Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

• off the side of a mountai n in race three o n la p three (I've go t to remem ber to pass on the ins id e). See you at the races . Chris Austin austin@pe.net No race I am w rit ing to bac k up the let ter tha t was wri tten by R.W. Trigueros. While it is a good thing that PACE is doin g the best they can to expose ou r sport to the main stream aud ience, it some times distu rbs me in the fas hion they are doing it. Why is ther e a trend to d o away with the Florida dates of both supercross and motocross? Is Dayto na next? We all cannot help bu t th ink th is s in ce it is th e on ly su percross / mo tocross ev e n t left that is not run by PACE. Florida ha s so me of th e b est and fa stes t racers in th e co u n t ry (R ick y Carmi chael, Paul Cu rrie, James Stewart, Ronnie Renner - just to nam e a few ). Every weekend a t the local races the pits are fu ll. Ther e are a lot of fans and race rs wh o w an t to see t h e be s t in th e world race in our state. PACE need s to rep rese nt all of our need s, and Florid a is one of them . Bring back some races to Florida. Chris Ma rlin Weirsdale, FL While PACE Molor Sports does handle the Supercross Series, it doesn't have anyt hing to do w ith tire A M A Nation al Motocross Championship... Editor Controversy in Colorado We were ve ry di sappoin ted w ith yo u r coverage of the AMA Superbike Na tional in Fountain , Colorad o - es pecia lly wh en you wrote that Mat Mladin had wo n a "well-deserved title." Thi s, af ter he intentiona lly thwarted Ben Bostrom's "flying lap." He wa ited for Ben to come ou t of pit row (lying in wait to ambus h) a nd then d rov e in fro nt of him to stop him from completing a normal qualifying lap. The run was destroyed. In your w ords, "Bos tro m, however, never go t the oppo rtu nity to respond (to Mlad in' s) ea r lie r la p tim e ." In ot h e r w o rd s, Bostrom wasn' t ab le to compete. This situa tion is entirely ana logous to the case wh erein Tan ya Harding's securit y gua rd wh acked Nancy Ker rigan ' s knee so that she could not co m pe te in the Olymp ics. In that case, Harding was ba nned fro m th e sport fo r life. In th is case, Mlad in blocked Bostr om so that he cou ld not compete in his last qualifyi ng lap. For th is, Mlad in shou ld recei ve a similar fate. At the minim um, he should .have bee n disqualified fro m com peting in that race (essentia llv, what he did to Ben in the qu alifying .~sion), and then the chi ps let fall wh ere they may for the ti t le - with Ml adin ge tting o n ly th e poin ts he earned prior to the incident. Based on you r coverage, it see ms that Mlad in's compla in ts abou t the Vance & Hine s tea m were not vali d . Th e AMA race official was quo ted as saying , "no ru les we re broken." In other wo rd s, Ben didn 't d e serve th is u n sportsm a n li ke treatment. And w here w as the AM A in a ll of th is? Losing a point for pole was a slap on the wrist. Compare that wit h bein g ba nn ed for lif e . Mladin s ho u ld ha ve been di squa lified , a nd Ben shou ld have been able to rerun his "flying lap." Two considera tions any govern ing bod y has to make in meti ng out punishment are: is it a ppro pria te for the act commit ted, and is it eno ug h to d eter future acts of the sa me ilk? Losing one point for barring a com petitor fro m competing seems like ve ry sma ll pu nishme nt ind eed. So don't be su rp rised if the tactic is tried agai n. You' ll not ice that no o ne else in ice s ka ti ng has tri ed w hacki ng kn ees again. W he n I sa w Mlad in gesturi ng a nd celebrating w innin g the title, it mad e me sick. How does he like bei ng in the same com pany with Tanya Harding's goo ns? I hope he li kes livi ng wit h it. Th at ' s what he's done for himsel f. Ji m Rob inson San Rafa el, CA Comparin}1 Mladin's actions wilh a blatant spite the act of violt'nct' is a bit extreme. De controtx rsu of the final qualifyi ng session of the season, It,' '11 still argu e that M ladin 's title was ux ll-deseroed... Editor. Still not motorc ycle news? Jeff Emig ge tting fired from Kawa sa ki is mo to rcycl e news to the mo torcyclin g world becau se h e wa s fir ed fr o m a motorcycle racing team - not beca use he smoked pot. His personal judgement to smoke wh en he knew he might be tested is no more than foolish. Surely, Kawasaki used this as an excuse to do wh at they a lrea dy wan ted to d o . Th e exp la ined re as on (p o t) is a p riva te , no t pub lic iss u e , a nd s ho ul d h av e rem ain ed betwee n Jeff and Ka wasaki. N ews, as being practiced toda y, is no t more th a n sensationali sm to grab .ou r limited and eager focu s for a brief Shane Walts (right) and his mechanic, Steve Kuzko moment. In an era whe re everything is "news" and far too man y of our society don ' t ha ve a "life ," we seek a nyth ing that w ill fill the p er son a l void . No t to mentio n th at ne ws reporters are not interested in keepin g us informed , but onl y in g e ne ra ti ng in com e - t he a lm ig h ty d oll a r. Th e re fo re , in thi s atmosphere, the right to privacy is held near a nd dear to my heart. Man y of us migh t appreciate th is, one d ay, wh en we (God forbid ) make a mistak e. In a recent Cycle Neios, Wad e Wa llace of Gr een wood , Ind iana, w ro te, "I wo nder w he re a ll the Kur t Liebm an n de fen de rs will be now th at a n o t h e r mo to rcycle hero stands on the brink of trouble ." Well , Wad e, I'm right here. And I will continue to be a defender of Kurt Lieb man n and a n vo ne e lse who ha s h is priva te lif e bar'e d in a publi c fo ru m . And I will su p por t Jeff Em ig whe n he is handled har shl y for such an infractio n. Hell, we elected a President wh o smoked pot , and are abou t to elect another one who has do ne cocaine . Back to squa re one. What they do is the ir bu sin ess. Ho w they do their jobs and relate to the rest of us is our business. In your com mentary, 'Wade, you stated: " ...an d that ma y be non e of m y bu si ness..." Guess what, Wade? You're right. Mike Cecch ini Beth esda, MD Sin ce Cecchini , the editor of Bimota News USA , contim lt'S to rehash the issue, we can report th at Liebmann pleaded gu ilty 011 Oclober 12 10 child elldangamenl and will /1e sentenced 10 a five-year prison term next mO lllh. "He (Lieblllallll) admits toha! he did was wrollg, and now he's able 10 put thai behind him ,' Liebmanll 's attorll cy Robert Galantu cci was qu oted as sayillg ill tilt' Bergen Record ... Editor Good Watts I recently had the pleasure of meetin g Shane Watts. I was very imp ressed - not just by his fantas tic ridi ng ability, but by his person ality. He an d all the people he b rou gh t with h im w e re , w it ho u t a doub t, the nices t individuals I had ever met. If all the riders were as pleasa nt as th is g ro u p of Aussics . m ot orcycl in g would benefit greatly. KTM has land ed a winner in more ways than one. Bruce Pat e rooster400@ aol.com Letters to the editor sh ou ld b e se n t to Voi ces , Cycl e N e ws, P.O. Box 5084, Cos ta Mesa, CA 92628-5084, faxed to 714/75 1-6685 or e - maile d 10 edito r@ cy cle n ews. co m. Publi sh ed le tters do not ne cessa ril y refl ect th e po siti on of Cycl e News, Inc. Letters s houl d not exceed 200 words and all letters are s ubj ect to ed iti ng. Ano nymo us letters will not be con sid ered for publica tio n. All le tte rs should contain the writer's name, a ddress and da ytime p ho ne nu mber.. . Editor. g: a> -: N Q; ..c o U o 5

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