<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ToniElias @ May 9 2007, 07:43 AM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>
<u>Hayden didn't beat him</u>. Rossi beated himself. Rossi knows Hayden is very<u> inferior</u> compared to him. I m ean, Hayden won <u>because Rossi</u> fell so many times. He didn't really beat Rossi on merit, and Rossi knows that.
ToniElias (ah, please, can you change your name to something like:
Toni is God, or
Toni the Best (if you don’t want to get spiritual) or something like that? Not that I don’t like ToniElias, but it’s freaking me out addressing you like that. (Note to mods: Please ban/reserve all proper actual names of the racers and reserve them for the actual real-life racers themselves. I mean, wouldn’t it be weird if my forum handle was: <u>Nicky Hayden</u>? Yes, I love the guy, but I’m just saying, if ever he wants to become a member here, shouldn’t he at least be given first dibs on his own name?)
Anyway, may I address you as TE from now on? (It just feels better, no disrespect to your clever and uniquely conceived forum name.) So TE, (that’s you), I have read your well-crafted posts and have smiled with enthusiasm, I love that you make no excuses for
“hating” a guy. And surely, there is a bit of redeeming quality about saying, yeah, “I hate”. It’s much better than the ..... footing around the fact that some people try to hide that they “love” their guy. I mean who are they kidding, but you, there is no kidding, (oops did I say ‘kid’) sorry no pun intended, but as I was saying, I can see the merit (
though it be the size of a nat’s ...) of you coming right out and saying,
“I hate Rossi”. But TE,
it seems you think Hayden didn’t win the 06 championships, but rather got it based on Rossi’s misfortune. Well, after reading your posts, it seems like you don’t like Rossi too much, at least from my humble prospective, correct me if I’m wrong, that’s the vibe I’m getting. But perhaps subliminally, you really do like him (maybe?). Let me explain, I noticed you made a gay reference when you chastised another member for their disagreement with your view. I can appreciate wit (
insinuating a guy as a ... is super-duper enormously witty), but it kinda reminded me of this famous preacher we had here in the States that was going all Nazi on homosexuals, talking about how he “
hates gays”, then it turned out he was caught red handed getting his .... packed by another guy (sorry for the visual). The point here is this, your views about Rossi may be blinding your appreciation for Hayden’s accomplishment.
You seem to lend credit to Rossi’s misfortune rather than Hayden’s hard fought performances throughout the long season. Which if you think about it for a moment,
it’s like you’re giving Rossi props rather than Hayden props for his achievement; that’s weird cuz in a way, it like you are saying it was all about Rossi. And being that you “hate” the guy so much, it’s just weird I thought I’d point that out in a gay kinda way.
Anyway TE,
I am certainly not a fan of Rossi. All you have to do is read my posts (the ones with only 8K words, far less than yours, but I promise to increase my output), but you will see, I’m definitely not rooting for Rossi. I totally agree with the lame excuse making for Rossi that you have so eloquently exposed, but I was dishearten, dismayed, and frankly amused to see that you employed the exact red herring tactic that many of those Rossi-worshiping fans you are going ape .... on used to discredit Hayden’s title win. TE, believe it or not, there are some Rossi fans on here, don’t confuse them with the Rossi-worshipers;
but don’t make the same mistake by coming off as an Elias-worshiper yourself. It’s this type of person that can’t give credit, where credit is due. And at this moment, your comments giving Rossi the credit for what Hayden earned smells like you’ve visited the same store that worshipers purchase their incense to burn on the tabernacle.
Here is what I found on Google:
It turns out that Hayden was able to manage a pretty consistent season at the front. He podiumed at every track in the first third of the season and a few more throughout the season, managed to win a couple of times, and went into the final rounds as a contender to the championship. That’s what riders hope for; that is, a chance to earn the title. And how do they do it? By racking up the points by virtue of performance over a season. Sure there are misfortunes. Take for example; Elias took out Rossi (for which Elias graciously apologized). But Rossi also faltered in Valencia due to rider error.
Was Rossi unlucky to crash his bike on his own? It sure seems like this is what you were suggesting.
Now the worshiper look at this and say, you see, Hayden won by luck. <u> But the reality is, in both these examples, Hayden was on the podium</u>, so the question becomes,
how did Hayden get on the podium, by luck? If that’s what you think,<u> then are you prepared to say Elias beat Rossi by “luck” in Portugal?</u>
So how did Elias get on the top step of the podium? Perhaps he got lucky? I guess you can make a case that Elias got lucky, if you say that Rossi was unlucky not to get a good drive out of that last turn.
If you think Elias got lucky, then on whose account, Rossi? Perhaps on account of Roberts? As for me, I’m more comfortable saying
Elias earned that win,
as I say Hayden earned that title. There are those that have characterized Elias’ win as <u>lucky (and
in that way belittle the accomplishment</u>), since it seems it was a one-of-a-kind performance. But I look at it like this; the race is a microcosm of a season; one race has several laps, one season has several rounds. Things happen in that race as the laps progress. There are moves and counter moves, a race strategy plays out throughout the race. It was interesting to find on Google, that there were several lead changes in that race in Portugal 06. You may even recall (I couldn’t so I looked it up on the web) and found that on the last two laps, the podium that was to be could have been completely different since it was Roberts who lead the penultimate lap at the line. And according to Google, it turns out
Roberts made a mental mistake and thought he had won the race (he admitted to this in the post race interview). Now imagine that. Roberts would have won that race if he had not made a
mistake!
So was Elias lucky because Robert’s memory and focus failed him at that split moment and made a mistake? In other words,
did Roberts decide Elias’ fate? That is the question. If you say yes, then you admit, Elias was just lucky, and you throw out the stellar performance he made to win lap after lap. Likewise,
did Rossi decide Hayden’s fate in the 06 season? That is the question. My answer to both these questions is,
NO—Elias’ focus on the moment, performance lap after lap, and willingness not to give up even in the final moments of the race where he was in P2 at the start of the final turn, earned him that win. What was the margin of victory? .004 seconds! (Well at least that’s what I found on Google). As a matter of fact, the commentator mentioned, oops, I meant, I read, that this was the closest ever margin of victory in the history of the sport. It may seem lucky to some people, winning something to a very small margin, but that is the difference between wining and losing sometimes. As was the case for Hayden. Yes it was a very small margin of victory to the championship, 5 points, that’s all. But
to say he got there by luck, or to say he got there due to somebody else’s unluckiness is really the greatest form of disrespect I can think of shown to a competitor. And based on your posts, you have campaigned to expose such biases. Think about it, especially these riders who make split decisions under tremendous pressure at 200 miles per hour plus; and frankly put their lives on the line to achieve the sport’s ultimate glory. And at times, <u>these risks, are effected by mistakes of fellow riders</u> (
I don’t think I have to remind you of that this month),
which make their accomplishments that much more <u>magnificent!</u>
So please TE,
give credit, where credit is due. Hayden’s title was certainly
earned.
Rossi did not decide Hayden's fate of winning the title; it was decided by his consistently excellent performances an entire season. It was neither lucky nor unlucky circumstances;
it was decided by an extraordinary determined effort backed up by solid results. Just like I don’t think Elias’s win was "lucky" because Roberts may have been unlucky to make a mistake on the last laps, or Rossi unlucky not to have a great drive out of the final corner. Likewise, Rossi's mistake in Valencias didn't decide the fate of Hayden, for he still had to podium to win the title, which is not that easy to do in MotoGP.
Hayden <u>earned</u> his title and right to be called World Champion of MotoGP in 2006.
