Ping,
Having followed the sport for many years now, I think I’m up on all the moto terminology, even the latest lingo like; deep field, step it up, balls out, and rain yellow doesn’t faze me.
Yet, one buzzword of 2013, which seems to be the most important term in our sport at the moment, that I need clarification on is: sponsor activation. Could you please explain? Plus, just for fun could you weigh in with some of your favorite moto lexicons from this past season?
Sincerely,
“There’s a drug ring inside of MX Sports”
Drug Ring,
I’ve always been a big fan of Kenny Watson’s B-to-B gibberish. I’m not exactly sure what he’s talking about but he speaks of it with great enthusiasm. My biggest pet peeve comes via podium speeches [shocker] and it happens with almost comedic regularity. Several riders, our national champion included, commit an egregious blunder when trying to thank their sponsors. They are making an effort to say, “I can’t thank so-and-so enough for all the help.” But they just start with, “I can’t thank…” and then go into a list of sponsors but forget to put “enough” at the end of the sentence. So they end up just saying that they can’t thank their sponsors. Ugh.
Also, I’ve also started my own drinking game where I pound a bottle of water at the A1 press conference every time a rider or media member explains that you can’t win the series at the first round but you CAN lose it. I almost peed myself three times and sent myself into kidney failure last January.
Sponsor Activation? It’s a buzzword created by some marketing nerd who worked his way into the sport despite never having ridden a dirt bike. It simply means letting the team sponsors get involved with interactive displays at the events. Unfortunately, series sponsors like Monster have, at times, been strict about what a team’s sponsor can and can’t do in the pit area. That struggle for activation keeps many a marketing nerd at their desk until late into the night working on nerdy solutions to these problems. Poor nerds.
PING
Dear Ping,
I was wondering why some guys have so much more success in the premier class than they do in the lites class. Some riders that have really stepped it up have been Matt Goerke, Malcolm Stewart, and Zack Freeberg has been killing it! I know there's a lot of talk about how big they are and the 450 suits them better because of the weight to power ratio, but is there any other factors that play a role in their success?
- David
David,
Riding a 450 is a much different game than riding a 250. Some riders have a style that just suits the bigger bike and others are just Mongo-sized Cro-Magnon men who are too big to fit on a little bike. All of the riders you listed are pushing 200 lbs, or over it. When you start to look more like Dick Butkis [sorry for the old-timey reference, I’m a little out of the football loop] than a supercross rider you are going to have more luck on a bigger bike. Also, starts are a big deal and when a guy thinks he’s too big to get a start, whether he is or is not, he isn’t going to get good starts. On the 450 he’ll at least go back to thinking he has a chance at a holeshot.
PING
Dear Pingo Lingo
What up? Not much? Cool... Well so I was just reading this weekly thing called "Between The Motos" article at Racer X Online focusing on these year's USA Des Nations Team by interviewing each of the members when suddenly at the end of the text a wild extra bonus interview appears. The author asked this year's host country team member Ken Roczen what he thought about his team members (Mr. DeCoster as manager and RD as fellow team mate) racing against him in his country. Well K-Roc seem pretty excited but not so much for the race but for taking out to dinner his main rivals to some "cool restaurants" (Those were his words).Did Tony Cairoly invite RD5 last year to play X-Box? (I heard Tony lives near Lommel) Considering of course, that Roczen's main rival right now is Tomac. I think that was nice from our friendly german racer.
Thanks!
Walking MX/SX History Enciclopedia:
Pol de la Vega Minajaya
Chihuahua, Chihuahua Mexico!!!
Chihuahua,
Hola, amigo. Ken is definitely one of the more laid-back riders in the sport and he has shown a great deal of sportsmanship. His offer to take his competitors out to a meal in Germany is something that you probably won’t see too much of, especially here in the States. I’m sure if Roczen came to the fantastical province of Chihuahua you would take him out for a chimichanga and show him how to mule a few kilos of blow across the border inside your poop chute. That’s just good, Mexican hospitality. Tip your hat to Ken Roczen; he’s setting a good example for generations of young racers across the world.
PING
Have a question for Ping? Email him at ping@racerxonline.com.
