AMA is boring

watched the ama races in virginia the other day and i couldnt help but realize how boring it was. i dont know if its just me but it didnt seem like the other riders were pushing hard enough. other than mladin and spies (who both should definetely  move up  to motogp) the weekend seemed like a total disappointment. now i know the gp is the same thing with rossi eating up the wins, but at least you can expect some aggression from the other riders. even the presenters seemed boring, except during the commericial brakes where they would actually stay quite and remark on some interesting facts (lap times, movement, future of mfgers at ama, etc). i'm not saying the predicatablity of ama made it boring, i'm saying that the other 36 riders were pointless. any thoughts? something i'm missing?  

I agree I have the same problem I watch because hearing the engine revs and watching them helps me learn stuff. But everytime I watch the riders in the back they seem like their on a weekend cruise. Especially lapped riders sitting straight up not even trying to come in first place. I canyon carve harder than some of those guys go on the track and there is 100 foot drop offs if you lose the corner.Second, even on a good race where everyone is running good fast freddie spencer and dave despain are the worse announcers. They have no passion for the sport broadcasting. When you watch world superbike motogp those announcers get into it they get lost in whats going on and they sound like you feel pumped up. Plus ama footage should be called the mladdin show becuase no matter where he is thats all your gonna watch. In the other races if there is a battle going on in 15th place they're watching it and they know the riders in ama if your not factory they don't know you. But I still watch so I can get ideas on corner entry tuck position but the coverage is so lame they wonder why people don't like motorcycle racing in america how can you be bored with such technical racing and excited with nascar all they are is drag cars on a circle track but look at everything they have for it pay per view 5 channels that it airs on motorcycles got nothing.  

Quote:

---

watched the ama races in virginia the other day and i couldnt help but realize how boring it was. i dont know if its just me but it didnt seem like the other riders were pushing hard enough. now i know the gp is the same thing with rossi eating up the wins, but at least you can expect some aggression from the other riders.

---

Well, I think you might be missing something....  Or several things...

Since you are talking about Mladin and Spies, we'll stick with AMA Superbikes.  

Factory teams.  There are only 3.  Suzuki, Honda, and Ducati.  8 full factory bikes.  That is it.  The Yoshimura crew might be 2nd to none when it comes to set up and prep work.  And the new GSXR is an awesome machine.  This year American Honda decided to build their own bikes.  They got a late start.  Miguel finished 3rd at VIR I think, so they are coming along.  But the season is over.  Hopefully they'll be more competitive next season.  Ducati also has a good bike, and good riders.  Bostrom is only really good (unbeatable?) at 2 tracks (Pikes Peak and California Speedway if I remember correctly).  I still think he should be on a 4....  Hodgeson (sp?) is a very good rider.  All of these tracks are new to him.  Expect better things next year.  

So what does all that mean?  Mladin, Spies, Yates all have a headstart on everyone else in the padock.  I think they are what, like 1st, 2nd, and 4th in the championship.  And Spies is close.  Suzuki is that good this year.  They also have Mladin who seems to train and practice harder than anyone.  His race craft is and has been better than everyone else for several years now.  The other riders need to step up to where he is at.

And then you have maybe 5 or 6 bikes that are semi-factory or have some factory support.  Mladin has a rider here, McCragle?  Jordan has a team, Attack Kawasaki....  These people might crack the top 5 once in a while.  They are a little down on power and have less refined bikes.  Is the talent as good as the factory riders?

The rest of the bikes are priveteers riding older Superbikes, or more likely, their Superstock bikes.  Some of these people are 'up and coming' riders.  But they are on non-competive bikes.  They just don't have the money/resources to compete.  Being on a bike that can't win doesn't mean that they aren't trying.  They might have just 1 or 2 sets of tires that have to get them thru the weekend--practice sessions, qualifying, and the race.  But they fill the grids.  Who'd want to watch a race with only a dozen bikes running around?  On TV it wouldn't matter since they tend to follow the leaders, but in person it would suck.

And agression from the MotoGP riders?  When and where?  There are only 4 or 5 people that run with Rossi, and they seem incapable of doing it every weekend.  To be fair, I think everyone whether they are in 30th place in AMA Superbike or 15th in MotoGP pushes as hard as they think they can safely go.

I'll be back when I come up with more.  


Chris  

Dude you had better get off the couch and go to an actual race before you say things like "I canyon carve harder than those guys go" because if you believe that you are some kind of diluted.
And stop hating Dave Dispain, he does wind tunnel, it's Fast Freddie and Brian Drebber.  

i have to agree with about everything that was written. however, i didnt say that motogp was boring. just ama. i'll admit, i dont know much about the ama because i'm rather new to the whole thing, but it doesnt hurt to ask. for example, i didnt know that ama was dominated by factory (?) teams and the rest were "privateers" looking for their chance. with that in mind, that still makes ama a beginer's paradise where proffessionals shouldn't stay in ama for too long, ie mladin, duhamel, etc. they should make that leap up to motogp where (i think) all the teams are professionally supported with money, technicians, factory etc. and the competition is tighter. rossi, is amazing, i never said he wasnt. i was comparing his domination to mladin's in ama. but i think that rossi is the better because of the competition in motogp, whereas mladin only has competition from less than 5 riders.

also like 2005TiZX10R said, only 3 (?) teams are fully supported by the factory in ama.

agression in motogp? a lot of aggression. that aggression sometimes spills over in wrecks, but if thats the case then more than 4 or 5 riders keep up with rossi in points and on the track.

i might be speaking out of my ass, but please excuse me, as i have just recently got into the motorcycle community.  

Well, I don't believe that any series is boring if you are interested in it.  I follow and watch both AMA and MotoGP.  I know most of the riders (not personally.   but have met and talked to a few at Road America over the years), and the bikes, so I find them exciting.  Conversely, I don't really know much about WSB.  I don't like the spec tire rule, so it is boring to me....  It is road racing, so I should give it a chance...

The AMA is not a beginner series.  And like other professional sports, there is only so much room at the top.  And there is only so much money to throw around...  I am sure that ever rider aspires to race MotoGP, but there are only 22 or so bikes in the field.  And how much turn over is there in MotoGP?  A lot of riders get stuck on non-competitive bikes just to be 'in the show', but have talent and get a second (or third) chance with a different team and bike.  And riders often have a choice on their future.  Say you are Mladin, dominating the AMA.  Suzuki offers you a 2 year ride on their un-competitive MotoGP bike, with a 100% pay raise.  What would you do?  Stay in the AMA and win races?  Or take the money and struggle for top 10?  I think Mladin would have more interest in WSB, where he can ride the more than competitive GSXR1000.  There is also some politics in MotoGP.  A lot of riders need to have or bring some sponsers with them to the series....  That has something to do with why you have certain riders in the field even though they've never won a race--they have oil or tobacco money....

And MotoGP isn't much different than any other series.  You have 3 or 4 guys that can win races any given weekend.  Another 5 or 6 that if the planets allign can challenge for a podium, and maybe with a little luck win.  And then you have the rest who have no chance, or are luck to crack the top 10.  These last dozen or so are kind of like the privateer in the AMA, they are grid filler.  And follow the money, those are the teams that are at the front of the races--Repsol, Camel, Movie Star Honda, and Gaulosis (sp?) Yamaha.  They spend the most money, they have the best results...  Unless it rains...    Then you have 2nd tier teams like Kawasaki, Ducati, Suzuki, and a few more satelite Yamaha and Honda teams.  They spend less, have less competitive bikes and fight for the last of the top 10 spots.  There are some very good riders here--KR JR, Hopkin, Nakano, etc...  The bikes just aren't there yet.  And then you have the teams with barely enough money to run--Blata, WCM, Proton.  15th is a good result for these guys.  I'd argue that the competition is about the same as in the AMA.  You have battles all over the track, and only a few that run up front...  Just like the AMA.  It's not like KR JR, Caparossi, Nakano mix it up with Biaggi, Rossi, Gibernau, Hayden, etc. every weekend.  Rossi only has 3 or 4 guys to contend with, kind of like Mladin.    And competition is where you find it.  I find both series to be entertaining, but I don't see MotoGP as being more competitive than any other series.  If it was, you'd see more people running up front and winning; not just Rossi, Gibernau, Melandri, Biaggi, etc....  Look at the points.  Rossi by a mile and then 5 or 6 guys battling for second.  Mladin wrapped it up yesterday, but the points were closer, and it went to the last race...  

And the agression leading to wrecks...  All motorsports has a certain level of attrition.  But I don't believe that the MotoGP races would be any tighter if there were no crashes.  Well it might be a little, but Rossi would still have an 80 or 90 point lead at this point.  I guess, just because you crash once in a while doesn't mean that you can run up front.  Not all teams and bikes are equal....

And hey, don't worry about talking out of you ass, we all do it from time to time.    And welcome to the motorcycling community.  


Chris  

Quote:

---

And competition is where you find it.  I find both series to be entertaining, but I don't see MotoGP as being more competitive than any other series.  If it was, you'd see more people running up front and winning; not just Rossi, Gibernau, Melandri, Biaggi, etc....  

---

Quote:

---

Look at the points.  Rossi by a mile and then 5 or 6 guys battling for second.  Mladin wrapped it up yesterday, but the points were closer, and it went to the last race...  

---

I think Mladin has done everything he can do in AMA, nobody will ever top 6. He should move on and go to the motogp paddock, maybe he can try his luck against Rossi. MotoGP is the best of the best, and he has proven hes the best in AMA, like him or not.  

ok, can we agree that ama is full of suzukis and yamahas? not enough ducatis and hondas? wouldnt that by default minimize competition? if i understand it, moto sports is not just about the pilot. i guess thats why i find motogp more appealing than ama. i havent seen a practice or qualifying session once on tv (dont know, but it might be schedule). whereas, motogp, these guys promote the *** out of the practice sessions (2nd session).

like other professional sports, there is only so much room at the top

i'll agree with that. but thats the point of sports in general.

and if i was mladin, i would take the pay raise, go to motogp on an uncompetitive bike from suzuki for two years and prove myself. and if it is true that mladin's skills are amazing then i would be able to push into the top 10 at least half of the races. and because of the politics, that would prove that the bike was junk   and at the end of the contract he would be looking for a new team that can provide him with what he needs. besides, the suzuki teams in motogp need a good rider. look at hayden last year, hardly anything. i'd say that this year he's improved. mladin wouldnt have problems with the sponsors, because of his domination in ama. and i think that if spies continues at the pace he's at, then his future is at motogp, or he'll end up like duhamel and mladin.  

Doesn't quite work that way. Politics and sponsorship demands of MotoGP make securing a ride very difficult unless you are aligned with a sponsor or have the right citizenship.

Mladin would also most likely take a pay cut to move to another series, including GP. It is said he is already more highly paid than just about any rider in GP with the possible exception of a select few- like Rossi and Gibernau.

Then there is a general perception on the GP grid that Superbike racers and Americans are not "good enough" for MotoGP.

Rumor has it that American Honda had to pull some serious strings at HRC to get him his seat on the factory Repsol team. Remember, Hayden talked with Yamaha before HRC came to its senses and presented him a contract.

I don't think Suzuki has ever asked Mladin to ride for them in GP. Perhaps Suzuki realizes the goldmine that is Mladin and is content on keeping him here. Setting records and racking up championships- pure bliss for marketing types as they push the winningest bike in AMA contemporary racing. The GSX-R1000.  

Quote:

---

It is said he is already more highly paid than just about any rider in GP with the possible exception of a select few- like Rossi and Gibernau.

---

As much as i'd like to see Mladin move to the GP...I'd be interested to see him in World Superbike agains some former GP "rejects"  

And hey, don't worry about talking out of you ass, we all do it from time to time.  And welcome to the motorcycling community.


Chris

I second that!
I often read a lot of fighting and B.S. but not always.  
Broom Brooomm