Help me understand the need for secrecy for rider injuries, especially before season starts. Colts injury doesn’t sound like it happened this week yet we just find out. Also sounds like Deegan hurt himself and is the reason he’s racing East. Plenty of people “say” they knew this, whether they are just trying to be cool guy or really knew who knows. But why not report this stuff? If anything would take focus off a rider having poor results due to riding through injury. Do “media” people really fear for their acccess if they report a known injury? So crazy still getting fake news in ‘24…
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It should be like all other major sports, where you're required to disclose an injury. Whether it's the week of the race, or the Friday before race day, there needs to be some kind of disclosure. Especially if the sportsbooks are going to offer lines on the races.
Been like this forfreakingever.
I tried to keep my torn labia a secret for as long as possible.
Will never happen without the riders forming a union but it seems like they are all too short sighted to do that.
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Sorry, I'm somewhat new to the actual professional part of MX. Do these riders not have agents? Or are their agents just terrible at their jobs?
They do and what do you mean by terrible at their jobs??
What does an agent have to do with reporting injuries?
The real reason other sports report injuries is to help the betting community, otherwise they wouldn’t either.
Personally, I don’t understand why people think it’s a big deal.
Doesn't to be a rider to start a union.
I'm not referring to them having to report injuries when I ask about the agents being terrible at their job. I think it's more of the fact that there's no union. That should be the agents top priority... Over the past couple months, all I've learned about is how riders are constantly being screwed out of this, or screwed out of that.
Right, but if this sport wants to grow, it needs the sportsbooks. Whether you want to admit it or not.
Usually needs someone who doesn't want to work, but convinces those who do work to give them some of their money so they can do what's best for the guys who don't want to work as hard as the guys who do so everyone gets the same and then no one wants to work hard because why should I when he doesn't but makes the same as me. Sad but kinda a union in a nut shell.
The AMA has rules about unions so that's is why there hasn't been one. Ask Jimmy Eickel.
The other issue is who would run it? Let's be honest, most of these guys do not have the time, energy, or honestly the education to effectively organize and run it. I've said for years there needs to be a rider's organization that represents the riders as a whole, from things like track and rider safety, promotions, purse payout, and penalties. Too many of the "old guard" are still around and stuck in their ways to make any significant change in the sport. JMO.
Without there being a CBA, it's kind of tough to have an agent go in and effectively make any changes. There are also only a handful of agents and they only represent the top 1 or 2% in the professional realm. The top priority of MX agents are getting their riders the most money they can since its a relatively short career in a niche market that has limited funds. And because of this, if you don't work for Wasserman or the Familie, it's difficult to break in to the club. The OEM's, gear companies, energy drink companies, etc are so used to speaking with the same people for the last 30 + years, they don't take to "new" people very well.
As awesome as all of us think MX/SX is, it is small potato's in the sports world.
Let's say you are a title contender and have a mildly injured ankle. Not enough to derail your season, but enough that any further injury would cause a big problem. Do you really think that somebody wouldn't "accidentally" slam into your injury in a block pass attempt? It's a thing, it's been a thing, and it will always be a thing. The secrecy is for the rider's own best interests.
I've been told a lot of sponsorship money rests on these guys being healthy.
Sponsorship deals may be closed up till the series starts.
That's the major reason the factories keep it hush hush
I think it has more to do with the business side of things, riders and teams have multiple sources of revenue, and at any point sponsors can pull out.
Same reason I hide injuries from the wife....
I don't know why this is being downvoted. Not only is your point valid but I think more importantly there's the mental side of things where you obviously wouldn't want your competition knowing you're injured. I mean the same thing happens in combat sports where athletes get injured often, for example a boxer will never report an injury sustained in camp before a fight, not only will the opponent target the injury if they can but it will also give them a huge confidence boost.
Pit Row
Let us not forget Mike Alessi and Josh Grant at Lakewood lol
Did RJ Hampshire get his hernia fixed?
Maybe the downvotes are for "that's a shitty thing to do," which I agree with.
The reason for secrecy about injuries is to keep your competition from knowing about it. Just knowing you may have an injury gives the guy the idea that he may now be able to beat you even if he never did before. It's all part of physcing the other guy out. We used to put little switches or knobs on our bike and karts when I was racing ( a long time ago). It was funny to watch the competitors show up with something like you had done even though it didn't do anything. Fun times. Don't give away any info or secrets that once know may help to beat you.
Commonsense with Falcon
Been there, done that. Even seen titles won by carefully managing this situation.
You can bet on it, but nobody does.
Yeah but backfires when you give the illusion you are 100% when you aren’t and then your competition smokes you and you build their confidence as they think they beat a 💯 competitor
If a rider is going to do that he’s going to slam that person if he’s hurt or not
Because if you are traveling 4 hours to see a race you want to know who’s lining up? You don’t want to spend $250 to watch it in person if your favorite rider isn’t going to be there 🤷♂️ Leaves a bad taste in the mouth of a paying spectator when they are blindsided by the absence of someone that was hurt weeks ago but all the bros were told not to say anything
Here’s the problem with a riders union, the guys with the power to start it, don’t need it, and the guys that need it, don’t have the power. If by some act of God Moranz wins A1, he’ll make 35-40k all in. If Jett wins, which is highly likely, he’ll pocket close to 200k, he has no need for it.
Plus the way you guys are looking at it, is small potatoes, there is so much more to it than a safe track, and bigger purses.
The power is with the privateers. Imagine if they all decided they weren’t showing up unless they had good health insurance, along with some other benefits, and some type of guaranteed money every week.
Would you pay to watch a race with 10-12 riders in the mains, with any qualifiers? And let’s face it, most nights, the lcq is some of the best racing.
This guy isn't wrong.
NBA has stars sit out random games for no reason at all. Imagine being a fan paying to go see a game only to show up and realize that one team is sitting their star and going through the motions just because they want to.
It's two separate issues. I think riders hiding them is stupid and offers nothing in terms of safety or perception and is not worth the effort, but whatever makes you feel better about it I guess?
The more annoying issue is the bromoto media constantly not reporting things they know because they don't want to lose access. Whether the fear is justified or not, it's lame. It just kind of shows you how insular and not ready for prime time this sport is. For as tough as everyone wants to claim this sport is, lot of teams and riders with very thin skin and media not brave enough to do their jobs.
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