Posts
2607
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7/14/2011
Location
Valdosta, GA
US
Edited Date/Time
8/23/2018 4:03am
I understand the team thing and for teams like PC and Geico, I get the team look... but I miss the days when each rider had their own individual style. Even "non-team" guys who ride for certain gear brands (Fly) end up all wearing the same gear each weekend. In some cases, it makes it difficult to distinguish who the riders actually are.
I think back to Team Honda and the Hondaline deals. At least those guys had a choice of what they wanted to wear as opposed to having to wear the same thing as everyone else on the team.
And no, it really doesn't matter... but we need a break from team PR and Ronnie Mac discussions.
I think back to Team Honda and the Hondaline deals. At least those guys had a choice of what they wanted to wear as opposed to having to wear the same thing as everyone else on the team.
And no, it really doesn't matter... but we need a break from team PR and Ronnie Mac discussions.
Uniform looks nice but mx isnt a team sport between riders unless youre redbull ktm. Having riders match isnt the way id like it either. Keep the matching at the truck.
The Shop
Did Josh Grant get anything because RV won a title? Does Cooper Webb get a bonus if Barcia wins a moto? I'd suggest Mudders have the opposite effect where now that the numbers are completely covered, you can't tell any of the Monster PC guys apart.
Once I got my first custom painted helmet, my dad said he could always find me by looking for the bright pink helmet or the bright fluorescent yellow helmet (depending on which I was wearing). It made me easy to spot on the track in a pack because it was different than everyone else.
Talking about helmets, and teams.
Remember when, in international events, different countries ran a specific color to denote what team they were on?
America had blue with v like white stripes from front to back. Look at the old MXDN or ISDE events.
I even painted my street bike helmet that scheme, was cool. I'd be gassing up at the service station and some guy would walk up and it was like we were brothers, "Hey man, did you hear Lackey went to Kawasaki?.
Total stranger, but the same, all because of a helmet color.
Individualism in SX/MX appears to be dead. Listening to Pulp the other day someone mentioned how now that Plessinger is going to the 450 class he needs to straighten up and take things seriously. This sport, like every sport, has value in entertainment. Professionalism isn't always entertaining. This isn't synchronized swimming or a dance competition.
What we need in this sport is personality. If the media surrounding the sport wants more viewership/readership then they need to help build the personality that is already there. Matthes has done a great job in this category. Starting with Jimmy Albertson. A rider that would have been overlooked by many fans had it not been for Matthes getting him on the line all the time. Then the seven deuce deuce, who would have followed him? Phil Nicolleti and his Eeyore personality is entertaining. Peick with his pissed of no F's given attitude. Even RV, any glimpse of his human side would have never been known without someone getting personal with him and sharing it with the sport.
We need personality in a bad way. Even though Ryan Dungey was a world class athlete and everything you want your kids to grow up as...he wasn't that entertaining for the sport. We need a variety of personalities. This world likes drama so give it to them.
now if there was a manufacturers points system, then one could argue that they are actually a Team.
I have seen this before, or at least during practice seen where guys on a team weren't all wearing the same color. I think it would be good for a team to know, oh Savatgy is in Orange, Forkner is in gray, AC in green, and Davalos is in yellow (hypothetically).
Back in the day, RJ, Ward, Matiasevitch, Bradshaw and especially Lechien had incredibly distinctive looks that were a huge part of their image. That's the big bike class but damn, let's get some personality back into the sport and its riders. I think riders were more interesting characters back in the day because they weren't motocross robots raised on nothing but pounding laps and going to the gym.
There's more to the team than the riders. There's the engine builders, the mechanics, the suspension guys, the guy(s) who drive the truck. They're the team . It isn't and individual sport anymore than any other form of racing. Just because you're the rider/ driver, doesn't mean you're on your own. Far from it.
There are no individual efforts. Even privateers have help from family, friends, etc. It's a team sport...nobody does it by themselves successfully.
As for loosing the individuality...I think you have some kids you need to yell at to get off your lawn.
Change is the only constant.
Pit Row
And i hear ya, i miss they days when riders had their own style...or at least their helmets. Shit, you could spot Mcgrath ANYWHERE on the track just by looking at his lid. Nowadays the only thing that differs one from the other is the buttpatch.
Now it is too cookie cutter and confusing. I too would like to see more options for riders as far as what they wear.
I can see why professionalism is important in the sport but I definitely like to see the fun aspect as well as riders’ personalities. Hell, why do you think people still y’all about J-Law? I wasn’t a big Plessinger fan until he jumped in that mud puddle at the SX last season. I like AC just because of his personality really. I wish Tomac would open up!
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