Being polite is proper, but being a dick is more fun. Team Robot is what happens when the sane find insanity after the world stops being polite. Just like HBCTCI1990, tabloid-style journalism is hilarious and helps keep everyone on their toes. It is all part of the “Catfish Effect”, keeping the bullshit right at the top fighting with what is “proper”, making people think about what it is they are reading or being told. Many folks with sensitive dispositions can’t handle reading contradictory information because it makes them feel uncomfortable with their own level of intellect or lack there of. The general consumer just wants “easy” and puffy, cream-filled text that tells them point-blank “this was fun” or “this guy is cool” because it is easy and has no ill effect on the simple composition of their self esteem.
I [don’t] hate to be the one to break it to you, but the world is not that neat and orderly, especially when it comes to this sport. We are not as big as the NFL or FIFA or NASCAR, so we don’t have an overloaded news source giving us the dirt on our favorite riders or brands. Instead, what we do have, are individuals who call it like they see it, and offend everyone because being crass isn’t always the best delivery system for new information or opinions (but it sure is effective!). While praising the rebels goes against my better anti-establishment senses [NOTHING IS COOL, EVERYTHING IS GARBAGE], I have to tip my hat to Mr. Sponsel and those brilliant minds behind HBCTC. It takes both a sharp mind, and a sharper tongue to shake up the readership of this sport, and make it stick.
Much like Steve Jones, Seb Kemp, and some of the other heavy hitting keyboard enthusiasts, a risk is taken with every piece that goes live. Not every single one is met with a rousing round of applause or a crowd of nodding heads. In fact, there are frequent times when a piece misses the target entirely – not because of poor writing, or bad channeling of exposure; no, it comes down to the reader. While writing a piece, one can gauge the reader’s reaction, but only to a degree, and sometimes that degree is a lot higher or lower than anticipated. But guess what? Tough. Putting together coherent thought and insight, week in, week out, it isn’t easy. Just because the subject matter may go against your grain or not be entirely in your wheelhouse doesn’t mean these people are bad at their jobs or are vacuous morons.
The reality, is that the customer is not always right. So, next time you read a piece, and it doesn’t line up with you exactly like your horoscope does (OMG THAT’S SO ME), take a moment to consider reading between the lines, and trying to feel out if there is a bigger message being discussed within the text you’re looking at before you decide to subject everyone else to a half-witted comment or a poorly constructed diatribe filled with semi-relevant anecdotes and conjecture. We are only here to make you think, and I won’t apologize if that is too much to ask of you, the reader.
