I was on my way out and posted quickly, and I guess assumed my attitude to stoner was well known and went without saying; as mental anarchist says I have spent far too much time on here , but much of it was spent correctly arguing in stoner's favour when things weren't going as well and few others were doing so. As a fan of the sport as well as of stoner I was disappointed that jorge, a worthy champion last year, didn't get to defend his title to the end on the track, and found the race difficult to watch particularly with the rain given my excessive emotional investment in stoner winning the championship, knowing that only misfortune could stop him winning the race, and that only serious injury could stop him winning the championship, since 5 points from each of the last 2 races was now sufficient even if he dnfed. I would have led a campaign against Phillip Island had he crashed in the last few laps.
I may take MA's advice and stop posting; excessive triumphalism by some among stoner fans (definitely not including you) is now irritating me as much as the over the top rossi fans did previously.
All credit to stoner of course if anyone thinks I need to say it. I am almost as big a rugby fan as I am a motogp fan, but decided at the start of this year that I would take casey winning the championship over Australia winning the world cup in rugby any day, perhaps fortunately given how events transpired today.
Still don't think the formula is good and didn't in 2007 either.
Michael, I hope you did not take my post as meaning that I wanted to mandate cheering for Stoner or something like that. I was just a little miffed by your timing. I thought about how to best explain this, then came across Kropotkins post-race round up:
'There is more to talk about from Phillip Island: Marc Marquez' dash through the field, Valentino Rossi's crash, and a possible change to MotoGP's testing regulations,
but all that will have to wait for another day. A champion deserves his day in the sun.'
That kind of feeling, I suppose. Hope my comment didn't offend you, wasn't meant to. Otherwise, I apologise.
In any case, I hope you do not seriously consider to quit posting. First, because we often seem to agree and you are more eloquent than me, which saves me a lot of time and effort arguing to good cause. Second, because we sometimes disagree, and it is a pleasure arguing with you. Third, because I think no one, no matter what rider they support or what their views about the sport in general, should feel driven away because of a minority of posters that shout nonsense[sup]1[/sup]. I've been lurking on this board for quite a while now and I'd say around 70 percent of the active posters have always consisted of biased but reasonable people (and I definitely include myself in this group), 5 percent of heavy hitters that account for more than half of all the posts[sup]2[/sup] and a volatile 25 percent group of
fanatic nut-jobs that changes composition following what riders are currently successful[sup]3[/sup].
I get the feeling that you as a fan of Stoner, who has been in the role of underdog for a long time, have trouble adapting to the new situation where he is the dominant rider and the group of nut-jobs suddenly consists largely of fellow Stoner fans. But nobody identifies you with them (except for other nut-jobs, perhaps), so why should you yourself do so? I don't know if that makes sense, but my intentions are good.
The game has not changed, the players have. Here on the forum, and out there on the bikes. At the end of the day, it's just opinions floating on the internet about guys on motorcycles. Deep, huh?
Note[sup]1[/sup]: And no matter how obnoxious or incoherent, I think everyone should be able to have his or her say. Especially since no one forces me to read or react to everything.
Note[sup]2[/sup]: Some of which can be quite extreme in their biasses.
Note[sup]3[/sup]: Oh yeah, and a few die-hard trolls, some of which I personally actually find entertaining and witty at times.
