Pulled this from evryones favorite, TWMX :)
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Judging by the majority of big-name riders in the pits at the Millville MX National, Mike Alessi is not a popular fellow. Making his pro debut over the weekend, he is probably the most widely disliked rider – deserved or not – in the entire MX paddock, maybe ever. After he failed to score any points, due to a myriad of different problems, it seemed like every rider left in the pits was talking about “The Hype” and whether or not to believe it. Hype, by definition, isn’t true, though.
After recently spending a day with Alessi, Kevin Windham gave a very well-spoken response as to his opinion of Mike Alessi – after much prodding. (You can call it begging if you’d like.) His opinion seems to be shared by almost every rider in the pits. “So we’re doing the 2005 Honda CR photo shoot at Red Bud,” K-Dub said of the day after the Red Bud National. “In the Red Bud whoop section they put in, I’m blitzing through them on the stock 2005 CRF450R. I mean, I’m hauling butt through them, and I’m feeling really good on the bike, and he comes up alongside me and says, ‘Yeah, that looks pretty good, but I find it easier and almost as fast to double them.’ Then he says, ‘Watch, I’ll show you.’ I mean, he’s talking about doubling whoops. You’re going to show me how to double whoops? I mean, c’mon! All of the guys in the C-class, and even lower, can double through whoops. He goes, ‘But you can do it for 35 minutes. There’s no way you can do it your way for two 35-minute motos.’ I’m like, ‘Were you watching yesterday? Not only was I doing it, but the top 10 were doing it for 35 minutes. That’s not a section you double.’ Before then, whatever I heard or saw, I’ve tried to kind of listen to it with an open mind, and after this kid came out and said that to me – I mean, to go from blitzing a set of whoops to doubling, and the way that he tried to push his opinion on me, it was just very degrading to me to be standing there listening to a punk kid tell me how to ride. From that day on, I haven’t had any respect or anything for the guy.”
It's interesting that Mike was included in the Honda photo shoot, since rumors continue to swirl that he's been talking with KTM, but that Honda is also interested in retaining his services in the future.
During the press conference, Ricky Carmichael didn’t hold back on his thoughts of Alessi either. “You know, I got tired of everybody asking me about this guy, and as I get older too, I seem to run my mouth a little more,” Carmichael said, smiling. “But you know, he needs to respect these people up here. We are up here because we’ve accomplished something, and for him to come up here and guarantee that he’ll get on the podium, and this and that, he should tone his mouth down just a little bit and let his riding do the talking. He’s claiming a podium when he hasn’t raced any of us before. His dad says I’m a hazard to people on the track, and his son’s the guy that’s going out and screwing up Sebastien’s teammate (Hamblin) and knocking his shift lever off. It’s just a bummer that people say stuff like that. But I wasn’t going to worry about the guy unless he’s in front of me pulling away, and he’s got a long ways to go. When people talk like that, it just makes these guys up here want to beat him even more, so it just puts fuel on the fire. He’s making it hard on himself. I don’t even know what he got the second moto, but I said he should’ve been happy if he got a top-10. If I was these other guys, I’d really be pissed because he was just saying how he was going to get a podium, and that’s a slap in the face to all of these guys up here – especially the 250 guys: Sebastien being a World Champion, and all.”
The true entertainment in the press conference started when James Stewart was spouting his Alessi Opinion, and partway through, Alessi walks into the press conference, and Bubba just repeated the key stuff so that Alessi would hear it. “I’m kind of bummed that Mike didn’t get a chance to race me,” he said. “I would’ve definitely put it to him. I guarantee you that all of us sitting up here on the podium would’ve definitely put it to him. Like Ricky said, the guy has no respect for anybody out here. Even when I came in, there’s enough pressure just trying to do good, let alone saying you’re going to do good. I had no expectations when I first came in like a guy like him, who I honestly think is slower. For him to say he’s going to get a podium in the 250cc class is just ridiculous, and for him to call me out and say that I’m slower than I was two years ago and saying he’s going to beat me, it’s just ridiculous. (Mike Alessi walks in.) Actually, welcome right here. We’ve got your seat right over here, buddy... It’s just whatever, he didn’t race me, and like I said, all of us up here would’ve beat him easy. I’m hearing he wants to race me at Glen Helen, or maybe the rest of the races, so we’ll find out.”
As Matt Walker, Broc Hepler and James Stewart got up to leave the conference, Alessi looked up at Walker and said, “Good race today.” Walker either really didn’t hear him, or acted like he didn’t, because he didn’t even look at Alessi and just walked by.
Alessi surmised his day like this: “Hi everybody. This is my first time doing this,” Mike said. “First moto, I got a good jump out of the gate, and me and Ernie kind of clipped handlebars out of the gate, and I was coming in like third or fourth, and Joaquim kind of came up the inside of me and hit my front tire, and I almost fell. I was like 20th, and then I caught up to like 10th, and I went inside of Hamblin, and we accidentally came together. I was way back in like 39th or something, and I got up, I started racing really hard, and I got up to 20th, and I just got a little out of control in the whoops and lost the front end and crashed. I didn’t want to give up, so I just kept going, and I kept pushing, and I ended up getting 26th. I didn’t get a good pick the second moto, and I came out about fifth or something, and I was riding good the whole moto, just trying to dig deep, and it’s just a lot different to do all the practices, and then qualifying on Saturday and early qualifying on Sunday. It takes a lot out of you in your energy coming into the two 35-minute motos. You’d probably be pretty good for the first moto, but the second moto, I was out of energy. With all the qualifying and the practices, it took a toll on me. I rode my hardest the second moto. I was running sixth the whole moto (actually 7th), and with two laps to go, the bike just locked up over the tabletop and it wouldn’t start. There was no compression. But I learned a lot this weekend, and professional racing’s a lot different. I had fun, and I’m looking forward to a lot more.”
Rusty Holland harbors no love for the Alessis, but even so, he was going to try to put it behind him and not mess with Mike. That is, until: “I just came by, and I was right in front of Alessi because I wrecked in the first turn, and about five laps in, a guy was putting a pit board out for Alessi, and he just railed me with it right in the face, pretty much,” Holland said. “When it hit me, it flew out in front of me like 20 feet, and when I hit the step-up jump, it just stopped in the air and it hit me in the chest and it stuck to me for like 3 turns. I looked over at Alessi and just chucked it at him like a Frisbee. But I missed him. His mechanic was nothing but apologetic, which was cool, because I’ve had nothing but problems with that family – as I’m sure everyone else has too. Nobody else gets hit by a pitboard all year long, it seems like, but Karma will get you. If you guys aren’t being good people, your bike might stop running and you don’t know why!”
During the first moto, after Alessi ran into Hamblin on the opening lap and fell, Ryan Hughes was spotted taunting the pro-moto newbie through the whoops, holding his hands far apart as if to say, “That’s all you have?”, then repeatedly pointing at his watch as the kid went by, and even rooting for other riders to get up there and pass him – all in plain view of Alessi. “I was telling him he was doing good!” Ryno laughed. “He was doing awesome! I was rooting for everybody out there! Everybody! I think they should get the rent back from their house, though, personally.”
As he was causing commotion every time Alessi went by, Ryno’s left wrist was in a cast. “I crashed yesterday, and I think when I crashed and I put my hands out, I broke my Radius, I guess,” Hughes said. “I don’t know if it’s all the way through, but I’ll find out tomorrow when I go to the doctor. But I don’t think so, because I don’t feel it moving, so it might be quicker than they think. I’ll find out tomorrow.”
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I almost feel sorry for these kids, sure they have to take responsibility for what they do. But they need to learn (real quick), that they are getting some very bad/wrong advise on how to work their way into the ranks before it ruins their entire image if it already has not. Because like it or not, they do have some talent.
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Judging by the majority of big-name riders in the pits at the Millville MX National, Mike Alessi is not a popular fellow. Making his pro debut over the weekend, he is probably the most widely disliked rider – deserved or not – in the entire MX paddock, maybe ever. After he failed to score any points, due to a myriad of different problems, it seemed like every rider left in the pits was talking about “The Hype” and whether or not to believe it. Hype, by definition, isn’t true, though.
After recently spending a day with Alessi, Kevin Windham gave a very well-spoken response as to his opinion of Mike Alessi – after much prodding. (You can call it begging if you’d like.) His opinion seems to be shared by almost every rider in the pits. “So we’re doing the 2005 Honda CR photo shoot at Red Bud,” K-Dub said of the day after the Red Bud National. “In the Red Bud whoop section they put in, I’m blitzing through them on the stock 2005 CRF450R. I mean, I’m hauling butt through them, and I’m feeling really good on the bike, and he comes up alongside me and says, ‘Yeah, that looks pretty good, but I find it easier and almost as fast to double them.’ Then he says, ‘Watch, I’ll show you.’ I mean, he’s talking about doubling whoops. You’re going to show me how to double whoops? I mean, c’mon! All of the guys in the C-class, and even lower, can double through whoops. He goes, ‘But you can do it for 35 minutes. There’s no way you can do it your way for two 35-minute motos.’ I’m like, ‘Were you watching yesterday? Not only was I doing it, but the top 10 were doing it for 35 minutes. That’s not a section you double.’ Before then, whatever I heard or saw, I’ve tried to kind of listen to it with an open mind, and after this kid came out and said that to me – I mean, to go from blitzing a set of whoops to doubling, and the way that he tried to push his opinion on me, it was just very degrading to me to be standing there listening to a punk kid tell me how to ride. From that day on, I haven’t had any respect or anything for the guy.”
It's interesting that Mike was included in the Honda photo shoot, since rumors continue to swirl that he's been talking with KTM, but that Honda is also interested in retaining his services in the future.
During the press conference, Ricky Carmichael didn’t hold back on his thoughts of Alessi either. “You know, I got tired of everybody asking me about this guy, and as I get older too, I seem to run my mouth a little more,” Carmichael said, smiling. “But you know, he needs to respect these people up here. We are up here because we’ve accomplished something, and for him to come up here and guarantee that he’ll get on the podium, and this and that, he should tone his mouth down just a little bit and let his riding do the talking. He’s claiming a podium when he hasn’t raced any of us before. His dad says I’m a hazard to people on the track, and his son’s the guy that’s going out and screwing up Sebastien’s teammate (Hamblin) and knocking his shift lever off. It’s just a bummer that people say stuff like that. But I wasn’t going to worry about the guy unless he’s in front of me pulling away, and he’s got a long ways to go. When people talk like that, it just makes these guys up here want to beat him even more, so it just puts fuel on the fire. He’s making it hard on himself. I don’t even know what he got the second moto, but I said he should’ve been happy if he got a top-10. If I was these other guys, I’d really be pissed because he was just saying how he was going to get a podium, and that’s a slap in the face to all of these guys up here – especially the 250 guys: Sebastien being a World Champion, and all.”
The true entertainment in the press conference started when James Stewart was spouting his Alessi Opinion, and partway through, Alessi walks into the press conference, and Bubba just repeated the key stuff so that Alessi would hear it. “I’m kind of bummed that Mike didn’t get a chance to race me,” he said. “I would’ve definitely put it to him. I guarantee you that all of us sitting up here on the podium would’ve definitely put it to him. Like Ricky said, the guy has no respect for anybody out here. Even when I came in, there’s enough pressure just trying to do good, let alone saying you’re going to do good. I had no expectations when I first came in like a guy like him, who I honestly think is slower. For him to say he’s going to get a podium in the 250cc class is just ridiculous, and for him to call me out and say that I’m slower than I was two years ago and saying he’s going to beat me, it’s just ridiculous. (Mike Alessi walks in.) Actually, welcome right here. We’ve got your seat right over here, buddy... It’s just whatever, he didn’t race me, and like I said, all of us up here would’ve beat him easy. I’m hearing he wants to race me at Glen Helen, or maybe the rest of the races, so we’ll find out.”
As Matt Walker, Broc Hepler and James Stewart got up to leave the conference, Alessi looked up at Walker and said, “Good race today.” Walker either really didn’t hear him, or acted like he didn’t, because he didn’t even look at Alessi and just walked by.
Alessi surmised his day like this: “Hi everybody. This is my first time doing this,” Mike said. “First moto, I got a good jump out of the gate, and me and Ernie kind of clipped handlebars out of the gate, and I was coming in like third or fourth, and Joaquim kind of came up the inside of me and hit my front tire, and I almost fell. I was like 20th, and then I caught up to like 10th, and I went inside of Hamblin, and we accidentally came together. I was way back in like 39th or something, and I got up, I started racing really hard, and I got up to 20th, and I just got a little out of control in the whoops and lost the front end and crashed. I didn’t want to give up, so I just kept going, and I kept pushing, and I ended up getting 26th. I didn’t get a good pick the second moto, and I came out about fifth or something, and I was riding good the whole moto, just trying to dig deep, and it’s just a lot different to do all the practices, and then qualifying on Saturday and early qualifying on Sunday. It takes a lot out of you in your energy coming into the two 35-minute motos. You’d probably be pretty good for the first moto, but the second moto, I was out of energy. With all the qualifying and the practices, it took a toll on me. I rode my hardest the second moto. I was running sixth the whole moto (actually 7th), and with two laps to go, the bike just locked up over the tabletop and it wouldn’t start. There was no compression. But I learned a lot this weekend, and professional racing’s a lot different. I had fun, and I’m looking forward to a lot more.”
Rusty Holland harbors no love for the Alessis, but even so, he was going to try to put it behind him and not mess with Mike. That is, until: “I just came by, and I was right in front of Alessi because I wrecked in the first turn, and about five laps in, a guy was putting a pit board out for Alessi, and he just railed me with it right in the face, pretty much,” Holland said. “When it hit me, it flew out in front of me like 20 feet, and when I hit the step-up jump, it just stopped in the air and it hit me in the chest and it stuck to me for like 3 turns. I looked over at Alessi and just chucked it at him like a Frisbee. But I missed him. His mechanic was nothing but apologetic, which was cool, because I’ve had nothing but problems with that family – as I’m sure everyone else has too. Nobody else gets hit by a pitboard all year long, it seems like, but Karma will get you. If you guys aren’t being good people, your bike might stop running and you don’t know why!”
During the first moto, after Alessi ran into Hamblin on the opening lap and fell, Ryan Hughes was spotted taunting the pro-moto newbie through the whoops, holding his hands far apart as if to say, “That’s all you have?”, then repeatedly pointing at his watch as the kid went by, and even rooting for other riders to get up there and pass him – all in plain view of Alessi. “I was telling him he was doing good!” Ryno laughed. “He was doing awesome! I was rooting for everybody out there! Everybody! I think they should get the rent back from their house, though, personally.”
As he was causing commotion every time Alessi went by, Ryno’s left wrist was in a cast. “I crashed yesterday, and I think when I crashed and I put my hands out, I broke my Radius, I guess,” Hughes said. “I don’t know if it’s all the way through, but I’ll find out tomorrow when I go to the doctor. But I don’t think so, because I don’t feel it moving, so it might be quicker than they think. I’ll find out tomorrow.”
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I almost feel sorry for these kids, sure they have to take responsibility for what they do. But they need to learn (real quick), that they are getting some very bad/wrong advise on how to work their way into the ranks before it ruins their entire image if it already has not. Because like it or not, they do have some talent.
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