Who's Got Jordan? Honda And HRC? Suzuki And Yosh?

[tshowrench]

With Tez and Pridmore on Gemini prep'd GSXR's on Dunlops...

I was hoping to see Jordan have a team that was capable of winning or at least running up front...

Maybe next year

[motomadness]

Even though it's fun to speculate what's in the works.  Nothing has been clearly stated how the team will be arranged and whom the riders will be.  

Have fun speculating, but I bet everything you've heard as we've read it is far from what the team will actually become next season.  If Jordan wants to win, and Yosh is getting involved with FACTORY support, who knows how things will actually come together.  I bet Nate R won't even know for some time to come and he's in the Gemini shop all of the time.

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

I've held my tounge on this subject for a year and a half.  Seems like lots of people want to play yenta on this subject.  What is it about Michael Jordan that makes everyone an expert about what his next move should be?  I guess the man can't think for himself?
People hack on Tez as a rider undeserving of this opportunity.  Tez has skills.  Is he the best?  No.  But he has skills.  Is he marketable?  Holy shiznet!  Handsome, articulate, quotable, personable, he can ride, and he's black.  It's like a marketers dream come true.  Jordan is no fool.  Tez is a damn good investment.
I realize that because Tez is my friend, I have a biased view of all this.  But look at it logically.  Black people have been getting the short end for 500 years.  Jordan is very successful, and maybe the most successful black man in the world.  Why wouldn't a guy in his position want to have some fun, make some money, and open doors for black people all at the same time?  And why wouldn't Tez be perfect in that role?
The bottom line is that it ain't nobodies business but MJ's.  People line up to talk $#!% about the whole situation, but I think it's all centered in jealousy.  Nobody looks the least bit intelligent, proud, or even credible when they're sneering about the "inequity" or the "inadaquacy" of the Jordan effort.
So get over it!  Sit back and enjoy the show.

[spyderchick]

K3...seriously...thetttle down, Beavis!  

Those who "get it" will get it, and those who don't should be ....well just use that active imagination of yours and put it in a book.  :o ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) (Oh no I di'n't!)

[motomadness]

K3 ... K3, you've definitely got the sentiment right, but even some of your facts are off.  There are more successful black people.  MJ is just one of the few that wish to get into motorsports.  Let's just hope things get better for everyone and that MJ get's what he wants from his investment.

[r1owner]

I've held my tounge on this subject for a year and a half.  Seems like lots of people want to play yenta on this subject.  What is it about Michael Jordan that makes everyone an expert about what his next move should be?  I guess the man can't think for himself?
People hack on Tez as a rider undeserving of this opportunity.  Tez has skills.  Is he the best?  No.  But he has skills.  Is he marketable?  Holy shiznet!  Handsome, articulate, quotable, personable, he can ride, and he's black.  It's like a marketers dream come true.  Jordan is no fool.  Tez is a damn good investment.
I realize that because Tez is my friend, I have a biased view of all this.  But look at it logically.  Black people have been getting the short end for 500 years.  Jordan is very successful, and maybe the most successful black man in the world.  Why wouldn't a guy in his position want to have some fun, make some money, and open doors for black people all at the same time?  And why wouldn't Tez be perfect in that role?
The bottom line is that it ain't nobodies business but MJ's.  People line up to talk $#!% about the whole situation, but I think it's all centered in jealousy.  Nobody looks the least bit intelligent, proud, or even credible when they're sneering about the "inequity" or the "inadaquacy" of the Jordan effort.
So get over it!  Sit back and enjoy the show.

Well written!  Thumbs up!  I sometimes wish I would see MJ somewhere to tell him how much cooler I think he is for sponsering Tez.

I've only stood on the sidelines while Tez was talking to one of my buddies down at Gateway about 3 or so years ago.  I thought Tez was cool then and funny as hell.

I just hope Tez gets a chance to ride again this year.

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

K3 ... K3, you've definitely got the sentiment right, but even some of your facts are off.  There are more successful black people.  MJ is just one of the few that wish to get into motorsports.  Let's just hope things get better for everyone and that MJ get's what he wants from his investment.

Well, I never claimed to be an authority....  Sorry everyone.  I just hate people hacking on the whole Tez/Jordan thing, and I always smell a bit of veiled racism when they do.  It just pisses me off when people talk %$#@ about my friends!  
I'll be quiet now....

[Ridgeway]

IMO, Jordan has every right to provide a ride to whomever he wants, whenever he wants.  He's in the enviable position of having the resources and sponsorships to field riders at his leisure.

I think sponsoring one of his buddies (Tez) is just fine provided he's able to qualify to run at the AMA level (which he has).  It's pretty clear that MJ is involved in the sport because he's taken a genuine interest in it and thoroughly enjoys the road-racing scene, and likes to ride himself, point being he does it for the fun of it, and not for commercial gain, though that will probably present itself too.

Now that he's decided he wants to be more competetive, I think it's great for the sport and hope that it will lead other potential sponsors & team owners to get involved.  The media will follow and things could really take off from there.

I see no reason why he can't have a couple of speedy veteran AMA racers and still help out the new guys at the same time.

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

Sean?  In MY opinion, if you count MJ's money, his utter dominance in his chosen field, and the love that millions and millions of people worldwide have for him, Jordan may be the most successful PERSON since Elvis.  That's kinda where I was coming from on that.

[WebCrush]

My take is that MJ gets bored fast and quits when things don't work out so easy.  Case in point is his baseball and golf careers.

I am afraid MC racing is just going to be another short blurb in his biography and when he gets out the scene in a year or two because of whatever reason, sponsors will look at and relate MC racing opportunities as failures.

[motomadness]

K3,
Like I said, I appreciated your sentiment.  In sports circle MJ indeed attracts a lot of attention, good and bad.  However, I don't believe a lot of the statements that are made on this forum insinuate closet racism.  I think it's more that people don't understand his qualifications.  You've raced for several years and could probably put together a good team if you had his money.  Would you make better decisions than MJ in your first season running your team?  Possibly because of your experience in racing and motorcycle circles.  Could you do the same thing with respect to basketball?  Nope.

Sometimes I think people are simply questioned about their qualifications, sometimes not so simply.  No amount of questioning we may have on this forum will ever sway a man like MJ because I really don't believe those question raise to the level that will deter MJ mettle, especially not with the people he has in his inner circle.  

I don't know where I want to take this, but simply thanks again for the sentiment.

[Jeff]

I dunno K3, I guess I'll throw out the comment that I personally don't see or think it has anything to do with racism.  

Tez gets the attention because we all know him.  From there, he gets more attention because he's associated with MJ.  MJ gets the attention as he's a name known around the globe.

We all do a lot of speculating & throwing advice around to each other.  

I guess my only 'issue' is when people turn things into a racism issue solely because there's a person of color (or religion) involved.