MotoGP 2012

[Oscar]

Didn't this all happen last year?

Yup. But Pete still lurvs Casey, no matter what the date is...

[Crasherfromwayback]

Yup. But Pete still lurvs Casey, no matter what the date is...

Aye. I feel a bit slutty though. As I love Doohan, Lawson, Rainey, Mamola, King Kenny and Spencer too! I'd still be wanking on about them...but they were before chat rooms for boys!

[Oscar]

Whatever you are trying to say Oscar I am absolutely sure the Rossi fans and the Lorenzo fans did not like their men getting beaten by the little Aussie battler and in that respect they are no different than in other sports. Did Stoner get spat at - I am sure he did along with stuff thrown at him.

When our man Croz complained about the state of 500GP and team management and all that stuff back in the 80's, he came home to NZ still as our hero. I don't remember anyone calling him a whinger at the time when he quit like Stoner. Why not? Well he was a Kiwi and our man and not some Aussie whinger.

The only difference being that Croz was correct (something he doesn't make a habit of).
The thing with Stoner is that he whinged about shit that he obviously didn't understand.
Classic example - he bagged Dorna/IRTA for the then current rules, rules that had been promulgated by the the teams association (which was/is dominated by his employer, Honda).

[Drew]

Yeah. That's why the thread is called MotoGP 2012. A bunch of grumpy old guys reminiscing about the old days.

Fuck yeah.

Speak for yourselves!

[denill]

By nature a racer at the top level needs to be self absorbed, selfish, aggressive and arrogant (I'm better than all the rest etc):

Of course you're right. And of course that applies to ANY sportsperson who is to be in with a chance of winning. if that pisses people off - se la vie............

[steveyb]

Of course you're right. And of course that applies to ANY sportsperson who is to be in with a chance of winning. if that pisses people off - c'est la vie............

Fixed it for ya

[slowpoke]

By nature a racer at the top level needs to be self absorbed, selfish, aggressive and arrogant (I'm better than all the rest etc). Those traits do not always translate well to people skills. Sure there appear to be exceptions like Nicky Haden, but when the visor is down, you can bet he is as aggressive and combative as any (No, you go 1st good sir? yeah right!). We come to expect these racers to be at the pointy end, and most need those traits to do so, then we expect them to have personality transplants when they get off their bikes? I feel it should also be noted that reporters are paid to get any sensational sound byte they can, and context often becomes collateral damage. Unless I heard a totally unedited transcript, I don't take reports to seriously.

And yeah, lets get the racing started already!

Of course you're right. And of course that applies to ANY sportsperson who is to be in with a chance of winning. if that pisses people off - se la vie............

So what are you guys saying? It's OK to be a wanker if you're a winner? That you NEED to be a wanker to be a winner? A winner of what exactly? You have to be a lil' bit of a tosser to be a club champ, a bigger wanker to be National champ and a world class fuckwit to become a World Champion?

Nup, that just doesn't sit right with me.

Talent and determination have nothing to do with personality, and unfortunately that means some talented wankers doing very bloody well.....in all walks of life. Luckily, for every Carl Fogarty there is a Troy Bayliss, for Quade Cooper there's Dan Carter etc. If Joey Dunlop can be a deadset champion on both closed and roads circuits, then turn around weld the doors of his van shut and personally accumulate and drive humanitarian aid to Romania what excuse does everyone else have? There isn't one, and there is no NEED for one.

Sure, competitive spirit and self belief etc are requirements on track, but what has that to do with behaviour off the field or track? If Richie McCaw can compete man on man in a far more intimate adversarial sport complete with knees to the head etc then turn around a minute later shake the guys hand and conduct a perfectly civilised interview on camera in front of 40000 peoiple why do we put up with the spoilt shits in our sport? More people need to stop making excuses and call crap behaviour what is, then maybe there'd be a bit less of it. Some of the young men living in the rarefied atmosphere of MotoGP may just need some real life experience to develop more complete/balanced personalities....but that doesn't stop them being total wankers in the here and now and they should be called on it.

[Crasherfromwayback]

So what are you guys saying? It's OK to be a wanker if you're a winner? That you NEED to be a wanker to be a winner? A winner of what exactly? You have to be a lil' bit of a tosser to be a club champ, a bigger wanker to be National champ and a world class fuckwit to become a World Champion?

Nup, that just doesn't sit right with me.

Agree 100%. Fuck me...I know champs from both camps. But there's no way in hell you'll convince me you need to be a cunt to win. Just that the cunts use it as an excuse.

[Wingnut]

So what are you guys saying? It's OK to be a wanker if you're a winner? That you NEED to be a wanker to be a winner? A winner of what exactly? You have to be a lil' bit of a tosser to be a club champ, a bigger wanker to be National champ and a world class fuckwit to become a World Champion?

Nup, that just doesn't sit right with me.

Talent and determination have nothing to do with personality, and unfortunately that means some talented wankers doing very bloody well.....in all walks of life. Luckily, for every Carl Fogarty there is a Troy Bayliss, for Quade Cooper there's Dan Carter etc. If Joey Dunlop can be a deadset champion on both closed and roads circuits, then turn around weld the doors of his van shut and personally accumulate and drive humanitarian aid to Romania what excuse does everyone else have? There isn't one, and there is no NEED for one.

Sure, competitive spirit and self belief etc are requirements on track, but what has that to do with behaviour off the field or track? If Richie McCaw can compete man on man in a far more intimate adversarial sport complete with knees to the head etc then turn around a minute later shake the guys hand and conduct a perfectly civilised interview on camera in front of 40000 peoiple why do we put up with the spoilt shits in our sport? More people need to stop making excuses and call crap behaviour what is, then maybe there'd be a bit less of it. Some of the young men living in the rarefied atmosphere of MotoGP may just need some real life experience to develop more complete/balanced personalities....but that doesn't stop them being total wankers in the here and now and they should be called on it.

Couldn't agree more. Do you think their spoilt arogance is a product of their spoilt arrogant upbringing perhaps?

Shit you just need to go to a NZ MX event to see some examples....

[sugilite:Me]

So what are you guys saying? It's OK to be a wanker if you're a winner? That you NEED to be a wanker to be a winner? A winner of what exactly? You have to be a lil' bit of a tosser to be a club champ, a bigger wanker to be National champ and a world class fuckwit to become a World Champion?

What I said was By nature a racer at the top level needs to be self absorbed, selfish, aggressive and arrogant (I'm better than all the rest etc). And I stand by that.
Self absorbed/selfish means living breathing motorcycle racing to the point nothing much else exists.
Aggressive - As Biaggi pointed out, motorcycle racing is not ball room dancing Ever seen a passive racer win anything at motogp level? Or even be in a motogp race?
Arrogant - I'm better than everyone else, wanting to be the fastest is having a big ego.

I read an article written a few years ago by GP corespondent Michael Scot that said similar stuff to what it takes to be a World champ, he quoted riders like Wayne Rainy, Kevin Shwantz, Eddie Lawson, and Wayne Gardener who all admitted too and gave examples of the traits I mentioned. (both on and off the track, Wayne Rainy in particular was very candid). In a way as a racer the article upset me and I thought about it a lot, and had to admit for me at least it was right. As a racer I was arrogant and did have a bloody big ego. I seemed nice and relaxed enough off the bike sure, or at least thats what people told me, but when the flag dropped, I manifested all those traits in spades.
Sure you can easily pick out people that are exceptions (though I noted of your examples, none bar Bayliss had won a single motogp race) from bike racing and other sports, but the experienced names quoted in that article are hard to argue against.

So thats what I was saying, I thought it was pretty clear I was talking about top level motorcycle racers and not club racers or individual rugby players. I was just getting tired of bike fans thinking Stoner owed them only the best manners and graciousness.

It not sitting right with you is your right.

Good on you for quoting my post and commenting, but I would like to say I did not mention the word wanker, tosser or fuckwit anywhere in my post.

[Crasherfromwayback]

I read an article written a few years ago by GP corespondent Michael Scot that said similar stuff to what it takes to be a World champ, he quoted riders like Wayne Rainy, Kevin Shwantz, Eddie Lawson, and Wayne Gardener who all admitted too and gave examples of the traits I mentioned..

Notice the one other common thing bar Gardner? And Lawson isn't like the reast you've mentioned. Freddie Spencer seems like a nice chap too. Ever met Fred Merkel? He's a GC. But Matt Mladin and Anthony Gobert are fucking arseholes.

Off road racing is probably even more aggressive than road racing. Ever met Stefan Merriman? He could've made it to the top road racing as well. The King Bros?

It's a cop out to say you need to be arrogant...no matter your definition of arrogance.

[sugilite:Me]

Notice the one other common thing bar Gardner? And Lawson isn't like the reast you've mentioned. Freddie Spencer seems like a nice chap too. Ever met Fred Merkel? He's a GC. But Matt Mladin and Anthony Gobert are fucking arseholes.

Off road racing is probably even more aggressive than road racing. Ever met Stefan Merriman? He could've made it to the top road racing as well. The King Bros?

It's a cop out to say you need to be arrogant...no matter your definition of arrogance.

I'm not out to paint all racers with the same brush.
Sure heaps of nice champions. Your a top bloke Pete, but when you lined
Up for your nz gp winning performance, were you not wanting to
Kick every riders arse you were up against. You backed your self to the max, yes?
P.s this my 1st post on my phone, so beware, dummy on a smart phone lol
Hope my post kinda making sense, I mainly talking about on bike attitude.

[Crasherfromwayback]

I'm not out to paint all racers with the same brush.
.

I know you're not mate. But I still believe the general assumption that most top performers are arrogant is false. Yes they want to beat every other cunt...waste of time being there if they don't believe that. But you CAN be nice at the same time.