Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

FIRST PERSON/OPINION:

From four-time AMA 250cc Grand Prix Champion Rich Oliver, via e-mail:

There was a guy walking around the pits at Road
Atlanta last weekend wearing a T-shirt that said,
“Anyone but Mladin.”

I don’t think he’s a fan of Mat’s, but he did have it right in some ways.

Mat’s the Superbike points leader who saved a huge high-speed crash when his tire let go at 175 mph.

Maybe anyone else but Mladin would have bailed off, and not been able to wrestle their Superbike to a low-speed crash instead of a high-speed disaster. Mat pulled it off.

Then he tried to dig himself and the bike out of the pea gravel, to get back to the pits for another try, but the bike just wouldn’t come out and he walked back down the hill, on camera, with a strained smile on his face anyway. Anyone but Mladin may not have been able to pull that off.

Then the next day instead of being leery of the tire, he goes out and smokes off quick time in the morning session, and comes back out and wins the race even with a fogging visor. Anyone but Mladin didn’t seem to do that, either.

In the winners’ circle Mat and his wife smiled a
little at each other. You could see from the way she looked at him that she understood what her husband had just done.

I wonder if the guy sporting the T-shirt ever had that look from his wife.

I would quess probably not…

Rich Oliver




And now, some reader reaction, via e-mail:

I wouldn’t wear a T-shirt like Rich Oliver described but here is another opinion on Mat. Many of us avid U.S. race fans would love to love Mat like we do Miguel, Anthony, and others from outside the U.S. He is cut of the same cloth as probably the top 4 or 5 riders in the world and I love to watch him ride a motorcycle as only the very blessed can.

I just wish that he could be a bit more understanding of us mortals when he gives his opinion. He is almost always right in what he says, but it’s not always well received because of the way it is said.

I know he probably could care less what I think, but I would like to be able to be a fan of his for more than just his considerable riding prowess. It just makes going to the races and being a fan that much more fun for me.

Larry Gilbert
Orlando, Florida



After reading Rich Oliver’s take on T-shirts worn by fans declaring support for ‘Anyone but Mladin’ I feel that I had to reply to agree with the fan and the T-shirt.

It isn’t that we don’t like Mat as a person, but there are several things in play here:

1) Mat is the Tony Stewart of motorcycle racing. He does not want to be a poster-child for AMA racing. Mat does not display any great effort to support nor grow the sport and U.S. racing. To the contrary he brings attention to all the things wrong with it. He complains about sub-standard equipment, then when he wins he doesn’t seem much better (See podium at Fontana).

3) To a certain extent there is an expectation that great AMA riders should get picked up for World rides, helping parity along. Combine this expectation with a ‘Foggy’-like distain for Americans (and our tracks) that Mladin periodically displays leaves me wondering ‘Why is this guy still here?’

2) AMA Superbike racing needs more parity. Mat’s dynasty years have felt much like the two-wheeled equivalent of Formula One racing where Ferrari doesn’t win only when they break or crash. AMA racing will not reach its potential for growth if the races are boring and the result basically pre-determined.

In short I pull for ‘Anyone but Mladin’ in the interest of the sport. Where can I get one of those T-shirts?

J. Greissing
Fremont, California



Somebody saw Mladin smile?

Mark your calendar!

Tyler Sandell
Seattle, Washington