Oh great and powerful Oz... er... Ping,
With the majority of millennial males choosing streaming options over cable & satellite TV, isn't the lack of a subscription streaming option for supercross reducing exposure to young people and impeding the growth of our sport? We worry about declining interest, and yet we're not providing access to our races in the way most of our younger audience prefers. The results don't appear to be more cable subscriptions, but rather fewer fans. AMA MX and MXGP are both on-board with subscription-based streaming options (both of which are excellent), but no such option in the U.S. for our most commercial series, supercross. Thanks as always for your insight, and huge props to you on your most important gig, putting out fires.
Loam Sweet Loam
Loamy,
I don’t know why there isn’t an online viewing option for supercross. Last year you could watch practice and the pre-show, but the feed cut off once the races began. As you’ve pointed out, this is about as cutting-edge as gaming with an Atari. I can’t speak for the scarf-wearing, latte-sipping millennial crowd, but I’m not always in front of a TV on Saturday night. Most of these kids feel so entitled they completely lose their shit any time their Wi-Fi isn’t at full strength, and now you’re going to tell them they have to be watching a FOX Sports feed at home? Good luck. If net neutrality or the tax break didn’t kill them, this will. I hope you’re happy, Feld.
PING
Ping-Trump-ALing:
Just saw Martin Davalos post a photo on the Insta about his practice bike looking like his race bike. Two questions with that:
- Are the bikes exactly the same, but the race bike is strictly ridden for break-in and race days only?
- What differences in feel could there be between the two (or more)?
- Is this typical of every team out there that can typically afford to do it?
- Two-strokes being allowed to race in the AMA could help privateers afford to do this as well.
As you can see, this is more than two questions, but I thought of more as I was going and we live in a free country where I can speak/do what I want.
Hope you are safe with these wildfires going on.
Sincerely,
Former KX450F Rider turned RZR XP 1000 Driver
Four-wheeler,
On a personal note, I’m saddened that you went from a dirt bike to an off-road Barbie car. Hopefully you come to your senses and sell that weenie wagon to a nice young lady next year so you can buy a new bike. Elite race teams try their best to make practice bikes feel very similar to race bikes, so the transition from one to the other is seamless. These guys spend hundreds of hours over the season (too much time, in my opinion) doing laps at the practice track on their practice machines. The power, handling and characteristics of that bike are what the riders use to set boundaries on what they can and can’t do. If you throw them on a bike that is much faster or stiffer or just different, they will struggle on race day. I’ve heard of riders preferring their practice bike over their race bike because it has a more comfortable feel to it. Riders are extremely picky at that level and they can feel even the slightest difference. Most practice bikes have engines that are 98 percent of what their race bike is. Sometimes they will forego titanium valves for steel ones to extend engine life and service intervals. Most teams also don’t outfit a practice bike with titanium bolts, either. Suspension is the same, as are all other chassis parts. I agree about 250 two-strokes—it would get a privateer team right back in the mix.
PING
Hey Ping,
Why is there always the #101 on your bikes? Is that how many gallons of ice cream you ate in one sitting? Is it how many laps it takes you to warm up at the firefighter nationals? Maybe it’s how many takes you did before being rejected for the Boogie Nights 2 movie! Must be some royalties involved from your Ping action figure days? Either way, I’m not a hater, just curious.
CM
CM,
Not a hater, huh? Well, you don’t sound like a fan, so I guess that just makes you a straight-up dickhead then. Thanks for writing in. When I finished my pro motocross career, I wanted to choose a number that I could keep for the rest of my riding days. I knew how hard I worked for every national number I got, and I didn’t want to step on the toes of any rider who earned #1-99. The #100 was reserved for visiting riders and then claimed by Josh Hansen, so I chose #101 as a sign of respect to all the racers who earned a national number. There are several foreign riders who’ve used #101 during their time here, but I’ve been running it since I retired from SX/MX back in 2003. For the record, nobody could eat that much ice cream, nobody takes 101 laps to warm up, your Boogie Nights reference doesn’t even make sense, and I was paid handsomely for my action figure from Jakks Pacific. Insert middle finger emoji here.
The Real #101
Have a question for Ping? Hit him up at ping@racerxonline.com.
