Hmm, it seems that whatever anyone says/writes there are always going to be counter arguments by "the other side". I have stated before that I am a VR fan and think he has been good for the sport in his own way, and the same applies to Casey. We all want to see good close racing, and we all want to see our favourite rider win. IMO Casey will be missed because he has an unbelievable talent on the bike, he's just not media savvy, he says what he thinks, and with his nasal Aussie accent he sounds like he's whinging, which is a shame. However, nobody deserves to be spat at, or knocked off their pit bike, just because they're not your favourite. I'm not going to defend Rossi to the hilt because these last 2 years really have been a disaster, for him and all us who love the make! He hasn't been particularly good at media stuff these last 2years himself, but I guess he got fed up with being asked when he was going to get the bike back on the podium! There would really be only one way to settle the argument over who is best, and that would be to put them on the same bike/tyre combo and let them race! That unfortunately will never happen, so the arguments will go on, and its a real shame to me to see folk on here sniping at each other over something that nobody can change! Let's get back to supporting Ducati, and hope that from now on we can see the bikes back challenging for podiums and titles!
con·done Verb Accept and allow (behavior that is considered morally wrong or offensive) to continue. Approve or sanction (something), esp. with reluctance. Ergo those who a criticising Stoner are by default condoning the action, though the may not explicitly approve.
Ozz mate, its not that I don't see that he has a great talent that undoubtedly cannot be denied, and we could argue all day about whether his achievements were special or just that most of them came with little or no opposition, the bottom line for me is that that I lost all and any respect I might have had for Rossi in June of 2001 after he punched Max after the Catalunya GP.
I think Stoners issue is different to Max. Stoner had an issue with fans because he didn't and doesn't understand why "Race" fans judged him on his personality which is largely irrelevent to the spectacle of the race and open to personal and press interpretation. In Max's case he was and is a jumped up yet talented little shit who thinks nothing of putting another riders life at risk for the sake of his ego (such as crossing a riders line and forcing them off track in a meaningless practice session). He did hit many times and too many people in both Motogp and WSB. Little man syndrome on steriods. If Rossi has a more media friendly persona, you can't knock him for having or using that to his advantage whenever he can. Look at Mr Bolt at the olympics. Does he play on his media friendly persona, you bet, Kerching. He had those races won before the gun even fired in the head of his opponents.
Valid reason for disliking rossi and losing any respect for him if thats your want. By the same token do you dislike and have no respect biaggi or stoner for doing the same thing yet worse. Because they hit people who didnt know it was comming. At least rossi/biaggi were squaring up to each other at the time, wasnt like one rode up to the other one and belted him was it......
It is strange that on a Ducati forum, the bloke who actually won the championship for the marque comes in for opprobrium, whereas the even more difficult personality of Max elicits no comment whatsoever. Bizarre, whether you are a Rossi fan or not. I'm not an anyone fan. I just like seeing the spectacle that is the world'd top riders seemingly doing the incredible on two wheels. It's not as if I'm going to start putting up posters like a 12 year old.
A good point Glid, Max is another in the love him or hate him stable. Although I can't say exactly why he's one I never took to. Strange how we love some and loathe others isn't it?
I don't know. I watch the races, try to ignore any commentary that annoys me or which doesn't seem relevant and then turn off the TV when the result of the race is known. Now, I gather that Casey Stoner complains a lot? I've never heard him complain. I've never heard any of the riders complain. The most I get to hear from them is the occasional podium-place PR burble after a race. To be honest, that's about as much as I care to hear from this guys. Am I missing much? :tongue:
Rossi can do that too... View attachment 11238 Only difference is he's won many more world championships...
That's hardly Rossi's fault though, any more than it is Hayden's, Melandri's, or anyone else since the 800 era. Stoner could ride it, sure, but that may become Ducati's undoing; their insistence that there's nothing wrong with the bike cos Stoner could ride it could scupper them for years to come.
I agree. Surely all the others can't be wrong? And Ducati seemingly aren't listening. They could be playing mind games though. We'll see soon enough.
