Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

FIRST PERSON/OPINION

Via e-mail

I usually agree with most of what Mat Mladin says, especially when he talks about circuit safety, but the implication that he and his fellow Ozzies are being dissed because nobody is playing their song is much ado about nothing, and Mat knows it. Mat reminds me a lot of Mick Doohan…always has an edge and is always looking for ways to keep the tension up and thereby motivate himself.

But when he says that “other racers and the organization, to name a few, (have) no respect for us (the Australians) and the country we are from,” just because the AMA don’t play the Australian National Anthem when Mat wins, he is forgetting that he is racing in a NATIONAL championship which is open to riders of other nationalities. There is no National road racing championship in the whole world, as far as I know (and I have covered a lot of Nationals in a lot of counties over the last thirty years), that plays the winner’s National Anthem after races. If you want to hear your own National Anthem after races, you need to race at World Championship level where the FIM protocol applies. If you want to hear your country’s National Anthem at the beginning of the day’s racing, then you need to race in your own country.

I did most of my racing in England and Spain and I remember on one occasion I complained to an ACU official that something or other was not being done the way we do it in the USA and I still recall the reply: “You might want to go down to the Post Office, Yank, and look up the flag pole and see what bloody country you are in.” When I raced in Spain I finally got some good bikes and I managed to win a few Nationals but it never occurred to me to suggest that the Spaniards were being disrespectful of me or the USA when they didn’t play the National Anthem of the United States of America at Jarama, Jerez, Albacete or Montjuic.

I was racing a NATIONAL…in somebody else’s country.

It is not a slight to Mat not to play the Australian National Anthem after one of his wins. It would be a nice gesture to do so, but it would be a voluntary one. It is not common in National Championships in any country in the world for any anthem to be played after each race and most countries don’t play any anthems at all. In fact, of all the countries hosting GPs and World Superbike races I believe the only countries that actually play the National Anthem BEFORE a race are the USA, Canada and Australia, (maybe Malaysia, too, I’m not sure) and this is not in reference to any rider, but simply a tradition by patriotic and united peoples.

There are a lot of countries, like Spain, where there is so much political and regional tension that playing the National Anthem will bring about jeers and catcalls from a significant portion of the crowd. (On one occasion at the Circuit of Barcelona the day Carlos Checa won, ultra-Catalan members of the organization hi-jacked the Spanish National Anthem and put in the tape of the Catalan Anthem, causing a national incident that was made worse when it was seen that the same folks had flown a Catalan flag alongside the Spanish flag. Flags and Anthems are a big deal in World Championship racing … because it is a WORLD championship.)

The AMA simply plays the National Anthem before the program begins and that is completely correct and any foreign rider present should show the proper respect, but he doesn’t have to. And if he doesn’t, he should expect that some fans won’t like it. In World Superbike and in Formula 1 they play not only the rider/driver’s Anthem, but also that of the manufacturer of the winning motorcycle. Pierfrancesco Chili was the only Italian to win a WSBK race all year (and that happened at Laguna where the bouncy little ditties of both Italy and Spain (for Ruben Xaus) were played along with the Italian again (twice) for Ducati.

The FIM has a protocol for this sort of thing and so do National Federations. Because the AMA Superbike Championship is a National series, it would be unusual for other National Anthems to be played. That’s just the way it is worldwide. No offense is meant and none should be taken.

And, speaking as an American, it has never been my experience that there is any lack of respect for Australians…and much less in any form of motorcycle racing where the Ozzies usually kick butt. If there is any place on the planet where Australian riders and crews are respected…and feared…it is in the AMA Superbike paddock where Mat and the pirate ship of a pitcrew that he runs with have been terrorizing everybody for years!

Mat mentions Supercross: In the AMA Supercross series, the situation is different because the races also form part of the FIM Supercross World Championship (which is still much less important that the AMA series) and that means that when Ernesto Fonseca wins his first big one we should be hearing the Costa Rican Anthem…but the best bet for a foreign winner would be Chad Reed, for sure.

The AMA gets its share of criticism, and they usually deserve it, but this matter is a non issue. But Mat’s idea is not a bad one. The AMA might actually want to consider changing their protocol to include the anthems of foreign riders in order to emphasize the international nature of their series. That might be a good idea, a good marketing tool and also a way to show the respect that was never deliberately withheld from Mat or any other foreign rider racing our Nationals.

Americans respect the best in anything and Mat’s the best rider over here right now. That’s why he gets the big Number 1 plate.

Mat is going to get pushed and pushed hard this year and he knows it and getting himself riled up, motivated and ornery…just like Doohan used to do…that’s all that is really happening. This is going to be a great AMA season, but unless Suzuki finds a little extra power, the only foreign National Anthem that would be needed even if the AMA were to decide to introduce a new protocol, would be the one that starts “Oh, Canada.”

Dennis Noyes
Borrego Springs, California



FIRST PERSON/OPINION

Via e-mail

In response to Mat Mladin’s comments about not getting the respect he and his countrymen deserve on the AMA circuit I’d like to let him know the American fans and especially the American amateur racers have a ton of respect for him. We know he could probably lap us in a two-lap race!

Wouldn’t it be easy enough to solve the problem if the AMA adopted the same podium ceremony as F1 and played the national anthem of the top three finishers? With Mat’s results we would hear the Australian National Anthem at every event!

Scott Dobson
Kalamazoo, Michigan



FIRST PERSON/OPINION

Via e-mail

G’day…

I’ve been reading, with some amusement, the latest Mladin stoush about national anthems and flags. Why? Does it have something to do with me being an Aussie? Possibly. Does it have something to do with the well-meaning Lloyd Magruder mistaking “Waltzing Matilda” for the Australian national anthem (most Aussies would like a romantic lullaby praising the exploits of a sheep rustler who tops himself as the Anthem but the “adults” in power wouldn’t allow it). Maybe. Is it the warm glow of surprise prompted by the sensitively pro-Australian editorial in the “Carolina Breeze.” Not at all.

What makes me laugh is Mat Mladin posing as the model Aussie.

Please tell Mat that flying the flag, Aussie or Yank, is very un-Australian. Being “pissed” (an aussie would say “pissed off” by-the-way, Mat) by the AMA for not showing respect to the Aussies in the paddock is just daft. What’s next? Play the Swedish anthem for all the Ohlins techs, Dutch for the Koni guys, Japanese (or is it the English today) anthem for the Dunlop techs…need I go on?

Mat, a real Aussie would object to all the distastefully jingoistic flag-waving and and anthem playing common at American domestic sporting events, including the AMA Superbikes, not and try to add to the problem. Maybe you should spend more time at home to become re-aquatinted with the traditional Australian suspicion of all those who wear their nationality on their sleeve.

Cheers,

Andrew Horton
Sydney, NSW, Australia



FIRST PERSON/OPINION

Via e-mail

I think that Mladin may have an interesting point here, as respect is to whom deserves it, BUT this is a “Domestic Championship” and not an international event, so I believe there is no need to play a different anthem. An event like the Paris Supercross where they invite riders to compete, they have to play the anthem of the rider’s nation as it is an international event, but not because they are polite. It’s the nature of the event that dictates what’s to be done.

Miguel Dudley
Panama



FIRST PERSON/OPINION

Via e-mail

Just my 2 cents from the Great White North. Make sure the AMA has a copy of O Canada as well (notice no “h” on the “O”!)… Miguel has a few wins left in him… missed hearing it at Brainerd a few years back when he won…

James Sheppard
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada



FIRST PERSON/OPINION

Via e-mail

Mat, show respect for our country. You are here because the U.S. provides a better opportunity for you. Just because the AMA does not respect your country, please don’t disrespect mine.

Stan Bates
Riverside, California



FIRST PERSON/OPINION

Via e-mail

Just have a few things to get off my chest about Mat.

Mat has nothing good to say, ever; he’s a very negative guy. No matter what, he’s pissed off about something and always the first one to scream, “I’m not getting the proper respect.” My example is receiving athlete of the year from a newspaper/website and all he can mention is the things he views badly and frankly I’m tired of it. His whole attitude sucks!

Taking an instance of someone playing the Star-Spangled Banner for our boys in Australia (Thank You!) and saying because we don’t play his anthem at every event we don’t respect him is stupid. I don’t recall anyone’s anthem being played at the AMA during a podium for anyone!

Matt’s words: (“I told my wife that I was pissed at the AMA for not showing myself, my crew and all other Australians in the paddock the respect they deserve for leaving home to have a go.”)

This comment takes the cake; this is something that should have been brought to the AMA. Not standing during our national anthem is unacceptable and unforgivable! By sitting on your holier-than-thou-ass all you did was shit on my country, one I fought for! If you want to come over here and take our money and win our races, feel free, this is America, the greatest country in the world and if you don’t like it take your ass back to Australia and stay there.

In 2002 in Virginia Eric Bostrom nipped Mat at the line for the win and Mat stormed off to his trailer–not going to the podium–to sulk about it. Now I ask, is that respect for the AMA, the riders, or more importantly, the fans? No, it’s not! So practice what you preach for a change, and maybe you’ll gain some of the respect you so desperately seek. Sometimes being the best just isn’t enough.

I do recognize Mat’s talent as one of the best in the world; my hat’s off to you, Mat.

I also do like Australia I believe they have some great riders and people and I’m not opposed to the playing of other countries’ anthems at events but, I would never go to one and sit on my ass while they played their anthem, it’s disrespectful.

And to all the people at the races when Old Glory’s swinging high, have some pride in yourselves and your country and stand still, face the flag, hats off.

Sincerely,

Michael D. Cox
Phoenix, Arizona



FIRST PERSON/OPINION

Via e-mail

First off, I would like to say that I definitely believe we should play the national anthem from the country of anybody racing on a given day. It shows respect and the fact that we appreciate you coming over from your country to give us a show and race your heart out for us.

With that said, you have to realize that you are racing in The United States of America, you can race in the United States of America, and you are getting rich by doing that. It sounds like Mat is saying he wouldn’t be here at all except for the fact that America is the place where he can make the most money. So Mat, show us a little respect or stay home.

Erik Putzier
St. Paul, Minnesota