The McCarthyist effect on our sport, it's now become fashionable to question the integrity of riders because Rossi said so. Repeated by racers and former champions.
Arrabi, before Thursday at Sepang, can you remember such a pervasive attitude towards racers? I can't.
Another question, why isn't this new normal extended to the riders that 'appeared' to get out of VRs way? They're not "cheaters"? How about Rossi himself, deliberately taking out another rider, certainly that is CHEATING? How many are these BALSY experts and former racers calling Rossi a CHEATER? Neil Hodgson? Colin Edwards?
Btw I love how Edwards has called into question Marc being Lorenzo's wingman, that big mouth was Rossi's wingman his entire tenure as a Rossi teammate. I guess he needs Rossi to keep bringing clients to his ranch, where he teaches people how to never win .... in MotoGP.
If Yamaha has good sense, they would dump Rossi in the off-season.
Yes the short-term losses would be big for them from a financial standpoint, but he's bringing the Yamaha name into disrepute. If I am the execs at Yamaha back in Japan, I have to be horrified by what he is doing now, and thinking if this is truly worth it. Honor still exists in Japanese culture, and what Valentino has done, has been completely devoid of any honor. He's openly questioned the rider's title Yamaha has bagged to give them all of the titles this year as they go into their 60th anniversary celebrations.
He made no attempt to stop and congratulate Jorge Lorenzo on the side of the track at the end of the race, and that was something he always made a big show of doing in years gone by. Hell he did it with Nicky Hayden in 2006. It resulted in Nick Harris nearly ejaculating on the live feed from the great sportsmanship VR was supposedly known for...all that 'sign of a true champion' stuff. That is all gone now.
Colin Edwards I disregard completely on any opinions since like you said he made his entire career as being Rossi's wingman, and still is reliant on him for things. Neil Hodgson is a VR homer, and incapable of seeing anything other than yellow.
...., I bagged on Crutchlow quite a bit, but given that he actually rides a Honda, he'd be in a better position than any of the has-beens or media members, and especially the fans, to know how exactly the RC213V works around Valencia.
Jums, this isn't even just the McCarthyism of the 1950s, it's a combination of the absolute worst society has to offer when it comes to painting events/people in a negative light with zero proof. It's a mix of the McCarthy Trials of the 1950s, the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s, with a dose of the Scarlet Letter thrown on top.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/magazine/why-rational-people-buy-into-conspiracy-theories.html
Interesting read.
My own theory is that people also need to make sense of things that fly so counter to whatever it is that they have chosen to believe in, that the only way they can do it at times, is to distort reality into something that allows them to continue maintaining whatever their existing belief was. That's what the outrage over Malaysia was more about. The fans of VR cannot comprehend that he would have done something like what he did, as it flies directly in the face of the accepted narrative, and everything they've seen out of VR for 15 years. The fun-loving guy who is a good sportsman is the de facto narrative from the media to the fans, and to those ex-riders. All have emotionally invested in it on some level. That such a thing might not be true, would be to call into question their entire investment of a decade or more, into a man that they've lived, slept, and breathed. As such, it was far easier to turn on Marc Marquez, and to see him as the problem since it allows them to maintain the construct of VR as they choose to see him, and need to see him.
