Eurosport - Tue, 10 Feb 13:21:00 2009
Eurosport's Tony Carter has grown sick and tired of prima donna footballers and recommends you spend a season following British Superbikes.
Oh dear. Another weekend of top flight 'sport' and another over-priced, over-hyped, pampered ickle precious Premier League footballer falls down with more theatrics than Kate Winslet picking up another award.
And while the waste of organs and oxygen rolls on the perfectly manicured pitch as if he's just been electrocuted by a particularly large cattle prod in his unmentionables, his team-mates rush the referee and scream violent statements about his parentage or sexuality.
It makes you proud to watch. The referee makes a decision, blows his whistle and the fallen player who, mere seconds before, replicated the death dive of a WWII Stukka spiralling out of control in a fit of pain and agony the likes of which had never been witnessed in the history of human suffering, springs back to his feet grinning away.
It's sickening. It's pathetic. It should be banned.
These aren't sportsmen, these are prima donnas. High-priced mummies' boys who think that cheating (for that's what it is) is a perfectly acceptable part of their hyper-pay packet.
And anyone who thinks that this is a genuine, perfectly acceptable and allowable bit of sportsmanship absolutely MUST watch British Superbikes this year.
Because I will bet that at some stage this coming season, many times over in fact, we will see the type of rugged sporting grit that is barely believable.
Over the years the British Superbike championship has provided some jaw-dropping examples of what real sportsmen do. Two moments in particular spring to mind.
The first is from Niall MacKenzie. Niall is an absolute hero of mine and even after all these years I still find myself getting a bit tongue tied when I talk to him.
Here is a man who raced against the best in the world, and when he was on equal tyres he showed them up - at a time when such things couldn't be done by anyone else out there.
Anyway, back to the first example. Niall was riding for the Cadbury's Boost Yamaha team, run by Rob McElnea.
We were all at Cadwell and Niall was chasing Chris Walker (pictured) through Hall Bends. As Chris threw his Kawasaki into the final corner he lost the front. The bike hit the barrier and bounced back into the track, just as Niall came around. Nowhere to go and Niall and the bike did a perfect 70mph half somersault.
In the accident, the Yamaha's footpeg punched its way through Niall's foot. Leaving a hole about the size of a 10p bit all the way through.
The race was stopped, we had something like 15 minutes before things would get underway. Niall was put into the ambulance at the bottom of the race control tower for attention. Niall's wife Jan went into the ambulance with him. She emerged a minute later and rushed to the pitlane, a minute or two after that and she went back in with a boot. A boot that was a couple of sizes bigger than the one Niall normally wore.
It turned out that Niall had sat in the ambulance and asked the paramedics what the options were. They told him he could do three things; retire from the meeting (not happening), get stitches in the top and bottom of the foot (but they would pull out during the remaining laps, probably) or staple the wound and have pain killers.
Niall took option three, but didn't take the pain killing injection. He needed to know how far he could go and didn't want to numb the vital information his injury would tell him ad he raced around.
He ended that race 10th, bagged points and eventually won the title. A double-hard bloke.
The second involved Walker. He had a monstrous highside off his Kawasaki at Oulton Park. It was huge, at something like 120mph. He was shipped straight off to the medical centre where fluid was drained off his right knee, which was filling up almost as fast as it could be tapped.
Chris got someone to bring him his second set of leathers and as the knee fluid was taken down, he got into the new suit. The knee filled with fluid again around the damage and packed itself into his leather's body armour knee cup.
Like Niall, Chris knew he'd done something bad, so didn't want pain killers because he had to know how far he was pushing the knee. If he went too far, he needed to be able to feel it and tack the appropriate action.
He had to be lifted onto his bike, and went out in the second race. He finished eighth, got eight points and as he came into pitlane the team caught him (bolt upright on the bike) and lifted him off, straight into the team boss' car and off to hospital.
The next day I went to see Chris in hospital, and his specialist showed me the x-ray of his knee cap. It was in several pieces.
Chris was back racing three weeks later. And I never saw him moan about it, or complain to anyone. It was just a part of the job to get on with - an equally hard bloke.
These are just two examples; there have been many more over the years and I am sure we will see similar this season coming also.
Of course, like most fans out there, I don't want to see any rider fall off, but my point is that when they do then it's at those moments when we see what they, these real sportsmen with real composure and real class, are made of.
Now that's a sport worth watching.
Comment 1 - 17 of 17
In response to EGK, I think what Carter is trying to do is to drum up more support for what is a fantastic series which doesnt always get the coverage or recognition that it deserves. If you dont watch it already give it a go, might not be as glamouous as Moto GP or WSBK but its just as good to watch. Could do with some decent brolly dollies tho
Martin b....you are a twxnsjdhd nxnt!!!!!
Martin b....you are a twxnsjdhd nxnt!!!!!
nice little piece. This yr is going to be all about BSB and WSB, for those two championships I can't wait. motogp will suffer, eurosport losing the gig is bad news for the sport.
Daryl Beatie rode with half his foot missing8, Wayne Gardner rode with his foot still in plaster, Mick Dooahn rode with pins holding his leg together and Loris Regiani (broke a total of 23 bones during his carrer) rode with five broken ribs, left collarbone and wrist and still podiumed...So what is your point exactly Carter? Seems to me that all bike racing has hard riders and tough hard to down racers?
Motorcycle racing has for years attracted audiences far in advance of other sports. Coverage of dull and boring sports such as Cricket or Golf always seem to get huge investment and exposure. But, Carter's comment here are silly, pointless and simply bad reporting.
Chris Walker, pictured is said by Carter to bring fireworks to the championship. But, sadly, although Chris is a great rider I doubt he will be racing for the win at every race. Not just because of his age, but also the past few seasons he has been very much in the thick of further down the field. That and also, the Yamaha he has under him might not be up to the challenge at every track.
At the start of practice week at the IOM TT last year, a rider who shall remain nameless, tried to break a telegraph pole with his shins, and inevitably failed, and picked up some other nasty injuries along the way. Lucky to survive actually. This was on the Monday. Later that week the same rider was hobbling round the paddock on crutches, legs held in steel hoops, offering encouragement and support to the other competitors, in spite of the fact that his TT fortnight was over on day one. I've been to countless short-circuit races, and I marshall at the TT, and I can honestly say that bike racers are the most approachable, friendly, not to say sporting, sportsmen (and women) that I have ever met. If Martin B wants to stick to team sports for his entertainment, fair enough. But at least make it Rugby, where you have mutual respect for your opposition, respect for the referee, and where the participants, at whatever level, are prepared to take the hits without complaint,and the last thing on their mind is being substituted, even when they're quite badly injured. But if sissy men are your thing Martin, just keep watching football. John T.
Martin B - what a prat. If you think bike racing is so boring why waste your time reading about it then posting a comment about it? The most boring thing is idiots like you who moan about something they obviously know nothing about. Go away and enjoy whatever it is that prats like you enjoy and leave bike racing to people who actually appreciate it.
And the piss that you would enjoy watching dry would be from bikers everywhere having urinated all over your stupid head.
Martin B.. Football with a scoore of anything under 8-9 is bloody boring. but thats ok. Most games end up 0-0 anyway. A true sport played by women where no one scores. thats worth millions. why didnt i come up with that concept before...
Is this guy for real, I have never seen anything so boring in my entire life, and I have seen some pretty boring things! Bikes riding round a track.... and that's it. Load of old s**t pal, rather watch piss dry.
As much as I love football, I agree with him. Too many diving idiots in football!
I agree 100% - and wish my memory was good enough to list all the other stories of derring-do.
How many race meetings did JR (John Reynolds) go through with his broken shoulder? - Was it Leon Camier or Haslam with a broken hand for most of last year?? Can't wait for this year - bring it on.....,
I thought the headline 'BSB - Carter: BSB is for real men only' was about the BACKSTREET Boys (BSB) Nick Carter. Fooled me good!!
.....until anyone gives a @#$% about BSB, Sky buy it, pump £mllions£ into it and then you will cheat with the rest of them to get the BIG payday. I once tripped over a paving slab and continued walking, others would go down and make a claim, I am a real man.
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Well said
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