Joined Oct 2006
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Your Mom's House
As I said in a previous post, the fortuitous thing (in debate sense) about this whole incident between Marc and Rossi at Argentina is the symmetry it offers between Marc and Rossi at Sepang, we can actually point to a previous incident, one similar, with a significant distinction, deliberate vs unintentional, and use that to judge, measure, and contrast the reactions now being made. Agreed? Logical? Reasonable? Lets proceed.
First of all, let me address the knee-jerk reaction of dismissing any challenge to a MotoGP champ's commentary as me being unqualified since I’m not a MotoGP champion like Kevin Schwantz. He may be a GP legend, but he’s not god (not that I believe in god). First of all, ‘my’ opinion on the matter is not what is being scrutinized, its his comments in regard the two incidents involving the same riders both of which were crashed out by eachother, both deemed by race direction as reckless riding. Second, the fact I am not a GP champion is irrelevant, what is relevant is that Marc and Rossi are GP champions, and each have the opposite opinion on both incidents, therefore, as is logical, it is possible for Schwantz to be completely wrong (which I will argue), given that one of the two protagonist is wrong the other one right, Kevin Schwantz has in this case aligned himself with Rossi’s viewpoint that Marc is dangerous, annd goes on to demand Marc must be stopped by the officials. Agreed? Logical? Reasonable? Lets proceed.
So lets break down his comments above, and see if his reaction is consistent with his other reactions on a similar incident, look for bias, etc. I should point out, both incidents were similar but different in one important apect, minus the rider intent, which actually serves to raise the specter and severity of response, in this case, as with the trending popular opinion: “sat down” and scolded like a child, and or a race/season suspension. That is to say, if Marc deserves to be sat down and scolded like a child and banned, surely Mr. Schwantz would raise the specter of his demands for a similar incident if the intent was found ‘deliberate’ l as opposed to 'unintentional' impatience (shelving Rossi’s actions in the incident, keep in mind many blamed Marc for his own crash at Sepang, because he didn’t avoid it enough, again that marvelous symmetry, eh). Simply put, if Marc deserves to be suspended for an unintentional crash, how much more is a suspension deserved for a deliberate one?
In case there are any revisionists out there questioning the “deliberate” aspect of Rossi’s attack on Marc, see here:
So you see, it was deemed “deliberate.”
Nothing really to argue here, it seems, though I would take his first statement and apply it like this:
“As a rider you can’t knock someone down just because you [think he’s guilty of some crazy conspiracy you’ve accused him of doing.] It’s really basic. “
Schwantz here is employing the tactic of saying something seemingly nobody would dispute to then say something that is disputable, the illusion is all parts are undisputable. There’s another part coming, and it’s outrageous at best, to call for a rider to be suspended from the rest of the SEASON if there is contact with another rider (we'll get to this below). Rich actually, coming from Kevin Schwantz. Oh how I would have loved for an ex-racer of his time to say this bold plea about his racing. Anyway, lets move on. Btw, this isn’t the entire interview above, and there is another one I read in Spanish where his reaction was even more outlandish.
Lets revisit Kevin Schwantz’s takes on the now symmetrical complimentary incident: Sepang 2015. Including fallout before and after the infamous incident. It certainly is appropriate to measure his reactions now with what he said then, agreed? Reasonable? Lets proceed:
Regarding Rossi’s claim that Marc had conspired against him at Philip Island, to help Lorenzo by taking points away from him, and effectively impeding Valentino. It should be a no brainer, right? That’s just crazy! So Mr. Schwantz, what did you think?
Wait, wait the .... you say? No, no, the next thing out of your mouth should have been, Rossi is ....... crazy!
Mr. Schwantz adds:
That’s an actual quote! Notice the pussyfooting and restrained way he (and everybody in the world) must deal with Rossi! Even when he says and does something totally outrageous and idiotic, they have to placate to him, like he is Kim Dong Ill and they are one of his subjects. Consider that Schwantz is a MotoGP champ, he shouldn’t have to be restrained like say reporters are, who on demand must destroy information because Dorna commands it. This is the exceptional treatment that Rossi requires and gets!
Kevin Schwantz goes on to say he didn’t see “any proof” of Rossi’s claim, but nonetheless, he gives Rossi wide berth here, contrast that to what he is saying about Marc now, especially the way he is talking about Marc, boldly. There is certainly a level of condescending towards Marc, like he’s some stupid kid that doesn’t know ...., but with Rossi, well his outlandish claims ‘might have some truths, only he knows, but I’m not so sure, bla blab la.’
Kevin Schwantz isn’t exactly an impartial voice here.
Wait, but there is more. Schwantz (and others I should add) are quick to castigate Marc for all manner of ills because Rossi went down. I wonder what he thought of Marc going down at Sepang…
Holy ...., Schwantz is blaming Marc for crashing!
This is a great quote, and again, I marvel at the symmetry, because for every ridiculous statement being made of the two complimentary incidents, there is something we can point to and say, you’re either inconsistent at best or hypocritical at worst. Rossi has been saying lots of hypocritical statements lately, in light of his career. But here Schwantz basically blames Marc for crashing himself out. So then, can we apply the same logic to Rossi at Argentina? Can we not blame Rossi for stupidly trying to turn on wet grass, might as well be ice, when there was paved run off just a couple of meters away? Double standard?
Before I get to his recent statement below, where Schwantz calls for a season suspension if Marc makes contact again, lets take a look at what Schwantz thought about who was to blame for the Sepang debacle. Turns out, he thought BOTH riders shared blame, base on what, god knows? I suppose Rossi’s outlandish accusations influenced him to think there was truth in it, other that without substance he places partial blame on Marc.
I should note here, Schwantz isn’t the only one that frames the conflict this way, in fact it IS the official narrative by all media and most naïve ignorant illogical spectators, that BOTH were to blame, its described as a FEUD, a mutual conflict, both equally poised and blameworthy; EXCEPT that is based on absolute ........! It sounds nice, seems reasonable, “takes two to tango”, is the conventional wisdom, but that would be wrong. Rossi attacked Marc, period, end of story! It should be highlighted that because this conflict has been label this way, erroneously, it is through this lens that the Argentine incident is being misrepresented. They are painting it as Marc seeking retribution for a “vendetta” (David Emmett’s word).
This is Schwantz second part of the statement; he sets it up with something seemingly indisputable above, ‘you can’t just punt riders because you’re faster…’ THERFORE Marc should be sat down like a child, scolded, and put on probation, and if he ..... up, suspend his ... for the season!’
Kevin Schwantz didn’t talk so boldly about Rossi, did he? Hell none of these guys piling on Marc now ever had nor now have the balls to talk to or talk about Rossi this way, it really does get the royal treament. The Chinese word is kowtow, that where we get that word from, it’s an extreme bow that was show to the emperor.
Notice Schwantz didn’t speak in such an audacious way about Rossi ‘deliberately’ attacking Marc and causing him to crash (wait he blames Marc for that). He didn’t say Rossi should be on probation, in case he loses his mind again, did he? None of the reporter spoke or acted this way, or wrote articles calling for bans, disqualifications, right? I remember reading just about everything said on the matter, nobody spoke so boldly. Why? No way, Schwantz even gave Rossi wide berth and half credence for his insane conspiracy theory (which we have learned since, was Uccio’s conspiracy theory). Lets revisit the kiddy gloves that he used to describe what Rossi did, again a deliberate attack on a rider during a live race (apparently NOT the carnal sin anymore, that has been replaced with trying to restart your bike before the race and getting back into your grid spot, keep in mind it was space that shouldn’t have existed only because the officials made it up out of thin air, that is the new sin of crucifixion).
This is what Schwantz had to say about Rossi’s guilt for Sepang:
This is the CONTEXT of Kevin Schwantz’s calls to sit Marc down and scold him like a child, the context of him asking for a season ban if contact is made again! This also happens to be the exact basis for “journalists”, fans on social media, and everybody else silly enough to buy into this line of reasoning. Of course they have arrived at an outrageous conclusion, they started with a faulty premise to begin with.
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