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What's even more wrong with the above is the way you are spinning it, making it all out to be so casual "oh he was just advised it's not a good look" so he backed out. My arse that's what happened or we wouldnt have this shit show.
For it to blow up this big, a lot more went on than the simplistic way you are spinning this.
PS...Exactly what inconsistencies were there in Brennan's story are you speaking of?
Only asking because I'm in the "kid got pressure/screwed over camp" but have zero vested interest in either party so can be swayed either way. A brush under the carpet isn't going to change my mind.
Let’s remember the kid was the first to do an interview a couple of days after the fiasco and appeared to be speaking off the cuff.
Meanwhile several adults who are professionals in their chosen roles, were silent and had more than a week to get their stories straight.
Is it any surprise that a 17yo “misremembered things”?
Why is it acceptable to take what people with motive and cause are saying, after time to sort their story, as truth, but the story of the claimant is not?
Either way, none of it changes the fact, like you said, that Brennan Schofield should have the bike.
Easy for Yamaha, Star and yourself to say that after the fact and when he doesn’t have the bike.
Bring on Budds……
The Shop
most moto folk are the dreggs
Even if Donnie was 100% factual in that interview, the way Steve conducted it destroys any credibility. He was like a defense lawyer who setup softballs for the client, and then when said softball questions were answered favorably, Steve went out of his way to repeat the answer back for the audience.
But ultimately, it was the kids decision to drop the claim and IMO there was no threats and hey, look, there are two motors here and a trip to ride the bike at the goat farm (which kid left out of the OG "Yamaha threatened my dealer" video).
So maybe he made a trade he felt was acceptable?
Just not sure why everyone is 100% believing Brennen's story, as I've pointed out before, he's left things out that seem t0 be important (motors! Goat Farm!) while not believing other people in this.
Logically, does it seem like the Yamaha amateur guy can threaten a dealership in another country with support? No, right?
Kid should have the bike though!
The issue I have with some media in this is the OG STORY, was (paraphrasing) "Yamaha threatened my dealer to pull support" unless I dropped the claim. So that's what these guys were going off on. I think we can all agree that's a horrific look for Yamaha yeah? To ruin a business over this.
So knowing that's not good, why doesn't any of these guys reach out to the other side? Why would you take a 17- year old kid (who we now see is sending dumb kid type stuff to Deegan on social which doesn't make him a liar but does provide some context into his character right?) at his word and NOT try to get the other side of this allegation?
You, the reader/listener, can make your own mind up after hearing from all sides, no problem with that but in a case like this, don't you want to hear all sides before you make a video commenting on that? Ping is sponsored by Yamaha (like me), and just runs with this story? Shouldn't he have reached out at least?
You, the people, the fans, can do whatever and make your mind up right away (which isn't right but whatever) but IMO, for something like this (where a company that supports the sport heavily gets dragged through the mud, where people are screaming for a long time industry guy to be fired), we in then media should talk to everyone on both sides.
Under duress.
Steve, I think sometimes there is a disconnect between what you mean or intend to say and what it is you actually paint. I recall the story on 11/10 mods, which was awesome. I recall that you got some heat because it kinda raked the guy over the coals but you stated later that what you were trying to do was to show the lengths some small teams work their ass off to make the show. There was something about not being able to get the shop owner to reply but the fact was, the story most definetly worked him over, despite your intent. And it would have been easy enough to choose words differently to paint the story another way. (Still an awesome story, though.) Food for linguistic thought.
Q&A with Steve Matthes....Matthes questions are in bold:
Well, Brennan (who seems like a good kid), said in his initial video interview that his dealer (Chris from Motoplex) told him Yamaha said they were going to pull the dealers support and/or franchise if he went through with this claim. The dealer is saying did not say this.
It makes a lot of sense to a ton of people that there could have likely been a coalition between Walker and Luce to bully Brennan into changing his mind. Why the hell would Luce text Walker late at night and call him back to the track for an important meeting? If the Yamaha side was “ready to let the bike go” there would be no late night call to Walker to return to the track for a private meeting. Their coalition would have likely resulted in Walker telling the Dealer that Yamaha will pull support for his dealers if Brennan didn’t retract his claim. Walker obviously did the talking to keep Luce out of it, but used Luce’s presence as a threat to the Dealer. As a result, don’t you think it’s very possible that the Dealer told Brennan’s father they need to pull their claim for this reason (for fear of losing support from Yamaha)? If yes then Brennan isn’t lying, but instead relaying the information he learned from his Dad’s discussion with the Dealer. IMO, it would be very VERY likely for a Dealer to communicate this to the Dad during their private conversation. Why? Because it takes the Dealer’s opposing stance/opinions/emotion out of the equation and makes it a much more comfortable conversation to have with the Dad in order to justify the need for the claim to be removed. And just because you claim his Dealer said he didn’t say that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen…anyone of these guys can be bluffing, so maybe keep an open mind to both sides.
Brennen said that it was Cotter and Deegan with him in a room, we know now Mike from AMA was in there also.
There was a lot of talk from Cotter on the layout of the trailer. Isn’t it possible that the layout of the trailer had Brennan facing the direction of Cotter and Deegan but he didn’t see Burkeen had entered the room or was standing in the back corner listening? Regardless whether Burkeen was in the room or not, or in front of Brennan’s face or not, 3-5 minutes of this, or 6 minutes according to Cotter, is 6 minutes way too long. It shouldn’t have happened, at ALL. This is a huge violation. Cotter seemed to care a lot about whether Brennan’s engine builder was his Dad while talking outside, but he didn’t seem to care about Brennan’s age when he took him inside by himself. Cotter said something along the lines of “I thought he was 18”. Well, unfortunately in the real world where there’s accountability, he could be terminated for this assumption no matter how good of a guy he might be.
Brennen never mentioned the motors from Yamaha in his initial video interview, first time was to me. That seems rather important fact no?
Isn’t it more important that it’s known Brennan approached Yamaha earlier in the week about those motors but didn’t get any support. But then after Brennan claimed the bike he gets a special late night meeting with Yamaha and they roll out the red carpet (a.k.a bribe) right after being threatened by the interrogation team? Just because Walker was doing the yelling, doesn’t mean Luce wasn’t part of the strongarming. Luce said, “I let Matt take the lead”. So if Luce is sitting there, going along with all the threats and yelling and he didn't object in any way, then he’s part of the bullying team too. Also, does Yamaha give two motors to all amateurs who ask for them? You made it seem like Yamaha was doing such a good gesture by taking care of his motors. Why weren’t his motors taken care of before he made the claim?
To me, THE most effed up thing in this was Brennen saying that Yamaha was threatening this dealer..if true, that's absolutely terrible. Brennen admitted to me he didn't know WHO told his dealer that AND the dealer said no one from Yamaha said anything to him about that
Read above for a logical explanation of where that came from. It’s very likely that Walker was used as the conduit for the Yamaha strongarming.
Brennan, who again SHOULD have this bike, has not been consistent in his side of the story. That's 100% true.
It’s very easy for you to say 14 times “He should have the bike” when he doesn’t actually have the bike. FYI – it’s not making you appear to be neutral in this situation when you are completely blind to any form of bullying or coalition from the guys who pay some of your bills.
A couple more things. The fact that you discussed the beef between these two kids shows intent to bash his character and paint a bad picture for his motivation/intent. His motivation or intent is completely irrelevant.
Finally, you seem to question Brennan's credibility due to his age....well, how old was that kid you let join your show to bash Brennan (friend of the Deegan's coincidentally)? Why would you let such a young kid who's not credible due to his age come onto the show and bash another kid? Seems like you had it all planned out.
There are a few things that Donnie said that you glossed right over and I want to point them out as to why Yamaha is all in on this. 1) Donnie said that he let Matt Walker "do the talking" when Brennen and Derrick Harris arrived. So he (Yamaha) used Walker as his attack dog on the kid. He did not talk about how heated Matt Walker got and how demanding he was with the kid, but he just sat by and let Matt rip into the kid and the engine builder. 2) You asked Donnie how the whole exchange went--Donnie's quote--"it was professional." WTF??????????? Again, that tells you he and Yamaha were totally fine with going after the kid. And 3) You did ask about refusing the shake Harris' hand--two other people who were there reported the same incident on two different podcasts, but Donnie was able to get away with simply saying, "I don't recall that." You used specific quotes to try and remove any blame from Yamaha, I just pointed out the exact opposite.
And as for Bobby Regan, he's also full of BS, and you DID call that one, as he said they were prepared to lose the bike, yet did everything they possibly could to NOT let the bike go. So props to you on that call--that IS a big shot across the bow from someone in your position.
Matt Walker has proven to be a shitbag, and anyone who does business with him is either a fool or suspect, Just look around in this thread to see the new relationship Walker is posting about with Yamaha. Coincidence? I think not.
As for MX Sports, I did not hear you quote Davey Coombs on why this kid was allowed to be intimidated into backing out of the claim. Why is that?
I lost a lot of respect for Keefer in this, as well, as I thought he was more ethical than what he portrayed on the show. He, too, went after the kid and his credibility way too much. He tests a great deal for Yamaha, and is just as conflicted as you are (I thought it was funny that you even played off the "Corporate shill" line from JT) so I get you two were trying to ride the fence. The only one who took a solid stance against the elites (Yamaha / Star Racing / AMA / MX Sports) was JT, he shot straight as well all night.
Should heads roll and there be repercussions from this? YES! If Matt Walker and Donnie Luce are allowed to get away with this (why do you think the kid's sponsor went after him, his dad, and then dropped the kid all together?), and there is no backlash on Regan / Star Racing, then this sport is even more janky than your radio show! And if you listen to Derrick Harris' interview with Cooksey, he talks about the timelines when Cotter and Deegan were, in fact, in the room alone with the kid. So there's also fault there. Will anything happen? You'd have to ask Davey..........
Pit Row
You were throwing him some softballs though. I wished you would have dove more into the "trade" or I guess I should say it wasn't a "trade" according to the Yamaha guy.
What new relationship with Yamaha? The water pump photo is from June 2020.
*I still think Walker is a douche, I just think it's funny when people go on the attack and don't even have their shit straight*
"Why is Haiden racing the b class? Sandbagging with a factory bike" Because that is the natural progression of these kids... supermini.. b class.. pro sport... into the pro ranks.
Regarding the pressure on the dealer, international companies are often divided into regions. ”Americas” or ”North america” is a common setup. Reach out to someone high enough in the management and you will most likely find someone that manages two or more countries. I’m not saying that this happened but I wouldn’t write it off as completely impossible.
Come on Steve, "Beaten into submission" doesn't always mean physical.... I don't believe the kid was literally beaten.
The psychological warfare and yelling of key players is what I'm referring to.
I don't doubt for an instant a huge global corporation would pull strings and threaten an independent dealer to avoid
a.) secret component information from being released b.) being caught running what amounts to PEDs for a bike in an amateur event. The whole "the Deegans mechanic needs to change the motor" before the next race BS is telling.
The kid has said on record in the Hopper video that the stupid social media posts (Haidens a pussy etc) were faked previously and not his. Some internet sleuth should easily be able to confirm this. ....but for arguments sake, lets say he did. So what, he's a 17 year old kid who had a run-in with Haiden on the track. Like JT keeps saying on your show.... irrelevant.
Life experience is how I determined my opinions on this matter. The business world is brutal.....especially so when unleashed against a starry-eyed 17 year old naïve kid.
As far as the media "talking to all sides". This is not a suck-up statement....Michael has done an outstanding job in his interviews with all involved parties. He's offered NO opinion, he's asked the hard questions and he lets the listener make up their own mind. That is a lesson the world media (mainstream ie: CNN, FOX etc etc etc pick your flavor) could certainly learn from. Sorry man...but you are clearly coming across as biased in this.
Edit:. "Dragging Yamaha thru the mud'. Holy fuck, thats hilarious. Dude, it was a supposition...let it go. AND THATS WHAT CRISS/SPONCER TOLD HIM (probably) WHEN PRESSURING HIS DAD
Yamaha is the one that offered the motors and the ride day, correct?
Why is it that the claim wasn’t dropped until the dealer and the dad took the discussion outside of Mart Walkers pit away from Yamaha? What was said between those two?
The whole industry should be embarrassed that at several levels, promoter, manufacturer, race team and media we don’t have anyone capable of finding common ground with a kid who wants to race dirt bikes.
The whole feeling you are left with as a fan is the same one you have after leaving a scummy dealer.
Post a reply to: Things I took away from the pulp interviews..