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I'm always blown away how people can be deep enough into this sport to be on this niche forum but still not understand it enough to know why it's different than stick & ball sports in that aspect.
I'll remind everyone who has ever been sponsored and educate those who haven't:
When you are sponsored, be it by Factory Yamaha, VP fuel, or Billy Bob's Discount Chinese Motorcycle Emporium, you are essentially a spokesperson for that brand. Your job is to express utter confidence in that brand and project an air of personal choice. In other words, "I choose this product because it's the best." Remember, the rider is the face of that brand. To say you are moving to KTM at the end of your contract is to erode the facade that you are supposed to be supporting, i.e., that you think the blue bike is best.
Eli should be forgiven for being tight-lipped about any potential move even though we all know his contract is up and he might be moving. It is still his job to try and make any and all prospective motorcycle buyers think that Yamaha is the only brand he would ever consider riding. KTM would be less interested in his services if he was already essentially dissing the bike he's on now. What's he going to say about their bike when he's on that one?
Um, Lewis Hamilton signed with Ferrari while driving for Mercedes and announced it about halfway through the season.
Marc Marquez signed with Ducati/ Greshini Racing halfway through the season and announced it while riding for Honda HRC
Jorge Martin signed with Aprilia while riding for Ducati/ Pramac and announced it with multiple races to go in the season....
Edit for spelling.
Wanna bet?
If you follow other sports like football and baseball on the opening day of free agency, they will sign hundred million dollar contracts, sorry but that isn't done in 3 hours.
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I think what's hilarious is the insider media bros of the sport (Matthes, Weege, etc) always get the scoop of what's happening "behind closed doors", but they're not allowed to "officially" report it, since it would compromise their relationships with whatever sources they use. But, they still end up saying things like "we hear Tomac is going to KTM". And if you've followed the sport for long enough, you know that if the insider media bros say they've heard something is happening/has happened regarding team switches/contracts, they're pretty much always correct. So, even though they can't officially report on silly season happenings until the teams/riders put out statements themselves, they still effectively are telling us what's going on. Any fan in the know is basically 99% sure that Sexton is going to Kawi and Tomac is going to KTM, due to what people such as Matthes have said.
So, what's the point of being secretive and not officially reporting these things until October, when they're effectively spilling the beans as soon as they hear from their sources?
What Matthes was actually saying is that was the wrong forum. It’s not the riders who are choosing not to say anything; they are being told by their employers.
He and the others on the podcast all agreed it’s dumb that these things are kept secret.
ya'll are missing the REAL detail here: ET3 is going to KTM. If you were still working stuff out with Yammy, you're going to stop that question and say "Hey Hooper - let's not do that today, alright?" and it would shut him down. Instead he stared off into the ether.
Oh and I'm glad he asked the question. Waaaaaaaaah at Matthes whining about it...while Weege and JT both said "I dunno man - our PR in this sport just sucks and we're really missing an opportunity to embrace the news/fans in better ways"....
Hopper also had a pretty good question about Jett's riding style. Sure, Jett is an alien and doesn't have the ability to verbalize his technique, but it was still a legit question going a little deeper than most people ask. He may never have been a top rider but he was good enough to understand what a bike and rider is doing at that level, kind of a Keefer-Lite.
Most of the Hopper haters still associate him with Cooksey and that's a shame because he has distanced himself from Cooksey and has made the changes to be a part of the media. He used to hold a grudge against the sport because he didn't "make it" and the sport took more than it gave. Maybe in the end he is doing what he should be doing and will make it in the sport after all.
They are often agreed to. But the contract isn't actually signed until free agency opens. And that doesn't happen until 1+ months after the season ends. Those contracts most likely aren't agreed to while the season is still being played, if they were it would be tampering. (The Miami Dolphins lost a first round pick for talking to Tom Brady while he was still under contract with New England.)
Hopper made it further than Keefer ever did and without the big bore.
How you figure?
I' just referring to the pro level. Hopper qualified for a 450 national. Keefer used a 167 kit to make a 125 main once.
I think you're kinda splitting hairs here to get a dig in on Keefer but you do you dawg.
The only person that says he had a big bore was DV. hahahaha
Oh yeah, and Keefer. lol
I was referring to the fact that Hopper is still green in the media department. I do love listening to Keefer and Hopper talking riding styles and technique. Hopper was doing some stuff with foot positioning last year and it was in depth and stuff I wouldn't see and notice unless I slowed the video way down and had ever raced at a pro level.
It has nothing to do with an union. But with the small world where journalists need to operate in... Nobody gives a rats ass about 7 months of rumors about a possible transfer/switching teams for Kevin De Bruyne (Football player), because most journalists don't know him and he doesn't know them. That relationship is differently in MX and if you want to keep press passes and access to the riders you play along with the unwritten rules from motocross. In the MotoGP they are already started to talk about changing teams and start to ask riders about changing teams, that is also a small world but it seems that those guys are better trained to handle the eyes that on them, the rumors that are about them and they speak out about or just doesn't show (in public) that a question rubs them in the wrong way.
Ok, I just misinterpreted what McG194 meant by 'Keefer-lite'. Didn't mean it as a dig at Keefer, just giving Hopper his props for ripping.
One of them got paid to race professionally.
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Because not everybody out there is a "fan in the know." There are literally thousands of potential motorcycle buyers who might not follow the sport, except to watch it on TV, who would be influenced by Eli's next race win and decide to buy a Yamaha. If even one of them goes out and buys, then the marketing has done its job, justifying the paycheck all these riders receive. (The Yamaha ones in this case.) The manufacturer and it's agent by extension (Eli) are in the business to SELL YAMAHAS. They do not want to sell KTMs or any other brand. Any acknowledgement of Eli's possible move to KTM undermines that message.
Right. Dudes been saying how Star will never let Eli go for months. He's salty to finally learn the truth and wants a guys press credentials taken away for asking a tough question. Eli is a big boy. He can tell Hopper nunya business
Thank you. I'm glad someone knows the deal. Hopper was going down the Kooksey route but decided he didnt want to only portray the negative side of the sport. The fact that he was given press credentials says a lot. He puts out decent content
That's why the moto 'media' isn't real media. They're enthusiastic amateurs who want to be friends with the cool guys. As for the teams? What a bunch of weirdos not allowing riders to speak about where they'll be contracted. No other professional sports do this.
This is outrageous. You mean a press conference is not the 'time or place' for the press to ask questions? You make out as though Hopper hit AP with a question while he was laying on a gurney on his way to the hospital for an emergency operation.
Exactly, press conference my arse. It should be called 'time for fanbois to stand close to their crushes' conference.
IMO Johnny is a bit dyslexic and confuses MXGP with Moto GP but his rider analysis is excellent and this is with just looking at fuzzy low def images. If I was in charge I would have Johnny "in studio" at the track analyzing between the motos and then doing short segments on what he finds interesting as far as rider technique and style. I think if he had access to the feeds in high def with a producer he would do a really great job.
To say that this would be above the heads of the TV viewers is just rubbish, this would be how you show the new or casual viewer how amazing and tough MX is. Sort of like how they do this in F1 with Sam Michael between the practice sessions and qualifying.
His questions on rider training in regards to VO2 max is also interesting and I'm sure this would be interesting to the casual fan who thinks you "just twist the throttle" and have no idea how fit these guys(and gals) are.
I thought the question was great, and I took it as Tomac (and especially Jett) were amused by both the question, and how AP answered it. Tomac didn't appear to be pissed at all, then he put on his poker face.
I think Hopper started out just having some fun with his channel, then got serious, and I'm glad he's finding his niche.
I also agree that some of his analyses are excellent. I don't agree with them all, but there have been multiple times when he's pointed out interesting things that I hadn't noticed.
I wish AP would have played the clueless face and said what? Looked at Eli and said “I thought you were going to HEP”.
Give people a rabbit hole.
The best thing Hopper did was get away from Cocksey. I'm glad someone had the balls to ask a question we all want to know. Well done Johnny.
Hopper atleast tries to make good content. He doesn't claim to be a journalist. Im not a giant fan and rarely listen to him but from every time I do he seems like a genuine good guy trying to help people. I'm glad he distanced himself from cooksie and didn't take his bait. People are always going to hate but the guy asks the stuff the real media is afraid to do in public. They ask in private and then cool guy the public. So how is that even real media?
Post a reply to: Hopper, you are my hero! Loved this question!