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Alessi let go by Alloy clothing.

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Posted by: bclapham---------------------

just read this:

Quote:
Hot off the presses!!

Yorba Linda, California. August 24th 2004.

ALLOY MX announces that the company has ended their agreement with Mike
Alessi with immediate effect.

Neil Calvesbert commented, “This should have been a very difficult decision,
but ultimately it was not as it was forced upon us. ALLOY MX saw Mike Alessi
as the future; we made a large commitment to him and his brother Jeff. As a
young company we committed ourselves to these two riders for the long term,
no amateur rider has been supported or marketed as heavily as Mike Alessi
with ALLOY MX.
But at the end of the day, we have simply had enough of the situation and
working with Tony Alessi.”

Calvesbert continued “The backlash of the events leading up to and during
Millville have rocked us hard, people think ALLOY MX made those “Believe the
Hype” tee-shirts. That is simply not true; we had no involvement in
producing that tee-shirt. Tony Alessi asked us to make a bulls eye butt logo
for Mike’s pants for Millville, we pointed out the problems that may cause
or the message it might send but he insisted. We originally signed a 3-year
contract with both Mike and Jeff, which took us to the end of 2005; recently
Tony has wanted to make some changes to our original agreement which
included helmets and boots. We have always tried to accommodate his requests
and have gone over and beyond what the contract requires us to do. As we all
know, as the stakes and money get higher so do the responsibilities of the
athletes. Unfortunately some people chose not to respect the terms or
obligations of a contract; they want the money but don’t expect to work for
it”.

Ben Masek, President of ALLOY MX added “While we were left concerned after
Millville, we tried to soldier on but this week Tony told us that if we did
not allow Mike to wear the same color way as Millville for Steele City or
Glen Helen that he would pull Mike from those races? Various communications
went back and forth and today we decided to end the relationship, we just
cannot work productively under the constant threats from Tony Alessi”.

Calvesbert added, “There are so many riders out there who we respect, riders
who have won countless races and championships, they don’t wear ALLOY but as
athletes they have our full respect. Every rider that goes to the line each
week has our respect. There are many riders out there who would be excited
to get the support we have given Mike but it seems we just cannot do enough
to please Tony, we know Mike will win many races on whatever machinery he
secures for his future but ALLOY MX will not be a part of that future.

Ben Masek closed by saying, “We hope people see this decision for what it
really is, and that is a decision made for the future of the ALLOY MX brand
and everyone involved in it. Of course we would like to give all of the
details but that would be unprofessional.
We are continuing to push forward in many directions; we are expanding our
athlete endorsement and advertising programs while at the same time
expanding our product offering. ALLOY MX continues to grow and we want our
athletes to grow with us”.

Please contact: ALLOY MX Inc tel: 714-692-9301 or e-mail
info@alloymxusa.com



I liked this bit the best

"But at the end of the day, we have simply had enough of the situation and
working with Tony Alessi.”



Posted by: zcookie49---------------------

what an A-hole! The ego with the Alessi entourage is there with Bubbas, and he hasnt even done anything in the pro ranks yet!!! I can only hope that this will not be a disturbing trend with the upcoming riders with all the money now being involved... Hepler seems really solid though...



Posted by: YZ165---------------------

Just the first of many companies that will refuse, in time, to work with the Alessi's.



Posted by: steve125---------------------

UFB!!! That Tony Alessi makes Napoleon look tall. Talk about the short man's complex, he's the poster boy!



Posted by: rv6junkie---------------------

If this is true, good for Alloy! A company with some balls.

I recently bought my son some Alloy gear and liked it....I may have to check some out for me as well. The part of the release I liked was...

"Of course we would like to give all of the details but that would be unprofessional. "

How could there be MORE to this story!



Posted by: jboomer---------------------

No telling how much business they'll attract for that little statement! Good for them!



Posted by: Rcannon---------------------

I sent the Alessi tots an e mail. They both have valid e mail adresses.

I said, "I know what it is like having difficult parents, my best wishes to you."

Sincerely,
Jon-Bonnet Ramsey
Boulder, CO

Mike Alessi
mike@alessiracing.com
Jeff Alessi
jeff@alessiracing.com



Posted by: evenslower---------------------

I sent Alloy an email about an hour ago congratulating them for not letting themselves get run all over and taking a stand. I've already received a response thanking me for my support.



Posted by: mxer842---------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rcannon
I sent the Alessi tots an e mail. They both have valid e mail adresses.


Careful now, Tony probably has a tap that allows him to monitor their e-mail and delete messages telling them they can't beat Bubba before they can read it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by zcookie49
what an A-hole! The ego with the Alessi entourage is there with Bubbas, and he hasnt even done anything in the pro ranks yet!!! I can only hope that this will not be a disturbing trend with the upcoming riders with all the money now being involved... Hepler seems really solid though...


Exactly, in '02 when Bubba came in he was a gracious little 16 year old kid who still had braces, only after he was winning by a half a lap did he open his mouth.



Posted by: Jeff Howe---------------------

I went shopping tonight too...about 10 minutes after I read that I had ordered some Alloy gear just to show my support for a company that is willing to take a stand in their own best interests. Bravo Alloy MX!!



Posted by: Midhigh---------------------

I think of Broc Hepler who entered the pro ranks silent and just rode hard. 2nd in SX and 2nd in MX so far - thats how you start your pro career.



Posted by: biglou---------------------

^^^ Absolutely, Midhigh.



Posted by: nephron---------------------

Absolutely disagree with the Bubba thing. Is this LIKELY, REALISTIC and most of all...HONEST ?:

Bubba laps half the field every race in SX (it happened), and wins by 25-30 seconds (it happened). He exhibits 'relativity' moves repeatedly. All other riders praise his speed and capabilities. Yet he's supposed to act like he was lucky to win some of these races, or diffuse the fact that he's the best thing in a long time in this sport, with some self deprecating comment or worse yet, a boring comment like "My Dunlops really hooked up".

He may say a few 'borderline' things here and there. But he more commonly says a lot of cool things people seem to forget about. How about Washougal, when fans wrote him asking him to ride a 2 instead of a 4, and he did it for them (J-Bone had a 4 ready to go)?

Yeah, Hepler needs to keep his mouth shut...because he's not a God like Stewart (please don't take that literally, as seems to be habit recently). He's awesome. He's a great rider, and a hard-nosed kid. I love the kid. But Stewart's a whole other deal, and no one wants to talk about it anymore because they're frankly sick of the kid. There's always 100's of drunk jerkies lining the tracks in waiting, ready to insult Bubba if he goes down or breaks his bike. lol, if he was French, I could see all this...

The nose down, humble approach should be true for all--there are just those top few that it doesn't work for...McEnroe, Maurice Jones, all politicians, Gary Hall Jr, Alexandre Popov, Joe Namath, Eric Dickerson, OJ--especially the USC years...on and on. Hate all those people?



Posted by: XRpredator---------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by nephron
The nose down, humble approach should be true for all--there are just those top few that it doesn't work for...McEnroe, Maurice Jones, all politicians, Gary Hall Jr, Alexandre Popov, Joe Namath, Eric Dickerson, OJ--especially the USC years...on and on. Hate all those people?

yeah, everyone still loves OJ!

I respect Bubba and his skills, but I don't have to like him. Just like I don't like RC. Although, I respect RC more, or dislike him less than I dislike Bubba now. But I do gotta admit that Bubba is still just a kid. He will learn humility. Next year

As for Alloy -- I may have found a new favorite gear brand.



Posted by: jsned---------------------

Nephron, you said Hepler needs to keep his mouth shut, did you mean to say Alessi?

Maybe you didnt, not disagreeing, just personally never heard Hepler say much at all. Seems pretty calm to me.



Posted by: Okiewan---------------------

... everyone loves to hate winnners; if they win "too much". It's almost human nature to pull for the under-dog. From sports stars to countries, win too much and the world will do everything they can to find your flaws and that's pretty much all they will talk about.

(in ref to RC nad Bubba statements)



Posted by: Jeff Howe---------------------

You guys have this WAY the heck off topic now. This is about Alloy and Tony the Turd, not Bubba and RC. It is not about riders and their popularity levels. It's about the Runt Daddy shooting holes in his kids career. Now go buy some Alloy gear, even just a pair of gloves or something and show your support to a company that carries their brass with pride.



Posted by: rv6junkie---------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shocknut
You guys have this WAY the heck off topic now.


Welcome to short attention-span theater



Posted by: Okiewan---------------------

A thread going off-topic? Here? No way!



Posted by: Vic---------------------

How 'bout them Olympics!?





Posted by: marcusgunby---------------------

Steve you be careful when talking about peoples heights-you know how touchy i am about it



Posted by: jackdrinker---------------------

I've seen the "e Hollywood true story" of this before.. I believe it was, Gary Coleman, the home alone kid and a few others..
There is no way, hell in high water that Thor, TLD or Fox will pick these tools up.. Can you imagine Tony Bologna trying to tell Troy Lee " how it's gonna be " I see Mike breaking bones and fading away... He now has the KTM curse...



Posted by: LukeRips---------------------

I'll be clad in Alloy gear the rest of the '04 season.



Posted by: john3_16---------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by marcusgunby
Steve you be careful when talking about peoples heights-you know how touchy i am about it




Don't worry, short guys are faster!



Posted by: Kawidude---------------------

I sent Alloy an e-mail as well. I told them I applauded their action and that my next set of gear would be Alloy MX.



Posted by: super rat---------------------

AUG 25—TONY ALESSI REBUTTAL

We just got off the phone with Tony Alessi, and he told us the lowdown about the Alloy clothing deal. As you know, Alloy dropped a heavy press release last night concerning the termination of Mike Alessi’s contract. According to Tony, the original Alloy contract wasn’t valid anyway. Why? The way the contract was written up, only Mike signed the deal. Under law, a 16-year-old cannot officially sign a contract and have it withstanding without parental signature.

Yet apparently the Alessi family was trying to renegotiate for a new contract with Alloy. However, the major issue that came up was when Red Bull logos (for the Red Bull/KTM team) needed to also take up space on Mike’s riding gear. According to Tony, Alloy had a severe problem with the Red Bull logos, and Mike also wanted to be allowed to wear any choice of colors in gear. As of right now, the Alessi family is looking for a new gear sponsor.

In other Alessi news, Mike’s Honda contract expires this Sunday, but Mike will still race the Steel City National on a self-purchased CRF450. He will not have any backing from Honda, and will make a go of it on from what we understand a pretty much bone stock bike.

As for the Glen Helen National, Alessi might make his KTM debut aboard a 450 depending on if he can adapt to the bike in the time between Steel City and Glen Helen (six days). One thing is certain; Mike Alessi will be racing the last two Nationals in the 250 class.


From MXA.



Posted by: Okiewan---------------------

So Alloy dropped that bombshell press release for something as simple as that? Seems to be typical gear contract negotiating points. Someone isn't telling the whole story me thinks.



Posted by: Jeff Howe---------------------

I think Tony just screwed them because of the Red Bull logo thing. If I was Alloy I wouldn't want those Red Bull logo's covering my own either. I think Tony just said "screw you, we can get out of it if you don't do what I say" and at that point I'm sure Alloy had enough of him. Either way, it seems Alloy got the shaft from Tony Alessi.



Posted by: ZOOK250---------------------

until now i really didnt even know about alloy gear. now i think i just might buy some of thier stuff. pretty good marketing job.



Posted by: markthomps---------------------

Yeah, I REALLY believe Papa Alessi and all those corporate types at Alloy would allow a 16-year-old to sign a high-dollar endorsement contract all by himself. How stupid does Tony think we are? Wait, better not answer that as you won't like it. This is just more of the Alessi BS Spin to things.

I also loved how he talked about KTM being a "stepping stone" for duh kid. I think the fact that Honda decided not to sign them up even though they've got no name riders signed for '05, speaks volumes about what the Alessi's are really like. KTM will probably live to regret this decision.

Like others, I've sent off a congratulations msg to Alloy and gotten a "thanks" response. I'll be looking to get some of their gear as well.



Posted by: Jeff Howe---------------------

Well, as usual I was completely wrong. Tony was lying and the contracts were binding but Alloy has just simply had enough of them and tossed them to the wind. Good riddance the way it sounds.



Posted by: Casper250---------------------

AUG 26-ALLOY'S REBUTTAL

(Editors note: Yesterday, we had a lengthy phone conversation with Tony Alessi about the contract termination between Alloy motocross gear and the Alessi family. We would like you to know that the comments in the article entitled "Tony Alessi Rebuttal" came indirectly from Mr. Alessi (as it wasn't an interview, but instead an overview of what he said). At MXA, we are fair in showing both sides of the story, unedited and straightforward. Today, Alloy responded to Tony Alessi's rebuttal.)

Yorba Linda CA, August 26th 2004

Following the recent article posted on the web site motocrossactionmag.com titled "Tony Alessi Rebuttal". ALLOY MX would like to clarify some of the statements that were made incorrectly in that article.

• Individual contracts were signed with both Mike and Jeff Alessi in 2002. These contracts were counter signed by Mr Tony Alessi as their legal guardian.

• Each contract was valid, these contracts commenced January 1st 2003 and expired December 31st 2005 with a further option period.

• Each contract year for both Mike and Jeff have been paid in full. 2003 was paid prior to the start date of the contract, 2004 was paid according to the terms of the contract with the final payment made in May 2004. They are paid in full up to 1st January 2005.

• ALLOY MX terminated their relationship with Mike, Jeff and Tony Alessi not because of any conflict with additional contracts that Tony Alessi was considering.

• ALLOY MX terminated their relationship based on the continual failure of the athletes involved to fulfill their contractual obligations despite written requests to do so. This was not restricted to issues regarding clothing, it included not only their behavior and conduct on and off the racetrack but also that of their father.

• ALLOY MX was not presented with any requests to consider with regards to a potential contract from team Red Bull/KTM.


Neil Calvesbert commented "We really did not expect this to become such a debate, this is not something we took pleasure in doing. No one had a smile on their faces when the decision to terminate our relationships with the Alessi’s was made. However, despite our requests they refused to fulfill their obligations or change their conduct, the spectacle at this past weekend’s Bounty Hunter race convinced us that we had to end this relationship; it was not something we could be a part of any longer.
Calvesbert continues "This had nothing to do with invalid contracts or conflicting agreements that we are aware of. We had no communication with Red Bull/KTM, Tony had been talking to them for several months but like everyone knows one day it was Honda and the next KTM. Prior to Millville we had direct discussions with Honda regarding their requirements for their corporate logos and team sponsors on our clothing. We were able to accommodate their requests and Tony was advised of this. If someone had talked to us about any requirements that Red Bull or KTM had then I am sure we could have accommodated them too. No such discussion took place. If Tony Alessi or their management had pulled the "Invalid contract" card and we had wanted to keep Mike and Jeff on our program we would have took every step required by law to enforce our contracts with them.

"I laughed when I read the comments on MXA, they chose to release that without checking the facts. I am grateful that Tony Alessi and his sons graciously accepted substantial payments from ALLOY MX for the last 25 months when they had no obligation to do so because our contracts in their eyes were invalid. I am now wondering if they will return any of the money to us? I can understand Tony wants to look like he pulled the trigger on this, he graves that power and I have no problem with that. Actually, it makes the technicalities of the situation much more straightforward. His statements make everything much more simple".

In closing Calvesbert added "There were a couple of items in our press release that seemed to cause confusion which I should clarify: First, ALLOY MX was not disappointed with Mike’s race performance at Millville. The kid did great, first race in the big show, despite problems in the first moto he was holding down 7th place in the 2nd against the best riders in the world. We were stoked; everyone around him should have been stoked for him.
Second, ALLOY MX has ended their relationship with everything Alessi. That includes Jeff Alessi.

I hope this closes the chapter and everyone can move on. They have what they need, the freedom to do whatever they want, we are not holding them to anything which they know we could. I know Mike will go on and win many races; he has great ability on a motorcycle and so does Jeff. I wish both Mike and Jeff the very best with their careers"



Posted by: motohead00---------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by LukeRips
I'll be clad in Alloy gear the rest of the '04 season.

They make plaster too?!!!

Sorry, couldn't help it after you told me in the other thread that you had broken your leg. Heal up quick, Bro!!



Posted by: Kawidude---------------------

I just got a "thank you" response from Alloy too. Thought I'd share it:

On behalf of Alloy MX, I would like to thank you for the support in input
regarding this matter. We felt that we were making the right decision and
responses like this simply affirm it. We greatly appreciate the loyalty to
the company and to the dignity of the sport!

Thanks again!
Alloy MX



Posted by: YZ165---------------------

Alloy's e-mail address. info@alloymx.com.



Posted by: Rcannon---------------------

Alloy is cool. I got a letter back from them.

Funny thing is, I also got something back from Alesi Racing. I believe this was in response to my Jon Bonnet Ramsey e mail.

Dear Roland,

thanks for your interest in alessi racing

your first alessi weekly will be sent tomorrow( sat evening)

all the best

alessi family


I cannot wait. The letter did not use any capitol letters or punctuation. I know it is authentic.




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