LARRY BROOKS SPEAKS (WELL ACTUALLY BROC TICKLE’S GIRLFRIEND DOES THE TALKING): Why Team Managers Don’t See Things The Same Way As Fans

ÿÿÿ This is the gist of what I wrote back to Jessica (and will probably try to describe to the valet guy also).

ÿÿÿ I am team owner and team manager. I look at things from the perspective of those roles. Maybe fans and girlfriends think that I was being too harsh to Broc for his Mickey Rourke wanna-be speech about his dog. But, from my perspective, and from the view of virtually every other team owner, team manager and team sponsor, it is critical that the rider thanks his sponsors?first and foremost.

ÿÿÿ For those of you who have worked hard to find sponsors, you know how hard it is to keep them. Our team spends thousands of dollars every season on hospitality areas, client visits, public appearances and personal meetings to insure that our sponsors know how much we appreciate their commitment to our team. Most riders only a get a few seconds of TV or public address time to reward the people who got them on the box. As a rule, sponsors come first. If a sponsor doesn’t feel as though the rider appreciates their money, time, product and support, they probably won’t want to sponsor?either that team or that rider?in the future.

ÿÿÿ My job as a team manager isn’t only about logistics, testing, contract talks, travel arrangements and as a liaison to the factory, but as a salesman. I sell the team, its riders, its professionalism and its value to potential sponsors. If I’m a good salesman, the team will have enough funding to hire the best riders, mechanics, team personnel and equipment. If I’m not?we stand the chance of becoming a second-rate team.

ÿÿÿ People think that I should have taken Broc aside and given him my opinion in private. Not so. Someone else should have taken Broc aside a long time ago and told him what is expected of a professional motorcycle racer. My comments, although prompted by Tickle’s speech, weren’t for the benefit of Broc Tickle, but for every other aspiring rider who is hoping to get the opportunity to make a podium speech. I hoped that other young riders would read what I wrote and understand that the infrastructure of the sport runs deep. What you say, how you say it and when you say it, is important. Very important to the men who pay the bills.

ÿÿÿ I’ve stood on the same podium as Broc Tickle did many times (even on the top step on occasion). And although I may not have been the world’s greatest public speaker?I always knew who, what and how I got there. I learned by trial and error (and from the wisdom of others who took me aside and straightened me out) that sponsors come first. If you start thanking everyone in your life, there’s not going to be enough time and someone will be cut out of the rider’s podium speech. If someone has to be cut out, it better not be the people who paid your way there. To those who think that athletes in other sports don’t make these kind of speeches, I can only assumed that they’ve never watch a NASCAR race.
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ÿÿÿ I would think a rider’s family would know where they rank in a rider’s life without him announcing it to 40,000 screaming race fans. If a rider brings his family, girlfriend and dog down to the podium, it is evident that he cares very much about them. But this is a business. The better a rider is at presenting himself, his team and his sponsors, the more value he brings to the team.
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ÿÿÿ To Jessica, Broc and the dog I apologize for holding them up to public ridicule.