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I do not believe anyone at Feld has answered the question as to why they will not move towards timed main events. It just makes so much more sense in that every race would be the same so the schedule would be even more consistent and they wouldn't have to debate less laps in the mud.
The only reason I can think of is they are embarrassed to publish how few minutes fans will actually see the racers.
It's reality.
I am not saying that it's a good thing. In fact, if I had it to do all over again, I would have handled things differently with my son. Starting them at a young age may be great for the amateur career. But by the time they are ready to peak as a pro, they are mentally burned out, and their bodies are beat to shit.
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If you don't mind me asking, when did your boy start and if I recall correctly he was giving it a go but does he still ride/race or on to other challenges ?
As stated earlier, SX is not packaged for you, jmar, myself or anyone on this forum, WE ARE THE MINORITY at a Supercross....REAL RACERS, are the minority.
Of the 30-40,000 people who go to a SX, how many do you think really race (or even ride) and how many do you think are there for the (*Insert voice of God here*) HIGH FLYING ACTION AND CRASHING OF SUPERCROSS?
Dude, you're a minority, trust me
So races are in laps because it's easier for average Jim-Bob to understand. It's a clear start and a clear finish. NASCAR is by laps, F1 is by laps, Saturday night dirt track is by laps and almost all racing is by laps.
Hell, the two moto system is to odd and difficult for Jim-Bob to understand....Jim-Bob doesn't understand why Jack Smithson won the final race, but Jimmy Twotits won the big trophy and something called an "overall," what the fuck is an "overall?" He won, Jim-Bob saw him cross the line of the last race first, but he didn't win? WTF??
This is why average Jim-Bob's don't go to Nationals or as many watch on TV, they don't get it.
Now, as to the length of "show"
If you show up at 6-7pm to see "the show," that's what you got, a 3 hour show
If you're a real racer and moto fan, you showed up at noon, waited for the gates to open and you watched every practice, changed seats a few times to check out different sections and how riders are doing them, you went through the pits during the "pit party" and you made a fucking day of it, drooling on the Monster chicks and feeling up all the other promotional babes.
So, if you show up at 6-7pm for the show, you got what you wanted...all you wanted
If you wanted more, you missed it, because it was available to you...a whole day of stuff and racing.
and that's your fault
True MX racers/riders will come early and watch practice and timed qualifying trails to get their money's worth for the cost to entertainment value (which I also agree with and support).
So for the majority audience that you mention above (which is the non-racer, non die hard fan), they obviously only show up for the night show so how many times do you think they will keep coming back to watch 5 minute qualifying races and 15 minute finals?
At best 60 minutes of action with 120 minutes of filler. Yes NFL has a similar actual play action to length ratio but it is in small segments, so the down time does not cause the casual fan to get bored.
Or to put it in another "majority" of the target audience perspective- they come to see the guy that is the "star" of the show (Stewart, Villo, Dungey, etc) and they get to see that "star" for about 20 minutes during a 3 hour show (20 minutes along with 19 other riders stealing the same 20 minutes).
Longer tracks, more qualifying races (semi's). Why is that too much to ask?
While I am dreaming, how about bringing back the KTM 50cc kids for some great entertainment during the long breaks between the actual racing?
My sons body was worn out, and he had been at a race track on almost a daily basis for almost twenty years before he decided to hang up his boots. He was mentally burned out.
As of today, he doesn't ride. I am sure that one day he may be able to enjoy riding for fun, but he isn't at that point right now. He's very busy with his family, and he has a very good job that takes a good part of his time.
The thing that makes me the most proud of my son isn't his racing career. It's the fact that he has a great work ethic, and has done very well for him self in the real world that the rest of us live in.
They don't know 15 laps from 20 laps.
They want to see racing and more importantly, riders eating shit.
Want to kill the show so they don't return?
Make races 25 or 30 laps where everyone will play follow the leader or someone like RV, JS, RD, TC or CR runaway and make the race a complete yawner where everyone except the top 5 are lapped and then make tracks so easy no one crashes.
You're dealing with a monster truck audience, they want beer, loud noises, yelling, screaming, fireworks and the potential of death.
The sooner everyone comes to grips with the fact the a Supercross is A SHOW, interspersed with racing, the better you'll be.
People like the goofy t-shirt shooting, sumo race, freestyle or whatever crap they throw in between the races, because that is part of "the show"
Next time you go, step back and look at it from a blank slate point of view...where you know nothing, no riders, no teams and you're there to bring your boy or family to see an "exciting show"...it makes it all a little easier to understand
You are 100% on everything you said. The one point that you didn't make is that Suprecross is what pays the bills.
I'm guessing you'd also be first in line to say, "Who are all these people? They're obviously not core enough to be here."
Same guys finish at the top, Stewart, RV, Dungey, Reed - Next week it's RV, Reed Stewart, Dungey. Take the same boring podium speech,sounds the same no matter who's mouth it comes out of - I'd like to thank__________. It's like the movie Groundhog Day, week in week out. Even the friggin TV commercials are the same year after year after year...
I've been in this sport my entire adult life, and I can't remember Supercross ever being this vanilla before.
It is not about 15 or 20 laps, it is about entertainment and action.
With 50 second lap times, at about the time the casual fan begins to understand who is winning or trying to pass for the win- and starting to cheer for the guy charging from behind- the race is over.
Not more laps, not timed races. Just slow the shit down. Add more obstacles and turns.
Semi's were the best qualifying idea, but I guess that does not fit into the TV program because it is actual racing and not fluff bullshit.
Pit Row
This is one of the reasons sponsors are not inclined to invest money into this series.
The power of these 450s and 250s also contribute to faster laps than the old 250/125 2 strokes.
I wouldn't want a race to go on any longer than 20 laps - it would send most people to sleep.
If the main event had been 25 laps in Phoenix, the result would have been the same.
SX can exist on the same logic as Nascar. However when you twist and turn the rules and formats for a sport to fit tv and spectators that's not really into it from the beginning, you loose the hardcore fans. I belive the competition between lot's of sports over the same money is razorsharp. Small sports are sometimes reday to change almoist everything in a small amount of time to get the money. I'm sure everyone that runs a business wanna do profit, so you can't really blame someone because of it.
I do however belive that sometimes it's better to stay calm and not reinvent the sport over and over again. It's shortsighted and it might comeback and punish them. When the wind turns and it's suddenly really cool to work with sports that stayed the same supercross and motocross are really small sports without active riders and hardcore fans. I think a good strategy would be to say what is actually good with our sports they way they were. Tell the market mx and sx has a wida fanbase consisting of people who have decent jobs and money to spend. I figure a lot of the active riders or their familys have their own company etc.
Monster/Redbull etc can change their marketing plans tomorrow and they would do so without feeling sad for motocross. It's in the interest of the sport that at least 75% of the income comes from companys who is dependent on a healthy mx-scene on the grassrootlevel IMO
I agree, they know they have us no matter what. As you said, we're not the target audience.
Btw, NFL games are 60 minutes. Hows that working out for them?
That said, I would like to see the lap times a little longer.
A lap or 2 more in tthe LCQ wouldn't hurt either. It seems like those end just when the battles really heat up.
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