No one else seems to mention Townley

[merv]

.... but didn't he do well winning the 8th round of MX1 http://www.silverbullet.co.nz/news.php?id=3664

Quite some feat to beat Everts twice and not bad for someone who only moved up to the big class this year.

[White trash]

.... but didn't he do well winning the 8th round of MX1 http://www.silverbullet.co.nz/news.php?id=3664

Quite some feat to beat Everts twice and not bad for someone who only moved up to the big class this year.

Merv ya prick!

I was gonna mention it this morning.

Well done young fellah He's gonna go far that boy.

[Motu]

There is a photo in Kiwi rider of Townley coming over a jump - and NO ONE is looking at him! Everts has been at the top of the game for years - if ...????? any Kiwis in MotoGP?... beat Rossi we'd never hear the end of it.

[avgas]

Bloody awesome.
Yeh its sad isnt it, if it doesnt wear a fern, or get supported by vodafone - doenst seem to get a mention these days.
I was shocked to find a kiwi on the top of about 6 different motorsports (D1 included), and yet you never hear about it.
To those of you who think the sport world evolves only around balls.....grow some
Mind due on that note - what happened to our kick ass baseball team as well?
Is rugby really this big?

[Drunken Monkey]

Townley and Coppins seem to be more well known by Europeans than people here for some reason. Just about every bar tender we told we were Kiwis in Greece would come back with Townley/Coppins and a big thumbs up.

[vifferman]

Maybe motorsports are more popular in Europe? I see the Cataluna round of the MotoGP had nearly 105,000 people in attendance!

Good to see the Kiwis doing so well. And that Townley wasn't pictured in The Harold this morning with his fly undone again...

[Drunken Monkey]

Maybe motorsports are more popular in Europe? I see the Cataluna round of the MotoGP had nearly 105,000 people in attendance!

I don't doubt that for a second; the point more being along the lines of avgas' comment above - if a Kiwi does well at sport that doesn't involve an oddly shaped pig-skin ball, then our media thinks we don't want to know!

[vifferman]

Good to see the Kiwis doing so well. And that Townley wasn't pictured in The Harold this morning with his fly undone again...

Unlike me!
Just spent the first hour at work with my fly undone, including walking to the cafe and back.

No, it's alright - no need to thank me for sharing that with you. At least I didn't tell you I'm wearing red undies or anything like that...

[XTC]

Townley's wins were mentioned on the news last night on 3. Even showed some footage. Just a fact that more people in this country are into rugby/league than motocross and TV tries to please the majority just like any buisness I suppose. All I can say is thank f%#k primes coverage of the motocross GP is way better than sky's pathetic offerings. At least prime uses a commentator that knows his stuff and is interesting. Sky TV go F$#k yourselves... stop ringing me I'll never subscribe again.....

[gav]

And MX is covered on the Sunday Motorsport show on TV1, gee, you're a tough crowd, huh? Gets OK publicity, remember we're a captured audience, when was the last time Stefan Merriman was on the news? And there are probably other world champ Kiwis in minority sports who get little publicity too. I think motorsport actually does OK, here in NZ.

[James Deuce]

And MX is covered on the Sunday Motorsport show on TV1, gee, you're a tough crowd, huh? Gets OK publicity, remember we're a captured audience, when was the last time Stefan Merriman was on the news? And there are probably other world champ Kiwis in minority sports who get little publicity too. I think motorsport actually does OK, here in NZ.

It's not until you go overseas that you get an appreciation for just how much of a minority sport Rugby codes are, and how overwhelmingly HUGE motorsports and football are. Susan Devoy got waaaaay more coverage than Messrs Coppins, Townley, et al. So do board sailers, badminton players (Blackcocks - bahahahaha), Chinese immigrant table tennis players(not that there's anything inherently WRONG with importing sporting talent), and spelling bee competitors.

Kiwis are really good at excelling in sports that are on the border of professionalism - as soon as the change to professionalism in a sport arrives, either our game suffers and lags or we don't manage an improvement process in ongoing player and team enhancement. Self-deprecating "she'll be right" attitudes can get you 80% of the way there - the remaining 20% is the hard bit, and when our guys get there, a la Mr Townley, something in our psyche refuses to accept that something that isn't as big as Rugby, Netball, or Cricket, as far as the mainstream media in NZ is concerned, could possibly be that big a deal anywhere else.

[gav]

Anyone know what the Blacksox softball team are up to at the moment?

[TwoSeven]

I think kiwis need to learn to work the media a lot more. I think most of them seem to think if they win lots the media will want to know, but instead you actually have to go out and pay them heaps or create some spin yourself.

Using the media effectively is called advertising and when you advertise people (inc. sponsers) get to know you better which makes then want to be inclusive in the publicity and create even more.