Great story here. It's remarkable how one photo can have such lasting consequences for an entire sport. I relate to the pro wrestling comparison - I was never able to watch it the same way after learning it was predetermined. Oddly enough though, even the NBA's Tim Donaghy scandal didn't hit quite as hard - maybe because there wasn't such clear evidence of manipulation like there was here. Something about seeing that pit board makes it impossible to look away.
No doubt Peter. I realise now that I should've done a better job explaining in the article itself, but it's not about the manipulation, it's about the manipulation being presented in such a clear and easy to comprehend way for everybody out there to see for themselves. If Yamaha had written 'Plan Nine From Outer Space' on that pit board, and the exact same events would've happened, the fans could've looked the other way and pretended not to see, but the exceedingly clear 'Let Brock Bye' made it clear to everybody what'd happened.
This is what the NBA did so well with covering up the Tim Donaghy thing. He got caught yes, but he got caught while revealing so little that basketball fans could still look the other way and pretend the game isn't rigged. We all watch basketball. It is rigged. That's why the stars get calls that average players don't get. That wouldn't happen with unbiased officials. We can see that. It's the same in football and every other sport. They're all rigged to a degree, and we all know that, but the lack of definitive proof allows us to look the other way and pretend not to see.
If the court proceedings around Donaghy had dug up a text from David Stern in 2002 saying 'make sure the Lakers beat the Kings,' and everybody got to see it, which is basically what happened in motocross, basketball would've never recovered either. That's why this is such a bad break for this particular sport. All the race manipulation before this had been covert, under the table, written in code, but Yamaha knew that if they presented Bob Hannah (who DID NOT want to help) with anything even slightly ambiguous, he was going to claim to have not understood the order, and hand the championship to his friend Danny and Suzuki, and they weren't going to be able to do anything about it, because he's Bob Hannah.
Therefore, they had to present Bob with a clear, concise, authoritative order, that he could never claim to have not understood, and all of this just so happened to coincide with two photographers who had decided to leave their posts early to hang out in the mechanics' area waiting for the race to end. It was 1000 to one. Only four people saw the pit board. Bob, his engineer, Jody, and the Greek, as it immediately got pulled back and erased as quickly as possible. All that needs to change to rewrite history is for Jody and the Greek to not be standing there, or for neither man to have their camera ready, or for the race to have been more interesting, so that both men wouldn't leave their posts before the race ended.
It's a perfect storm of bad luck, one that killed a sport.
This is an incredible story and incredible narrative. But as a pro wrestling fan, I would challenge the use of "fake". Pro wrestling is predetermined. But I've seen more than one broken neck and 2 broken tibias in pro wrestling matches. And honestly, as someone who's worked in pro wrestling, mma and boxing. Pro wrestling is at least honest about being predetermined. Fake implies that there's no risk.
Mind the promotion, but I've written a whole article about how pro wrestling isn't fake (https://sportspassion.substack.com/p/pro-wrestling-deserves-your-respect if you care to read it). Now that you've brought it to my attention, I'm perfectly aware of my mistake. I'll make some edits to that passage ASAP.
Great story here. It's remarkable how one photo can have such lasting consequences for an entire sport. I relate to the pro wrestling comparison - I was never able to watch it the same way after learning it was predetermined. Oddly enough though, even the NBA's Tim Donaghy scandal didn't hit quite as hard - maybe because there wasn't such clear evidence of manipulation like there was here. Something about seeing that pit board makes it impossible to look away.
No doubt Peter. I realise now that I should've done a better job explaining in the article itself, but it's not about the manipulation, it's about the manipulation being presented in such a clear and easy to comprehend way for everybody out there to see for themselves. If Yamaha had written 'Plan Nine From Outer Space' on that pit board, and the exact same events would've happened, the fans could've looked the other way and pretended not to see, but the exceedingly clear 'Let Brock Bye' made it clear to everybody what'd happened.
This is what the NBA did so well with covering up the Tim Donaghy thing. He got caught yes, but he got caught while revealing so little that basketball fans could still look the other way and pretend the game isn't rigged. We all watch basketball. It is rigged. That's why the stars get calls that average players don't get. That wouldn't happen with unbiased officials. We can see that. It's the same in football and every other sport. They're all rigged to a degree, and we all know that, but the lack of definitive proof allows us to look the other way and pretend not to see.
If the court proceedings around Donaghy had dug up a text from David Stern in 2002 saying 'make sure the Lakers beat the Kings,' and everybody got to see it, which is basically what happened in motocross, basketball would've never recovered either. That's why this is such a bad break for this particular sport. All the race manipulation before this had been covert, under the table, written in code, but Yamaha knew that if they presented Bob Hannah (who DID NOT want to help) with anything even slightly ambiguous, he was going to claim to have not understood the order, and hand the championship to his friend Danny and Suzuki, and they weren't going to be able to do anything about it, because he's Bob Hannah.
Therefore, they had to present Bob with a clear, concise, authoritative order, that he could never claim to have not understood, and all of this just so happened to coincide with two photographers who had decided to leave their posts early to hang out in the mechanics' area waiting for the race to end. It was 1000 to one. Only four people saw the pit board. Bob, his engineer, Jody, and the Greek, as it immediately got pulled back and erased as quickly as possible. All that needs to change to rewrite history is for Jody and the Greek to not be standing there, or for neither man to have their camera ready, or for the race to have been more interesting, so that both men wouldn't leave their posts before the race ended.
It's a perfect storm of bad luck, one that killed a sport.
This is an incredible story and incredible narrative. But as a pro wrestling fan, I would challenge the use of "fake". Pro wrestling is predetermined. But I've seen more than one broken neck and 2 broken tibias in pro wrestling matches. And honestly, as someone who's worked in pro wrestling, mma and boxing. Pro wrestling is at least honest about being predetermined. Fake implies that there's no risk.
You're right. I'll change that.
Mind the promotion, but I've written a whole article about how pro wrestling isn't fake (https://sportspassion.substack.com/p/pro-wrestling-deserves-your-respect if you care to read it). Now that you've brought it to my attention, I'm perfectly aware of my mistake. I'll make some edits to that passage ASAP.