money issues, but doing the right thing is always important.
I have heard from almost every parent that has had a top level star, if they had to do it over again, they would not. Most are envious of other families that dropped out of the sport before it got out of hand. Some are jealous of the ones who didn’t make it.
Often the pro family is so fractured afterward, many wonder where their lives went. Why they spent so much time and effort chasing something that ending up creating so much heart break. They have the pictures, a treasure trove of memories of happier times, but now the relations are so irreparably damaged, it can’t be called a family anymore.
Some of these parents have sacrificed marriages, businesses, other members of the family, all for junior. Stories of 500K+ spent for a successful amatuer career are not unfounded.
Then, when junior gets his shot at the big time, the first people he wants gone are mom and dad. Usually it involves a gold digging pro whore, whispering in junior’s ear that “junior earns the money”, “what to they have to do with it?”, “get rid of them”, "lets party". Basically, junior’s new bitch wants the money for herself, and screw mom and dad.
Sadly, almost every young pro that goes this road ends up with a wasted career. I think the guilt factor starts eating at junior. Deep inside, junior knows what he’s doing is wrong. He owes “someone” big time; almost always the someone is; mom and dad. Junior owes them maybe 3x what they sacrificed. Junior should dump the pro-ho.
Happily, there are exceptions. Ricky Carmichael comes to mind. He and James Stewart are exemplary leaders in “doing the right thing”. Every up and coming young pro could learn a lot about family relations from RC and JS. I'm sure it has not always been bliss working out the money issues, but doing the right thing is always important.
I have heard from almost every parent that has had a top level star, if they had to do it over again, they would not. Most are envious of other families that dropped out of the sport before it got out of hand. Some are jealous of the ones who didn’t make it.
Often the pro family is so fractured afterward, many wonder where their lives went. Why they spent so much time and effort chasing something that ending up creating so much heart break. They have the pictures, a treasure trove of memories of happier times, but now the relations are so irreparably damaged, it can’t be called a family anymore.
I look at it like "they made their bed, now they have to lie in it." I really hate to see families fall out over this sort of thing but the parents who suffer through what you've described put themselves in that situation. It's not always the pro-ho that causes it.
A while back I spoke to a retired (formerly very successful) mx star. He told me how life growing up as a kid really had nothing to do with being a kid. Dad, most of the time wasn't dad. He was boss, or trainer, or coach and he wished it had been different. He had a long prosperous career as a mx star and probably doesn't have to do anything now for income, but family life never was. It's not always the "junior's" fault.
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Its like racing is something they love, their parents love them and thus support them and racing, but neither of the two get along worth a crap, and the kids are ready to get the hell out of dodge.
Im sure it all catches up somewhere.
but 18+ is a good idea as well as the hs diploma. But pro as in national pro, or pro as in local pro?
There will be a lot of fast amateurs at lorretta's!
I've seen parents bank their future on junior turning pro and buying them a big house or using them as a retirement fund. They shouldn't be surprised when it doesn't work out or the kid wants to spend his money on himself. Afterall, he's been #1 priority his whole life.
Spending hundreds of thousands of $, or sacrificing the family in some way on your children's upbringing, is to spoil them.
Long overdue.
I didn't now you were a "motercoss" fan...
Many a broke former racer is broke by no doing of his own.
I saw many parents that I would have thrown under a real bus when My youngest was racing those gawd awful Cobras.
Post a reply to: Why do the suddenly rich throw thier parents under the bus?