#oh ALSO agassi/graf i have some feelings about like how they found their happy ending in each other

[batsplat]

i know looking at ig interactions is kinda childish… but casey and the vr46 academy really do feel like family! adriana has always stayed far from the motogp wags circle, but she and marta followed each other, so maybe the luca family and casey’s family had some interactions around the time luca’s daughter was born. vale even likes adriana’s family posts! he doesn’t even follow her, so i don’t know if he searched for it on purpose or if ig recommended it to him… not to mention casey’s support for the academy boys, especially now that we have matteo—casey’s former crew chief’s son in the academy.

and casey is also quietly keeping up with vale’s family life. they must have so many private conversations, and being two girl dads together is such a sweet thing. also vale’s races, casey saw him on the podium in bathurst. this man is still racing everywhere at 45+. i wonder what casey thinks about that. he really deserved to be invited to bathurst and into the wrt garage by vale.

oh that's v sweet!! i'm gonna be honest,, not only have we established by now i do not use instagram but... i am so out of gossip circles i had to google who 'marta' is. this isn't even gossip and i probably could have gotten that from context, but i do just think i'm prone to pretending athletes don't exist outside of the confines of their sport. i do enjoy the instagram insights though whenever they are sent to me!

luca got the kid around the time of phillip island, didn't he? i mean casey disappeared of the face of the planet for that last year so who knows.... he clearly extremely doesn't fw motogp at the moment but that's neither here nor there. valentino liking stoner family posts is v cute... and i will say!! this whole situation 2 me elevates casey up a tier in terms of post-feud warmth in valentino rivalries. i mean it helps that all of valentino's other rivals... actually nvm apparently some of them do have children. well see!!

casey feelings about valentino stilllllllllllll racing mmm (2009/2018/2018/2021)

the other thing he increasingly did when valentino was in motogp was mope about valentino still racing despite not winning where it's like. wow i think this actually does bother you?? that it made valentino look more BEATABLE which is FASCINATING coming from casey. you kinda get the post 2012 transition from schadenfreude whenever valentino's doing poorly to Casey The Fan increasingly going

but beyond that i imagine he has like. very weird knotty uncomfortable feelings about it because it's very much... he was supposed to be the young challenger and he left so early and valentino stayed so long... and casey always hated that life and valentino loves it so much he just cannot give it up... and in a way that is how casey would WANT to feel about racing but just never could... ugh. ugh!! nyhgh

the crew chief connection super precious to me like... gabarrini being somebody casey has actually described as 'a friend' (real praise coming from him) who has now worked for pecco his entire premier class career... and now has a son in the academy... you're right, there is a nice sense that casey has kept up with goings on of his italian brethren in recent years. like the private conversations thing, we do have at least a lil confirmation of that from 2022

often. OFTEN. obviously i have no clue what valentino rossi thinks is often but. still! i do low key find this a fascinating dynamic because,, and i know i'm a bit of a broken record on this,, it is very funny to look at what casey has been saying about valentino in interviews at the same time as he's 'often' messaging him and asking about his daughter. like i don't actually think i have a professional athlete-sized ego but i'm not entirely sure i'd be?? that chummy?? with someone who was saying the kinds of things about me that casey has been saying about valentino. i am also not convinced i would be inviting them to my home. like i don't want to say i am more prone to hold grudges than 'valentino rossi' and 'casey stoner' but i do actually think it'd be completely legitimate for BOTH of them to still despise the other tbh

but they've always been kinda like this and i really do believe they reached this beautiful point in their relationship where they've so thoroughly insulted each other that there's nothing they can actually say that would permanently burn that bridge. casey no longer talks to long time ally and team boss for almost all his time in motogp livio suppo because he was not able to ride at cota 2015, but still checks in with how valentino's family is doing. i do strongly feel like this just isn't a rivalry you'll get unless you watch at least a decent proportion of the relevant seasons (i mean low key i feel that way about all rivalries but i do not wish to gatekeep anything but MY oddly niche rivalry) - partly because it just gives you such a charming vibes mismatch. what these two say to each other has never really fit how the two of them act around each other. and then when you study the sum totality of 'reporting from the time', 'everything casey's said since 2013' and 'the evidence of your own eyes', it's great because it's just like. wow you guys are both freaks, god bless. i'm glad you are still able to beam like that at your rival who you called a lying hoe two minutes ago. good for you

so really,, casey keeping up with valentino's entire family and accepting ranch invites while continuing to semi-regularly badmouth valentino in the press is just. very much in the spirit of their whole rivalry. as is valentino's low key impressive ability to just completely shrug all of that off and never feel the need to respond to some of the more spurious accusations casey makes. never change idk