Arron Yates troubles

[Decreasing_Dave]

I agree with lbk on many things in his last post.  The whole "bar" analogy is correct.  It is a shame that this happened at a very prestigious, and televised roadrace.  Too bad for the sport.....or is it??

Someone else (sorry, I forgot who) posted that bad publicity is still publicity.  Just look at Janet Jackson.  Who, by the way, just launched her own line of clothing.  Her whole family was taking abuse by the press due to her brother Michael.  Funny...after the whole Superbowl incident that the Michael news seem to make it to the backburner from the frontlines.  Well executed.

I know that this wasn't a ploy for publicity, obviously, so don't read into that here.

Whether the drop kick was completed or not is inmaterial because the perception was there...and it made him look bad, real bad.  Then he finished it off with a headbutt and a body check.  

HD, I don't know you, and no offense personnally, but what if I was to do that to you, anywhere, however effective??  What would YOU do??  I can assume that if you didn't try to go back at me (like Fania DIDN't do to Yates) that you would be seeking charges as well.  It really doesn't matter that it happened at a race, it's just very unfortunate that it did.

Dafan is correct in saying that a civil suit for emotional damages would be wrong.  However, if Suzuki doesn't penny-up for the damages to Fania's pits that their team caused (as they should) then a suit for the damages are justified.  Again, just unfortunate that this happened at a race.

I'm in law enforcement, not a cop, per se.  In the past, my emotions led me to do things that were on the fence, or even off the wall of being morally acceptable by my peers (no they weren't illegal, just probably "bad example" type things).  I am now a Supervisor.  Recently, I had an employee actually try to out-run me and one other agent while attempting a traffic stop.  He was off-duty in his POV.  When we got him to stop finally, My adrenalin had me wanting to drag him through his car window by his head.  Probably wouldn't have hurt him, but I would have made my point and I, of course, would have felt better for doing it.  Point is, I realized that in the forum that I was in, at the level that I am at, I am expected to act professionally, regardless of the situation and my personnal feelings at that time.  I made the right choice, Aaron didn't.

This wouldn't even be an issue IF we could only trust that the AMA would do their job.  And with some sort of consistancy whether the presedence was set at Daytona '04 or in the past.

Sorry for the long post.  :-X :-/

[G 97]

Isn't the crash almost immaterial?

Yates isn't being fined for hitting anyone, right or wrong.  He was a stupid, spoiled 11 year old kid on a sugar high.  

And if we're gonna claim him as being impared...then no rider should ever race during a weekend when they do fall...they might be impared too.

Yate's antics are rather silly.  I have it on my DVR and can break it down frame by frame.  It's right out of an old Three Stooges movie, I swear.  I still can't believe it.

[spyderchick]

As far as this all goes, I cannot imagine why the AMA is sitting on their hands. They fined Mladin at one time for saying disparaging things about the AMA, they fined Jason DiSalvo for ignoring a red flag on Sunday.

IF they want to protect their integrity, they need to come down with a decision today. If Mr. Fania wants to press criminal charges, that's his business, and he's waffled on his story a few times. But the tape is clear, Yates was in a rage; he needs anger managment courses, a suspension, and perhaps an additional fine.

All of these finer points of who caused the crash are irrelevant. Bad decisions were made. The real lack of professionalism shown by Yates needs discipline, or other riders will think it's ok for whatever reason. Personally I like to see good battles on the track. not off track nonsense. If I wanted to watch fights, I get myself some WWF tapes or watch a hockey game.

[SuicideBlonde]

Put him in front of a panel of his peers/fellow racers and let them decide his 'punishment'. They are the ones who have to race with him/be the brunt of his anger.

[TZDeSioux]

The guy lost his head in the heat of the moment. Like none of you have ever done that.  ::) I think a 1 race suspension is more than enough. I've seen some of YOU get a bit more than just slightly bent at the regional races for the same crap. Imagine that.

[tigerblade]

Put him in front of a panel of his peers/fellow racers and let them decide his 'punishment'. They are the ones who have to race with him/be the brunt of his anger.

I think that's the best opinion I've heard on this.  Let everyone who was a participant in the 200, factory riders and privateers alike, get together with the AMA and decide what should happen.

[hdpromos]

Decreasing Dave, funny you should ask what I would do if I was ever in the same situation. Indeed I was in a very similar situation at an AMA F-1 National at Loudon, NH in the early 1980's. During qualifying I passed a rider who inturn tried to repass me and hit me from behind. We were locked together until I finally shook him off, after impaling my leathers with his front brake lever. The rider crashed and his bike almost burned to the ground. After I arrived in the pits I was surrounded by a large group of people, all wanting to know what happened! A reporter for Cycle News named Gary Van Vorhees was asking me questions about the incident and this guy that rammed me comes diving through the crowd and takes a swing at me. He just grazed my head and I threw the ice pack I had on my arm at him. My brother got him on the ground and all the while this guy is screaming that I knocked him down! The AMA referee Charlie Watson gets to us and decides to kick us both out. And here it was the other guy who hit me and it was him who threw the punch. All the while I had my best qualifying position ever at an AMA National (6th). In the end there were 2 riders who were directly behind us who backed up my version of the incident. I was allowed to compete and the other rider involved was ejected as I recall. The bottom line here is this: did I ever consider assault charges or filing a suit against him? Hell no I didn't. And if I did I would have been just as big an "asshole" as he was. Racers that care about this sport don't take that kind of action. The ones that do, in my book, care only about themselves and the attorney's they hire to do their dirty work! Now tell me about your vast experience in this sport!

HD

[danch]

You don't hire attorneys to prosecute assault charges. The local DA prosecutes.

[hdpromos]

Pardon me, I thought Fania stated he was filing a civil suit? And you can press charges for assault with a DA who also just happens to be an attorney! ::)

HD

[r6_philly]

Pardon me, I thought Fania stated he was filing a civil suit? And you can press charges for assault with a DA who also just happens to be an attorney! ::)

HD

Fania Sr. (not the rider) stated he want to file a civil suit. I am not quite clear the state and police's involvement. From the report that they filed an affidavid, it could be on state's request.

Unlike a regular attorney, the state's attorney/DA would not take a case unless it has merit. So maybe they just needed to have an official statement before deciding what to do. I think we are all jumping to conclusions on both side of the wall. If charges were offically filed in court I am sure we would have heard it by now.

Sorry that it happened to you, Henry. However in your case AMA did take decisive action right there, so you decided nothing else needed to be done. AMA didn't take any actions, even now 3 days after the incident, so what recourse does Fania have? I think they pretty much made a plea for AMA to act down there at the track, but no actions were taken. So if it looks like no actions are going to be taken, I can understand their frustration and wanting something to be done.

I think everyone is "wait and see" stage right now. I don't see anything happening until AMA decides what happens. If Fania file a suit before AMA acts (timely) then I don't agree with it. If AMA does not do anything within the next week, then  I support any legal action they take...

[danch]

I've not seen anything about a civil suit, other than a lot of people assuming that Fania's filing of a affidavit was the start of a civil suit.

Yes the DA is an attorney. OK, now that we've both  expanded that particular acronym... ;)

However, the DA is paid the same no matter what case they happen to be trying at the moment. In fact they'd probably rather be involved in a high-profile murder case than trying to get some out of control schmuck put on probation and community service for a couple months.

Look, I'm not a fan of lawyers in general, and I wouldn't be pressing charges over what I saw on the video. However, I recognize that when I do something stupid that's illegal, somebody else might have a different interpretation of things and decide that I should be dealt with by our legal system.

There's a big difference between Yates being charged with assault (if he's been charged - Fania Sr. has indicated only that an affidavit has been filed and I've seen nothing more) and a civil suit for what happened on the track. Being charged with assault and/or battery is just one of the things that might happen when you loose your cool and use force against someone. A civil suit for a racing incident is patently ridiculous because of the assumption of risk in racing.

I'm not a laywer, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night!

[hdpromos]

Well the AMA has done their job and I happen to agree with it. Let's see how you feel about it, I'm otta here!

HD