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top 10 in overall points should CHOOSE their number for the next season, but not keep it perminatly. unless they have won a 250 championship.
then the rest is normal national numbers
does that sound reasonable/good?
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For instance.
1: Dungey
2: Pourcel.. So on and so on....
450: Perm numbers for 450 champs, anyone else gets a seeded number....
Sorry RV2/IT9/MB3....... Only people with perm numbers 1-9 should be RC4/JS7/GL8.
I used to hate going to the first race and having to re-learn who all the riders were. With the permanent numbering system its not as confusing at all levels. This also generated the desire to associate some riders with their 3 digit numbers....199, 800, 801 for example.
How many of you can name the old guys 1st 3 digit pro numbers when they started racking up top 99 numbers?
This is an "ok" compromise I suppose. I, however, truly feel the only number that should be permanent is #1; it can be permanent for as many years as the rider earns it, and then sadly he has to give it up if he doesn’t earn it!!!!
I for one thought it was cool to see the new numbers on the riders every year, and lets face it this whole permanent numbering system didn’t do squat for pushing the sport into the mainstream. I think it is an insult to our intelligence that I can’t figure out who the riders are from year to year with a new number.
That just dilutes things every bit as bad as it is now. I would think you should make everyone run exactly what they earned, with the possible exception of single digits for past champs.
I actually think the whole thing should be switched back to the old school, run what you earned system. It was perfect, one of the cooler traditions of the sport. These permanent numbers haven't helped anyone out really.
This is part of the problem with mx, it keeps going back to the old way of thinking. Permanent numbers are the way to go. Changing it up every year makes no sense. No wonder we don't get a big choice of merchandise from the riders. They would have to change it every year. Do other sports change the number of the athletes every year?? It's an old way of thinking. To much is made up of how low the number is. When you see the number 199, wh0 do you think of?? Travis right? And he hasn't really raced in years. I'm not a tattoo kinda guy, but when you go to NASCAR, you see people walking around with the tattoos of their guy. These are the same people who are buying all the merchandise with that drivers number on it.
I'm a hardcore fan and at the start of every season, it's a bitch to know who is who. How is the casuel fan ever going to keep up? Why does mx sometimes sight NASCAR as a business model, and the other times it does the complete opposite?
Metcalfe should of stuck with 123 this year, I always forgot he changed numbers. He changed bikes and numbers, thats a double whammy of not being reconized.
This should be about making it easy for the fans to know who is who, and changing the numbers every year defeats the purpose. Just because some of you know who changes numbers and it sticks with you, doesn't mean the other fans do.
Matthes is around these guys all the time, of course he is going to know who is who when they change numbers. The guy that goes to one sx a year and watches mx on TV, is going to have alot harder time trying to identify the riders.
for privateers, earning a national number of 97 one year, to 74 the next.. makes sponsors really take a better look at him. i dont like the perminant number thing (if they score 1 point)
how about, if you wanna keep your national #, you need to score atleast 1 top 10 to keep it. unless your a past national champion where you need atleast 1 single point to keep it.
(ex: dowd or henry can go get 1 point and keep their numbers)
(ex: robbie reynard needs a top 10 to keep his perminant number)
The semi permanent numbering system has been in place for almost a decade and is universally disliked. Only people who don't remember how good the old one was don't seem to have a problem with it. I bet it hasn't drawn a single new fan to the sport.
The best aspect of the old system was that you could tell exactly how good the guy you are looking at did last year, just by looking at the number. It was a huge source of pride for the riders too, improving their National number.
Who universally dislikes it?? I have not heard one pro, say they dislike it. It's not something that's going to "draw" a new fan to the sport. What it might of done is keep the casual fans interest? Is going back to the old numbering system going to add any new fans?? Are people sitting at home thinking "I'd be a fan of mx if they made thier athletes run the numbers they earn every year??" I don't think so. Which ever way you spin it, it's going to get compared to NASCAR, and like it or not, there is a crossover of the fan base. Not everyone who is a fan of mx goes on a message board and is up to date with all the changes.
Who cares about how good the guys who didn't win last year finished?? If your more than a casual fan, you know how that rider did last year. If you just go to one sx a year, are you really wondering how well someone did last year?? Then you have a guy who comes from the 250 class to the 450 class and he has a lower number than the guys who are beating him, how do you explain that?
Oh, and the tradition word is over used. There have been a few traditions that have been broken in the last couple years to try and progres the sport.
1. The "earn a single point to keep your national number" thing should be trashed asap.
2. Making someone actually earn something like a low number gives that low number an intrinsic prestige and value: Low numbers mean bad asses--and were earned with blood and sweat on the field of battle the year before.
but current riders can have the same number with regular number plates
maybe?
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You're right in that its not going to "draw" fans to the sport, but what we have now sure won't either. As a casual fan, I would appreciate knowing how good a guy did last year just looking at the numbers, rather than having the same number all the time.
Rider's numbers are going to change year to year no matter what. Why not have the system to earn those numbers at least make sense, to create increase the value in earning that low digit?
This is marketing 101, keep it simple!!!! Have a brand that everyone will reconize. Brand being a number. Look at any other sport, the numbers identify the players. Can you imagine if they players changed their numbers every year?? Can you name the athletes with these numbers..16, 23, 3, 2, 12? I don't even know how changing the numbers every year makes any sense.
Everyone keeps bringing up the way it used to be. We need forward thinking!
Denny, who was number 2 before MC?? I know it changed every year, and thats the point. Guess we will never see any numbers retired in our sport.
So your saying we should follow F-1 instead of most every other sport??
Soccer is the number 1 sport in the world, but rates near the bottom here in the states..
Oh and I can honestly say I have never seen anyone wearing an F-1 shirt at anytime in my life. Meaning, just cause the rest of the world finds it to be the number 1 form of racing, doesn't mean it plays the same in the states.
Sorry you don't follow the F1 races on the network that airs SX/MX. Great racing this year.
Anyway, people sure seem to lose a lot of sleep over the numbering system. There's probably more that one acceptable way to do it and it really doesn't matter to me which it is as long as the issues doesn't suck energy that could be better used on other initiatives to grow the sport.
Like valet parking and sushi.
I spend alot of time watching Speed Channel and have never come across F-1. Guess my timing is bad.
I'd be good if they could just get flushing toilets at the nationals. You want more people at the nationals? That's a good start.
In NASCAR the # is the cars brand, not the driver. One of the most popular driver in the sport changed teams, and his number stayed with the original team. Same with F1. Numbers are handed out at the end of the year by "Constructor points", not driver points. The team that wins the series will have the number 1 & 2 cars the next year. Fans know instantly who the studs are.
I like the old style system.
The majority of riders try and get the lowest number and then make it their permanent. Plus the teams encourage their riders to select the lowest number they can. Why should riders who earn perm numbers later than other riders be punished and get a higher number?
Josh likes 33 because its the number he had this year and he had a good year with it. He would take a lower number if it was available but its not because theyre already all taken by guys he stomped this year.
In theory it looked great on paper, in actuality, its not.
Someone mentioned Langston didn't score points in two years so he loses the number. In my interpretation of "past champions" that would mean that GL gets to run 8 if he's coming back because he is a past champion.
Easier to sell to the people watching and paying for the tickets. Just my take on it.
I had a very educational discussion with John Q Public over the weekend. Aside from the 214 people in the United States that actually knows what is going on out on the track, you are selling it wrong to the people. Oh and by the way - "dirt bikes are easy to ride, anyone can do that, it's no sport. Its fun to watch but Monster Trucks are way cooler!"
I suppose theres something to be said to being able to market an identity such as the 800 or the 7 or the 4 and 2, but it seems more professional to me to have numbers assigned by previous season finish's in the series.
Even the casual spectator could identify the top riders from the year previous and clearly id the defending champion and top riders even if they had no idea of what the bike or who the riders were from the year before. And the area code numbers ( three digit) would readily identify those who didnt race or score points the previous year so the rookies up front would stand out as well.
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