The Deegan drama has been insane this week. The kid can’t catch a break or do anything right in many people’s eyes, and on the other side, he certainly does nothing wrong. There is not much of a “middle of the road” opinion on any of his antics, good or bad.
On one hand you have the “Danger Dorks” the “bed bugs” or the “Deegan Douches” that all coddle the kid and anything he does. This group of people reminds me of the same people that refer to Dallas Cowboys as “WE” haven’t made the Super Bowl since the 90’s. They are in the same vein as Steeler fans that say Russel Wilson is the QB THEY needed. These are the people that look at what they support (Football team, Country, celebrities, or athletes) with rose colored glasses. They are die hard fans and that is ok. Sure, it’s frustrating and downright annoying when they justify any and all actions for them. But that is the undying love and passion that you also see in mainstream sports. Listen, full grown men get dressed up in makeup, face paint, and wild costumes and go watch the Raiders lose every Sunday in Vegas. We all know people that support a team that you hear “this is our year” every single year before the season starts. The Deegan fanboys are no different, this is their guy, and they will support him no matter what. A little closer comparison is NasCar. Hamlin has haters and fans, much like Deegan. The ones that adore him never see when he is a jackass. The ones that hate him have a hard time accepting anything he does.
Now this other side is one that confuses me. Honestly, I probably fall into this side as well. I certainly am very critical of him when bench racing. I do try and look at it objectively though. These are the people that bash him and get on him for everything he does. He has only raced 4 times this season and social media cannot stop talking about him. Just look at Birmingham in a vacuum. He had 4 incidents on TV that people have continued to harp on.
- The start crash with Seth
- Throwing Seth’s bike down and yelling at him
- Walking to PC rig after heat race
- Taking Schock out in the final turn
Now, none of those were all that bad. Let’s break them down really quick. First the start crash: probably about 70% Deegan’s fault and 30% Seth’s. It was off the start and a racing incident. Deegan came over super hard and Seth wasn’t aware of the wheel he had on the outside. When Friese did this at A1, people wanted his head. I talked to Karnow, and he doesn’t even put that onto Vince, it’s racing with 22 riders trying to go as fast as possible into one turn. So, both sides need to cool it with fault on that. Now how Deegan reacted after that: his adrenaline had just spiked, and he was pissed. He hadn’t seen any replay and barely even had 30 seconds to process it. Was it immature? 100%. He is 18. I’m 31 and still do immature shit all the time when I’m emotional. Throwing the bike down was a crappy and a spoiled look without a doubt. But from his perspective he thought he had a wheel on everyone, then was just plowed in the ass in the first heat race of the night.
The next on our list is walking up to the PC rig. I have mixed emotions regarding this. Being pissed off and wanting to address why you are pissed I understand. I don’t get him racing for 8 minutes after the incident and still being fired up. What really blows my mind is that no one from Star stopped him. Not a single person said, “Hey you might want to see the replay before going over there” or “Relax, we have an LCQ to get ready for and it won’t be a good look.” Hell, even his pops could have held him up and said something about the imagine they want to keep. And their image brings me to why my emotions are mixed. Did Star, or pops, or anyone actually say those things? The Deegan’s and Star both must know NBC is posted up at their rig. So, was this more so done for show? Do they actually want that Metal Mulisha imagine and to be the bad boy? If so, this is where I actually do have an issue with this. I will get to that in a minute though.
The final incident that Deegan had was with Schock in the final turn. This was one of the biggest nonissues of the night in my opinion. The last lap and the last turn. Schock could have held the inside way tighter. Coty’s remark of “For 7th place??” I disagree with, every point counts. Look at Macadoo from Detroit. I feel super bad that Schock broke his collar bone after his amazing start to the season. But someone racing with determination and heart, I fully understand. He didn’t straight T-Bone him, he didn’t literally run him off the top of the berm, He just came in hot to the inside and slammed him. Aggressive pass for sure, I wouldn’t be a “fan” of that riding mid race, but last turn is totally acceptable.
We have gone through the incidents from Saturday night, and truthfully, none of them were that bad or worth the haters jumping down his throat over. However, his YouTube video on Monday is certainly something that needs to be inspected. He showed 0 things from the incidents above. Their videographer was literally right next to the bikes in the first turn in the heat race. They cut Haiden pointing and yelling. They cut him throwing the bike down. They didn’t show anything from the pits, and even left out the last turn pass on Schock. I could understand this if they wanted to show they were ashamed for the actions so they didn’t want them in the video to re-hash out. I would be ok with that if it wasn’t for the very end of the video. Haiden sits there and gives one of the weakest “apologies” “I need to grow up” speeches I have ever heard. It was so insincere. He could not look at the camera once. He kept looking around to see if it was “good enough.” You could tell this is what he was told to say just to save face. Not because he believes it. And again, nothing was that bad. I understand he is not feeling sorry for it. Maybe an apology that he acted up in the first turn or at the PC rig, but he didn’t NEED to be sorry about anything. The disconnect comes from what the video DIDN’T show. If you want the Metal Mulisha image, the “I send it all the time” mentality, or the “I will never apologize for giving it my all” attitude then you must fully embrace it! You can’t leave those shots out of the vlog. Lean into the image! Show you were pissed off so you acted out. Let us see the emotions that are burning inside! If that’s not who they want to be, then that’s fine too! Issue a real apology then, something where Haiden actually feels bad. Not this “golly I guess I should say this to make people happy.” If one thing cancel culture has shown, bending at the knees to please others is not how you make it long term.
I truly believe this is why we don’t have middle of the road takes on Haiden. He isn’t himself at all times. He tries to please all audiences, and thus, loses authenticity. Brian knows what he is doing when it comes to marketing himself and his family, but they need to pick a lane for Haiden. BamBam doesn’t apologize for his aggressive riding, Friese doesn’t apologize for his first turn antics, and Tyler Evans never apologized for starting shit in the pits. You can’t have a half assed apology and then do the same things the next week. If you do, then embrace who you are as a person. No one mentioned above has had the divide of haters of lovers that Deegan is dealing with right now, and I believe that is authenticity. So Deegs, put that shit on your YouTube, don’t say “sorry” unless you actually mean it to your fans, and most importantly, don’t be upset when there is a target on your back.
As always, any questions, comments, concerns, or requests just send them my way. Twitter: @No_GasMedia
