I'm Back

Sorry for the long hiatus people. Unlike those jerks at Racer X, I have an actual day job to attend to. As much as I would like to just sit around on a computer all day and write about how sweet motocross is, I cant.
Its been one hell of a summer. Easily one of the best in a long time, if not ever. But all good things must come to an end. Grant Langston wrapped up his first ever championship, ok well he's one just about every 125 title there is to win, but this was his first title in the premier class. Congrats to him, I'll admit, I was rooting for him. He's just a smooth rider, and he's on the right colored bike. That's the first championship for Yamaha in almost a decade. Hopefully Grant's success will cary over to Supercross.
Villopoto also wrapped up his second AMA 125 Title. I can't wait for that little shrimp to take his game to the 450 or 350 or whatever class its going to be next year. I know he's gonna give Bubba a run for his money. Also Townley will be riding the big bikes next summer too, even though he'll be on a Honda, he'll still be fast.
The future of our 2-wheeled sport is pretty bright right now, even though we lost the greatest we will ever have, there is still alot to come. Think of a world where Stewart, Langston, Ferry, Short, Alessi, Villopoto, Townley, Stroupe, Canard, Hill, and Fiolek are all set to do battle. That last one was probably a joke, but you never know, that chick can haul, you may see her racing with the dudes some day. This summer was one to remember, with great racing 12 rounds in a row, the 2007 motocross season was one for the ages. The MXoN is next saturday, then its the off season. Wish me luck on finding shit to write about.

Back To School

I’m sure you’ve all heard all this on every other moto site on the entire web, but I feel the need to sound off on what kick ass summer its been in the world of motocross. I’ll start with Ricky. I have probably used his name at least a thousand times in my short time as a pro blogger, but goddamn the guy is just amazing. So many victories, and just such a class act guy, it wouldn’t be fair to talk about him just about everything I write. This was his retirement summer, in which he raced 6 select rounds. To no surprise, he won all of them, in sometimes dominating, and other times dramatic fashion. Budds Creek ’07 will go down in history, without a doubt. Even though he sat out 3 rounds, he probably has the best shot at winning this championship. We all know with Bubba gone, he’d pretty much be all by himself up front and go 1-1-1-1-1-1. Everyone else would have to be pretty consistent to stop him. But RC is sticking to his guns and calling it quits at 150 even. Farewell Ricky, and thanks for the memories.
So that means there will be a different AMA outdoor champ for the first time in 7 years. The last guy to do it was a South African on a #8 Suzuki, named Greg Albertyn. He was a smooth cat. And luck would have it, one rider who has as good of a shot as any to win this thing, is a South African repping the 8 on his Yamaha. Grant Langston is my pick for this years title winner, as he’s probably riding faster than anyone else competing right now, and he’s just a pimp and the right colored bike. Mark my words come September when GL throws up that #1 plate like a true champ. Its been a hell of a summer and its winding down now. But there are 6 motos in each class left and that’s a lot of racing action and as we’ve seen in the past, anything can happen, especially if you take RC out of the mix.

Moto X at X Games

Last night marked the first time ever that Moto X racing was going to be featured in the X-Games. Ricky Carmichael, Chad Reed, Kevin Windham, Grant Langston and Travis Pastrana were all among a list of riders invited to compete in the inaugural event. The format was going to be a little different than a regular supercross or motocross race. It would consist of more heats, with shorter laps, and less riders. It was supposed to help the racing, but when you invite the #4 of Ricky Carmichael, there’s not much you can do to make the racing closer, except maybe put him on an 85cc or something. But anyway, there were 4 heat races that sent the winners to the main and 2 LCQ’s that sent those winners to the main. K-Dub, Reed, Byrner, and RC all won their heats, and Grant Langston cleaned up in the first LCQ while DV12 pulled out the win ahead of Pastrana in the last LCQ.
When the main started, to no ones surprise, Ricky Carmichael jetted away with the unofficial holeshot, and found himself in the lead in the very first turn. Game over. Sorry guys, but once you let the Greatest Of All Time get out front, you don’t have a shot. They could have just called the race, but there were silver, and bronze medals to give out so I guess they had to finish the race. This is where the only real racing took place. Reed was sitting in second with GL in third and Windham in fourth. That’s kind of how I expected them to finish. But to my surprise Langston caught, passed, and gapped Chad Reed, as if he had been driving race cars in Australia or something… But if my socks hadn’t already been knocked off by the Langston pass, it turns out that even Kevin Windham, who has admitted that he’s on his way out, caught the number deuce deuce Yamaha and went on to get bronze. That was actually some pretty exciting racing. That’s X-Games Moto X in a nutshell, but one thing I wanna talk about is a couple of record holders. While I was watching Moto-X on ESPN, there was a ticker at the bottom that just informed me that Barry Bonds had hit his 755th* career homerun, tying Hank Aaron for most all time HR’s. So I had to channel up real fast, to see history in the making, but what I saw made me realize the true character of a champion athlete. Barry swung his bat, like he had 10 at-bats before, and finally managed to pinch off a homer. He stood there and slowly strutted to first base, staring the ball down like some kind of voodoo master. When the ball finally cleared the stands, he pumped his fist and began to run the bases, pumping his fist, and patting his chest, like the arrogant jerk that he is. He looked around to all his teammates and fans and players from the Padres, with his big man mug on. He was Mr. BigShot again now that he hit another homer. The only thing important to Barry is hitting homeruns, and breaking records. Not winning, or the team, or making his younger players better, no only Barry matters to Barry.
Now think back a month when Ricky Carmichael captured his 100th Motocross victory, becoming the only rider in the magic 100 club and think about the way he acted. He was excited and emotional and he thanked his fans, and his mechanics, and didn’t bask in his own glory, but the glory of the moment. He congratulated James Stewart on a great race, and got to spray the crowd down with his victory champagne for the 100th time. It was a great moment, and he handled it with such class, and dignity, and really expressed the character that a true record holder should in any sport. There are many comparisons to be drawn between Ricky and Barry, and I think both are great athletes (although one had a little help) but I think Ricky Carmichael is the true definition of a record holder, and idol to little kids all over the world. I thought it was great that Ricky was kicking ass at X-Games on ESPN, while Barry Bonds made his mark on the record books on ESPN 2. That’s my 2 cents.