With 4 of the last 5, Marquez is on pace for 20. Tiger will eventually catch Jack. LeBron will eventually catch Michael. Edit: I dropped 5 seconds on my little RS125 from last month. I'm on pace the set the lap record at Palm Beach by May of this year. Edit#2: Memory is fading with age. Stoner moved to Honda and dominated in 2011, was on pace for maybe 80 world championships, If I Recall Correctly? There's a chance.
We all want to witness the GOAT. My favorite racer of all time is Rossi, but I never saw Ago race, never even heard of him until I really got into it. I thought dad was nuts when he told me Ali was better than Tyson I think people are nuts when they tell me LeBron is better than Michael. It's a generational thing and I get it, but yeah that whole post was tongue in cheek. Tiger is banged up, LeBron is aging and so is Rossi, but it's funny to see people say Marquez is "on pace" to win ... titles. didn't Rossi win 5 in a row? What was he "on pace" for at that time?
I think Rossi still has what it takes to win another title, but not to dominate on his raw talent and speed. The Ja-mahas kind of took a shit last year for both factory riders so I wouldn’t call his 2017 results indicative of his current capability. It’ll take the stars aligning again and Rossi being competitive enough to take advantage. It’ll have to be a year like 2015 where he always runs at the pointy end and his rivals suffer misfortune. IMO he should’ve won that title. If not for his fit of pique and deliberately running Marquez off track I believe he’d have gotten the title at Valencia. Just that quarter second of stupidity cost him the title. Pretty sad. Valentino can win another title, but it’ll be a result of his guile, luck and determination not his outright speed. I think 2015 was likely his last chance but anything can happen.
The lap time analogy was spot on. If “on pace” meant anything, Rossi would have at least 13 by now. He did win 7 of 9 to start his career though, so Marc has a long way to go before any real comparisons are made.
Life doesn't happen in a vacuum, bikes change, riders change, get hurt, make mistakes. No clue what it takes to get to that level but if it's like most other sports, once barriers are broken, others learn from it and replicate it . I think elbow pucks will be seen on club racers in a few years. Getting them down on the pavement may be another story . Somewhere there's a 10 yr old kid with talent and connections dragging elbow, backing it in AND dangling the leg.
This. Marquez is a fucking animal but Valentino was also untouchable at his height. All MM has done is set the bar higher. Some Moto2 maniac will come in a few years and eat Marc’s lunch. That’s not just the way of sport, but everything in life.
Ago used to be able to run 3 classes in a weekend, and i feel like there was basically 2 teams back then with good bikes while the rest of the field was garbage and half were privateers showing up in vans. No doubt Ago and Hailwood and the like are amazing, but they had a lot of external factors going for them. By default, nobody will be able to see Ago's numbers ever again I don't think. I still think Rossi was more impressive.
And Rossi used to annihilate the field while holding plenty in reserve. His trademark was to drop to mid-pack with a poor start, pace and study until 3 laps from the end, then pull the pin, slicing thru the field like a hot knife thru butter. Amazing to watch.
Ago still had to put his butt on the line in an era of deadly tracks, shitty tires, no electronic aids, etc. Factor those in and just surviving as long as he did was amazing but to stack on his winning stats is even more so.
Sigh.... And you guys wonder why I post dumb shit. How many times can we beat the same fucking horse. I got Dovi
Talent is talent. I remember the discussion of Babe Ruth playing in the modern era vs today's pitchers, but having access to training and nutrition, etc. The only thing I'm completely convinced of is sports in general have become so lucrative these days they draw a much broader talent pool. And Tyson was better than Ali
The difference is, Tiger didn't play, and beat Jack in his prime. Tyson didn't fight, and KO Ali in his prime. LeBron didn't play, and dunk on Jordan in his prime. You can't compare any of those, to the others, in their respective arenas. However, Marquez did all that shit to Rossi, in Rossi's prime. This, you can compare, in real time.
Egg, you must not be 40 The running joke around the house with the wife is the only time I don't get beat by Alexis, the 12 year old girl on the metrakit, is when she's not in my race.