Ben Spies. F%^K YEAH! and maybe some spoilers

[Spidey]

bayliss says:

http://superbikeplanet.com/2009/Feb/090209a11.htm

Troy's settin' the bar pretty high for a newbie.  Pretty cool for Ben to get that respect out of the gate.  Course, now he's really not allowed to suck.

[gm2]

troy's also not one for hyperbole or statements aimed at the press.  so that's a pretty interesting comment.

[COWBOY]

Good luck.  Cowboy and I had a similar bet last year, but he has still yet to pay up or even acknowledge it.  Even after I posted a thread calling him out for it. 

1st...I am not Cowboy about paying my debts for bets....if I can't afford it right at the moment of paying up, I'll be upfront about it and give a time frame of when I can...I assume that gm2, Spidey, and ducpainter are the same way...

2nd...isn't Cowboy currently selling a bunch of mods off of his bike and offering his bike up for sale also?!?!?!

<threadjack on>

Since this thread has been revived and i'll be damned if I let my name get dragged through the mud ....

1.  This was covered elsewhere but for the record the debt was paid before season end once Rossi had sealed the deal.  So yeah, zooom, you're not Cowboy because I pay my debts regardless of whether it is convenient for me.  

2.   As far as I know all parties from the original bet made good with the addition of Painter's good karma funds.  Likewise all of us are on good terms.   Cheers.   

<threadjack end>



Keeping in line with my American's and Ducati rule of fandom I'd love to see Bayliss' prediction prove true. 

There are too many variables for me here though so I'll save my gambling money for the GP.

[gm2]

just for the record my ribbing of zooom re the spies bet is just that.  good natured sh!t talk, for fun, in a vacuum.  nothing else.

[zooom]

zooom, don't give me any shit about the economy either.

    

what economy....being in the shitter isn't an economy...itsa depression... economies go both ways up and down...

just for the record my ribbing of zooom re the spies bet is just that.  good natured sh!t talk, for fun, in a vacuum.  nothing else.

and I know that...and it's all good!

<threadjack on>

Since this thread has been revived and i'll be damned if I let my name get dragged through the mud ....

1.  This was covered elsewhere but for the record the debt was paid before season end once Rossi had sealed the deal.  So yeah, zooom, you're not Cowboy because I pay my debts regardless of whether it is convenient for me.  

2.   As far as I know all parties from the original bet made good with the addition of Painter's good karma funds.  Likewise all of us are on good terms.   Cheers.   

<threadjack end>

<threadjack response>
COWBOY, I wasn't meaning anything disparaging to you, at the time there were multiple posts by others questioning whether you had fulfilled the bet or not and there was nothing to confirm it...it was a conversational extrapolated reference and nothing more....my apologies if you read it as otherwise...glad you fulfilled your end of things...as far as convenient..I have a job and I pay my bills and debts...but if I don't have a job and I have to take what monies I have and choose a roof over my head for example or pay a friendly wager...I am going to choose my roof and I think all people here know and understand that sentiment of where I was going with that comment....responsibilities are prioritized appropriately in these tightening times...my customer base is doing the same thing with and to me, and I am looking for my and their benefit to help in those avenues to keep things going for all involved...but that is another matter...
</threadjack response>

now....Bayliss is indeed paying the boy praise...no question...he in tests has gotten that bike up to speed while clicking off laps...but he has to be able to get towards the front of the grid with the new Superpole format and get that bike launched off the line when the lights go out and we go racing, otherwise he'll end up in a handfull of cagey traffic with guys as hungry if not hungrier than him with aggressive instincts all feathered up the back like a cat about to pounce on it's prey!

[ducpainter]

bayliss says:

http://superbikeplanet.com/2009/Feb/090209a11.htm

Pretty high praise for a WSBK noob.

[Big Troubled Bear]

I haven`t seen Spies before testing at Kyalami, and he did impress me as that`s not a easy track to learn

So if Bayliss thinks he will stand a chance then who am I to say no

[COWBOY]

I hope that proves true.   I just can't help though and compare what's happening now with him and what happened early last season with Lorenzo.   

Out of the gate roaring like a lion.  Falls, loses confidence finishes like a pup.

I want to see him win, deal with some adversity and then win again before I crown him the next big thing. 

He is ridiculously fast at this stage though.   I'll be pulling for him.

[gm2]

I want to see him win, deal with some adversity and then win again before I crown him the next big thing. 

not that the ama is wsbk but the above is exactly what he went through for the past 3 years.  guess we'll begin to see on march 1 if he can carry that pattern to the next level.

[COWBOY]

not that the ama is wsbk but the above is exactly what he went through for the past 3 years.  guess we'll begin to see on march 1 if he can carry that pattern to the next level.

Doing it in the Big Leagues is a big difference between doing it in a Minor League.   

Let alone doing it battling one team v. doing it battling an entire field of kick ass bikes and riders.

He has a lot to prove and there's nothing worse to have hung around your neck than "has great potential".

No worries though.   I'm pulling for him.  I really am, I swear.   

[zooom]

Doing it in the Big Leagues is a big difference between doing it in a Minor League.   

Let alone doing it battling one team v. doing it battling an entire field of kick ass bikes and riders.

He has a lot to prove and there's nothing worse to have hung around your neck than "has great potential".

No worries though.   I'm pulling for him.  I really am, I swear.   

the 1st 2 lines I agree with completely and that is what prompted my intial reaction in his progress...

I can say honestly I am surprised at how fast he has been thus far with the machine, but like I said, race condition is different than clicking off laps at your own progression in open track session...

I think he has more to prove to himself than the world in his mind...sure he doesn't want to disapoint the fans or anyone watching and most of all, Yamaha...but like has been said before, there is real earnest competition level here in WSBK than what he has previously dealt with before to a degree that is wholly different....I want to see good things out of him for the sake of all American riders as well as for him...

[gm2]

(except in rare circumstances) you race one guy at a time, no matter the size of the grid.  he and mladin weren't going fast 'for the ama'.. they were just going flat out flippin crazy fast.  lap after lap after lap.

we shall see. 

[derby]

I think he has more to prove to himself than the world in his mind...

ben's pretty much said that he proved all he needed to himself in his three motogp rides last season. i guarantee you that he's not going into this season "hoping to get a top 5..." he's doing in with the intent of winning the championship.

[Spidey]

I find the Spies "little pond" skepticism a bit amusing.  I don't think Spies is the next coming of Rossi or anything, but this talk about how AMA didn't prepare him for the big leagues . . .  come on.  Wasn't there some guy recently who won a coupla AMA championships, went straight to MotoGP and then won a world championship? 

[derby]

I find the Spies "little pond" skepticism a bit amusing.  I don't think Spies is the next coming of Rossi or anything, but this talk about how AMA didn't prepare him for the big leagues . . .  come on.  Wasn't there some guy recently who won a coupla AMA championships, went straight to MotoGP and then won a world championship? 

yup...

i'll even say that ben's three-in-a-row over mat was even more impressive than hayden's championship, too.

i think people tend to underestimate mladin. he's a fierce, fierce competitor. the only thing that matters to him is winning, at all costs...