TRP Editor Jason Weigandt virtually
shares his real life
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Tied 3:16
Oh brother it’s on now. Super on. Crazy on. Super Bowl World Series Game Seven on now. We finally have our “it” event. A final playoff game. One race for all of the marbles – one night, one race, one event, and it’s in Vegas and on live TV.
This has never happened before. Ever. Ricky Carmichael and Chad Reed are tied! They have 316 points apiece, but that might as well mean they’ve each won three heading into game seven. There isn’t a “if this guy does this they other guy has to do this.” Nope. Whoever finishes in front will win the title. And James Stewart isn’t even out of it, since he’s just five points back, and if desperate times calls for desperate measures, there is the possibility of a Reed/RC takeout which could open the door in improbable proportions.
What an amazing scenario we have here. Only it's more than amazing, But I just can't write anything else because the adjective to describe something this awesome and outrageous and incredible simply hasn't been invented yet. So instead I'm stuck saying it's awesome and outrageous and incredible and amazing when in reality it's something so much bigger than that - someone please invent a new word to describe this within the next six days!
So, we need to celebrate like it. This is going to be one wild week. We’ll probably never get a setup like this again so live it up. I’ll be flipping out here everyday and I expect everyone else to as well. This week needs to live in infamy – “the week we were tied.”
And we’re tied at 316 points, which I believe has some kind of biblical ties. That’s how big this is!
Besides the points getting all locked up, we have
to mention one more thing. J-Law made the podium and dropped an F-bomb.
Oh hail Thee up above who makes such glorious comedy moments happen!
April 19, 6:30 pm PST
Settled in Seattle
We got the full Seattle experience in here already, and the racing hasn’t even begun! Yesterday we hit downtown Sea-town and a variety of local drink and eat establishments. We have a pretty good crew here this weekend: me, Fubar, Billy Ursic, Matt Ware and Bryan Stealey, and it makes it hard to find places to eat. Ware is a vegan (no meat, no dairy), Stealey is a vegetarian but he does eat fish, and Fubar is a steak and potatoes guy. And basically, Farber is one of those “my way of the highway” kind of guys.
Somehow we settled on a Japanese place that had sushi for we meat and fish eaters, chicken and rice for Fubar, and some kind of tofu for Matt. We had already walked out of three restaurants after checking the menu before that.
Once we were done it was on to the bars. This is one cool town, especially when it’s experiencing a rare bright and sunny day. So many of the downtowns I’ve seen in this country are cookie cutters – Dallas and Houston and Phoenix etc. are really pretty similar. But there’s nothing like Seattle. It’s just, what did Beavis and Butthead say? It’s “cool.”
Huhuhuhuh.
Hehehehe.
We got the rest of the Seattle experience today. It was cloudy and misty this morning and then it’s been raining for hours here. That’s Seattle! I’m super stoked on all of this. You know me, I like the craziness, and it’s going to be really crazy considering we have both Supercross Titles on the line and that West Lites title up for grabs, too. And yes, the Pro Circuit people pretty much assured us Ryan Villopoto will move over for Langston if it’s needed tonight – if Andrew Short wins this one he will have truly earned it. It’s just too bad Matt Walker couldn’t be here bumping people off the gate ….
Here’s a scenario I want to throw out here: chances are both the AMA and World SX GP titles will be clinched in Vegas next weekend. And what’s more, two different riders could win them. Never before have these titles both been wrapped up at the same race. So what kind of deal is this going to be? We could have, for example, Carmichael and Stewart both hoisting number-one plates in Vegas. How confusing is that going to be? It’s like the Steelers and Seahawks holding trophies after the Super bowl.
Hey and Jim and I were looking through the points and realized Carmichael hasn’t won a race since Daytona. Then I realized it’s been years since he’s won a race late in the year. Last year he got shut out. He didn’t race supercross in 2004. Reed won the last six in 2003. You have to go back to 2002 to find Ricky winning a race after Daytona. I don’t even know what this indicates but I thought it was worth mentioning.
Okay let’s talk about the track here –
it’s muddy! But there is some good news after like four hours
of rain. The dirt here is used to it. I talked to GNCCer Jason Raines,
who is from Washington, and he says the dirt here is much better suited
to rain then stuff on the East. He said after a muddy ride here you
can just hose the bike off and it’s clean, because the dirt
here doesn’t stick. That will be a big help in comparison to,
say, San Francisco earlier this year when everyone was covered.
So before I go, let’s think about this again: it’s down
to the wire like never before in supercross, and we’re going
mudding tonight.
THIS IS NUTS!!!!
APril 27, 11:30 am
This is it
When it’s like this, when it’s this good, supercross is a beautiful symphony. In fact, I’ll put it up against any sport, any show, in any time or place when it’s this good. The beauty lies in the simplicity: right now we have three super-elite guys trying their hearts out to win. Two of them are trying so hard that they crash, and the third guy wins the race. Everyone in the stadium can see every inch of it, too. And you don’t need an expert to explain anything. It’s all right there, obvious and plain to see.
Not to demean the work of my boy Jimmy Holley, but honestly anyone could have grasped what was going on in that stadium Saturday in Dallas. You don’t need Tim McCarver to explain the pitcher trying to get ahead in the count, or John Madden talking X’s and O’s. No way – this is just three guys trying to go fast, two of them paying the price, and one of them winning.
It’s not always this good. When the runaways happen – and they happen in this game a whole lot more than any other, sorry – then you need the experts. Then you can talk about subtleties like Carmichael steering his bike with the throttle and the rear-wheel to keep his corner speed up, or Stewart scrubbing or Reed having a trainer who is on Lance Armstrong’s crew. You need to talk about that stuff when it’s boring, and often, unfortunately, it is. But when it’s good – oh it’s SO good.
That’s where we are right now. Last night I was just thinking about this weekend in Seattle, and hopefully another showdown in Vegas, and I was giddy. I was stoked, pumped and jacked up. This is history. If we really go to Vegas not knowing who will win the title, it will be a surreal experience for everyone. It’s never this good. Never. The last time the title was really in any doubt heading to the finale was LA in 1992, where we coincidentally had the veteran warrior (Stanton), the foreign champion (JMB) and the phenom (Bradshaw) going for it. But I’ll be honest – LA only became crazy AFTER the race because Bradshaw choked. Before that race began everyone thought Damon had it in the bag. So the anticipation of 1992 can’t match 2006, and if you want something closer you would have to go back to the 1980’s glory days, only back then you didn’t have live TV and CBS and 50,000 live fans watching. And it wasn’t that simple, either. Back then there were almost too many contenders. I’ve watched the supercross classics DVD, and one weekend Mark Barnett would kill it, and the next race he’d be rolling around in seventh. It’s not like that now. We’ve got three and only three guys and the spotlight will be on them every single time because they’ll either be out front, or be making headlines because they crashed. It’s so simple and so awesome and so unprecedented. And what’s more it probably won’t happen again. So do yourself a favor and savor every last morsel of these two weeks of title-chase bliss. Read and analyze the interviews and theories and mathematical possibilities. Drown yourself in Mototalk. Stay glued to this freaking blog, whatever. Just remember these two weeks, because it’s what we’ve always wanted and never get.
I’m so pumped up right now. I mean for real. I have arm pump just thinking of holding the mic in Vegas when the main starts and everything is on the line.
Somewhere in the background of the ultimate showdown between the big three comes this West Region Lites fight. You know the 450 boys are battling hard when you don’t even think about the fact that Andrew Short has just four points on Langston, and Langston has a teammate in Ryan Villopoto who is hauling ass right now. If it goes Langston, Villo and Short this weekend, Langston wins the title in his standard “by a hair” fashion. So it’s far, far from over.
But you have to give Short credit. A few months back I think DC said he’s developing into a little Jeff Stanton over there, and now we’re really seeing it. Stanton wasn’t the world’s fastest guy, but he managed to win the titles he wasn’t supposed to win. Face it, Langston is faster and more talented than Short. But he just isn’t getting it done, and after all of these bad starts and stupid mistakes, he’s put himself behind the eight ball going into this finale, while Short can control his own destiny. Short works super-hard and does what he has to do to succeed. The only piece left is the ability to perform under pressure, and I’ll tell you, looking at his lap times last weekend in practice and the heat, it looked like he was buckling.
But come go time, he was the cool one, staying solid in second behind Villo while Langston, who had speed to burn earlier in the night, got all pumped up and tight when it mattered. And this is a guy who has been down this championship road more than anyone!
I really like both of those guys so it will be sweet to see either one win. Langston has a way of pulling this stuff out – although he’s never actually been behind in points heading to the last race like he is now. I think Short has developed the mental toughness to stare this title in the face. But, it’s the Lites, and anything can happen and usually does. It’s crazy that we’re not even thinking about this because that damn 450 gang is so close!
I know I'm probably edging too close to being a full Reed supporter here, especially after I gave him all of this credit the other day. Again, I really don't care who wins this stuff as long as it makes for a good story. But, let me just throw Chad another set of props here - if you don't like him go ahead and send me the "stop kissing his ass" emails. Chad and I will read them together on his couch and .... whoa, wait a minute.
Okay here is my point: If Ricky Carmichael had won two races this year and still won the championship because he was consistent peolple will saying he was smart. If Chad wins it that way, well, everyone is just going to think he was lucky.
I’ve received a few comments this week akin to, “Dude, Villopoto won his first supercross before Alessi. Why haven’t you mentioned this!”
Well, I am now. I would have done it earlier but darned Villo wouldn’t help. I asked him in about 30 different ways what it was like to, “be the bridesmaid as an amateur and now experience this much success so quickly as a pro” and he just blew it off. EVERYONE knows what I’m talking about. He won before Alessi did! C’mon, Ryan, Mike has made you cry before. TALK SOME TRASH!
But that’s probably why people like Ryan so much. He’s the anti-hype. He won’t even hype things up when he wins, let alone five years before he’s even there. I’m just hoping that somewhere, at some time during the last few days Ryan and his family had a little Alessi bash session. For all the heartbreak Team Alessi dealt them back in the amateur days, they’ve earned it.
P.S. I’ve never hated the Alessi gang. In fact, the whole crew are some of the nicest and most polite people you will ever run into at the track. They always make sure to know everyone’s name and respect what everyone does. They’re not punks, which is kind of refreshing. But c’mon, with the way they throw the controversy out there, how could you not indulge. Talking about these guys is like eating dessert.
And speaking of…
I’ve been running a few days a week this year with MX Sports’ Tim Boryk and Racer X designer Jason Hooper. We usually meet on Tuesday and Thursday morning and put the miles in – it’s like a New Year’s resolution that actually worked. And now that the weather is finally nice in the morning, there’s no turning back. But after four months I’ve started to transform. Any of you readers who have done some sort of training have probably been through this. My metabolism is out of control! I can’t stop eating. Hell, I’m hungry during meals right now because my body is starving for fuel 24/7.
On Monday I ate cereal for breakfast, was still hungry so I made a sandwich. I was still hungry so when the boys went to lunch at Wings Ole’ I ordered FOUR tacos and gorged through all four. Then I was still hungry so I went through a box of wheat thins at my desk, and then Hooper and his wife were going for sushi, so I joined them and killed my giant plate of sushi, but Hooper couldn’t keep up and finish his so I gladly ran the “you gonna’ eat dat?” and finished up for him. Then Kato Kalin Bowyer (my new roommate) called and said he was at the Mexican joint getting margaritas, so of course I had to go there and have some along with those wonderful bottomless baskets of chips and salsa. But I still woke up hungry so yesterday I had the cereal/sandwich combo again, and then DC took us to lunch at a different Mexican joint that was running the ALL YOU CAN EAT TACO BUFFETT which I basically put out of business. I have now realized that regular cereal isn’t going to cut it for breakfast so I picked up a box of this Kaishi high-protein cereal that Ryan Clark always runs when he comes out to visit. It’s all twigs and rocks and stuff but once I threw it down the incinerator it was gone like I had never had it. Last night for dinner I made like 15 pounds of spaghetti, and I haven’t had sauce in the house for ages so I just took all 15 pounds down PLAIN and then woke up starving. Boryk and I put in six miles this morning and for motivation I just kept telling myself I could eat once the run was finally over. Dude I was hauling! Now I’ve had two power bars and cereal and I think it’s time to make another sandwich because it’s 11 am and I can’t wait until lunch time….
I think this is the coolest thing ever! I did a feature on Juha Salminen on the GNCC site a few months ago, and now it's turned up again on some other site, only IN SPANISH!!! Dio Mio!
April 25th, 9:35 am
Reediculous again
Okay, I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 1000 times, and I’ll probably say it again, but do me a favor and follow this advice: never, ever, EVER say Chad Reed is weak mentally. Don’t say he’s defeated, or over it, or done, or lost. Don’t say “Reed” and then point at your temple and do little 360s with your index finger. The very thing people accuse Chad of, not being strong enough mentally, is the very reason he has had the success he has. He has as iron a will as any racer out there. He is mentally tough, mentally strong, and mentally undefeatable. And yet every time he loses a race, people say he’s done and defeated and over it.
Here is why Chad doesn’t win the races: he’s racing against Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart! C’mon, this is the ultimate dynamic duo – arguably the two fastest and most talented racers of all time, and better yet they’re both going for it at the same time, pushing each other ever further past their already ridiculous limits. We’ve seen the guard change in this sport on the track before, but usually it’s when the older guy is already on the downside – DeCoster was pretty long in the tooth by the time Hannah got to him. Hannah was up there by the time Johnson was ready to fight him at Unadilla. And MC was past his prime by the time RC stepped up in 2001. But Carmichael is not at that point right now. He’s working and training and riding harder and faster than he ever has. And he’s going against Stewart, who for all of his ridiculous talent and speed is even better now because he got his butt whipped by Ricky last year, which means he has to work even harder. This is as close as you will ever get to seeing the irresistible force and the immovable object bashing into each other while both are in their prime.
And yet Reed can’t keep up with this because he is mentally weak? Get out of here. He can’t keep up because the other two are just not even mortal. Mentally, he was never out of the game. He never had been. Once again I will review:
When Stewart pulled over and let Chad by, only to pass him right back, at Unadilla in 2002, that was supposed to just kill Chad mentally. David Bailey even said on the TV show, “once you have something like that done to you, Chad might never beat James again for the rest of his life.” But instead he went out and beat James straight up in moto 1 of the very next race at Millville. Did he get on a win streak after that? Win the title? No. James isn’t mortal and Chad couldn’t beat him again. But after getting punk’d that day at Unadilla, Chad didn’t pack up his tent and go home. He came back stronger.
When Chad got beat by Carmichael at Daytona in 2003, and Ricky had a big points lead and all of the momentum and Chad had become just another in a long line of pretenders to the throne, what did he do? He came back and won the last six races of the season. Was Ricky just riding safe to win the title? Maybe. But Chad didn’t pack up his tent and go home. He came back stronger.
When Chad got beat by Kevin Windham in a few mains early in 2004, did he pack up his tent and go home? No. He came back stronger and beat KW and won the title.
When Chad was dealt a huge points deficit last season and Carmichael was putting the hurt on him, and the tour was headed to Daytona, which is Ricky’s backyard, and everyone said Chad was “done, mentally,” did he pack up his tent and go home? Nope. He won the race. Won a bunch of them, in fact, including the “gloves are off” showdown in Vegas.
So this year Chad is way off the pace. It’s clearly a two-man race between Stewart and Carmichael. Did he pack up his tent and go home? Chad could have folded a few rounds into the season, stopped working and just collected his big paycheck. But he kept digging and kept believing. Then St. Louis happened and he was in the lead. Ricky laid the smack on him for a few more weeks, and then Chad hurt his shoulder, and he really, really should have thrown in the towel. But he kept digging and kept fighting, making it through four races with the bad shoulder. And he kept working and kept believing even though honestly no one thought he was still in title contention – heck the Speed broadcast from Dallas starts with the teaser “Can Carmichael hang on, or will James Stewart ….” and it didn’t even mention Reed even though he was actually second in points!
Everyone had given up on the guy. It was RC vs. Bubba and Reed should have just cashed out, gotten the shoulder fixed and collected his paycheck. But instead he was better and closer in Dallas than he had been all year. He wasn’t quite on the pace with the Florida boys, but he wasn’t getting yarded like he had most of the time this year. He kept trying and fighting because he was not defeated mentally like everyone says he was. Otherwise he’d be right where David Vuillemin is right now – all of that talent and ability sitting at home.
Then the Supercross Gods wreak havoc on the race – thanks to that hole in the roof in Dallas, you know, the one that lets God watch his Cowboys – and Reed finds himself back in the hunt again.
We’ve been racing for five months now. Do you honestly think at this point that anyone believed in Chad Reed at all besides his inner circle of people, and himself? Did you believe in him? I admit I didn’t.
Now he’s just one small miracle away from pulling
off this championship. He may not end up winning it, but never, ever,
EVER say the guy isn’t mentally tough.
April 24, 1:38 am (CST)
Weekend Highs
Well as if last night's supercross wasn't crazy enough, today's GNCC at Loretta's actually featured good racing! For some reason, which is still unkown to all of the racers involved, the pack was able to keep Juha in sight today, and we had a classic, old-fashioned GNCC freight train with Juha, Mullins, Hawk, Kearney and Smith all battling for it. And then Juha actually made a mistake and Mullins led at the end of lap three- the first lap Juha hasn't led all year.
He finally got into the lead, but Hawk never let up. I was pumped for Barry. Not only was he struggling this year, but he was getting beaten by Mullins, who is like 15 years younger and a rookie and on the same team. If Barry wasn't mentally tough, he would have been so far in the dumps that he basically could have stuck his motorhome in the mud on Friday and left it there, because there would have been no sense racing. But there he was on Sunday morning saying he's here to win and thinks he can. And he meant it. He's just as mentally tough as they come, and lo and behold he held on to Juha all the way until the last lap, when he bodyt started coming apart at the seams for trying so hard. Barry ended up getting an IV after that race, and that wasn't enough, so he had to go to the hospital to get more fluids. He was just completely and totally spent from trying to win. Moments like the ones I saw this weekend - dramatic, earth shattering stuff like the supercross - and personal human emotion and effort like Hawk, are the reason we follow racing.
I'm tired from all the traveling, but I wouldn't have missed either of these events for the world.
(By the way Juha was hanging out in the KTM rig like he didn't even race. Again. It's like trying to beat some sort of cyborg)
Update! Dallas (2)
April 23, 12:56 am CST
Okay I need to get to bed because we have to be at the airport at like 6 am. But HOW CAN YOU NOT COMMENT ON THIS RACE?
In case you haven’t heard, well, you’ve come this far so let me blow it for you: Ricky grabbed the holeshot, Stewart blew past him in the whoops, and then on the next lap Ricky went way, way sideways in the whoops and veered straight off the track and headed right toward the Mastercraft boat parked right in the middle of the joint. For a moment it looked like Ricky was headed straight for the boat and a major, major injury. He avoided it at the last second, but he crashed hard on the floor and lost tons of time. And his bike was jacked. This was the break Stewart and Reed needed.
But then Stewart crashed all by himself! Reed took the lead and the win – taking advantage of big mistakes just like he did in St. Louis.
The supercross Gods have shined down on this series one more time and we have only nine points separating these three with two races to go – and next week’s race is on CBS, with Vegas airing live.
It doesn’t get any better!
God I’m glad supercross is back. And do yourself a favor and don’t miss any of this because it’s not going to be this good again for a long, long time.
Off to Loretta’s for GNCC. Good night!
Dallas
Yeah well Dallas is its own sin city. Very few places in this nation that can got toe-to-toe with Vegas, and this is it.
So what happens in Dallas stays in Dallas. But I can't resist writing about this stuff, so last night we went to The Lodge and_______________________________________________________________ and then we met Lexan The Texan and she ________________ and then _________ and I was like ___________________.
Honestly it should have been better than that but we're kind lame. I mean if I was some kind of cool guy sicko swinger I could have a lot more to write about than ___________
April 20, 10:20 pm
4-20
I’m rushing out the door. It’s 4-20 and fittingly our buddy Greg “Boots” Lowley and his hippie band are playing downtown at the WV Brewing Company. You HAVE to watch a hippie band when it’s April 20th!
But a few things before I go.
We had an awesome Three’s Company/Jack Tripper moment in the office today. A girl came down from the Dominion Post, the Morgantown Daily Paper, to talk about some projects we are working on for High Point. Well, she was standing near Billy Ursic’s desk, and MX Sports’ jack-of-all-trades Tim Boryk was walking by. He saw the girl at a glance, saw the dark hair, and figured it was Billy’s girlfriend Kara. Kara, by the way, tore cartalidge in her rib cage this week, so she was down and out. So Tim asks the girl he thought was Kara (but actually was a complete stranger) “Hey, how’s your chest?”
So she just stood there in shock.
Tim then says “Oh, I thought you were Billy’s girlfriend.” And walks away.
What a great comedy moment.
You must watch this video of Cody, once of Timmy Coombs' goons, riding a three-wheeler at High Point. Cody is the stronger and toughest human being on earth. And he manhandles this classic ATC350X. Watch it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moyEz2LfLd4
White House Press master Scott McClellan has been booted from his spot. First, it’s hilarious when the PR guy has to go because he has to announce the news himself. Second, I believe he just added years to his life by doing this. The White House press dude is like the closer from the bullpen in baseball. You’re supposed to do the job, you only come in when it’s high stakes make no mistakes pressure, and if you screw up – OH MY GOD you’re hated by the world and the media and your bosses. So enjoy the good life my man. I thank my lucky stars I’m not a real PR guy.
Somehow Mike Alessi and Ryan Villopoto are just one point apart in the West Region Lites Standings. I’ve said this before: you just know if Mikeee holds on and stays ahead of Villopoto in the final rankings, Alessi /////////// weekly is going to be cashing in on the “Rookie of the Year” status they will anoit themselves. Ryan stuck it to them badly in those first few races, and this would be a way to kill that hype and build their own. Don’t you just love it?
Okay listen. I know just about everyone has given up on "Lites" and "Supercross" as the class names. Even DC is using 450 and 250F in the magazine and stuff. But I will cite this article as one last gasp as why the names actually work!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/racing/wires/04/19/3010.ap.car.bubba.s.ride.0894/
Okay, in this article is is totally, perfectly and
completely clear to the non-enthusiast reader that James Stewart started
winning races in the lesser class and then moved up to the main class.
One class is called Lites - it's obvious! It's less than the main
class! 250F would mean NOTHING to the average SI reader. But Lites?
That makes sense. Oh, and then he moves into the Amp'd Mobile Supercross
Series. Makes perfect sense!
I'm telling you there is merit to this.
- blogandt EMAIL ME HERE
Weekend Highs
Well as if last night's supercross wasn't crazy enough, today's GNCC at Loretta's actually featured good racing! For some reason, which is still unkown to all of the racers involved, the pack was able to keep Juha in sight today, and we had a classic, old-fashioned GNCC freight train with Juha, Mullins, Hawk, Kearney and Smith all battling for it. And then Juha actually made a mistake and Mullins led at the end of lap three- the first lap Juha hasn't led all year.
He finally got into the lead, but Hawk never let up. I was pumped for Barry. Not only was he struggling this year, but he was getting beaten by Mullins, who is like 15 years younger and a rookie and on the same team. If Barry wasn't mentally tough, he would have been so far in the dumps that he basically could have stuck his motorhome in the mud on Friday and left it there, because there would have been no sense racing. But there he was on Sunday morning saying he's here to win and thinks he can. And he meant it. He's just as mentally tough as they come, and lo and behold he held on to Juha all the way until the last lap, when he bodyt started coming apart at the seams for trying so hard. Barry ended up getting an IV after that race, and that wasn't enough, so he had to go to the hospital to get more fluids. He was just completely and totally spent from trying to win. Moments like the ones I saw this weekend - dramatic, earth shattering stuff like the supercross - and personal human emotion and effort like Hawk, are the reason we follow racing.
I'm tired from all the traveling, but I wouldn't have missed either of these events for the world.
(By the way Juha was hanging out in the KTM rig like he didn't even race. Again. It's like trying to beat some sort of cyborg)
Update! Dallas (2)
April 23, 12:56 am CST
Okay I need to get to bed because we have to be at the airport at like 6 am. But HOW CAN YOU NOT COMMENT ON THIS RACE?
In case you haven’t heard, well, you’ve come this far so let me blow it for you: Ricky grabbed the holeshot, Stewart blew past him in the whoops, and then on the next lap Ricky went way, way sideways in the whoops and veered straight off the track and headed right toward the Mastercraft boat parked right in the middle of the joint. For a moment it looked like Ricky was headed straight for the boat and a major, major injury. He avoided it at the last second, but he crashed hard on the floor and lost tons of time. And his bike was jacked. This was the break Stewart and Reed needed.
But then Stewart crashed all by himself! Reed took the lead and the win – taking advantage of big mistakes just like he did in St. Louis.
The supercross Gods have shined down on this series one more time and we have only nine points separating these three with two races to go – and next week’s race is on CBS, with Vegas airing live.
It doesn’t get any better!
God I’m glad supercross is back. And do yourself a favor and don’t miss any of this because it’s not going to be this good again for a long, long time.
Off to Loretta’s for GNCC. Good night!
Dallas
Yeah well Dallas is its own sin city. Very few places in this nation that can got toe-to-toe with Vegas, and this is it.
So what happens in Dallas stays in Dallas. But I can't resist writing about this stuff, so last night we went to The Lodge and_______________________________________________________________ and then we met Lexan The Texan and she ________________ and then _________ and I was like ___________________.
Honestly it should have been better than that but we're kind lame. I mean if I was some kind of cool guy sicko swinger I could have a lot more to write about than ___________
April 20, 10:20 pm
4-20
I’m rushing out the door. It’s 4-20 and fittingly our buddy Greg “Boots” Lowley and his hippie band are playing downtown at the WV Brewing Company. You HAVE to watch a hippie band when it’s April 20th!
But a few things before I go.
We had an awesome Three’s Company/Jack Tripper moment in the office today. A girl came down from the Dominion Post, the Morgantown Daily Paper, to talk about some projects we are working on for High Point. Well, she was standing near Billy Ursic’s desk, and MX Sports’ jack-of-all-trades Tim Boryk was walking by. He saw the girl at a glance, saw the dark hair, and figured it was Billy’s girlfriend Kara. Kara, by the way, tore cartalidge in her rib cage this week, so she was down and out. So Tim asks the girl he thought was Kara (but actually was a complete stranger) “Hey, how’s your chest?”
So she just stood there in shock.
Tim then says “Oh, I thought you were Billy’s girlfriend.” And walks away.
What a great comedy moment.
You must watch this video of Cody, once of Timmy Coombs' goons, riding a three-wheeler at High Point. Cody is the stronger and toughest human being on earth. And he manhandles this classic ATC350X. Watch it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moyEz2LfLd4
White House Press master Scott McClellan has been booted from his spot. First, it’s hilarious when the PR guy has to go because he has to announce the news himself. Second, I believe he just added years to his life by doing this. The White House press dude is like the closer from the bullpen in baseball. You’re supposed to do the job, you only come in when it’s high stakes make no mistakes pressure, and if you screw up – OH MY GOD you’re hated by the world and the media and your bosses. So enjoy the good life my man. I thank my lucky stars I’m not a real PR guy.
Somehow Mike Alessi and Ryan Villopoto are just one point apart in the West Region Lites Standings. I’ve said this before: you just know if Mikeee holds on and stays ahead of Villopoto in the final rankings, Alessi /////////// weekly is going to be cashing in on the “Rookie of the Year” status they will anoit themselves. Ryan stuck it to them badly in those first few races, and this would be a way to kill that hype and build their own. Don’t you just love it?
Okay listen. I know just about everyone has given up on "Lites" and "Supercross" as the class names. Even DC is using 450 and 250F in the magazine and stuff. But I will cite this article as one last gasp as why the names actually work!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/racing/wires/04/19/3010.ap.car.bubba.s.ride.0894/
Okay, in this article is is totally, perfectly and
completely clear to the non-enthusiast reader that James Stewart started
winning races in the lesser class and then moved up to the main class.
One class is called Lites - it's obvious! It's less than the main
class! 250F would mean NOTHING to the average SI reader. But Lites?
That makes sense. Oh, and then he moves into the Amp'd Mobile Supercross
Series. Makes perfect sense!
I'm telling you there is merit to this.
- blogandt EMAIL ME HERE
The High Life
I’m rushing out the door. It’s 4-20 and fittingly our buddy Greg “Boots” Lowley and his hippie band are playing downtown at the WV Brewing Company. You HAVE to watch a hippie band when it’s April 20th!
But a few things before I go.
We had an awesome Three’s Company/Jack Tripper moment in the office today. A girl came down from the Dominion Post, the Morgantown Daily Paper, to talk about some projects we are working on for High Point. Well, she was standing near Billy Ursic’s desk, and MX Sports’ jack-of-all-trades Tim Boryk was walking by. He saw the girl at a glance, saw the dark hair, and figured it was Billy’s girlfriend Kara. Kara, by the way, tore cartalidge in her rib cage this week, so she was down and out. So Tim asks the girl he thought was Kara (but actually was a complete stranger) “Hey, how’s your chest?”
So she just stood there in shock.
Tim then says “Oh, I thought you were Billy’s girlfriend.” And walks away.
What a great comedy moment.
You must watch this video of Cody, once of Timmy Coombs' goons, riding a three-wheeler at High Point. Cody is the stronger and toughest human being on earth. And he manhandles this classic ATC350X. Watch it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moyEz2LfLd4
White House Press master Scott McClellan has been booted from his spot. First, it’s hilarious when the PR guy has to go because he has to announce the news himself. Second, I believe he just added years to his life by doing this. The White House press dude is like the closer from the bullpen in baseball. You’re supposed to do the job, you only come in when it’s high stakes make no mistakes pressure, and if you screw up – OH MY GOD you’re hated by the world and the media and your bosses. So enjoy the good life my man. I thank my lucky stars I’m not a real PR guy.
Somehow Mike Alessi and Ryan Villopoto are just one point apart in the West Region Lites Standings. I’ve said this before: you just know if Mikeee holds on and stays ahead of Villopoto in the final rankings, Alessi /////////// weekly is going to be cashing in on the “Rookie of the Year” status they will anoit themselves. Ryan stuck it to them badly in those first few races, and this would be a way to kill that hype and build their own. Don’t you just love it?
Okay listen. I know just about everyone has given up on "Lites" and "Supercross" as the class names. Even DC is using 450 and 250F in the magazine and stuff. But I will cite this article as one last gasp as why the names actually work!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/racing/wires/04/19/3010.ap.car.bubba.s.ride.0894/
Okay, in this article is is totally, perfectly and
completely clear to the non-enthusiast reader that James Stewart started
winning races in the lesser class and then moved up to the main class.
One class is called Lites - it's obvious! It's less than the main
class! 250F would mean NOTHING to the average SI reader. But Lites?
That makes sense. Oh, and then he moves into the Amp'd Mobile Supercross
Series. Makes perfect sense!
I'm telling you there is merit to this.
Noon, April 19th
New York Minutes
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. In this case, it was Easter weekend, which meant Christ’s resurrection giveth me a weekend off from the races – the first one all year. But He would taketh away as well – I would be right back to the SX/GNCC double dip this weekend. So I had to get on it.
A weekend off meant I could rest, lay low, decompress, veg, relax or chill out. But I knew I would forever regret blowing the one good weekend I had. So I planned a return back to the motherland in NJ, but I stepped it up with a visit to New York as well. I had some voids to fill. See, I was raised in the New York area (We should all be aware that New Jersey only exists as a feeder to two huge cities, NY and Philadelphia. If you live in the North half of Jersey, you’re all New York. South half, Philly. And no one roots for, likes or supports New Jersey no matter where you live.)
So it was off to “the city” for some unfinished business. See, I left the New York Area five years ago, and since then I had run through the fields of nearly every city in this country. I had explored each town, met some locals, hung out in non-touristy areas, made fun of the way people talked and looked. Sometimes we sing karaoke. Sometimes I ran the Weege Dance. Regardless, I’ve had fun in way too many other cities, and yet New York, which I had visited 1 million times, wasn’t on the list. Every time I went to New York it was for an event – a game, a show, and many a WWF game and show at MSG. These events were fun, but they were scheduled and regimented. I had never just gone out for a night to just see what happens – like I had in almost every other city.
Luckily, I could make this work. I’ve become very adept at planning the unplanned. Structuring a way to wing it. Scheduling “whatever.” I would carefully construct a “no real plan” day, which actually requires a plan.
First, the family. Since I had a birthday a few days before the trip, the NYC trip was also a quasi birthday-gift. So my parents and my sister came along. But, I was going to avoid the regimented, structured, tourist/family vacation element that can accompany such trips. So first, I stayed out late Friday night with some buddies in NJ so I couldn’t get up early and go to the city first thing in the morning. Then we opened gifts and had cake and stuff, further taking focus off of “the trip to NY” and putting more of it on “doing whatever.” Then, I planned a second half of the trip, the Saturday night part, which would involve the singing, dancing, drinking, meeting locals, hanging out in non-touristy areas, making fun of the way people talked and looked stuff I do everywhere else.
We went to Chelsea in the afternoon for lunch, found nothing good, so we had pizza at “famous original real yes this one is actually the original one” Ray’s. There are approximately 325,473 pizza parlors named “Ray’s” in the area so they have to run some kind of tagline to make you think this is the real one.
Then dad and I went to the NY Auto Show. I’m
a car guy, too, so it was good.
But by 8 pm we were done. It was time to enact phase two.
This started a few weeks ago. As luck would have it, a girl who works for the NY Times came to Morgantown searching for grad schools, so I made sure to get an email address so I could get some advice on “non-touristy” places in NY for this trip. She recommended a place called Dive 75, and since it had Dive in the name, it sounded about perfect. So I got a cab and headed over there. This was what I had been missing all along: Yankees and Mets games both on the TV. People cheering and getting pissed at the games. Solid jukebox lineup. Just enough room and quiet to talk but just enough people to make it feel lively. Later it was on to the karaoke, only, they weren’t actually running karaoke at Dive 75, so I just sang anyway. And I walked right into a classic, “Who sings this song?” question, which automatically forces you to answer so you can sound smart and knowledgeable about music. But then when you answer, you get the, “Good, keep it that way” insult, which is both brilliant in its simplicity, and even better when said by a true New Yorker. We also performed a survey asking if girly drinks are called “foo foo” or “froo froo” and unfortunately froo froo came out on top, which is ridiculous since it’s wrong.
Then I ran some Weege Dancing, skipped out for a durty wuwtuh hot dawg, and hopped on the NJ Transit bus back home.
It was all so well planned to be unplanned.
- blogandt EMAIL ME HERE
New York Minutes
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. In this case, it was Easter weekend, which meant Christ’s resurrection giveth me a weekend off from the races – the first one all year. But He would taketh away as well – I would be right back to the SX/GNCC double dip this weekend. So I had to get on it.
A weekend off meant I could rest, lay low, decompress, veg, relax or chill out. But I knew I would forever regret blowing the one good weekend I had. So I planned a return back to the motherland in NJ, but I stepped it up with a visit to New York as well. I had some voids to fill. See, I was raised in the New York area (We should all be aware that New Jersey only exists as a feeder to two huge cities, NY and Philadelphia. If you live in the North half of Jersey, you’re all New York. South half, Philly. And no one roots for, likes or supports New Jersey no matter where you live.)
So it was off to “the city” for some unfinished business. See, I left the New York Area five years ago, and since then I had run through the fields of nearly every city in this country. I had explored each town, met some locals, hung out in non-touristy areas, made fun of the way people talked and looked. Sometimes we sing karaoke. Sometimes I ran the Weege Dance. Regardless, I’ve had fun in way too many other cities, and yet New York, which I had visited 1 million times, wasn’t on the list. Every time I went to New York it was for an event – a game, a show, and many a WWF game and show at MSG. These events were fun, but they were scheduled and regimented. I had never just gone out for a night to just see what happens – like I had in almost every other city.
Luckily, I could make this work. I’ve become very adept at planning the unplanned. Structuring a way to wing it. Scheduling “whatever.” I would carefully construct a “no real plan” day, which actually requires a plan.
First, the family. Since I had a birthday a few days before the trip, the NYC trip was also a quasi birthday-gift. So my parents and my sister came along. But, I was going to avoid the regimented, structured, tourist/family vacation element that can accompany such trips. So first, I stayed out late Friday night with some buddies in NJ so I couldn’t get up early and go to the city first thing in the morning. Then we opened gifts and had cake and stuff, further taking focus off of “the trip to NY” and putting more of it on “doing whatever.” Then, I planned a second half of the trip, the Saturday night part, which would involve the singing, dancing, drinking, meeting locals, hanging out in non-touristy areas, making fun of the way people talked and looked stuff I do everywhere else.
We went to Chelsea in the afternoon for lunch, found nothing good, so we had pizza at “famous original real yes this one is actually the original one” Ray’s. There are approximately 325,473 pizza parlors named “Ray’s” in the area so they have to run some kind of tagline to make you think this is the real one.
Then dad and I went to the NY Auto Show. I’m
a car guy, too, so it was good.
But by 8 pm we were done. It was time to enact phase two.
This started a few weeks ago. As luck would have it, a girl who works for the NY Times came to Morgantown searching for grad schools, so I made sure to get an email address so I could get some advice on “non-touristy” places in NY for this trip. She recommended a place called Dive 75, and since it had Dive in the name, it sounded about perfect. So I got a cab and headed over there. This was what I had been missing all along: Yankees and Mets games both on the TV. People cheering and getting pissed at the games. Solid jukebox lineup. Just enough room and quiet to talk but just enough people to make it feel lively. Later it was on to the karaoke, only, they weren’t actually running karaoke at Dive 75, so I just sang anyway. And I walked right into a classic, “Who sings this song?” question, which automatically forces you to answer so you can sound smart and knowledgeable about music. But then when you answer, you get the, “Good, keep it that way” insult, which is both brilliant in its simplicity, and even better when said by a true New Yorker. We also performed a survey asking if girly drinks are called “foo foo” or “froo froo” and unfortunately froo froo came out on top, which is ridiculous since it’s wrong.
Then I ran some Weege Dancing, skipped out for a durty wuwtuh hot dawg, and hopped on the NJ Transit bus back home.
It was all so well planned to be unplanned.
Ju Da Man (2)
So back to the GNCCers chasing Juha. In Florida, everyone knew they would have no shot at the guy because Finnish riders rule on sand. But when we moved to the real dirt in Georgia and North Carolina, the pack ratcheted the effort up a notch. Glenn Kearney and Rodney Smith rode their hearts out getting into second and third, but Rodney took a few diggers and dropped back, and Glenn looked completely exhausted after the race. GK did get within 40 seconds of Juha, but it took everything he had to do it.
Maybe a better start would help. So Glenn and Rodney nailed the start in North Carolina, with Juha right in front of them. Juha started pulling Glenn, so Rodney pushed him, and then got around GK and tried to get to Juha. He did, and followed him for a few minutes. The race was finally on … until Rodney crashed on a hill. The chase was over, but Rodney kept trying. He would reel Glenn in and pass him, then crash, than catch and pass and crash again. It was a wild ride a 42-year-old, but again, this guy is proud and he wanted to see what he could do with Juha.
But all those crashes took the steam out of ‘ol Rodney. And GK was tired enough to get eaten up down the stretch by Charlie Mullins. They had tried, and they couldn’t get it done. Meanwhile, Barry Hawk was sitting in his motorhome completely spent, battling poor suspension settings to finish eighth. All of the big guns were struggling with Juha was just cruising, not dirty, not tired, not pressured.
And I think that’s when reality kicked in. The theme coming into South Carolina was different. In every GNCC race before that, when we interview the riders before the races, they talked about the same old race strategy. They talked about getting a good start, seeing the leaders, staying strong and all of that jazz. And in the pre-Juha days that’s what worked. But now, why not just admit the obvious? You’re not going to “run with the leaders.” Because leaders isn’t plural. There will be one leader, and it’s going to be Juha. And trying to sprint with him off the start was just draining the guys. North Carolina was, collectively, the most exhausted I had ever seen the GNCC elite after a race.
So I sensed a collective, “we need to just race our own race and not try to kill ourselves running with him in the first lap.”
I heard this from the two most successful GNCC racers of all time: Scott Summers and Rodney Smith. Summers is now retired, but he gave full credit to Juha because, even though he’s not out there racing him this year, Scott realizes how hard it is to do what Juha does, which is break away from the pack in a GNCC. Scott says that whenever you would waste the energy trying to break away, you would hit a wall of lappers and the pack would catch you. But somehow Juha has figured it out, he’s figured out how to break away, and even though the rest of the pack is studying him, it could be years until they figure it out.
Rodney talked about how hard everyone is working and chasing. He said everyone is messing with their game, testing suspension and tires and everything to try to figure it out. And they’re probably going backwards. But Juha has raised the bar so high that people are just trying to figure it out, and since Rodney has to not only get back to where he was, but actually go to an even higher level, it’s going to be tough.
Rodney finally decided he was not going to crash himself out of it anymore trying to catch the guy on the first lap. He would ride his own race, and he did – eventually collecting his first podium in 18 months. In this case, the old dog had to just go back to his old tricks. Flooring it on lap one just isn’t going to work – and then Rodney admitted the only way someone is going to beat Juha, really, is if he makes a mistake.
The truth hurts.
Now lately I’ve been getting some emails from people saying, “Hey look at Charlie Mullins’ or Rodney’s or Lafferty’s lap times from the ___ lap!!! They are matching Juha!!!”
Yes. Mathematically. But I wonder how hard Juha is pushing at that point, when he has the one-minute lead? Maybe we’ll find out soon – maybe they can catch him. I want to believe it since these guys are my friends, and I’m not happy about writing about the fact that they might not win a single race this year. And since it’s my job to find the drama and interest in this series, maybe I should keep the charade going.
But hey, that’s not what blogs are for. I’ll
save that stuff for the press releases and such. Juha is just unreal,
and after 15 months of dominance here, I think we’re all starting
to face the facts.
I turned 28 today. Not a big deal. I think 26, 27 and 28 are all about the same. 29 will be tough because that's one of those "you wish you could be that age forever" years. And 25, I think is the bigginning of the downside. You're not growing anymore, you're just getting older. We went pretty hard last nigh so I'm celebrating the birthday tonight by watching the Late Show starring the other birthday boy, Dave Letterman. And I'm wearing the orange Dukes of Hazzard shirt my dad got me for Christmas. Dukes and Dave - the more things change, the more they stay the same. I think I've celebrated the last 24 birthdays or so with that crew.
- blogandt EMAIL ME HERE
Ju Da Man (2)
So back to the GNCCers chasing Juha. In Florida, everyone knew they would have no shot at the guy because Finnish riders rule on sand. But when we moved to the real dirt in Georgia and North Carolina, the pack ratcheted the effort up a notch. Glenn Kearney and Rodney Smith rode their hearts out getting into second and third, but Rodney took a few diggers and dropped back, and Glenn looked completely exhausted after the race. GK did get within 40 seconds of Juha, but it took everything he had to do it.
Maybe a better start would help. So Glenn and Rodney nailed the start in North Carolina, with Juha right in front of them. Juha started pulling Glenn, so Rodney pushed him, and then got around GK and tried to get to Juha. He did, and followed him for a few minutes. The race was finally on … until Rodney crashed on a hill. The chase was over, but Rodney kept trying. He would reel Glenn in and pass him, then crash, than catch and pass and crash again. It was a wild ride a 42-year-old, but again, this guy is proud and he wanted to see what he could do with Juha.
But all those crashes took the steam out of ‘ol Rodney. And GK was tired enough to get eaten up down the stretch by Charlie Mullins. They had tried, and they couldn’t get it done. Meanwhile, Barry Hawk was sitting in his motorhome completely spent, battling poor suspension settings to finish eighth. All of the big guns were struggling with Juha was just cruising, not dirty, not tired, not pressured.
And I think that’s when reality kicked in. The theme coming into South Carolina was different. In every GNCC race before that, when we interview the riders before the races, they talked about the same old race strategy. They talked about getting a good start, seeing the leaders, staying strong and all of that jazz. And in the pre-Juha days that’s what worked. But now, why not just admit the obvious? You’re not going to “run with the leaders.” Because leaders isn’t plural. There will be one leader, and it’s going to be Juha. And trying to sprint with him off the start was just draining the guys. North Carolina was, collectively, the most exhausted I had ever seen the GNCC elite after a race.
So I sensed a collective, “we need to just race our own race and not try to kill ourselves running with him in the first lap.”
I heard this from the two most successful GNCC racers of all time: Scott Summers and Rodney Smith. Summers is now retired, but he gave full credit to Juha because, even though he’s not out there racing him this year, Scott realizes how hard it is to do what Juha does, which is break away from the pack in a GNCC. Scott says that whenever you would waste the energy trying to break away, you would hit a wall of lappers and the pack would catch you. But somehow Juha has figured it out, he’s figured out how to break away, and even though the rest of the pack is studying him, it could be years until they figure it out.
Rodney talked about how hard everyone is working and chasing. He said everyone is messing with their game, testing suspension and tires and everything to try to figure it out. And they’re probably going backwards. But Juha has raised the bar so high that people are just trying to figure it out, and since Rodney has to not only get back to where he was, but actually go to an even higher level, it’s going to be tough.
Rodney finally decided he was not going to crash himself out of it anymore trying to catch the guy on the first lap. He would ride his own race, and he did – eventually collecting his first podium in 18 months. In this case, the old dog had to just go back to his old tricks. Flooring it on lap one just isn’t going to work – and then Rodney admitted the only way someone is going to beat Juha, really, is if he makes a mistake.
The truth hurts.
Now lately I’ve been getting some emails from people saying, “Hey look at Charlie Mullins’ or Rodney’s or Lafferty’s lap times from the ___ lap!!! They are matching Juha!!!”
Yes. Mathematically. But I wonder how hard Juha is pushing at that point, when he has the one-minute lead? Maybe we’ll find out soon – maybe they can catch him. I want to believe it since these guys are my friends, and I’m not happy about writing about the fact that they might not win a single race this year. And since it’s my job to find the drama and interest in this series, maybe I should keep the charade going.
But hey, that’s not what blogs are for. I’ll
save that stuff for the press releases and such. Juha is just unreal,
and after 15 months of dominance here, I think we’re all starting
to face the facts.
I turned 28 today. Not a big deal. I think 26, 27 and 28 are all about the same. 29 will be tough because that's one of those "you wish you could be that age forever" years. And 25, I think is the bigginning of the downside. You're not growing anymore, you're just getting older. We went pretty hard last nigh so I'm celebrating the birthday tonight by watching the Late Show starring the other birthday boy, Dave Letterman. And I'm wearing the orange Dukes of Hazzard shirt my dad got me for Christmas. Dukes and Dave - the more things change, the more they stay the same. I think I've celebrated the last 24 birthdays or so with that crew.
April 11, 3:15 pm
Ju da Man
Strange changes in the GNCC Series this weekend. Juha
Salminen has now pressed the pack enough to break them. There are
no more excuses – the guy is super fast and now the competition
has no choice but to admit it. And this is a proud, strong, fast group
of racers admitting this, too, and such acceptance did not come easy.
But that’s how good Juha is.
Make no mistake: Juha is not winning due to lack of competition. I made that mistake a few years back, when I would read Shane Watts’ column in Racer X and think, “Dude, he is killing them. Those guys must suck!” Well, once I got to know these riders and how hard they work and how skilled they are, I realized that Shane, in his prime, was just a freak of nature, and him killing everyone was not any different than Ricky Carmichael doing it on the motocross side. The comp is good and it’s deep. But this is just another level. Even Shane has had to come back to reality after piling on years of injuries. Beating these guys just isn’t as easy as it seemed back then ….
These riders are good. But Juha, man, he’s just insanely great. Here is the proof: I asked him about his time in Europe racing the World Enduros. It’s a confusing series since they have all of these different champions in all these different classes. Why not have an overall champion like GNCC?
“Well they did,” he said. “They had it, and then I won it five years in a row, and they stopped doing it.”
So then I asked, “Did they stop because you were too dominant?”
And he looked at me and said with a laugh, “Well….”
That’s how good he is.
That win streak started in 1999. He won his “class” title in 2004 after winning the previous five overall championships. Then he came to the U.S. last year and dominated. So basically, Juha hasn’t been beaten in eight years!!!
This is Ricky Carmichael killing it. It’s not the competition sucking.
With that out of the way, I could sense a palpable change in the riders this weekend. It’s time to go back to the drawing board. Time to change our plan. The old way isn’t going to work – this is the chase for Juha, so let’s admit it. The guy is good and he is fast and he is winning, and there’s no reason to try to look past it like he’s not there.
Last year, you heard all kinds of those confidence-boosting phrases, like, “I can run with him” or “we’re just going to have to step it up.” Well, four rounds into the season, I’m not hearing that anymore. Again, this is a proud bunch, and they want to win. But they’ve realized they’re not just going to show up on the start tomorrow and beat the guy straight up. It will take some radical changes.
More on this tomorrow…
|
Okay, much as I predicted, I was inundated with county music all weekend in South Carolina. There was a country station kicking at the Big Buck GNCC on Friday. I noted this: someone has remade the Aerosmith song from just a few years ago, “I don't want to miss a thing.” A country guy did this. I’m upset here for a few reasons:
A) Isn’t there a statute of limitations on remakes? I mean, that song is not even eight years old, and it still gets solid airplay on stations that play new stuff. It’s still too new to remake it, because the success of the song is still rooted in the fact that people remember the first one so well.
B) If you’re going to remake it, change something. These guys just basically redid the song verbatim, with just a slight change – the word s“baby” and “babe” are removed. That’s about it. Otherwise they’re basically just a cover band at your local bar, trying to make it sound close to the original so you’ll still like it.
(Hey, I’m not saying remaking songs is easy – sequels rarely top the original. The only band that truly improved someone else’s song is the hit machine known as No Doubt. But that’s only because Gwen Stefani is a freak of nature when it comes to writing these hooks. No Doubt actually redid that song “It’s My Life” by Talk Talk a few years ago and completely, 100 percent destroyed the original. The original wasn’t even good – and yet somehow No Doubt turned it into a killer hit. I believe Stefani could go to any crappy Karaoke bar in the U.S., grab somebody out of there and have an awesome duet hit on her hands in any style. Plus she’s hot! This is one of the few celebrities that deserves to be a billionaire.)
C) I was bothered by this Aerosmith song in the first place. The song was written to go with the movie Armageddon. It’s about Ben Afleck and his girlfriend Liv Tyler. And guess who wrote and sang this song. Liv Tyler’s dad! So, if he’s singing these words like he means them, he’s SINGING ABOUT HIS DAUGHTER! Ick!
- blogandt EMAIL ME HERE
Ju da Man
Strange changes in the GNCC Series this weekend. Juha
Salminen has now pressed the pack enough to break them. There are
no more excuses – the guy is super fast and now the competition
has no choice but to admit it. And this is a proud, strong, fast group
of racers admitting this, too, and such acceptance did not come easy.
But that’s how good Juha is.
Make no mistake: Juha is not winning due to lack of competition. I made that mistake a few years back, when I would read Shane Watts’ column in Racer X and think, “Dude, he is killing them. Those guys must suck!” Well, once I got to know these riders and how hard they work and how skilled they are, I realized that Shane, in his prime, was just a freak of nature, and him killing everyone was not any different than Ricky Carmichael doing it on the motocross side. The comp is good and it’s deep. But this is just another level. Even Shane has had to come back to reality after piling on years of injuries. Beating these guys just isn’t as easy as it seemed back then ….
These riders are good. But Juha, man, he’s just insanely great. Here is the proof: I asked him about his time in Europe racing the World Enduros. It’s a confusing series since they have all of these different champions in all these different classes. Why not have an overall champion like GNCC?
“Well they did,” he said. “They had it, and then I won it five years in a row, and they stopped doing it.”
So then I asked, “Did they stop because you were too dominant?”
And he looked at me and said with a laugh, “Well….”
That’s how good he is.
That win streak started in 1999. He won his “class” title in 2004 after winning the previous five overall championships. Then he came to the U.S. last year and dominated. So basically, Juha hasn’t been beaten in eight years!!!
This is Ricky Carmichael killing it. It’s not the competition sucking.
With that out of the way, I could sense a palpable change in the riders this weekend. It’s time to go back to the drawing board. Time to change our plan. The old way isn’t going to work – this is the chase for Juha, so let’s admit it. The guy is good and he is fast and he is winning, and there’s no reason to try to look past it like he’s not there.
Last year, you heard all kinds of those confidence-boosting phrases, like, “I can run with him” or “we’re just going to have to step it up.” Well, four rounds into the season, I’m not hearing that anymore. Again, this is a proud bunch, and they want to win. But they’ve realized they’re not just going to show up on the start tomorrow and beat the guy straight up. It will take some radical changes.
More on this tomorrow…
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Okay, much as I predicted, I was inundated with county music all weekend in South Carolina. There was a country station kicking at the Big Buck GNCC on Friday. I noted this: someone has remade the Aerosmith song from just a few years ago, “I don't want to miss a thing.” A country guy did this. I’m upset here for a few reasons:
A) Isn’t there a statute of limitations on remakes? I mean, that song is not even eight years old, and it still gets solid airplay on stations that play new stuff. It’s still too new to remake it, because the success of the song is still rooted in the fact that people remember the first one so well.
B) If you’re going to remake it, change something. These guys just basically redid the song verbatim, with just a slight change – the word s“baby” and “babe” are removed. That’s about it. Otherwise they’re basically just a cover band at your local bar, trying to make it sound close to the original so you’ll still like it.
(Hey, I’m not saying remaking songs is easy – sequels rarely top the original. The only band that truly improved someone else’s song is the hit machine known as No Doubt. But that’s only because Gwen Stefani is a freak of nature when it comes to writing these hooks. No Doubt actually redid that song “It’s My Life” by Talk Talk a few years ago and completely, 100 percent destroyed the original. The original wasn’t even good – and yet somehow No Doubt turned it into a killer hit. I believe Stefani could go to any crappy Karaoke bar in the U.S., grab somebody out of there and have an awesome duet hit on her hands in any style. Plus she’s hot! This is one of the few celebrities that deserves to be a billionaire.)
C) I was bothered by this Aerosmith song in the first place. The song was written to go with the movie Armageddon. It’s about Ben Afleck and his girlfriend Liv Tyler. And guess who wrote and sang this song. Liv Tyler’s dad! So, if he’s singing these words like he means them, he’s SINGING ABOUT HIS DAUGHTER! Ick!
- blogandt EMAIL ME HERE
MySpace
The IDiTaRod may be the next big thing, but it’s
already way, way behind the communication medium that is taking over
the world. Myspace.com. I’m not breaking any news here, because
most of us already know that MySpace now rules the world and at last
count approximately three zillion, 452-thousand people with accounts
on there. But for those of you who don’t know what MySpace is
(you may want to listen up, Mom and Dad) here is the MySpace primer:
It’s a spot where everyone gets their own webpage with a bio
on themselves, and they can become “friends” and exchange
messages with others. Of course, since everyone has email it might
not seem that exciting since you can always exchange messages that
way – but, MySpace has pictures! Which means you can “network”
with other people of the opposite sex and look and them, decide they
are hot, and then flirt. And that’s it. MySpace is for flirting.
MySpace runs the tagline at the top “A place for friends.”
This is just the cover-up that allows teenagers to work on hooking
up while their parents turn the other way. Every kid knows MySpace
is really, “A place for friends (with benefits ;););) ).”
It’s like a kid watching South Park and saying, “Oh it’s
just a cartoon.”
The only other use for MySpace is “finding out what people from your high school are up to,” and I supposed this applies weather you have graduated from HS or if you’re young enough to still be in it. But once you find out what “people from your high school are up to,” that novelty wears off. And then it’s back to the flirting. You never graduate from that.
I’ve seen some pretty creative pictures on MySpace – chicks really hot themselves out on there. In the wake of Maxim and FHM, the world has certainly been trained to come up with creative ways of looking hot, but still, My Space has turned the amateur photo shoot up to another level.
It gets kind of unfair because even models have MySpace accounts, which means all of that amateur stuff is still going to pale in comparison to someone else. But, since there are 4 zillion, 452 thousand accounts, the models can get lost in the mix.
Another strange phenomenon from MySpace is the fake account. A month or so ago I heard there were like six different Jeremy McGrath accounts, and no one knows if any of them are actually Jeremy. See, some shows and stars actually build MySpace pages as a promotion. Others don’t, but people fake it. If there are six MC accounts, there must be 479,000 Jessica Simpson ones. Not sure what they have for marital status there.
Anyway, at this point everyone I know has a MySpace account, including people like McGrath who don’t even know it. So it was becoming very hard to resist. My plan was to hold off on My Space just like I have on all of that IDiTaRod technology. But I couldn’t hold back any longer - everyone is doing it – and unlike the tech, My Space is free. So now I’m on the thing. All I have to do is just sit back and wait for the chicks to roll in.
C’mon ladies, I just want to be your friend ;););) This site isn’t going to just flirt with itself.
Well, the word came in hot and heavy over the Jon Bon Jovi country duet. A bunch of you emailed me saying “Dude, don’t give JBJ any crap because that chick is hot.”
I found out her name is Jenn Nettles. I think her dad played a mean third base for the Yanks back in ’78. Some of the pictures I found look pretty good. She probably has a MySpace account where she looks really good, in fact. So I guess I’ll give JBJ a free pass on this one (teeth gritting).
So let me turn to another horrible country music event. There’s this song I hear every night on Rita’s radio where the guy sings“Crazy ‘bout a Mercury.” It’s probably a remake because I can’t think of anything Mercury makes now that anyone would sing about. Can you even name a current Mercury car?
Anyway listen to these profound lyrics:
“I’m gonna buy me a Mercury and a cruise it up on down the road.”
Oh, really? That’s what you’re gonna’ do? Cruise it up and down the road? Wow. Where did you come up with that? I mean, jeez, that’s amazing that you came up with the idea of buying a car and cruising up and down a road in it. What’s next? I’m gonna’ buy me a tractor and a mow all around your yard? I’m gonna’ buy me a George Forman and grill on up some food tonight? I’m gonna’ buy me a band-aid and band-aid up this cut?
And again, the worst part is that I actually know this stuff. Can't wait to get to South Carolina this weekend for the GNCC.
Note: Some technological or techMological glitch jacked up the previous blog, so here it is again.
April 5th, 2006, 9:45 pm
KIPS-Valved, water-cooled iPod TiVo
Communications technology is evolving like motocross bikes in the late 1970s and early 80s. That was the “revolutionary” era of motocross bikes. Back then gimmicks and “gotta-have-it” stuff showed up every year on the bikes, but eventually they became standard fare. During that era, we saw single shocks and linkages and long travel and water-cooling and power valves and disc brakes and upside down cartridge forks come into vogue. And all of the new stuff had cool names - often combinations of letters, like ATAC, Uni-Track, BASS, and legendary stuff like Full-Floater and Pro-Link.
But then the revolution turned into evolution. If you compare the 1975 KX250 with the 1985 KX250, you’d be blow away with the difference. Compare the 1985 with the 2005 model, though, and you’ll see that while the ’05 is clearly better, the changes aren’t as drastic. Everyone figured out what worked and then just kept refining it.
The point is that technology seems to operate in streaks and slumps. Until the four-strokes came along, motocross tech had basically slowed to where a few refinements came down the line each year, and any attempt to re-invent the wheel flopped (Suzuki’s 1996 right-side up forks, Honda’s 1997 aluminum frame). Basically, you just needed to hold out for a few years in the 80s to get all of the right stuff – the water-cooling, power-valves, disc brakes, long travel linkage and cartridge forks, and the like. Then you were done.
I feel that same way right now with all of the new music/computer/phone/camera devices coming out. How can you possibly keep up with the dizzying array of options available with each of these pieces – most of which were barely even around just 10 years ago?
So I’ve given up. I’m just going to hold off until they combine all of this stuff into one device, just like buying an MXer 20 years ago with all of the good stuff on it. I mean, soon we will have a full-on Blackberry-type device that pulls in wireless internet from everywhere, and also includes all of the iPod/MP3 features, a camera and a cell phone on it. You’ll probably be able to download TV shows from the ‘net so you can combine your TiVo into it, too, and by then we’ll be able to carry so much memory around that you can probably store you movie library on the thing, too, and even watch it on a tiny screen. So you can throw away your DVDs. And your CDs. And your cell phone and iPod and digital camera. And TiVo.
Surely there is even a killer name out there for this
super-product, preferably running an acronym and maybe a mix-mash
of upper and lower case letters (ala iPod and TiVo). In fact, I think
the name Iditarod would work about perfect, because there are plenty
of letters in there to stand for stuff, and you could even run some
caps like IDiTaRoD.
And by then kids will be saying things like “what the hell is that?” pretty frequently so you won’t even be taken aback by it, no matter how young they are.
Anyway, this super-device is obviously right around the corner. Heck, it’s just busting down the door right now – phones have cameras and MP3 players and video capability – and then we have Blackberrys (Blackberries?) and such, so once someone finally gets it together, we’ll buy it and never turn back. You’ll laugh at the idea of carrying an iPod and a cell phone separately just like we laugh at black and white television or rabbit ears or VCRs.
So until then I’m just going to hold off on all of that stuff. Then I’ll go out and use my IDiTaRod for the next 20 years – just like a water-cooled, KIPS, Uni-Track 1985 KX250.
You know what annoys me? My office is about ten feet from Rita's and over the last few years she has become a country music fan. So every night around 6 pm, she truns her radio onto some country station - and my wrist-splitting begins. What's really bad isn't just the songs - it's that they play the same ones so often that even I am starting recognize them. I AM FROM NEW JERSEY! WE DON'T LIKE IT! And yet, here I am hearing and learning and recognizing.
And then what's this? JON BON JOVI has a country song out where he does a duet with some chick! LORD HAVE MERCY! Is nothing sacred?
- blogandt EMAIL ME HERE
KIPS-Valved, water-cooled iPod TiVo
Communications technology is evolving like motocross bikes in the late 1970s and early 80s. That was the “revolutionary” era of motocross bikes. Back then gimmicks and “gotta-have-it” stuff showed up every year on the bikes, but eventually they became standard fare. During that era, we saw single shocks and linkages and long travel and water-cooling and power valves and disc brakes and upside down cartridge forks come into vogue. And all of the new stuff had cool names - often combinations of letters, like ATAC, Uni-Track, BASS, and legendary stuff like Full-Floater and Pro-Link.
But then the revolution turned into evolution. If you compare the 1975 KX250 with the 1985 KX250, you’d be blow away with the difference. Compare the 1985 with the 2005 model, though, and you’ll see that while the ’05 is clearly better, the changes aren’t as drastic. Everyone figured out what worked and then just kept refining it.
The point is that technology seems to operate in streaks and slumps. Until the four-strokes came along, motocross tech had basically slowed to where a few refinements came down the line each year, and any attempt to re-invent the wheel flopped (Suzuki’s 1996 right-side up forks, Honda’s 1997 aluminum frame). Basically, you just needed to hold out for a few years in the 80s to get all of the right stuff – the water-cooling, power-valves, disc brakes, long travel linkage and cartridge forks, and the like. Then you were done.
I feel that same way right now with all of the new music/computer/phone/camera devices coming out. How can you possibly keep up with the dizzying array of options available with each of these pieces – most of which were barely even around just 10 years ago?
So I’ve given up. I’m just going to hold off until they combine all of this stuff into one device, just like buying an MXer 20 years ago with all of the good stuff on it. I mean, soon we will have a full-on Blackberry-type device that pulls in wireless internet from everywhere, and also includes all of the iPod/MP3 features, a camera and a cell phone on it. You’ll probably be able to download TV shows from the ‘net so you can combine your TiVo into it, too, and by then we’ll be able to carry so much memory around that you can probably store you movie library on the thing, too, and even watch it on a tiny screen. So you can throw away your DVDs. And your CDs. And your cell phone and iPod and digital camera. And TiVo.
Surely there is even a killer name out there for this
super-product, preferably running an acronym and maybe a mix-mash
of upper and lower case letters (ala iPod and TiVo). In fact, I think
the name Iditarod would work about perfect, because there are plenty
of letters in there to stand for stuff, and you could even run some
caps like IDiTaRoD.
And by then kids will be saying things like “what the hell is that?” pretty frequently so you won’t even be taken aback by it, no matter how young they are.
Anyway, this super-device is obviously right around the corner. Heck, it’s just busting down the door right now – phones have cameras and MP3 players and video capability – and then we have Blackberrys (Blackberries?) and such, so once someone finally gets it together, we’ll buy it and never turn back. You’ll laugh at the idea of carrying an iPod and a cell phone separately just like we laugh at black and white television or rabbit ears or VCRs.
So until then I’m just going to hold off on all of that stuff. Then I’ll go out and use my IDiTaRod for the next 20 years – just like a water-cooled, KIPS, Uni-Track 1985 KX250.
You know what annoys me? My office is about ten feet from Rita's and over the last few years she has become a country music fan. So every night around 6 pm, she truns her radio onto some country station - and my wrist-splitting begins. What's really bad isn't just the songs - it's that they play the same ones so often that even I am starting recognize them. I AM FROM NEW JERSEY! WE DON'T LIKE IT! And yet, here I am hearing and learning and recognizing.
And then what's this? JON BON JOVI has a country song out where he does a duet with some chick! LORD HAVE MERCY! Is nothing sacred?
- blogandt EMAIL ME HERE
The Houston Race
If you have somehow avoided all of the motocross web sites that have Saturday night’s Houston SX results posted, and you are coming over to the blog to find out what happened at the race, let me be the first to say, “You’re the greatest person ever.” And then let me say that James Stewart whollaped the field again, Ricky Carmichael finished second and Chad Reed third. There wasn’t even a hint of a battle between them.
I'm not sure how you spell "whollaped."
Now that we have that out of the way let’s move to the real stuff.
Now that Carmichael has his points lead in the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross Series, you had better pray for rain in Dallas and Seattle, or hope for another shocking surprising shock-spring related mechanical to spring upon the 10000-time AMA Champion. Otherwise, Ricky has escaped from the clutches of supercross yet again.
Meanwhile James Stewart is going just sick fast. We all know James has had this kind of speed in the tank all year (and all of his life, really) but he’s finally showing it with consistency now. As both he and Ricky have said, he’s just putting it together – getting the starts and hauling (MotoTalk-style-edit) azz for the first few laps. By then it’s all over. James is so freakin’ fast that he can put enough distance on even Carmichael to have the race wrapped up by lap five. And Carmichael is great at sprinting early. James is just that much better.
But it doesn’t matter. Where earlier in the year RC would have had to dig deep and go balls out to try and catch James, now he doesn’t have to. And again, he has ZERO fear of Reed. So this one is on ice barring the kind of catastrophe that just about never strikes Mr. 100000-time.
One cool find in Houston was Kevin Windham. After riding terribly in Orlando and Detroit, we saw a little more of the old K-Dub this time as he finished fourth. I saw him after the race and he said he wants to make a podium badly in these last three races so he can rejoin our webcast via the post-race press conference. Now that’s motivation!
Honestly until Saturday night, I had heard that K-Dub was shaken up bad by the Ernesto Fonseca injury and was possibly riding a little scared. Looks like he’s moving back up the ranks now, though.
Davi Millsaps clinched the East Region Lites SX Title with his win in Houston. I’m sensing a move away from the term “Lites” from everyone in the motocross industry, but I am going to hold steadfast to it here. I don’t care if the AMA makes a change – I’m going to keep using Lites because it’s so damn cool.
And for those who ask, “what the hell is a Lites bike, anyway?” the AMA will tell you that if you’re new to the sport, you’ll ask “what the hell is a 250F, anyway?” so Lites isn’t any worse, and if someone builds a nuclear-powered two-stroke 125 in 15 years we can keep calling the class Lites instead of going back to 125.
Capice?
(By the way the nuclear-powered 125 would have to have lead free fuel, which could be dangerous.)
Anyway I was pumped for Millsaps. I really try not to pick favorites, but I’ve become a Millsaps fan over the last two years. In 2004, things went so bad for him. He sucked on the track, and off of it there was no way to find out what was wrong because he was about the worst interview in the sport. We were hearing “Millsucks” grumblings here and there, too. Finally, he put in a good ride at Red Bud that summer, about four months after he was expected to deliver in supercross. He got on the podium and went to the press conference and went all goofy on everyone – Mr. Terrible Interview was actually funny! Then I had to interview him for the Racer X site, and I was impressed. It was good. Plus, I was glad to see him finally deliver against the Millsucks fraternity.
Anyway he should have owned the 125 East last year (yes, it was 125 back then) but he just ran into an experienced, prepared, championship-proven Grant Langston. It might have been a good thing for Davi, though. Had he have won that title, I wonder if Suzuki would have ponied up more to keep him around and run the #1? I like Suzuki and obviously they have some good things going on, but I think Honda is a much better fit for DM since they don’t have so many other big eggs to put their focus on. It’s pretty clear that RC is #1 over at Suzuki. Somehow I doubt Travis Preston is commanding that kind of focus in the Honda pits.
Anyway Millsaps is sick fast. When he figures out how to use all of his speed and talent and leverage he’s going to be good. I think the only question about him is his killer instinct. We know that Stewart, Carmichael and Reed and game competitors. Is Millsaps that hard? Is that goofiness just a façade in front of a determined young champion?
My final thoughts on Millsaps: Thanks mainly to him, the Lites press conferences are hilarious. It also helps that the pressure is off, since 80% of the room from the Supercross Class leaves as soon as the Lites show begins. It’s sad, really, that Davi