Alessi let go by Alloy clothing.

[bclapham]

just read this:

Hot off the presses!!

Yorba Linda, California. August 24th 2004.

ALLOY MX announces that the company has ended their agreement with Mike
Alessi with immediate effect.

Neil Calvesbert commented, “This should have been a very difficult decision,
but ultimately it was not as it was forced upon us. ALLOY MX saw Mike Alessi
as the future; we made a large commitment to him and his brother Jeff. As a
young company we committed ourselves to these two riders for the long term,
no amateur rider has been supported or marketed as heavily as Mike Alessi
with ALLOY MX.
But at the end of the day, we have simply had enough of the situation and
working with Tony Alessi.”

Calvesbert continued “The backlash of the events leading up to and during
Millville have rocked us hard, people think ALLOY MX made those “Believe the
Hype” tee-shirts. That is simply not true; we had no involvement in
producing that tee-shirt. Tony Alessi asked us to make a bulls eye butt logo
for Mike’s pants for Millville, we pointed out the problems that may cause
or the message it might send but he insisted. We originally signed a 3-year
contract with both Mike and Jeff, which took us to the end of 2005; recently
Tony has wanted to make some changes to our original agreement which
included helmets and boots. We have always tried to accommodate his requests
and have gone over and beyond what the contract requires us to do. As we all
know, as the stakes and money get higher so do the responsibilities of the
athletes. Unfortunately some people chose not to respect the terms or
obligations of a contract; they want the money but don’t expect to work for
it”.

Ben Masek, President of ALLOY MX added “While we were left concerned after
Millville, we tried to soldier on but this week Tony told us that if we did
not allow Mike to wear the same color way as Millville for Steele City or
Glen Helen that he would pull Mike from those races? Various communications
went back and forth and today we decided to end the relationship, we just
cannot work productively under the constant threats from Tony Alessi”.

Calvesbert added, “There are so many riders out there who we respect, riders
who have won countless races and championships, they don’t wear ALLOY but as
athletes they have our full respect. Every rider that goes to the line each
week has our respect. There are many riders out there who would be excited
to get the support we have given Mike but it seems we just cannot do enough
to please Tony, we know Mike will win many races on whatever machinery he
secures for his future but ALLOY MX will not be a part of that future.

Ben Masek closed by saying, “We hope people see this decision for what it
really is, and that is a decision made for the future of the ALLOY MX brand
and everyone involved in it. Of course we would like to give all of the
details but that would be unprofessional.
We are continuing to push forward in many directions; we are expanding our
athlete endorsement and advertising programs while at the same time
expanding our product offering. ALLOY MX continues to grow and we want our
athletes to grow with us”.

Please contact: ALLOY MX Inc tel: 714-692-9301 or e-mail
[email protected]

I liked this bit the best

"But at the end of the day, we have simply had enough of the situation and
working with Tony Alessi.”

 

[zcookie49]

what an A-hole! The ego with the Alessi entourage is there with Bubbas, and he hasnt even done anything in the pro ranks yet!!! I can only hope that this will not be a disturbing trend with the upcoming riders with all the money now being involved... Hepler seems really solid though...

 

[YZ165]

Just the first of many companies that will refuse, in time, to work with the Alessi's.

 

[steve125]

UFB!!! That Tony Alessi makes Napoleon look tall. Talk about the short man's complex, he's the poster boy!

 

[CaptainObvious]

If this is true, good for Alloy! A company with some balls.

I recently bought my son some Alloy gear and liked it....I may have to check some out for me as well. The part of the release I liked was...

"Of course we would like to give all of the details but that would be unprofessional. "

How could there be MORE to this story!

 

[jboomer]

No telling how much business they'll attract for that little statement! Good for them!

 

[Rcannon]

I sent the Alessi tots an e mail. They both have valid e mail adresses.

I said, "I know what it is like having difficult parents, my best wishes to you."

Sincerely,
Jon-Bonnet Ramsey
Boulder, CO

Mike Alessi
[email protected]
Jeff Alessi
[email protected]

 

[evenslower]

I sent Alloy an email about an hour ago congratulating them for not letting themselves get run all over and taking a stand. I've already received a response thanking me for my support.

 

[mxer842]

I sent the Alessi tots an e mail. They both have valid e mail adresses.

Careful now, Tony probably has a tap that allows him to monitor their e-mail and delete messages telling them they can't beat Bubba before they can read it.

what an A-hole! The ego with the Alessi entourage is there with Bubbas, and he hasnt even done anything in the pro ranks yet!!! I can only hope that this will not be a disturbing trend with the upcoming riders with all the money now being involved... Hepler seems really solid though...

Exactly, in '02 when Bubba came in he was a gracious little 16 year old kid who still had braces, only after he was winning by a half a lap did he open his mouth.

 

[Jeff Howe]

I went shopping tonight too...about 10 minutes after I read that I had ordered some Alloy gear just to show my support for a company that is willing to take a stand in their own best interests. Bravo Alloy MX!!

 

[Midhigh]

I think of Broc Hepler who entered the pro ranks silent and just rode hard. 2nd in SX and 2nd in MX so far - thats how you start your pro career.

 

[biglou]

^^^ Absolutely, Midhigh. :cool:

 

[nephron]

Absolutely disagree with the Bubba thing. Is this LIKELY, REALISTIC and most of all...HONEST ?:

Bubba laps half the field every race in SX (it happened), and wins by 25-30 seconds (it happened). He exhibits 'relativity' moves repeatedly. All other riders praise his speed and capabilities. Yet he's supposed to act like he was lucky to win some of these races, or diffuse the fact that he's the best thing in a long time in this sport, with some self deprecating comment or worse yet, a boring comment like "My Dunlops really hooked up".

He may say a few 'borderline' things here and there. But he more commonly says a lot of cool things people seem to forget about. How about Washougal, when fans wrote him asking him to ride a 2 instead of a 4, and he did it for them (J-Bone had a 4 ready to go)?

Yeah, Hepler needs to keep his mouth shut...because he's not a God like Stewart (please don't take that literally, as seems to be habit recently). He's awesome. He's a great rider, and a hard-nosed kid. I love the kid. But Stewart's a whole other deal, and no one wants to talk about it anymore because they're frankly sick of the kid. There's always 100's of drunk jerkies lining the tracks in waiting, ready to insult Bubba if he goes down or breaks his bike. lol, if he was French, I could see all this... :laugh:

The nose down, humble approach should be true for all--there are just those top few that it doesn't work for...McEnroe, Maurice Jones, all politicians, Gary Hall Jr, Alexandre Popov, Joe Namath, Eric Dickerson, OJ--especially the USC years...on and on. Hate all those people?

 

[XRpredator]

The nose down, humble approach should be true for all--there are just those top few that it doesn't work for...McEnroe, Maurice Jones, all politicians, Gary Hall Jr, Alexandre Popov, Joe Namath, Eric Dickerson, OJ--especially the USC years...on and on. Hate all those people?

yeah, everyone still loves OJ!

I respect Bubba and his skills, but I don't have to like him. Just like I don't like RC. Although, I respect RC more, or dislike him less than I dislike Bubba now. But I do gotta admit that Bubba is still just a kid. He will learn humility. Next year ;)

As for Alloy -- I may have found a new favorite gear brand. :cool:

 

[jsned]

Nephron, you said Hepler needs to keep his mouth shut, did you mean to say Alessi?

Maybe you didnt, not disagreeing, just personally never heard Hepler say much at all. Seems pretty calm to me.

 

[Okiewan]

... everyone loves to hate winnners; if they win "too much". It's almost human nature to pull for the under-dog. From sports stars to countries, win too much and the world will do everything they can to find your flaws and that's pretty much all they will talk about.

(in ref to RC nad Bubba statements)

 

[Jeff Howe]

You guys have this WAY the heck off topic now. This is about Alloy and Tony the Turd, not Bubba and RC. It is not about riders and their popularity levels. It's about the Runt Daddy shooting holes in his kids career. Now go buy some Alloy gear, even just a pair of gloves or something and show your support to a company that carries their brass with pride.

 

[CaptainObvious]

You guys have this WAY the heck off topic now.

Welcome to short attention-span theater :laugh:

 

[Okiewan]

A thread going off-topic? Here? No way!

 

[Vic]

How 'bout them Olympics!?

:yeehaw:

 

[marcusgunby]

Steve you be careful when talking about peoples heights-you know how touchy i am about it:)

 

[jackdrinker]

I've seen the "e Hollywood true story" of this before.. I believe it was, Gary Coleman, the home alone kid and a few others..
There is no way, hell in high water that Thor, TLD or Fox will pick these tools up.. Can you imagine Tony Bologna trying to tell Troy Lee " how it's gonna be " I see Mike breaking bones and fading away... He now has the KTM curse...

 

[LukeRips]

I'll be clad in Alloy gear the rest of the '04 season.

 

[john3_16]

Steve you be careful when talking about peoples heights-you know how touchy i am about it:)

Don't worry, short guys are faster!

 

[Kawidude]

I sent Alloy an e-mail as well. I told them I applauded their action and that my next set of gear would be Alloy MX.