Posts
11086
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Newark, OH, USA
Edited Date/Time
1/27/2012 6:40am
You guys desperately need to form a union, oops, a RIDER'S SAFETY COMMITTEE.
Call it the PROFESSIONAL MOTOCROSS RACERS ASSOCIATION, whatever, but
you need to do it.
Or, you can keep complaining forever.
And, suffering at the hands of others.
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
Now with Warthog gone, its going to be even harder for real privateers to do the whole series especially the outdoors.
Gathering of like-minded individuals intent on making things better for their coalition.
Not "MY" union. It would be an "OUR" Union.
And, for my money, I'd probably look to a guy like JT$Money to be the "leader".
Why him? He's smart, savvy, been around the motocross block and knows his
politics. Would he do it ? I don't know.
.
I get my ear tugged at EVERY motocross gathering - from Privateers and their parents,
complaining of HOW this and THAT need to be fixed in MX / SX and, I'm a great listener
and I think - that they think - that somehow, that I can make change. I can't.
But, together, we can.
It all starts with one man standing up.
Are WE the ONLY motorsport without a racer's association ?
Without representation, you get handed the plate and eat what is offered, only.
And, after a while, you live to accept that.
Didn't Albyteen & Emig talk about it years ago and Langston just a few months ago.
Totally agree with you, these guys need to start a union. Everytime this is brought up, people here shoot it down. I'm surprised the negative no it alls haven't jumped in here yet.
Most of the riders are not paying attention to anything other than getting ready to ride. They aren't thinking about their future other than the next race, much less 6 months from now or 1 year from now. Ask them what they think they'll be doing 10 years from now and you'll get a blank stare. Ask them what would they do if they got hurt and it ended their career, and they would most likely say they don't want to think negatively and leave it at that. Heaven forbid they PREPARE for all possibilities.
So, getting a union together would be a great idea for them, but you will have to change their mindset.
biggest problem, the very people you are trying to help, will be fighting you every step of the way. other racers, sponsors, etc will all tear you apart because they are unwilling to stand beside you and make the sacrifice needed. and sadly, for it to be really effective, you would need the dungeys, stewarts, and reeds of the way to spearhead this thing. reed might be mature enough at this point to get it and be willing to do it, but dungey and stewart would not.
you gotta remember, that most every racer in every motorsport doesnt have much of a education outside of racing. there understanding of economics and whatnot is very little. the motorsport athlete cant be compared to the typical stick n ball athlete (who is much more responsible politically) due to their mostly college educations.
sad thing is, if its good for the sport (which a union is, its helped every other motorsport) then its good for everyone involved in the long run. if you look back at the history of other sports, they became exponentially more profitable (for everyone not just the athletes) in the decades following the formation of unions. owners of teams fought it at first, but its hard to argue the results.
its not just the privateers who need this. its for everyone who isnt on worx equipment. the mfg's must be pushed back. teams should control the sport, not OEM's. whats good for the teams is good for racing. whats good for the racing is good for everyone.
im not here to shoot it down. just to point out some relevant facts/obstacles.
Totally agree with your points.
Sad, but true.
what does the Event promoter pay?
I have been putting somethings together with Sponsors for my Team that I am putting together and we all know that money is hard to come by
I have even been dealing with some teams well I thought they where teams lets put it that way and I have to tell you I can't believe how un professional the people have been that I have been dealing with. I send them product to test cost me money I do not get any phone calls saying the got the product, what the thoughts where on the products, nothing and some refuse to send them back its insaine.
The riders for the most part I would say are to young and live in fear for what ever reason not to communicate with others its better to tell someone they are not interested but thank you anyway than not to say anything maybe thats why a lot of riders have no job. There are always new kids coming up that are hungry in this sport, riders time is short so you need to make the most of it when you can and that means keep all your options open.
A Riders Union makes perfect sense I am a Teamster and have talked with The Teamsters about this they have some interest but I have not proceeded in doing anything because of the unprofessionalism of the riders
Also, at A1 you could have no privateers show up, and probably still have a full gate in the 450 class.
Now near the end of the season, as the field thins? That'd be different.
And Rup, if you're going to call it a Safety Committee, then it should deal with safety issues. If you want to tackle purse or expense issues, call it something else.
Pit Row
This years 450 field will have very few privateers and the Lites program will be more "Team Exclusive" than ever...
So, a viable position is needed.
The idea of a "Rider's Safety Committee" has merit. It'll need the support of folks like JS7, RD5, CR22...etc., too.
As to the issue of "Expense"...? Yes, it is expensive. Hell, Jus' the travel budget for someone on 1 of the smaller/lightly supported teams is a huge undertaking (I'm currently working on this very situation/circumstance).
Another-thing: It's time to, finally, put an honest definition on the term,"Privateer".
Do I consider my rider a "Real" Privateer? He's buying his own practice bike(s) and paying his own entries, travel...etc.; yet, he'll have a race bike, rig, gear, race-day tires*...etc. provided for him.
Meanwhile: I watch the Moto-Community call riders on teams like Valli "Privateers"...?
JGR is a Privateer operation?
Well?
I've written to magazines (one was published on the now deceased MXracer) about the necessity for a riders union. This comes up every 6 months or so, or after a serious incident where a rider or several riders complained about something and it never got addressed, and bang something happens.
Everyone who has posted has legitimate points to make. I believe that a worker's right is also a human right, and to me pro mx riders don't have any rights at all. Some very fast and famous riders have made a bit of noise about it, but then back away from it just as quickly. Its too bad b/c their leadership would essential.
I also believe that if workers don't have rights, their employers will fuck them over and rip them off more often than not, and it will always be that way-that is why unions are required, period. Wall street meltdown? The middle and lower classes paid the bills while the top dogs made off like bandits. Fact.
Courage and conviction in spades would be required to make this happen in our sport and the people in power will do everything possible from letting that happen. That is also fact. Until this happens-pro riders will continue to get fucked, except for the very few top dogs-sound familiar?
Good points all. Appreciate the constructive input.
I would presume - that in the backrooms of our sport's movers and shakers -
there was a collective sigh of relief when Langston & Reed failed to follow
through with their UNION plans. Perhaps they received warnings ? Subtle or
otherwise...
Who knows - the fact remains that currently - most of the riders
would benefit with the features of a union, especially things like safety situations,
a REALISTIC payout, disability entitlements, etc....
Will the privateers be SMART enough and BRAVE enough to form up, take
a stand and quit complaining and take action ? I doubt it,
but would very much like to see it and would be anxious to assist.
And nothing will happen. Just like always.
Personally, when Chad and Langston were making noise about doing something, I thought that one stood the best chance of gaining some momentum. But when you get down to it, something like this requires a lot of heavy lifting (phone time talking with others, planning and persuasion, then implementation and maintenance) that takes away from race prep. Also, when the riders are competing against each other, what's good for one rider may not be good for another. Getting everyone on the same page? That may be nearly impossible.
Totally agree-I thought when Chad and Grant got going I thought this may finally get some legs...but as long as Chad continues to race he cannot move this thing forward as it would take a completely committed effort to attain everything Rupert just posted. But, the bottom line is that most other sports have done it and have gone through substantial crap to get it done. It is not impossible, but the mountain is steep to be sure.
Pro mx is a lot like slave labor, with incredible risk mixed in for good measure.
Both basketball and football are looking at potential work stoppages in the next year, and I'm already picturing the gnashing of teeth over that one. It took fans a while to return to baseball after one of their strikes.
I know fans are all for the idea of a rider's union, but how many of the people that post here would still support the riders if they sat out a race...or five...or a whole season?
Henry ,McGrath , Emig etc the promoters where pissed said they would never race again well we all know how that turned out
These guys today are in it for the money not the love of it when one of the top names gets killed and its all over the news than maybe and only maybe will something be done untill then the show must go on
It was a harder sell for baseball when they went out to make millions more then the millions they were already making! But as far as revenue sharing, merchandising, retirement, health care-these are all super important to the professional athlete b/c their careers are incredibly short.
If the riders felt the track or a portion of the track wasn't safe, and they flat out refused to ride, would the fans be pissed? I don't think so. If the riders en masse refused to ride when RV crashed, would the jump have been modified to the degree that the risk was lessened substantially? I wouldn't be mad at that-I would have been impressed frankly.
RV crashed in the main event at St. Louis. It's sort of hard to change a jump after a main has already started. If there was a problem with the jump, it should have been handled before the main started.
You need every rider from the Ryan Dungey's down to #999 from Bumfuct Arkansans.
Nobody is going to care if a bunch of the non top guys sit out a few races or whatever.
Or that they are campaigning to get rid of tuff-blocks or have smoother tracks etc...
The show will go on without them, and within time other riders will step-up and fill their spots.
Another problem is....
If you had a union like that, sponsors like Monster who support alot of the riders and also the series are not going to want to be involved in the BS.
And I would assume they would pull personal sponsorship's from riders who wanted to strike/boycott a few races that they were also the title sponsor of.And within time possibly pull all their support out of the sport.
I could go on and on.....
The sport does need some fixing and it really should not need a union in the first place.
The example of track safety is but one of many issues that riders need input and representation on within their "job". It is my firm belief that any rider who makes a SX main event should be able to make a good salary on purse alone, even in 20th place. If I placed 20th in 17 consecutive main events, I should be able to afford myself and my family a decent living after expenses, with a decent health care plan and a contribution to a retirement plan. Now that would be a union. We don't know what the books show in SX or MX for that matter, and that is a huge part of the problem. The riders are partners in this thing, so revenue sharing should be a consideration b/c without them, there is no event.
And FastEddy, you're right-everyone has be in. If you become a pro rider, you automatically become a member and pay your dues. And, yes, it is worth the hassle b/c right now riders are disposable assets, nothing more in the current system (if you want to call it a system at all). You can point out every reason why it shouldn't happen, but fundamentally the reasons it should happen are much stronger, and most have been listed.
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