Limited MotoA coverage. Obviously some bad blood and a strong disdain towards the AMA... Big love for Nicky though...
Having read his stories and articles for probably 30 years now my guess is he doesn't have the same connection with the racers and the other members of The paddock now that he had back in the 80s 90s and parts of the 2000s. His writing always struck me as the writings from someone who was a friend and a fan more than someone who was just a beat reporter impartially chronicling the race events. There is a deep emotional and human connection and touch in all of the stories that he writes. Though he was one of the first to have a website I don't think he has kept up with or is interested in the current media practices of today. That's just my two cents however. I'm still bummed about his website being hacked. Superbike planet was a treasure trove of photos from events going all the way back to the early 80s. His podcast was one of the best Motorsports podcast out there up until the last couple of years.
I know from face toob Dave Jr is pretty upset,as he should be that no one mentioned his father's passing during the 200.Maybe it was a mistake,but pretty shitty not to honor the man's passing. I've seen them cover people that work behind the scenes,but you couldn't even mention David??
when DMG (or whatever the off shoot was) took over they did not extend press creds to him and his site so rather then kiss their ring he said f@ck it, not going to cover it. Deano was entrenched with the 80s, 90s and early 00s racers and in the time away one or two new generations of riders came and went. I like his site and yeah, sometimes there was some opinion generated stories and some bias but who cared? I liked Deano at ARR and that was a great mix with RRW and cyclenews.
"When the referees were finished at Road America, Ski was the winner of the Superbike race." My problem with Dean. Fact checking. As far as I know, Daytona 1990 was his only Superbike win. Other gaffes include Aron Yates on the podium in 750SS at Loudon after crashing twice. (No, you tangled twice with Russ Katzenburger, who made the podium on a Kawasaki 600). Or that Frank Camillieri swore never to race at Daytona after Rusty Bradley's death. (He retired from racing in general until Bob Coy coaxed him back. I've seen him at Daytona.) I came into possession of 73 photos from the 1980 Laconia Classic, taken by Gary J. Remal. I sent them to Dean and he said he couldn't use them. About a year later they appeared on his site with credit to the guy who sent them. I sent him 2-3 emails to correct the mistake. I even personally talked to Evan Williams about the mistake. Nothing was done. Considering how pissy he got if anyone lifted his material, there was no excuse. A few years ago, we wanted to use Remal's photo of Rich Schlackter for posters and t shirts. We managed to trace him to Freeport, ME after two days of casual research. Dean could have done the same.
Yeah I read that and I was surprised as well. I watched the whole race, not a single mention. Poor taste to say the least. I have a feeling there is a back story.
He killed ARM. He was/is more about how cool he looked and who he knew that was famous than being an objective reporter, hence him not being in journalism for a long long time now.
I liked Ski and had a blast hanging with him for many years - but why? He wasn't someone truly tied to the 200 like Russell or the like. It wasn't the first Superbike race of the year for MA. Not really seeing a point of trying to honor every racer that ever ran an individual race who dies. The older of us know way too many every year it seems.
for me it would’ve been for his kids, and friends, that were holding a memorial for him at Daytona, his only wake/funeral/celebration of life as I understand it. funerals aren’t for the dead, they don’t care, it’s for those mourning their loss, that always deserves something as no matter the person there is someone with good memories about them that is dealing with it in their own way... yrmv of course, I hate death parties and avoid them at all costs... but...
I do remember that I wanted to run race win ads on his site in the 90s but he would never answer my requests for a rate card.
I don't care one way or another and wouldn't have noticed but now that they brought this up, I'm thinking that between being a semi-famous former pro racer on the domestic scene and a member of the broadcasting "family," it would've been nice for someone to mention him at the first big domestic race of the year. But like I said, I don't think that the omission was egregious either.
I totally agree with that and it would have been cool to do something - did they talk to people ahead of time about it?
Those are my thoughts too, they decided to wait until the 200 to get everyone together at the track. So they did plan it since his passing and I’m sure details and info was well known in the paddock. His boys and I think Ryan Rawls and his road racing lounge who Ski was often with at DIS, put it together. I just saw that one of the boys was understandably upset nobody mentioned his dad. I don’t know any backstory but it’s a shame that something as simple as a mention of his passing and the celebration of life going on at the track would’ve lasted their lifetimes on the positive side of memories. Like most issues proper communications would prevent the conflict, but dwelling on them won’t help heal either. So here we are, hopefully learnining to enjoy every breath yet again better than the day before.
One problem was the weather and frequent schedule changes. I believe that Ryan's get together was scheduled for 4:00 on Saturday. The 200 started at 2:20.
You know Evan, who used to report/write for him was always a nice respectful enthusiastic journalist. I had one email interaction with Dean and he was the opposite of all of those things in just a few words.
Cool to see they will honor John Ashmead at Daytona with Barney doing a lap of honor for him. Shame that nothing was ever done to honor Ski, there or anywhere else (that I'm aware of).
This issue has been bugging me ever since I first read about the Ashmead Memorial this year. I love that they are doing this for John, but after MotoAmerica offered zero support to David Sadowski Jr. and Ryan Rawls efforts to honor David last year, I find myself saying WTF?? Can anyone 'in the know' please shed some light on this debacle? What they are doing this year for Ashmead is almost exactly what they were trying to accomplish last year.
