"This is just my best guess..." Mat Oxley.
His opinion piece, like Julian Ryder's 'hey look, Lorenzo in coach' best guess as to why Lorenzo switch FAILED to address the big Yellow elephant in the room. However, they did accomplish to provide the Yellow Hordes and casual fans with some typical narratives:
●Jorge Lorenzo will never be as great as Rossi, so he is chasing to carve out a little legacy at Ducati...because then he can say, i wasn't as great as Rossi but at least i was slightly more successful than him on a much improved Ducati. (........ logic at best).
● Lorenzo is going to a great championship contending Ducati, unlike poor Rossi. The reason the Ducati is so easy and improved is because Rossi. So when Lorenzo has some success, you can thank Rossi. (........ logic at best).
The Message Disseminators can't help themselves, it's almost like autopilot, never having to call Rossi to task on anything, it never even crosses their mind that Lorenzo like Stoner made major changes in their careers because of the Toxic Kingdom Rossi has fomented with the blessings of his willing partners and enablers of which the gutless naive media is a part.
It's subtle, I'm not even sure these "journalists" realize it, but I'm reminded of the exchange when Gavin Emmett asked the top 3 riders about the disrespectful jeering. Lorenzo and Marquez provided a reasonable answer, Rossi said he didn't know anything about it. No follow-up questions? No creativity in asking auxiliary tangential questions? How many of us have seen journalists hound their subjects posing the questions in a bunch of different ways to test the resolve of the target from giving a ........ answer?
David Emmett (Kropo) called out 'Yamaha' for their role and called their management of the year end debacle nothing less than "cowardice" ('Yamaha', a rather safe inanimate object)... what then of Valentino Rossi--the actual sole reason a debacle exists?
With all due respect to Kropo, who is a friend of the forum and has touched on Rossi's influence (pointed out the inappropriate dynamic caught on tape between Carmelo and Rossi) notwithstanding, there is a consistent and obvious lack of courage and competence by this sport's media to perform their duty. If we were to accuse a journalist of selling out over access or fear of losing viewers, surely that would be a cheap shot. Which I actually agree with, it would be a cheap shot and disrespectful. I think journalists perceive such an accusation as the ultimate insult, since they would surely retort, they take their profession and "duty" seriously. Undoubtedly, many do. I'm sure some also are interested in "click bait", the line between the two has become increasingly blurred. But can one blame us peculiar consumers of GP media for having such an opinion? Is our collective intelligence not insulted when we see softball questions asked then capitulate so easily? Is not our intelligence insulted when inevitably wilst reporting the facts they are accompanied with a narrative (seemingly able to connect dots) that is consistently short of calling a spade a spade (assuming this isn't done purposefully).
Examples
Media narrative: Stoner retired because he couldn't handle marketing engagements, not because the sport is awash with a Dorna created and facilitated Rossi-centric kingdom. Seemingly these dots cannot be connected. Let us shelve the much publicized fact his employer reduced CS's marketing commitments and offered him an extraordinary amount to stay, yet he left; meaning the narrative the media painted was distorted and inaccurate at best. Casey Stoner didn't want to compete in a corrupt league. His retirement remains an underreported indictment on the sport still today.
The narrative for Lorenzo's departure from Yamaha (a brand he openly stated he wished to remain until retirement) is already in full swing. Apparently it has all to do with Lorenzo chasing a small corner of legacy and nothing to do with the toxic environment Rossi has created. Furthermore, Lorenzo has Rossi to thank for the improved Ducati, as Oxley put it, Rossi forced the Ducati bosses to realize they're the problem not the riders, undoubtedly he meant Rossi. Further advancing the prevailing narrative that Rossi didn't fail, Ducati did. (Let us shelve the fact the Ducati motorcycle Rossi inherited was a proven race winner, having won 3 races that season, and when handed to Valentino, the very previous day was inn parc ferme at Valencia). Regardless of the facts, the narrative persists in unison, Rossi is infallible. In the words of IRTA President and Tech 3 Team principal Herve Poncharal, "Rossi is our Emporer."
Content Warning: Look ....... (.)(.)
