Dear Ping,
While I admittedly enjoy your timely one-liners in the moto broadcasts, I can't help but wonder why there is never any continual excitement in ANY of the announcers' voices. The broadcasts for both supercross and the outdoor series come across as drab and slightly boring, when anybody that rides knows how crazy fast these guys are and how hard this wonderful sport truly is. I have to admit that even as annoying as a Canadian accent can be (haha), the guys that announce the Canadian outdoor series on Speed are GREAT! It is almost like they are slightly drunk and working on a three-day bender, but they are genuinely enthused and it is hilarious. I don't know who half of the guys in that series are, but they still make it well worth watching. Peace my fellow "elder short rider."
Jarrett

Dear Jarrett,

photo: Simon Cudby

The reason the Canadian announcers sound like they are slightly drunk and on a three-day bender is possibly because maybe they ARE slightly drunk and on a three-day bender. And it works for them. But short of actually being drunk, commentating with that kind of zeal for an entire program would come off cheesy and fake. Let’s face it: When RC has checked out and leads by almost a minute, there isn’t usually a whole lot to get fired up about. I’ll tell you what … when I’m ready to quit doing color commentary forever, I’ll take a bottle of Jagermeister into the studio with me and go all Canuck for you. You’ll know it when you hear it.
PING

I write this e-mail to thank Ping for his colorful commentating and great outbursts when a rider is taking a chance or a near crash. The more real racers they have doing this, the more exciting it is to watch. When a rider almost crashes and you hear the same “wow!” or “HOLY F_____!” that translates into the TV. I have been watching Moto-X for a long time, and thank god for TIVO because I never miss anything. The comments are great, and if OLN tells you to slow down or less outbursts, they're really missing the boat on commentating the most dangerous sport on earth. We're jumping all over the couch watching these races and appreciate the reasoning why someone parks a guy in the corner. They should show the scuffles in the pits, also. It was great in the old days when the boys used to really scrap. Keep up the good work! They should get rid of all the girls and stick with hardcore racer commentary. Have the boss call me if you need anything.
South Florida Moto-X
Yam 450F

Dear Yam 450F,
I think you need to talk to Jarrett, the guy that wrote the previous letter, and decide whether or not I am showing enough enthusiasm. If there’s one thing I’ve learned already, it’s that we aren’t going to please everyone. For every person that tells me they laughed at my silly remarks, there is another person saying that I’m an idiot and that I should just call the racing. One guy says to sound more excited and another says that it is nice to have someone that isn’t shouting at them through the television. I don’t know what to tell you, pal. I’m just going to keep being myself and doing the shows the way I enjoy doing them. If people like it then maybe I’ll stick around. If I suck then they’ll tell me it and I’ll move on. Thanks for the thoughts.
PING

Hey man, I was just thinking it would be funny if in your broadcasts you started calling the Lites class the "Natty Lites." Also, thought it would be pretty funny to throw in a couple bar-to-bar references in there as a tribute to the man, the myth, the legend, Art Eckman.
Izzy Stratland. Wentzville, MO

Dear Izzy,

Larry Naston photo: Simon Cudby

Somehow I don’t think the AMA would get a kick out of me making fun of the names they chose for the classes of racing. But believe me, I’ve thought about it. I’ve even thought about ripping off a few Huffman quote classics like “He’s on him like a dog on a mailman’s leg” or “He’s all over him like Russian radiation” or “This guy's tougher than a two-dollar steak” or “He flew past that rider like a snake-oil salesman in the night” or “This guy is slicker than a mayonnaise sandwich.” But maybe I’ll just come up with a few of my own instead. Naston, Huffman, Maiers, Despain, and Eckman were all great announcers, but I need to make my own way. And I’m surprised at how few people got the asparagus comment. I don’t know what to tell you; it really makes my pee smell bad. I guess you can’t knock them all out of the park.
PING