Mr. Schwantz speaks

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Aug 23 2009, 12:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>True Rog. U think there might be a few losing interest in the sport when Rossi leaves?
A few years ago i would have said yes but now i dont think as many. A lot of people were attracted into the sport by rossi or by the media he generated. many of these people now love the sport and are hooked. Races are not quite the sea of yellow they used to be, He still has massive support and deservedly so but i don't think there will be empty events just because rossi isnt there.
A few years ago the only merchandise you could by at at all and easily online was rossi gear, you either had to go to the races with your normal shirt or a rossi shirt, now there are many other riders merchandise available and it shows at races. when i went to valencia in 06 the only rider merchandise there was,was rossi or pedrosa, i didnt see one hayden thing despite him being the odds on favorite to win the wc in that race. My point is rossis popularity over the sport looked more than it was because of the merchandise available.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (chopperman @ Aug 23 2009, 08:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>A few years ago i would have said yes but now i dont think as many. A lot of people were attracted into the sport by rossi or by the media he generated. many of these people now love the sport and are hooked. Races are not quite the sea of yellow they used to be, He still has massive support and deservedly so but i don't think there will be empty events just because rossi isnt there.

i agree, as i am one of these people. it will be different for sure but i am curious to see how things are going to be after rossi retires. guess it will happen after 2 or 3 years from now. after all there are also many people who dislike rossi.

as for stoner, i think no real fan of the sport wants to see him go, rossi himself was saying earlier this year when he was ok that he considers him a more serious threat to the championship than lorenzo. i hope he comes back to full strength in estoril and his sickness becomes a thing of the past like his wrist injury.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (vibe @ Aug 21 2009, 02:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Like everyone else who is attempting to answer a question put to them without verifiable facts all they do is speculate.

So until the truth comes out that’s all it is,

The other side is there are those offering open statements hoping to score points by being able to say I told you so. These statements are generally slanted by the bias of their author

Not sure what you're trying to say here. Call it speculation if you like. Mamola is a Ducati insider (of sorts) and I'll speculate that he knows more about what's going on than anyone on this board.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Aug 23 2009, 06:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>True Rog. U think there might be a few losing interest in the sport when Rossi leaves?
Yeah, johnny-come-latelies and fans of Rossi as opposed to fans of MotoGP... I for one will find it more interesting I do believe.