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10/3/2022
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Edited Date/Time
10/8/2022 10:31pm
The Matt LeBlanc story epitomizes why we need an under 23 rule in the AMA so badly. There are SO many older riders (above 25) still hanging around the lites class and hogging jobs that should be available to kids coming up through the ranks.
Think about LeBlancs results this year, if it wasn't for the older riders he would be a seriously marketable athlete. Just thinking about this from a logical standpoint, how is any 17-18 year old really expected to come into the lites class and compete with a Vince friese or a christian craig? These guys have had 10-12 years of professional SX experience and you throw a kid in with them a few months after lorettas and expect him to compete, the guy probably wasn't allowed to even practice on a SX track the year before.
Now I'm all for a free market and the best man should win, but when you have a development class I think there should be a cut off. By the time a rider turns 24 years old he's likely in his 6th professional season. I think its unfair to expect a rookie at 17 to compete with a Smith, Hampshire, Martin, craig on pro season/attenmt #7-12. You end up with a stale group of burnt out personalities hanging onto these jobs, and thats exactly why they made the 23 age cap in europe.
The age cap would be a great way to make sure that younger riders have a chance at development and actually having a pro career. The 24-26 year olds who can't find a 450 ride can do money races or move on to a career, the 450 class is not deep enough anyway with usually only 10-12 fast guys out there.
Anyway i would much rather see one of these 24-26 year old lites riders have to go out and look for a job right now as opposed to LeBlanc
Think about LeBlancs results this year, if it wasn't for the older riders he would be a seriously marketable athlete. Just thinking about this from a logical standpoint, how is any 17-18 year old really expected to come into the lites class and compete with a Vince friese or a christian craig? These guys have had 10-12 years of professional SX experience and you throw a kid in with them a few months after lorettas and expect him to compete, the guy probably wasn't allowed to even practice on a SX track the year before.
Now I'm all for a free market and the best man should win, but when you have a development class I think there should be a cut off. By the time a rider turns 24 years old he's likely in his 6th professional season. I think its unfair to expect a rookie at 17 to compete with a Smith, Hampshire, Martin, craig on pro season/attenmt #7-12. You end up with a stale group of burnt out personalities hanging onto these jobs, and thats exactly why they made the 23 age cap in europe.
The age cap would be a great way to make sure that younger riders have a chance at development and actually having a pro career. The 24-26 year olds who can't find a 450 ride can do money races or move on to a career, the 450 class is not deep enough anyway with usually only 10-12 fast guys out there.
Anyway i would much rather see one of these 24-26 year old lites riders have to go out and look for a job right now as opposed to LeBlanc
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The lack of depth at most 450 races is embarrassing. Position 16-22 getting lapped multiple times in a SX race. We can play semantics, but its really getting to be a problem
There is a 250 class and a 450 class. The 250 class in motocross is not a development class; it's just a class. You can be 16 or 60, which is awesome. If the bike suits your skillset better, why shouldn't you be able to showcase that? Mark Barnett springs to mind.
No doubt LeBlanc got a raw deal from Star.
But...
Why should older riders get pushed out for younger riders if they are faster? Do they deserve the job more?
You want to win...or be in the top 10? Be faster than at least 30 other people on the gate.
But now you're intentionally avoiding my main point in your response: How do you legitimately an in good faith expect a rookie at 17 years old to show up and perform at the exact same level as some of the 26 year olds out there. Guys with 8 seasons of bike testing, fitness development, specialized skills from riding pro SX tracks on so many occasions.
The fact is its unrealistic to expect any kid coming up through the ranks to excel in this current system. You can point to Jett who had a background racing in europe and testing through so many years of childhood, but there's a pretty obvious reason why virtually none of these kids are "making it"
Whats your main account?
Ask Jett, Jo, Hunter, JMart, Sexton, Eli, Marchbanks, Swoll, Brown, McAdoo, Forkner, etc. They all performed well at 16 - 17 years old against older dudes.
If you look at the riders in this years mx field there's only a couple over 23.
With jmart out the oldest notable guy was Hampshire.
Followed by jcoop 24, hunter 23 and mosiman 23.
That's only 2 riders over 23.
It's not like sx in previous seasons with ferrandis, jmart, craig, nichols, mcelrath, blose, peters and Oldenburg.
Pit Row
"The fact is its unrealistic to expect any kid coming up through the ranks to excel in this current system."
After spot checking, the following riders WON the title at these ages:
RC - 18
TP - 17
Stew -17
RV - 18
RD -20
Jett - 18
And that's the list for title holders. The list of riders that scored top 10's or even top 5's in motos/overalls would be pages long. Deegan scored a top 10 at 16 just a few weeks ago.
Bottom list is this...MANY riders are and have been competitive in the class from age 17-20 for DECADES, including some of the above before they won the title.
Now it's your turn to not ignore my point.
Why should older riders get pushed out for younger riders if they are faster? Do they deserve the job more?
Further, let's just say for a minute that we are going to go with your snowflake entitlement mentality. How you know that someone like Levi Kitchen or JCoop didn't work their ass off for years before moving to the class at a later age due to financial hardship or injuries or just putting in the work at the practice track? Why should their window to prove themselves in the 250 class be shortened? Again, this question is predicated on your idea that the fastest riders don't deserve to be on the gate in the first place.
And BTW, nobody has called it the "lites" class for at least a decade. That term was used as a bridge term during the move from 2-stroke to 4-strokes to avoid confusion about what a 250 meant in the mid-2000's.
Got bored and realized you were even more off than I thought.
The idea is not that they are inherently more deserving, its simply that the 250 class is at least somewhat a development class: hence the west/east regionals etc.
You're right that the free market prevails typically and those that control production typically make the best choices, and i agree, typically. But in this limited situation, it would really be better for the fans and the sport as a whole, especially the development of the younger riders to have an age cap. Then they at least have a fighting shot to get those first 2-3 seasons in
Its a lites class. Bike designed to ride against 125's. Women also ride them. Lite bike lites class. You act like putting a 24 year old guy on a 450 is like sending him to the morgue
Why should Jett's abnormal success be used as an example to the detriment of developing riders?
For the 3rd time, answer my question
Why should older riders get pushed out for younger riders if they are faster? Do they deserve the job more?
But again, we're not talking about changing employment rules, or "age based discrimination." We're simply talking about changing the rules of the game, which is a valid and legal thing to do. You can have an age cap, you can have a "points" system like currently in place (which will inevitably favor the injury prone and those that throw away races).
But to answer your question: a third or fourth time: its not about the 18-19 year old being "more deserving" of the job. Its simply a rule for the game, which happens to be better for the sport in general by helping younger riders develop and pushing more depth to the main class which is the 450 class
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