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Tho I would expect DC to run cover for Cotter.
And this account of things doesnt jive entirely with Brennan’s account. Truth probably somewhere in the middle.
Star’s official story is that the bike was indeed “special” so that is pretty much cleared up. I really dont care about their reasoning (“we dont want people to know our vendors”). They got caught in the cookie jar.
At this stage I would like to know Yamaha’s role. This Donnie/Matt Walker part is where it seems to get ugliest imo.
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I trust the Dungey approach far more than the “throw him out there and let him figure it out” method. Dungey’s mom gripped tightly, it constantly pissed off those in and around the teams. But so fucking what, it got the desired result.
Moto as a whole is not a good place for young men + money + fame. It’s way too easy for these kids to get derailed.
Honestly, coming from a big Deegan fan, the whole situation for all those involved is a total mess.
It is just scandalous, a lack of sportmanship to never see again, and there should be a way to make it less smelly.
I sincerely hope that star and yamaha are already preparing him 1 or a couple bikes for next season to kinda say sorry this went way out of proportion, "we were just scared any team could know which suppliers we have and we were afraid to lose 10 years of r&d", all while the deegan's are preparing to make it look good on a video, including a few people from star and yamaha.
Otherwise, here, right there, is something that can get some good hate on yami and star for a long time, and it is not the first time they are controversial (i.e. mcelrath/sexton). It can also somewhat tarnish Haiden's reputation and bring a good amount of haters for his whole pro career before even starting it. Heck, anything outside the top 5 now in pro and many people will start to say "yeah, it is because he had a factory bike in amateurs blabla", while Haiden is actually really talented and very well be the next Jett, particularly in sx.
It would sucks to see another storyline like alessi, where for instance many were just laughing when mike was getting cutted in 2 pieces by rv, while actually they have all the tools to make him likeable and the fan favorite...
Anyway, although the whole fiasco will never be forgotten and forgiven, let us just hope something somewhat right is getting prepared.
Dont hold your breath waiting for a good will gesture from the Deegans in all of this. The opportunity to spin this in that manner sailed. Most notably because it was never an option - because Haiden & Brennan got history, a fact that has been glossed over.
I would also imagine that Yamaha gifting the kid some bikes is going to only make them look guiltier. I’d love to be a fly on the wall when that idea is proposed to the Japanese. I think someone earlier mentioned “scorched earth” LOL.
We disagree on the kids funding and motivations being related to this at all, and I’m not signing off of Cotter being good cop while Brian was bad copping.
Because then I question how the Donnie/Walker meeting went down. Because that is the core incident in who/when/why the claim was dropped.
The KIDS story may be called into question…but doesn’t change who called who.
His story has always been conjecture by nature. His supposition is that external pressures were placed on his dealer, and he’s surmising the chain of communication. That has always been speculation on his part. I doubt that the dealer told him that person X called person Y, who called their counterpart person Z…. He just said, buddy I’m getting heat over here and it’s from the top.
Pit Row
Did your dad accompany you to your first day at work? Or any day at work?
(Assuminlg your job wasn’t a family gig..)
How do we know it wasnt Matt Walker whom was making the threat on behalf of Yamaha, without ANY direction from Yamaha. Wouldnt that absolve Yamaha in all of this? Or have the mob already sold their blue bikes in protest?
The most critical junction in all of this is that meeting. It didnt have Star involved or Deegan or Cotter. Possibly not even Brennan's dad. And it's this meeting we know the least about.
I wasnt raised in a bubble. At 16 I was probably closer to 26 in maturity.
I wasnt famous. There wasnt going to be massive amounts of negative influences trying to get me to go party with them.
My parents hadnt invested 100's of thousands into my career as a busboy. There was nothing at stake if I lost my job.
Everything is amplified and the margins for error smaller in the case of Haiden Deegan than your average kid.
Everyone criticized Tony Alessi. Everyone tried to convince Mike to ditch his dad. Fast forward to today, and Mike has a beautiful family. Has a great relationship with his own father. And appears to be on his way to being a decent dad himself. You think Tony or Mike for one second regret the path they chose? You think they should have listened to Motodrive on the matter? In the grand scheme of things, Mike Alessi is a champion in the eyes of God and that is all that matters when we realize that our trophies are trivial compared to a strong marriage and healthy kids.
Because if Deegan was allowed in that meeting per rules of the custody exchange, that changes things. And if Cotter was asked to handle the situation by the AMA, that changes things also, especially if that was the protocol.
Both policies need serious amending.
And if the dad purposefully wanted his son to go thru the fire alone to learn some sort of life lesson, that also greatly changes the optics of all this. Im still blown away at how little it appears the dad was involved.
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