Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·V ICE . O S··. America's weekly motorcycle newspaper Letters to the ea rtor:. Touche When I first read the in terview with Jeff Em ig (Is s u e #2 , January 18 ), I was shocked at h is co mments concerning myseU. For one thing, I know of Jeff Emig, but d o no t know him personally nor do I feel he knows me. My 'fe w brief encounters with h im were superficial and in group environments. As for Jeff supposedly knowing what I have done with m y finances or where I have chosen to spend my mon ey (by the way Jeff, I own tw o video cameras) is still a mystery to me. One lesso n I have learned fro m past cha mpions w ho made th e m ista ke of " blo wing" th e m on ey they ea rned in racing, is tha t it certain ly becom es a lot harder to come by whe n you enter the "real world " a n d h a ve to ge t a ' " re al job." Ironically, Jeff, it's funny how the same people who I selected to show me ho w to "p inch a penny ou t of m y ass" a re n o w the same p e op le w ho Ric k Johnson, Jeff Stanton , Jere my McGrath, Mike Kiedrow ski and ma ny m ore use for fina ncial gui dance. For Team Yamaha's sake Jeff, I wish you luck in the 1995 season. Finally to address one mor e of your comments, "I think Broc was kinda like me." No, Mr. Emig, I wasn't like you. By the time I was your age, I had won five of my six National Championships for Team Yamaha. Brae Glover San Diego, CA Outraged I am completely outraged over Dave Despain's demise as an on-air personality for Seals Communications' cable productions. The "In The Wind" article in th is publication a few weeks a go, in which Lou Seals said that Dave Despain .:'may or may not" be in their pl ans for 1995 pretty m uch put the hand w ritin g on the wa ll. However, I rem ained hopeful that Seals wo uld no t make the huge mistake of canning Despain. Clearly, the two-talking-heads form at for MotoWorld in recent weeks w as not wo rking, and it was obvious to me that Art Eckman was th e liability and not Despain. In m y opinion, Dave Despain is nothing short of a national treasure as far as moto rsports broadcasting is concerned. The guy is fun, extremely likab le, and h is enthusiasm for motorcycl ing is as obvious as it is con ta giou s . Even m y wife, who must share her husband with his ra bi d obsession for b ikes , enjoyed watching Da ve do h is th in g on th e weekly broad ca s ts of MotoWorld, a s well as the seasonal G rand Prix ro ad racing and Grand National Dirt Track coverage. Dave Despain brought fring e viewers to Lou Seals ' programming. He hel ped th e sport grow b e cau se he appeals to even those u nenlightened folks who haven't yet discove red why we love bikes so much. A plasticized automaton like Art Eckman jus t can 't make that ha p pen. I'll still tune in , of course. Even Gilbert Gottfried as an ancho r couldn 't ge t me to stop watchin g Mot oWorid . Lo u Seals should thank his lucky stars that motorcyclists are such a loyal group. But, as for expand ing th e v iewers hip for h is motorcycle prod uctions airing on ESPN , in my opinion , it ain 't gonna happen . I know Dave Desp ain . Dave Despain is a "friend" o f m in e . Art Ec kman is n o Dave Desp ain. At least I'll be abl e to enjoy seeing Dave on NASCAR Tod ay, eve n thou gh we a ll (i ncl u di ng Da v e ) know tw o w hee ls are wa y better than four. Sean P. Rice Raym ond, NH Supercross problems The following observations were made after a ttending the O rl a n d o Supercross and are not mine a lone; many of the enthusiasts I've ta lked to agree on these issu es . I hope this will give the manufacturers, race promoters and the racers some insight into what the fans are thinking. Greg Albertyn is a first-class indi vidual. After anticipating his arrival on the U.S. motocross scene for the last couple of years, it was finally a ple asure to see th is gifted a th lete rid e his Suzuki RM. Though the ride was cut short by a crash and subsequent sep a ra ted s hou lder, Greg answered his cri tics, d emonstratin g th e spee d in d o o r s tha t he ha s . proven to have outdoors. Mo re importantly, Greg can only be considered an asset to the Suzuki team. I say this after meeting him on two different occasions and witnessing him int era cting in a sincere way with m y ch ild ren and other fans wa iting to meet him . At no time did he appear to be rushed or impatien t. He is a true ambassa do r to this gr eat sport. Welcome to America , Greg - and please get well soon. I hop e to see yo u in Atlanta and Gainesv ille. Larry Ward rod e an excellent race in which he fin ished a w ell -deserved th ird place. But w hy, may I ask , was his position on the p od ium tai n ted by rem a rks from the announcers (Larry Ma iers , I believe), who said tha t laRocco must have been hurt or there must have been something wrong with his KX, because Wa rd had passed him. Larry Ward has won a Su p e r cr o s s m a in even t and has had m an y other podium finishes. His third place in Orlando was due to the fact th at he w as the thi rd -fas test rider on the track tha t ev ening - not because LaRocco was suffering difficulties. Please give credit where credit is due. One other correction for t he announcers: Tim Ferry di d not come ou t of nowhere to win the 12Scc main even t in Orlando. Tim was th ir d in the Eas t Coast standings last year and appeared on the podium in O rlando wi th a thirdp lace finis h. W ho is this Ms . Su p e rcross ? This woman had never eve n seen a Supercross race and didn't even know the racers by n am e. A true fan . Seriously, do the promoters and the people who ma rket this spo rt really believe the fans are u nsop h isticat ed to the p oi nt th at this d oesn 't bother them? If that's the case, then they are rea lly out of to uch with the true fans of the sport. Why d on ' t th e promoters schedule minicycle races for the in termissio n? These events are popular w ith the fans and are re lated to the sport. Even a mountain bike race would have been more entertaining than just sitting there. But keep it rela ted to the sport - and please, no mo re stupid events like the Big Wheel races . McGrath rode well and deserved his win in Orlando. What can anybody say about a gu y who will probably stake h is claim as being the greatest Supercross racer of all time. And he has a great attitude. Plu s, that nac-nac is outrageous. Thank you to ali of the racers who participated - each is a winner. Finally, it's a lw ays a pleasure to se e Buckwhea t (Bob ) Hannah at the races. William T. Co mer O rlando, FL While Larry Maiers conducted post-race interviews from thefloor of the Florid Cita rus Bow the actual race action was called l, from the press level by Larry Naston, the voice of Supercross...Editor. . ~ to ,th e ft1itor . hould be M:nl to veleee, Cycle N ~, P.O . Bo x 498 , Lons Bu ('h , C A 90806·0498 or fax e d to 3101421-6685. Published le"en do not ftecn u ril y rrfl rd: the poJition of Cyde Ne~ Inc. Lriten should nol eeeeed 200 words,and .alll~ n an au bjKl to rditing. Anonymous kttns will 1'01 be could" " for publ ication. All ldins . ho uld conuin Ihe wri ter'a namel add rna and daythne phone numbe-r ••• Editor. Kit Palmer, Associate Editor Donn Maeda, Associate Editor Chris jonnum, Associate Editor Scott Rousseau, Assistant Editor Mark Hoyer, Copy Editor Graphics and Production Ree Johnson. Production Supervisor Mandy Lao, Production ManagtT Dennis Greene, Lab. Tech. 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