Australians well know the story of Lindy Chamberlain and the death of her daughter Azaria. In hindsight the story makes total sense, but in the early days after the childs disappearance and presumed death, there was a whirlwind of media speculation about the case. It is rather ironic that this earlier drama ocurred at Uluru , the massive red monolith at the centre of Australia , and exactly the spot where todays Sydney Morning Herald speculates that Casey Stoner is hiding out while on holidays/ recuperative rest. Despite reasonable popularity in Australia , motorcycle racing rarely gets many column inches in our major newspapers. However, today I see a half page article titled "Stoner heads north, career goes south". The gist of the article is that Stoners career may be over. However , all it does is rehash all that we have heard before; namely the critical quotes by Kevin Schwantz, and speculation about the causes of his health issues. I can see it all happening now- overseas journalists will latch onto this article as further proof that the demise of Casey is near, when this article quotes overseas information. Thus we get a self-perpetuating loop of misinformation and speculation, just as we had all those years ago with Linda and Azaria Chamberlain. You see, in that earlier case, all that was found after the disappearance of the baby girl , were the torn and blood stained remnants of her clothing. Lindy claimed a dingo took her,as one was seen around the camp on numerous occasions. Rumours suggested that the mother killed her, as she belonged to an unusual religious group and she didn,t behave as they expected at media gatherings. Add to this the fact that according to some that Azaria was translated to " sacrifice in the wilderness" , and then Lindy MUST have been guilty. This story dominated the news at the time and the circular speculation got totally out of control. In no time at all, almost everybody thought she was guilty. At trial she was convicted and jailed. About 2 trials and many years later she was fully acquitted and exonerated.It was agreed that a dingo had killed her baby. All that rumour was wrong. WRONG.
Which brings us back to Casey. Here is a fellow that doesn,t communicate as well as some others and has a mystery illness with no medical confirmation. Therefore Casey must either weak as piss, a malingerer,or psyched out by the mercurial Rossi , master of motorcycling mind-games. He,s gone away, so he has either lost interest in motorcycling or is psychologically scarred by Rossi, or has had enough of being on the road in Europe. I call all of this total crap.
1) Here is a fellow who has spent most of the last 10 years living out of a caravan, trying to fulfill his dream, and now all of a sudden he is homesick? Bull!
2) Casey has also apparently lost the drive to compete any more. More bull. If any of you know anything about top sportsmen and women , it is that they BURN with a competitive streak. That competitive drive is central to their personality. it doesn,t suddenly go away.
3) Casey is psyched out by Rossi? When Casey won his championship he fought toe to toe with Rossi and was unpeturbed by Rossi,s pressure from behind, when this tactic had worked with Biaggi and Gibernau. Sure Casey seemed to make mistakes under pressure a few races last year, but no more than the number of times Rossi crashed under pressure.
4) He is wimping out and not racing when he should( Kevin Schwantz says so.) With all due respect to Schwantz, he knows ....-all about medicine, so is in no position to comment on something he can,t understand. There is little doubt that Stoner has a form of chronic fatigue. This is a complex and not yet fully understood disease. In most cases there is no laboratory confirmation and thus many people find it hard to believe that the sufferer is telling the truth. However, the condition is very real and can be extremely debilitating. It makes the patient frustrated at the lack of certainty about the severity of symptoms and the time till recovery. Rest is the only solution. Casey tried pushing through for 3 or more rounds without success. What more do you want Kevin?? I have had a form of chronic fatigue that lasted for three 2-4 month periods. I believe others here have also been affected (Keshav?) . Some can be affected for years or even decades. Hopefully Casey will recover by next year, but even that is not certain. If Ducati has been leaking information about Caseys poor support of sponsorship functions or dietary details, they are really not doing anything to help his recovery , even if there is some truth in those stories.
I believe that Casey has as strong a desire as ever to win the world championship again, still has a working relationship with Ducati and is not psyched out by Rossi. Even if chronic fatigue can be induced by pressure, it is not the same as being psyched-out or having a nervous breakdown. It is a physical condition that needs time and rest to resolve. Give the fella a break and hope that he comes back sooner than later.
Just as with Lindy Chamberlain, all the current rumours are chinese whispers gone crazy........in other words a total bunch of dogs bollocks...or Dingos doovers.
(Sorry about the length- hope it makes sense)
Which brings us back to Casey. Here is a fellow that doesn,t communicate as well as some others and has a mystery illness with no medical confirmation. Therefore Casey must either weak as piss, a malingerer,or psyched out by the mercurial Rossi , master of motorcycling mind-games. He,s gone away, so he has either lost interest in motorcycling or is psychologically scarred by Rossi, or has had enough of being on the road in Europe. I call all of this total crap.
1) Here is a fellow who has spent most of the last 10 years living out of a caravan, trying to fulfill his dream, and now all of a sudden he is homesick? Bull!
2) Casey has also apparently lost the drive to compete any more. More bull. If any of you know anything about top sportsmen and women , it is that they BURN with a competitive streak. That competitive drive is central to their personality. it doesn,t suddenly go away.
3) Casey is psyched out by Rossi? When Casey won his championship he fought toe to toe with Rossi and was unpeturbed by Rossi,s pressure from behind, when this tactic had worked with Biaggi and Gibernau. Sure Casey seemed to make mistakes under pressure a few races last year, but no more than the number of times Rossi crashed under pressure.
4) He is wimping out and not racing when he should( Kevin Schwantz says so.) With all due respect to Schwantz, he knows ....-all about medicine, so is in no position to comment on something he can,t understand. There is little doubt that Stoner has a form of chronic fatigue. This is a complex and not yet fully understood disease. In most cases there is no laboratory confirmation and thus many people find it hard to believe that the sufferer is telling the truth. However, the condition is very real and can be extremely debilitating. It makes the patient frustrated at the lack of certainty about the severity of symptoms and the time till recovery. Rest is the only solution. Casey tried pushing through for 3 or more rounds without success. What more do you want Kevin?? I have had a form of chronic fatigue that lasted for three 2-4 month periods. I believe others here have also been affected (Keshav?) . Some can be affected for years or even decades. Hopefully Casey will recover by next year, but even that is not certain. If Ducati has been leaking information about Caseys poor support of sponsorship functions or dietary details, they are really not doing anything to help his recovery , even if there is some truth in those stories.
I believe that Casey has as strong a desire as ever to win the world championship again, still has a working relationship with Ducati and is not psyched out by Rossi. Even if chronic fatigue can be induced by pressure, it is not the same as being psyched-out or having a nervous breakdown. It is a physical condition that needs time and rest to resolve. Give the fella a break and hope that he comes back sooner than later.
Just as with Lindy Chamberlain, all the current rumours are chinese whispers gone crazy........in other words a total bunch of dogs bollocks...or Dingos doovers.
(Sorry about the length- hope it makes sense)
