verging_on_random

Bikies

August 21, 2007 on 10:22 pm | In Uncategorized |

Bikie gangs are feared and despised. About the worst nightmare a mother could have would be for her son to grow up to be a Bandito.

Or her daughter to be whatever the latest trash-talk in bikie gangs is for a gang … err … bicycle.

Even non-gang bikies have a bad reputation. They ride too fast, their bikes are too loud and they lend a vaguely disreputable air to even a nice neat three bedroom brick veneer home. “Probably renting,” people mutter when they see the Harley in the driveway.

And yet, Australia has given birth to a disproportionately large number of professional bike riding champions who have all resembled the kind of boy-next-door that your mum would happily get to mind the house while the family went off to the beach for the annual holiday. A long time ago there was Wayne Gardiner, then later Mick Doohan. We’ve had at least one more since then, whose name escapes me, but I remember him as being from the same clean-cut straight talking mould, and now we’ve got Casey Stoner and Chris Vermeulen.

They were both interviewed on The 7.30 Report last night and they both presented as immensely likeable young blokes with a good sense of humour and feet firmly on the ground (links here and here). The most refreshing thing was that neither of them gave out with the meaningless tripe that most professional sportspeople serve up to the media these days, courtesy of intensive coaching by media consultants. We just saw two intelligent, personable young blokes answering questions frankly. Indeed Stoner quite unnerved his interviewer by giving such direct honest answers to a few questions that she didn’t seem to know how to proceed. Apart from the fact that they are both self-evidently insane (what kind of death-wishing lunatic loves riding an over-powered Vespa at more than 300 kmh?), it would be hard to imagine better role models for kids.

The contrast between these professional bike riders and the stereotypical bikie couldn’t be more stark. Maybe a few people are borne with the bike-rider gene and shortly after birth it morphs into either the wholesome local-boy-makes-good gene or the dark side claims it for the gangs. I don’t think we’re meant to understand some of these things.

BTW it’s really hard to believe that our budding world champ’s name is fair dinkum. I mean a kid from Tamworth, the home of country music, named Casey Stoner? It’s almost too good to be true .

Anyway good luck to both of them. They’re a better advertisement for Australia than many other sporting pros who’ve had a lot more recognition.