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Crazy concept huh?
But it was not ok to threaten him or his sponsors etc which is essentially extortion.
My question is: if he had reported that he was bribed with crate motors or extorted with threats of sponsorship being revoked to the AMA or MX Sports what would they have done?
Thanks from everyone in every Bike claim topic!
The Shop
His credibility matters when hearing his version of why he dropped the claim.
Follow... the... bouncing... ball.
I dont think anyone really thinks Deegan should be banned.
But surely you agree this needs a proper investigation and the AMA should find out exactly why the kid dropped the claim. those involved should be reprimanded (not fired) and the rules need to cleaned up so this shit storm doesnt happen again
I would say there should be zero discussion after the claim is made. if a rider lodges a claim, it can not be resinded, and the bike 100% has to be handed over at that point....no back room chats, no counter offers from the opposing team. simple
Once again, three adults in a closed door meeting with a minor.
There's your answer. Boom you can send me $50 for saving you from having to post 100+ times tonight.
You can see the previous layered chat under the visible one. It’s a shade darker.
Why would the Deegans even have Brennan’s snapchat to somehow get a screenshot of it?
Brennan held his ground and the established protocols were going forward at that point. Cotter took the bike into impound (albeit a joke of an impound), Brennan was set to get a second motor after the swap, his dad made sure of it.
OF FUCKING COURSE I THINK THERE NEEDS TO BE AN INVESTIGATION INTO WHY THE CLAIM WAS DROPPED. Holy crap that’s what I’ve been saying this whole time. How in the fuck is that not clear?!?
I too agree the backroom discussions/deals & counter offers should be banned. Gonna be impossible to enforce tho.
The fact is, this sport finds itself in a weird conundrum. It needs the claiming rule but quietly it’s taboo & the culture is against it. I dunno how you fix that.
Pit Row
there is a 30 minute claim window. get a claimer to sign a piece of paper in that window, if he/she does....boom, no backing out.
I'll listen to part 2 tomorrow too.
I've just finished listening to the Donnie Luce and Matt Walker interviews on PulpMX too. My opinion has changed a bit, however there are definitely still some questions.
To me, Tim Cotter, and Mike Burkeen come across as believable; Deegan also seemingly has a fairly small part in this whole thing (smaller than I initially assumed).
That said, the Brenden is also fairly believable; there are some minor flaws (very minor details left out) in the story, and the screen grabs of him talking trash online (if real) don't paint him out to be an angel (but what 17 year old boy is). That said, almost everyone seems to universally agree he conducted himself honorably, and was truthful with his motivations. From my perspective, his story aligns enough with the others to be considered truthful (to the extent necessary to draw conclusions).
Matt Walker on the other hand doesn't come across as believable; in fact he comes across as manipulative. On Steve's podcast he's basically providing very quick answers to direct questions, immediately followed by appeals to how long he's known people, or been in the industry etc. It really seems like he's trying to leverage perceived past credibility to ensure his current story is believable. Lots of extraneous detail etc. If anyone in "real life" answered my questions like he did on that podcast, red flags would be flying in my head.
It's also pretty telling that Brenden alluded to his family cutting ties with a ~2-3 year MX trainer relationship. It would be unlikely that a heartfelt "life coaching" session would lead them to immediately cut ties. I suspect it was a little more heated than just trying "gently guide" his rider. Multiple sources have described that meeting is "emotional", and attributed that label towards Matt Walker.
Matt also seems to lay 100% blame at the feet of the dealer, which is plausible for sure (because we know nothing about this mystery dealer yet), but it also seems unlikely that the dealer would try to talk Brendan out of it (on the pretext of giving him a bad name etc.), and then would yank his sponsorship immediately following. If he was concerned it was going to give him a bad name, you would think he would term the sponsorship right then and there regardless of if he followed through with the claim or not (that would send the most definitive message to outsiders that the dealership wasn't in support of this).
Everyone is swearing up and down that Yamaha corporate didn't apply any pressure. I tend to believe that as well. I don't get the feeling YM Americas is going to hop on a conference call with 2 hours notice on Saturday night because of some drama that occurs at an ameture race. I work in a corp setting, and for a living I routinely wake execs up over major "fires"...I doubt seriously they'd move this quickly to apply pressure to a dealer. The logistics of it don't make sense...not like in 2 hours they're going to get someone with the power to do this at Yamaha, instagram stalk the rider, find his sponsor, find personal contact info for the sponsorship guy at the dealership, make the call, threaten, etc.
That said, Donnie Luce seems to really gloss over several details about their meeting under the tent, and his assertion that he's going to give two motors to some random kid he's never met doesn't really make sense. Does he do that to every kid riding a Yamaha at Lorettas? It really doesn't seem likely until you add the context of quid pro quo...Occams razor and all that. I'm sure someone is his position is given some latitude in rider relations, so I could see him having the pull to get two motors without a phone call to/from corp. I get the feeling he's probably an old-school guy, maybe trying to manage the situation from the ground (if anything). He may just be an old guy who glosses over details...hard to say.
The motor builder, I'm kind of on the fence about. He seems decent enough via the interviews, however he also comes across as a bit of a goober. I don't think he had the financial means to try and copy/reverse engineer the motor, it almost seems like he just wanted to insert himself in the situation...almost a personality quirk/flaw of some kind. The bad feedback on these forums is also a wrinkle.
I'm left with the feeling that the kid may not be a total angel, but at the end of the day he's the one getting screwed over the most. He should have the bike, and he doesn't.
It's also kind of amusing that literally everyone interviewed so far says the claim rule is good, however it's obvious that not everyone believes that...otherwise this kid would have the bike.
Just wanted to put that out there. Super impressed by how fast you jump onto certain news stuff , and get it all out there for everyone. Huge props my man!
Sounds like the dad had little interest in being involved.
Also sounds like that meeting had to happen to determine the custody protocol. And Cotter had to rush it or Star/Deegans were going to win by default because of the 30 minute rule.
If they wait for Brennan to go get his dad, the claim is never legally filed in time. So for that I think Cotter had to make a judgement call, and I think he made the right one.
But I agree with you, no refunds on the claim might solve some of this.
The point is the adults that "confronted" him should have known better than to engage a minor in anything after the claim. Especially 3 relatively prominent figures in the sport.
Since when?!
Running under the YAM Camp in the B class is what I call Sand Fu**in bagging to say the least.
Not a good look going PRO. But when has Brian been class?
Post a reply to: The Deegan Bike Claim Story - Part 1, 2, and 3 | UPDATE: Brennan's Sponsor Responds | Schofield, Cotter, Burkeen, Deegan, Luce, and Walker