Ping
I have one question and one idea and I’ll keep it short.
I think it’s time you considered a midweek two-question article just to keep your brand visible to those who look forward to the Friday morning Ask Ping.
I get it that Wednesday at 2 am while you’re fireman-carrying some person 3 stories down the ladder out of a burning San Berdoo trailer, you’re thinking of how to pen your reply to (Fill in the blank here). Just a thought as it’s a bit of a drought midweek.
Second, what do you suppose is going to happen when a particular great rider launches his own line of riding gear and then disappears? How can you expect to grow your own brand without your mug being out there to promote it?
ECMX Mike
Mike,
You want a whole extra mid-week column? I don’t know, man, that seems like it might be excessive. Like any good drug dealer will tell you, too much isn’t good. If you OD all your clients then… you lose clients. Or, if you don’t like that analogy, it could be likened to feeding your baby too often. Sure, they scarf it down but then they get farty and leave you changing an excessive number of mushy diapers. I don’t want to deal with mushy diapers, Mike.
Regarding James Stewarts’ gear company, I don’t really know. As my friends at DMXS Radio explained on last week’s show there are 18 different brands of motocross gear currently for sale. Outside of the top five or six brands I don’t know how any of them are making enough money to stay in business. If James wants Seven to continue to exist he needs to come out of his bunker in Florida and re-connect with the fans who buy his gear.
PING
Dear Ping,
I am President of the Northern Ireland David Pingree Supports Club. The highlight of our week is 'Ask Ping'. We all think you are a total legend and as you yanks would say you’re a 'Bad Ass'. Now that’s a little weird for us Irish to say because bad is obviously the opposite of good and ass is a donkey or the large area you sit on whilst losing 4-5 pounds each morning but hey, I guess that’s the weird world we live in. Anyway, No one else can answer this for me so it's time to ask the one man who can.
I noticed that the top Red Bull and Rockstar Energy riders all participate in and support the Monster Energy Cup. But the main Monster Energy rider at the Red Bull Straight Rhythm was a retired red head with Irish Ancestry who, last I saw him, he was sliding down some rocky euro track on his ass. So Monster clearly does not Support the Red Bull Straight Rhythm by sending their best riders.
Why does Red Bull and Rockstar send their riders to the Monster Cup? If they didn’t, then fewer people would watch the Cup because it would be boring without so many top riders and Monster would not get the same advertising from the event. They’re both rival companies at the end of the day. Is it the riders who say they want to go because they want the million? Or is it the teams that want to go because it’s an opportunity to test or why do they support a rival companies one-off advertising event? Plus everyone keeps moaning that they need time off, etc. So, why go? I'm confused!
Ps, Sometime can you get in Ping Force 1 and fly over to Ireland to help make Irish motocross great again? Due to the poor price of potatoes we can no longer afford the price of these modern four-strokes and the sport Is dying.
Regards
Your Irish Friend
Ireland,
Hey, buddy, thanks for taking the lead on the support club over there. What do you have, like, three members? You know what, don’t answer that. I’ll tell people I’m the David Hasselhoff of Ireland. I think the reasons riders do the Monster Energy Cup is that it is a good warm-up race that is similar to a normal supercross, the money is good, and Feld promotes it. The RBSR, on the other hand, is unique and completely unlike a typical supercross track. I think Red Bull loves it when their riders show up and win the Monster Cup too. Marvin got Red Bull great coverage at an event that Monster paid for; that’s marketing genius! Honestly, I don’t think Red Bull or Rockstar tells their riders which events to go to or not go to, though I’m sure they encourage them to attend the Straight Rhythm to support their own event. Monster likely does the same thing—they request their riders at events they sponsor but certainly don’t tell them they can’t go to other races.
Ping Force 1 is a Toyota Corolla at the moment so getting to Ireland could be a challenge. If it helps I’ll eat more potatoes and make a spirited personal attempt to drive up the price of spuds. Cheers, pal.
PING
Ping,
Two questions I'd like to ask of someone that more in the know of current pro racing and EMT protocol. First: My question is in regard to a question asked a couple of weeks ago regarding rider safety. You said that it’s a good idea to have a sticker under the visor with blood type, allergies, contact info etc. In the ‘70s, in order to race pro, we had to have our complete medical bio and emergency contact info on a small microfiche card that was about the size of a credit card that was laminated and slid into a pocket in our leathers. We had to present this during tech inspection and if the rider had to be transported to the hospital this info was available to the doctors. I haven’t seen the pocket in "leathers" for quite a few years.
How is this information maintained by the AMA now? How would the track medical crews access it if the worse-case scenario were to occur? I'll use the example of a privateer that
is not on any team that would have his medical info at the team rig.
Is there any way that Jonny play rider can get this type of document that can be carried while they are out riding? Seems maybe a barcode scanner that would activate an app that could be accessed by medical persons might be a good idea. Sell the idea that this is another layer of protection like a jock strap with a cup.
Second: Isn’t the AMA a membership-based organization and the members should have a say in changing policy if enough want change? Like, perhaps, allowing 2-strokes to race in nationals? Seems to me they do whatever they want without regard to the members that pay the membership money to keep the organization alive. Are they like the bad condo property management that gets in there and does whatever they want even tho condo owners are paying the salary?
Mike deep in the Santee sand pits
Ping, No not that Mike
Mike,
I don’t think riders are required to fill anything out for the AMA in regards to their medical information. Even if they did, the info would be at the office in Ohio, which is closed for the weekend. Perhaps the Alpinestars Medical Unit has started a program that files all the riders medical info but I haven’t heard of it. I don’t recall the microfiche system but it isn’t a bad idea. It’s antiquated and odd to have medics digging through your pants to find info on you, but still a sound idea in concept. If every rider were required to fill out a simple medical card with the Alpinestars Unit that was kept on file, medics would have info on every rider before they were loaded in the ambulance and transported. I’ll ask if they have something like that in place.
Yes, the AMA is a member-based organization and it would be fantastic if we had a say. However, we do not. In their defense, manufacturer support of the sport is critical and Honda, Kawasaki, and Suzuki have been very clear that they wouldn’t want a straight-up 250 class because they don’t produce 250 two-strokes. If they decide to throw a tantrum and take their ball and go home, the whole sport suffers. So, the AMA, Feld, and MX Sports have to use some political tact when working through issues such as those. Personally, I would love to see a 250 class that allowed any type of 250 and comparable electric bikes. Maybe someday.
PING
Have a question for Ping? Hit him up at ping@racerxonline.com.
