This weeks Point/Counterpoint may be slightly confusing, it’s all German and Austrian.
Should KTM put Roczen on a 350 and unleash him on the SX Class in Houston?
Swiz-
My first inclination is pump those brakes, no way; but Im going to supress my better judgement like Matthes supresses thoughts of dieting and look at the other side. The devil on my shoulder “ventriloquis-ing” my thoughts is wearing an orange collared shirt and speaking in some strange accent.
Of course Roczen should saddle up the Lites+ bike in the big class in Houston. Shorty is improving and with Tony back under the tent, Mike is sure to start moving up in the results as well. Still, KTM looks at Roczen as the future of their American efforts and wants to capitalize on as much SX experience as possible before his departure for his last year in the GP’s. What’s the harm? Get out there in a class where he has nothing to lose, no pressure, reel it in a little, garner some more SX feel and of course represent one more KTM 350 in SX. What could possibly go wrong!!??
(You’re welcome and you owe me a future retort setup!)
Matthes-
What could go wrong? What could go wrong? To me it’s more like, what could go right? I look a little foolish on my rant from Monday’s Pulpmx Show where I went on and on about how Rockz in the 450 class was never going to happen (thanks to the 739 people who sent me tweets, emails and voice mails about my being wrong by the way. The dude who said that my crow would go best with Bar-B-Que sauce was the best) because I can’t believe this move went down. Look we know Kenny is a bit sketchy, we know that the 350 is a bit of a handicap out there and ohbytheway, Rocz has a very important MX2 title to win here. There’s nothing but trouble dropping a 16-year old kid with all of five supercrosses under his belt into the mans class this weekend. You know it Swiz and if you keep arguing, I’m going to call child and family services on you.
Swiz-
You know what, Prodigy isn’t just a crappy German techno band, nope Ken Roczen, who is also German is also an mx prodigy([noun] a person, esp. a young one, endowed with exceptional qualities or abilities). Sure, he was a crashy(spectacularly) starting out his supercross career but with each week he’s shown improvement and and reason to believe he really is something special. A quick learner, perhaps quicker than any rider before; I know I’ll be watching him in Houston and I wouldn’t be any more surprised to see him end up the top finishing 350cc bike on the night than I would if he were carted off by Pingree. Wouldn’t that be something, Pingree carting off a KTM rider much like his unicycle KTM was carted off years ago. Some things never change…
Matthes-
Let’s break this down for you because you’re clearly not getting it. Kenny Rocks is going to be here a long time, he’s got plenty of races to go. Breaking into the mx world is a harsh reality smack upside the head. Everything, and I mean everything, has to go perfect for you to make it. No big crashes, no one jumps on your head, you take your beatings for a while (unless you’re a prodigy like Stewie or RC-although even RC took beatings) and hope everything goes ok. At 16, you’re not ready for the emotional ups and downs of trying to compete against the best. You’re pretty much like a 14 year old girl at a Bieber concert at this point. Roczen is a tiny flower right now, he needs to be watered and cared for in a delicate manner. Not throwing him in the 450 class on a bike that is, shocker, 100cc short of everyone else. Plus, I’ve been on the inside of teams and the most you ever have is through me telling you what it’s like to be inside of teams and my point is, what if Ken somehow beats Shorty or Alessi? Well, he probably will beat Mike but what’s that going to do for their confidence and their feelings? This sport is mental, remember that. From what I hear, Kenny’s dad is the one pushing this hard and I can’t believe that Stefan Everts or Roger DeCoster hasn’t stopped this from happening. This has bad written all over it to me…
What do you guys think?
You see, often times this format requires you to take the polar opposite stance from how you really feel(Like me in this instance-Swiz), but thats the fun of it; it forces you to really question yourself.
