"then give the people what they want, right?"

straight^
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straight^
Edited Date/Time 1/21/2012 3:09am
Weimer's reply to the first question of the racerX interview was interesting...

"For sure, last year, when nobody even knew how I was going to do, I did more interviews and other things last year at this point than I’ve done this year. I did way more. I did a whole feature for a couple different magazines out here at the Kawi track. I remember doing it, and you did one of them, I remember. So, last year, I did way more than what I’ve done this year, so it’s weird, but I’m fine with it. I really don’t care. If the people want to watch the same videos and read the same things about the same guys every week, then give the people what they want, right? If that’s what people are asking for, and that’s what they want, then give it to them!"

I agree with giving people what they want, but I don't believe this is what the people want... we just simply don't have a choice, so we take what we can get. I think the state of journalism in motocross is shit and that is why we see the same guys say the same things over and over. If RacerX would do more interviews with more riders and ask more questions with more depth I believe moto's fan base would grow, and agitated fans like myself would gain greater enjoyment.

I saw an interview with Matt Goerke a little while ago but heard than now he's broken his leg... why has nobody interview him since? when is he comming back? what was the crash like? I mean, if you're gonna interview the guy and let the fans get to know him then the least I expect is some updating. I'm a big Josh Hill fan but I haven't seen a word on the guy on any of the sites I check. WTH. Same with Stroupe. I just don't get why moto sites and moto-journalists don't give the fans some REAL SHIT.

Every day I can log onto whatever MMA site I choose and see fresh interviews, and news. Every day.
Yet I'm lucky to find ONE ITEM of interest on Vital, or Transworld, or RacerX. I'm sick of it. How do journalists in this sport earn a living? Anyone in Cali can go to any of the tracks and see some pros around... so why the hell not interview them? Shit, why the hell has nobody walked into the county prison of JLaw and asked a few questions? Isn't that how journalists make money? Why the fuck do I not know what Dean Wilson's up to or how everything's working out for him? I'm a fan, I care, but yet Weimer's right, we see the same shit like every single day. And Weimer's on to something... if moto-journalists were doing their job then Weimer would be doing the same or more media than last year. I'd like to see more Weimer, and I bet every moto fan would too; but it's the journalists who ain't giving it to us!
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Brad Nemeth 12/24/2009 5:41pm
12/24/2009 5:41pm
I agree. There is a lack of fresh information on Moto...As a Journalist who doesn't work in the industry it's hard to say why this is. When I'm covering other sports it's like a give and take. We (the media and fans) need the athletes for obvious reasons, and they need us for coverage and exposure. Maybe the riders and sponsors don't want or need the coverage because in the end it's really up to them. If the teams don't want a journalist at the test track shooting video and asking questions then they can't cover it.

I find it hard to blame the journalists for this because journalism is a tough gig and it's not easy to find employment in any area. To get a job in Moto as a journalist seems next to impossible and the guy's doing it have dedicated there lives to the sport and thats why they are where they are. I think they have to take what the teams and PR guys give them.

But like I said I'm not a Moto Journalist so I really have no idea. I'd like to be though! One day! Anyone need a Videographer!?!
GuyB
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GuyB 12/24/2009 6:48pm
12/24/2009 6:48pm
It's because we all suck at our jobs.

Merry Christmas.
Sandberm
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Sandberm 12/24/2009 7:18pm
12/24/2009 7:18pm
I think you have some good points Straight^.

Something I didnt like from the Wiemer interview.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I never like to use the term “100-percent healthy” with you guys because everyone always has a nagging ankle or shoulder or something, but how do you feel coming into this season, physically?

Yeah, if you want to get right down to it, I feel like I’m 100-percent ready, but if you want to talk about sitting at home on the couch and thinking, “I feel terrific,” no. I have an injury that I did last year that has bothered me since. But thankfully, I can ride through it and it doesn’t affect my speed or endurance or anything like that. It’s painful, but I’m able to continue to do what I need to do, and it doesn’t hold me back on the bike.

It’s not an excuse.
No, it’s not. But it is worse some days and better others, and it’s painful.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So WHATS THE INJURY??? If the rider brought it up then ask him if it is his ankle, shoulder, wrist and what is the impact. Does it swell up? Will it need to be fixed someday? Is it prone to reinjury?
drmarkr
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drmarkr 12/24/2009 8:18pm
12/24/2009 8:18pm
Sandberm wrote:
I think you have some good points Straight^. Something I didnt like from the Wiemer interview. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [quote][b]I never like to use the term “100-percent healthy”...
I think you have some good points Straight^.

Something I didnt like from the Wiemer interview.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I never like to use the term “100-percent healthy” with you guys because everyone always has a nagging ankle or shoulder or something, but how do you feel coming into this season, physically?

Yeah, if you want to get right down to it, I feel like I’m 100-percent ready, but if you want to talk about sitting at home on the couch and thinking, “I feel terrific,” no. I have an injury that I did last year that has bothered me since. But thankfully, I can ride through it and it doesn’t affect my speed or endurance or anything like that. It’s painful, but I’m able to continue to do what I need to do, and it doesn’t hold me back on the bike.

It’s not an excuse.
No, it’s not. But it is worse some days and better others, and it’s painful.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So WHATS THE INJURY??? If the rider brought it up then ask him if it is his ankle, shoulder, wrist and what is the impact. Does it swell up? Will it need to be fixed someday? Is it prone to reinjury?
If he wanted to tell you, and more importantly his competition, what the injury was, he would've done so.

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level
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level 12/24/2009 9:47pm
12/24/2009 9:47pm
They need to start with TV coverage. There are 40 riders in the field. 20 or so in Supercross. These are the top 20 to 40 guys in the sport. There all bad ass. Quit showing just the 1st place rider riding around the track. There is so much action in the back and they need to get that on film and edit it so we can see other riders and hear commentary on them. Then more will get noticed and we get to know more about the riders.
curmudgeon
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curmudgeon 12/24/2009 10:50pm
12/24/2009 10:50pm
GuyB wrote:
It's because we all suck at our jobs.

Merry Christmas.
I knew it.

Had to click to see what BS he was posting this time. Pretty weak in my opinion, the guy is certainly slipping.
Nerd
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Nerd 12/24/2009 11:09pm
12/24/2009 11:09pm
Sandberm wrote:
I think you have some good points Straight^. Something I didnt like from the Wiemer interview. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [quote][b]I never like to use the term “100-percent healthy”...
I think you have some good points Straight^.

Something I didnt like from the Wiemer interview.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I never like to use the term “100-percent healthy” with you guys because everyone always has a nagging ankle or shoulder or something, but how do you feel coming into this season, physically?

Yeah, if you want to get right down to it, I feel like I’m 100-percent ready, but if you want to talk about sitting at home on the couch and thinking, “I feel terrific,” no. I have an injury that I did last year that has bothered me since. But thankfully, I can ride through it and it doesn’t affect my speed or endurance or anything like that. It’s painful, but I’m able to continue to do what I need to do, and it doesn’t hold me back on the bike.

It’s not an excuse.
No, it’s not. But it is worse some days and better others, and it’s painful.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So WHATS THE INJURY??? If the rider brought it up then ask him if it is his ankle, shoulder, wrist and what is the impact. Does it swell up? Will it need to be fixed someday? Is it prone to reinjury?
drmarkr wrote:
If he wanted to tell you, and more importantly his competition, what the injury was, he would've done so.
Exactly.

And Straight^, we had a Josh Hill interview on our site not too long ago. You should check it out. If you "haven't seen a word about the guy on any sites you check," I recommend checking out the Racer X site.

As for calling us failures because we didn't go interview Lawrence in jail... Yeah... Perhaps you can find us the Michael Vick prison interview. Let me know how that goes locating that.
crf250pilot
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crf250pilot 12/24/2009 11:20pm
12/24/2009 11:20pm Edited Date/Time 12/24/2009 11:20pm
GuyB wrote:
It's because we all suck at our jobs.

Merry Christmas.
Merry X-Mas Guy-B, and please keep up the shotty work will you!!
DC
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DC 12/25/2009 8:19am
12/25/2009 8:19am Edited Date/Time 12/25/2009 8:23am
Merry Christmas
RMZ819
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RMZ819 12/25/2009 9:34am
12/25/2009 9:34am Edited Date/Time 12/25/2009 9:35am
GuyB wrote:
It's because we all suck at our jobs.

Merry Christmas.
Nah, You are great at your job but moto is so small that everyone is afraid to piss off the riders. Reed, RV ect.. would shit themselves if someone put pressure on them to answer a tough question.
straight^
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straight^ 12/25/2009 1:14pm
12/25/2009 1:14pm
BN, Sandberm and RMZ: you guys make good points. Teams can make it hard for a moto-journalist, but that doesn't mean it's acceptable to skip the "tough" questions, even if a rider were to shit himself.

GuyB, DC and Nerd, I actually really like your work, that's why I wan't more of it! I'm just frustrated with the lack of daily coverage during this off-season. Yes I missed the Hill interview, but that doesn't negate any of my points. I could spout a ton of criticisms of moto-media, and I have in the past, yet never are they seen as constructive. It's easy to write-off some random guy in Canada as being a dick, but I speak for more fans than myself when I express my annoyance with our ability to follow motocross. I'm not the only one who doesn't check these sites daily anymore, and it's not that anyone's loosing interest in moto, it's that we can't get enough moto.

In the end, I don't wanna be Debbie Downer, I just think Weimer was wrong about what the fans want. I'll shut-up now.
DC
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DC 12/25/2009 1:42pm
12/25/2009 1:42pm
Hammer, I have no problem with what you wrote, but sometimes its like pulling teeth to get a rider to answer questions or make time for an interview or whatever. We have young athletes in this sport who don't learn much from coaches or school institutions like most other sports. As a result, they don't always know or understand hos the food chain in sports works. Athletes need media, media needs athletes, both want to build bases -- fans or readers -- yet something often gets lost in the translation. It can be frustrating for everyone, and I am sure some riders have probably been burned by something they've said so they are much more careful and sometimes just don't cooperate. But some riders totally get it -- Trey Canard comes to mind, Ryan Dungey, Ashley Fiolek -- and I think you can see that in the coverage they get. It's easy to subjective about someone so willing to work with you, just as it's hard to be objective when someone big times you or doesn't return your call. I am sure it happens in every sport on the planet.

DC
MX Sports

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raddad 12/25/2009 1:54pm
12/25/2009 1:54pm
Hammer?
race
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race 12/25/2009 2:58pm
12/25/2009 2:58pm
Can't say I know shite about journalsim or the art of the interview ... but with current technology isn't it easier than ever to interview someone? I mean, you can catch someone virtually 24 hours a day via their cell phone. Wouldn't surprise if there's even an app for the interviewer to trigger the rider's cell phone camera to shoot a pic when the interviewer wants one and then have it transmitted straight to him.

That's gotta be a far cry from the days of having to do everything in person?



DC
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DC 12/26/2009 8:06am
12/26/2009 8:06am
Sorry,I thought Straight was Hammertime? Blame it on the holidays.

Anaheim can't get here fast enough.
DC
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jndmx
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jndmx 12/26/2009 5:37pm
12/26/2009 5:37pm
race wrote:
Can't say I know shite about journalsim or the art of the interview ... but with current technology isn't it easier than ever to interview someone...
Can't say I know shite about journalsim or the art of the interview ... but with current technology isn't it easier than ever to interview someone? I mean, you can catch someone virtually 24 hours a day via their cell phone. Wouldn't surprise if there's even an app for the interviewer to trigger the rider's cell phone camera to shoot a pic when the interviewer wants one and then have it transmitted straight to him.

That's gotta be a far cry from the days of having to do everything in person?



The person on the other end has to answer or want to have that picture taken.

Technology still can't make a person answer the phone..
motoxhead
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motoxhead 12/26/2009 7:20pm
12/26/2009 7:20pm
EACH SUCK ASS TEAM NEEDS TO FILM THEIR RIDERS RACE SEASON. SO ANYBODY OUT OF THE TOP 3 CAN HAVE A FAN FOLLOWING. GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER MX TEAMS!

Pit Row

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GuyB
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GuyB 12/26/2009 7:52pm
12/26/2009 7:52pm
Teams are allowed to film their riders at races for personal review...not neccesarily so they can post it for fan enjoyment.

And how about a little more respect than "suck-ass teams"?
oshow
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oshow 12/26/2009 8:29pm
12/26/2009 8:29pm
DC wrote:
Hammer, I have no problem with what you wrote, but sometimes its like pulling teeth to get a rider to answer questions or make time for...
Hammer, I have no problem with what you wrote, but sometimes its like pulling teeth to get a rider to answer questions or make time for an interview or whatever. We have young athletes in this sport who don't learn much from coaches or school institutions like most other sports. As a result, they don't always know or understand hos the food chain in sports works. Athletes need media, media needs athletes, both want to build bases -- fans or readers -- yet something often gets lost in the translation. It can be frustrating for everyone, and I am sure some riders have probably been burned by something they've said so they are much more careful and sometimes just don't cooperate. But some riders totally get it -- Trey Canard comes to mind, Ryan Dungey, Ashley Fiolek -- and I think you can see that in the coverage they get. It's easy to subjective about someone so willing to work with you, just as it's hard to be objective when someone big times you or doesn't return your call. I am sure it happens in every sport on the planet.

DC
MX Sports

TP is a great example, Pastrana gets it. And MC is another one, he did well and got his persona accross.
oshow
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oshow 12/26/2009 8:31pm
12/26/2009 8:31pm
motoxhead wrote:
EACH SUCK ASS TEAM NEEDS TO FILM THEIR RIDERS RACE SEASON. SO ANYBODY OUT OF THE TOP 3 CAN HAVE A FAN FOLLOWING. GET YOUR SHIT...
EACH SUCK ASS TEAM NEEDS TO FILM THEIR RIDERS RACE SEASON. SO ANYBODY OUT OF THE TOP 3 CAN HAVE A FAN FOLLOWING. GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER MX TEAMS!
You Motohead are dumb as they come.

Merry Christmas.
Nerd
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Nerd 12/26/2009 10:33pm
12/26/2009 10:33pm
motoxhead wrote:
EACH SUCK ASS TEAM NEEDS TO FILM THEIR RIDERS RACE SEASON. SO ANYBODY OUT OF THE TOP 3 CAN HAVE A FAN FOLLOWING. GET YOUR SHIT...
EACH SUCK ASS TEAM NEEDS TO FILM THEIR RIDERS RACE SEASON. SO ANYBODY OUT OF THE TOP 3 CAN HAVE A FAN FOLLOWING. GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER MX TEAMS!
Been done. Holigan did it a few years ago.
VEGAS711
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VEGAS711 12/27/2009 12:57am
12/27/2009 12:57am
level wrote:
They need to start with TV coverage. There are 40 riders in the field. 20 or so in Supercross. These are the top 20 to 40...
They need to start with TV coverage. There are 40 riders in the field. 20 or so in Supercross. These are the top 20 to 40 guys in the sport. There all bad ass. Quit showing just the 1st place rider riding around the track. There is so much action in the back and they need to get that on film and edit it so we can see other riders and hear commentary on them. Then more will get noticed and we get to know more about the riders.
X2 The TV guys could start by watching the Canadian series TV broadcasts. I found one by accident a year or so ago, and couldn't believe how good the coverage was. I didn't know many of the riders and it was exciting to watch. The announcers worked good together, and the coverage was continually following action around the track. Wether the action was in the first few spots or further back in the pack. Too hard to explain with a keyboard, go find some of those broadcasts and you will see what I mean. It is a good place for our guys to get some ideas. Speed follows the action on Nascar real well and does a totally different kind of broadcast for MX/SX.
RMZ819
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RMZ819 12/27/2009 4:07am
12/27/2009 4:07am Edited Date/Time 4/17/2016 7:38pm
level wrote:
They need to start with TV coverage. There are 40 riders in the field. 20 or so in Supercross. These are the top 20 to 40...
They need to start with TV coverage. There are 40 riders in the field. 20 or so in Supercross. These are the top 20 to 40 guys in the sport. There all bad ass. Quit showing just the 1st place rider riding around the track. There is so much action in the back and they need to get that on film and edit it so we can see other riders and hear commentary on them. Then more will get noticed and we get to know more about the riders.
Even though every guy on the gate at a SX/MX race are awesome riders the separation from 1st to 10th is equivalent to a top level A rider vs a midpack B rider. The gap in speed and talent is huge. Its hard for the average viewer to comprehend the guy winning lapping the 10th place guy in 12 min SX race or beating him by 3-4 min at a outdoor race.

Even if the speed gap was closer MX Sports and the SX promoters do not have any interest in helping a rider promote themselves. So its a lose lose for 95% of the riders on the gate.

Post a reply to: "then give the people what they want, right?"