#idk camp is all about failed seriousness isn't. i like it when a sport cares more about being emotional than being cool

[batsplat]

in your rgu x motogp post, you mentioned the cringe celebrations which has become part of the sport. forget the audience reactions for a second, just look at those famous journalists:

Toby Moody: Other people have tried to do similar celebrations - look at Jorge Lorenzo in his early years and Marc Marquez when he wins a championship - but it's never the same and really, they shouldn't bother, no one cares now. Rossi's had more than the cake there - there's none left for anyone else. He was so original. (https://www.the-race.com/motogp/toby-moody-how-a-rossi-row-made-qatars-first-gp-legendary/ )

Simon Patterson: Maybe a controversial opinion: MotoGP's over-engineered title celebrations are tacky and awful. They choreograph all the fun and spontaneity out of the moment. X users @ KeefyH19 : All Rossi wannabes Simon Patterson: None of his were this over-engineered (https://x.com/denkmit/status/1723585339271594059?s=46 ）

like, what’s up with these middle-aged men? this was your favorite celebration tradition once right? or does this emotion only apply to a certain someone? the answer is yes.

and i noticed marc stirring up fans during the parade this year, like doing the kneeling gesture… valentino never needed to do stuff like that. for him it’s just a smile and a wave, that’s all it took. when i was watching the 04-07 races, i realized how naturally he matched with the camera. even before the race started, a few shots of him on the grid, a smile, a kiss, and he already had everyone hooked. that’s something no one else could ever pull off. he’s such a witch.

he IS such a witch. and podcast hosts did get a shout out!

but yeah agreed, it really irritates me. 'over-engineered' is obviously the silliest one because, I mean??

is this really more emotional than doing a dumb basketball celebration or cgi devils or whatever

the problem these journalists face is that they're inherently predisposed to see this shit as cringe, but the rossi factor being what it is they did find themselves enjoying those... so the argument has to be that nobody else can pull it off. which, yes, is that special valentino magic doing its thing again. but idk, this is a case where I'm strongly in the camp of imitation being the sincerest form of flattery. there's just a kind of goofy camp to them... I think some of them work better than others, but what matters to me is that it feels like sincere self-expression. also, perhaps most importantly of all... who cares!! if athletes want to do something kinda cringe-y to celebrate their success, then whatever!! they have something to remember the occasion by and so do the rest of us. and if it's not for you then, again, who cares. it's title-winning celebrations - it is the definition of not that serious

obviously jorge (lorenzo) is particularly interesting with this stuff because he had his whole arc of coming up with celebrations as a kid and believing he low-key preempted valentino in that but also looking up to valentino and drawing inspiration from him and then finding valentino's celebrations so so funny and so so cool even when they were competing. and... my personal take is that he has come the closest of anyone of matching the spirit of valentino's celebrations, because he did actually put a lot of thought into like. the meaning of what he was doing. he was really engaging with the process, thinking of the symbolism and all that stuff!! I'm fond enough of them that I compiled his 2006-07 resume here... but perhaps the funniest detail of this whole saga is that EVEN JORGE HIMSELF is engaging in this no true scotsman stuff by dragging melandri's celebrations

so there you have it. even the guys literally being accused of not managing to live up to rossi's celebrations are insulting other guys for not managing to live up to rossi's celebrations. big part of the valentino magic is in the utter lack of solidarity anyone who has suffered as a result of him displays when it comes to fellow sufferers. it's only right that this even extends to those imitating his celebrations