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Bike: Most likely working better, finish will have to do with how comfortable he feels on the bike
MXoN: I can take it or leave it we're gonna lose anyway
Reference to "little jabs": Not a big fan of running my mouth to try and look like I'm Mr. Moto, and who is my man supposed to be?
I was under the impression (the correct one, I believe) that this thread was about James Stewart's letter, NOT his history on a 450 or his reality television show. But you had no problems deviating from the main topic to bashing Stewart.
Ryan Villopoto has not had nearly as successful results in the 450 class as he did in the 250 class. His rookie season in 2009 was hit and miss until near the end of the season, when he changed his trainers and got over the physical illness he had. He then won in Seattle and Las Vegas to finish his season.
In the outdoors at Glen Helen, he came from 15 seconds behind Mike Alessi, who was on a factory Suzuki 450, and passed him going away. He also won the second moto easily. During practice the next week, he agravated an old injury that had been dogging him since his mini days. Although he attempted to ride at Hangtown while still injured, he was unable to ride up to speed and withdrew for the day and for the season, opting for surgery.
In 2010, Villopoto was battling Ryan Dungey for the supercross points lead and crashed hard in St. Louis, on a jump that was widely acknowledged to be extremely unsafe and prompted widespread anger from the riders-especially Chad Reed. The same jump took out Ivan Tedesco a few laps later. Andrew Short said in his post-race interview that he was "holding his breath" every lap when going over that jump.
Villopoto broke his leg severely in the crash, putting him out for the rest of the supercross season and the 2010 outdoor 450 championship.
Due to these injuries, he has not achieved the success in the 450 class that many have thought he would. In this regard, his record his similar to Stewart's, and I will be the first to point it out.
It's nice and all that you went to great lengths to give reasons for Villopoto's lack of "success" (using that term lightly), it's too bad you didn't show the same courtesy to James Stewart; all he received from you was a cut and dry fact sheet that left out his successes and told us that he crashed his brains out. Your bias is pretty clear at this point, pilotdude.
What Villopoto has NOT done is behave in a manner that brings discredit upon himself the way Stewart has. If he does, rest assured I will point that out as well.
I have yet to see what Stewart has done that has brought discredit upon himself. There is only you and Hank Thrill that are assuming what his state of mind is. You then use that as an excuse to personally attack him.
As for you, you are simply a defender of what most see as the bullshit it is. You are also one who tries to change the subject from what the thread is about to something else completely in a sad attempt to win an argument you've already lost.
Yes, I have lost this argument.
Understanding human behavior is not the ability to read motivations or minds. There is nothing your degree tells you that helps you there. As a graduate student of psychology, you should understand better than anyone here that you can't generalize from the whole to specific individuals that you don't know and have not spent time with. Unless you ahve some specific specialization in the social behavior of athletes, your degree means about as much as mine. Your analyzing of Stewart is from afar and thus your degree is of little help to understanding the mindset of Stewart. You are not privy to those considerations, so you can stop trying to pull the wool over our eyes.
It's really not that big of a deal he quit a race. He expected himself to be up front, but his bike wasn't set up for a true national track. His fitness also wasn't 100%, and he got a terrible start. He had a bad day and got upset. Just because he quit one race, where he had the option to do so, doesn't make him a quitter. So there's no need to get upset as devout James Stewart fan. He's crashed many times in races and worked his way back to the front. He had the option to quit this race, and he took it (to the disappointment of some fans). But so what? It's just one race...
That's not what you said earlier. You made specific pronouncements on his mind-frame and thus made judgments on his character. How do you know whether he felt safe as opposed to pulling off because things weren't going his way? You don't know, and if you do, as a graduate student of psychology, you are probably familiar with one's epistemic accesses to knowledge. I'd like to know how you have access to the inner workings of James Stewart that give you enough confidence to assert -- presumably based on some kind of evidence -- that he pulled because things were not going his way?
The reason I'm lead to believe he gave up because things weren't going his way, is based on his own statements, and past history. I also find it difficult to believe Aldon Baker, of all people, would have him on a program unable to complete two motos while trying out for the Motocross Des Nations.
I see. So what are these statements that James made? Also, as tough as these guys are, they do get tired. As much as Baker could have prepared Stewart, Stewart may not have been resting well coming up to the race, he may have been overly nervous, or any other ongoing factors. The fact is, you have no clue as to what variables were going on, and there are plenty of reasons why James may have tired and not felt safe. Heck, he could have over-trained and worn himself out -- it happens. The truth here is that you have made A LOT of assumptions and then based conclusions on those assumptions.
- James stated in a previous interview he wasn't coming back until he knew he could win.
- James has always returned to the sport from previous hiatuses prepared to dominate.
- James stated in his "Open Letter" after practice his lap times were, "just about where we expected them to be." What position did he qualify in? Oh yeah, first place.
- Then you have to ask yourself, would he have quit if he was leading, or up towards the front of the pack?
I already answered your last query, and the other one's I answered above. Until you lay out all the variables, your grand conclusions are ill-prepared and short-sided and I think you should just admit it.
He knew good and well he wasn't 100% prepared coming into Unadilla.
I wasn't aware that you degree gave you mind-reading abilities.
This was evident in his TWMX interview where he stated: "I guess I am just trying to take a little bit of the pressure off myself coming into Unadilla." All throughout that interview, he was taking pressure off of himself, and being realistic about the context of the situation (coming off an injury). Larry Brooks also talked about in the podcast, how they had to be realistic about the weekend. He probably expected to either win or at least run up front (judging by his statement in his Open Letter). But to be stuck in the back of the pack, when he knows he has the ability to run up towards the front had to be extremely upsetting for him, and there's nothing wrong with being human and having emotions.
Nope. And there's nothing wrong with being mistaken about being ready as James may have been. When you say he knew he wasn't ready, you are blowing more smoke.
Despite that, he still wanted to win! When has James Stewart ever NOT wanted to win? He's the, "I'm gonna win, or die trying" guy right? Did he ride conservatively in the first moto? Hell no! He was riding the wheels off his Yamaha trying to catch the new Sheriff in town on the yellow bike. He also seemed somewhat disappointed after the first moto, which is understandable considering the whole MXdN thing.. But I'm willing to bet had he won, we probably would have seen that big signature James Stewart smile we're accustom to.
Who doesn't like to win? I still fail to see how this gives you, Hank Thrill, mind-reading abilities. James thought he was prepared. James put in some fast laps, James tired out and felt unsafe. That is just as reasonable (actually more so) than your claim that things weren't going James' way so he quit. In fact, you must assume something else, much more deviant, namely, that James is lying.
The fact he stonewalled Erin Bates also says a lot.
Only to the shit-talkers that read into it.
He's there to represent his sponsors and race for his fans right? That's what he said anyways.
Let's not leave out that he said he personally wanted to be out there as well.
Why would someone turn down an opportunity to represent their sponsors on live television? Especially if he was emotionally calm from exiting the track due to fatigue.
He was frustrated.
This is the first time I can ever recall that happening in motocross, and a pretty good indicator that he was having a high emotional reaction (e.g., storming Reed's pits and pushing over his bike) - and not in a positive way. During the 2009 A1 interview, when he was pissed from crashing with Reed (totally understandable) Erin barley got an interview with him there, and probably would have failed to get one if it wasn't for her ability to catch him walking back to the semi inside the stadium.
You mean James Stewart gets frustrated? What is your point? I have seen Reed get pissed, RC has been pissed as well. Stroupe did not give Erin an interview when his bike broke...
If it was some calm rational decision of, "Oh, I'm too tired to finish." Or, "Oh my bike is too jacked up to finish." kind of decision, he would have more than likely been emotionally calm, and spoke with Erin Bates.
Not at all. He could have been frustrated with himself, frustrated that he was tired, that he felt unsafe, that he was not as prepared as he wanted to be, and so on. I can easily see not wanting to talk to someone at that point. To conclude from that, that he pulled because things weren't going his way and he just quit is absurd.
What can we conclude from this? James Stewart has high standards for himself, no matter what the situation, and he highly desires to meet them. He hates to lose, loves to win, and he expects to win when he lines up on the gate (even if him and his bike are not 100% race ready). This is not a bad characteristic to have, and if he didn't have such a huge drive to win, he might not be sitting where he is today with 10-million dollar a year contracts.
A better question that you should ask yourself is, what can't you conclude from this?
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And all 38 of his posts are basically defending a certain rider.
You guys really need to clean up the multiple accounts from one IP address. That would probably cut problems in half.
The end.
Motocross is cool and all, but instead of spending so much time typing your posts, maybe you should venture out of your Mother's basement and go get laid or something.
What I study influences the way I view the world, and view motocross. When James got beat the first moto, I wondered what that felt like for him. Because losing is definitely in the minority of experiences, when it comes to racing motocross, for him . When he was stuck in the pack moto two, I wondered the same. When he stormed off the track and ignored any type of investigation to his actions, I felt like that was a good indicator.
Understanding human behavior is not the ability to read motivations or minds. As a graduate student of psychology, you should understand better than anyone here that you can't generalize from the whole to specific individuals that you don't know and have not spent time with. Your analyzing of Stewart is from afar and thus your degree is of little help to understanding the mindset of Stewart.
Your right, it's not about reading minds. I do however, frequently question people's motives, including my own, in a wide range of ways. There is a school of social-psychology called, "Attribution Theory," that is concerned with explaining the causes of behavior, and making sense of the world, from an outside observing perspective. I've dabbled around, reading about this in the past month, had classes on it, thus I am guilty of applying some of this from Saturday's race.
All I came to the conclusion of, was that his bike wasn't set up properly (stated in his letter), his fitness wasn't up to par (based on what Larry Brooks says), and assumed he was frustrated with the way things went. When i said, "things not going his way." They obviously didn't. I don't want to offending you by speculating again, but I know, and anyone with a mind knows that James didn't perform to his full potential Saturday. And like I've said many times on here: He will be back to his old self. If not by the end of the outdoors, he will show up 100% ready for the 2011 Supercross Season. I also say that, because a good way to judge the future is by observing the past. Well that, and the fact he said exactly the same thing.
How do you know whether he felt safe as opposed to pulling off because things weren't going his way? You don't know, and if you do, as a graduate student of psychology, you are probably familiar with one's epistemic accesses to knowledge. I'd like to know how you have access to the inner workings of James Stewart that give you enough confidence to assert -- presumably based on some kind of evidence -- that he pulled because things were not going his way?
Not to sound like a smart ass, I'm sincerely not meaning to, but not feeling safe and pulling off would fall into the category of, "things not going as planned." (or as I worded it earlier, "things not going the way you wanted them to.") I have no idea what it is like to be James Stewart, and I'm a firm believer that a person knows themselves better than anyone else. All I've done is piece together a theory (which can be far from fact, I understand), that emotional frustration (or whatever synonym) was a contributing factor in pulling off. Larry Brooks says fitness was a part of it. His "Open Letter" says his bike was a part of it. James knows what he's capable of, and anybody who has seen him ride the past eight years, knows too, so I don't see how assuming that he was frustrated based on his actions, statements, and past history is so inconceivable for your mind? For not racing eight months, he did a great job.
He was frustrated.
That's exactly what I'm saying. He didn't talk to Erin Bates because he was pissed off things didn't go nearly the way he intended them to go. He never mentioned this in his letter though. So what the hell are you and I assuming things for?
So what are these statements that James made?
I already listed them.
James thought he was prepared.
How are you so certain? Are you his manager or something? All I heard from his camp leading up from this event was how rushed they were for preparing for it. If James truly believed he was 100% prepared, then that must have just made the day that much more frustrating with the way it turned out.
Let's not leave out that he said he personally wanted to be out there as well.
He did, but he also said he wouldn't be racing the nationals had he not got hurt racing supercross.
You mean James Stewart gets frustrated? What is your point? I have seen Reed get pissed, RC has been pissed as well. Stroupe did not give Erin an interview when his bike broke...
All I'm saying is that his frustration is a contributing factor (probably caused due to his bike set up and fitness) that led him to pull off the track.
Not at all. He could have been frustrated with himself, frustrated that he was tired, that he felt unsafe, that he was not as prepared as he wanted to be, and so on. I can easily see not wanting to talk to someone at that point. To conclude from that, that he pulled because things weren't going his way and he just quit is absurd.
Being frustrated with yourself, fitness, bike, etc. is the same as being frustrated because things weren't going the way you had planned. Like you said, Ricky Carmichael and Chad Reed have both been frustrated at times. It's a natural human reaction for someone in that situation.
A better question that you should ask yourself is, what can't you conclude from this?
1) As an extremely open minded person, I'm pretty closed minded when someone tries to convince me he wasn't pissed off at the moment.
2) That you assume things, just like I do.
3) If you thought I knew what it was like to be James Stewart, you're wrong. Only James knows what it's like to be James Stewart. I also can't read minds. However, a person's behavior usually says a lot. There's also cognitive dissonance, when a person's behavior doesn't match up with their words, or beliefs; and i've seen some of that too, but we won't go into that. As you stated, there are probably hundreds of other variables that we do not know about, and will not know about. However, all I have done is unified his official explanations from his, "Open Letter" and Larry Brooks' podcast, with what I know about some of the things I've learned from my own personal life experiences. What's the harm in that? I also combined them into one big long note, called, "The (unedited) Rough Draft of James Stewart's 'Open Letter." Which can be found in my blog.
Tis the season of BROTHERly love.
Maybe Stewart has a new set of priorities in 2011......
Pit Row
Oh, and to the Pirate-Moto-Head from my end of the state, Bobby-M...
I'm thinkin' 15 pages?
(jk)
And maybe people don't remember how many bent up bikes James has ridden to the finish line. Daytona last year where he had two fingers in one glove hole and a completely tweaked bike being one recent example.
Post a reply to: Here you go: JS7's Open Letter