SX GONE SOFT

Is the sport we love going soft on us?

Look, I love Supercross just as much as the next fan. Well, I’d argue that I love it a lot more in all honesty. I’m a mega-fan of the sport and spend a lot of my free time thinking critically about what happened at the last race, what separates good riders from great riders, and brainstorming ideas on how to grow the sport’s reach. (just a few examples)

That being said, I think there have been some great calls by the AMA on docking points/positions however, they’ve also made some questionable calls.

There’s no arguing that Supercross is a unique sport. We’re taking the 20+ best riders and lining them up inside a baseball or football stadium on a track that was strategically designed to fit inside these venues. Clearly Daytona doesn’t really fall into this category since it’s the gnarliest round of the season and is some weird combo of Supercross and a full-blown outdoor motocross track. My point is that when you cram all of these riders into such a small space there is clearly going to be contact, it can’t be avoided.

The reason we love Supercross so much, other than the fact that we get to see our favorite rider(s) battle it out every weekend for 16 weeks, is that the racing IS tight. If the track was twice as wide it would A) be a much shorter track and, most importantly, B) be a straight up snooze fest. We want to see some contact! Rubbing is racing, right?

These riders are fast and the tracks are narrow. Line choices are limited and lines come together all the time. Every rider on the track wants to win and they’ll do whatever it takes to win. Will they intentionally take each other out with a “dirty” pass? A lot of people have their opinions on this and at first glance it’s pretty easy to assume that a rider cleaned another one out purposely but like I said a second ago, every rider on the track wants to win. These guys train hard and practice constantly with the hopes that their hard work will pay off on Saturday night. They also understand that every other guy out there is working just as hard, if not harder, than they are. Sure there are some petty squabbles like that Barcia/Bogle incident but for the most part these guys are professionals and are making the best split-second decisions they can to ensure they keep it rubber side down out there.

Some of these incidents can’t be avoided. Some can.

The Anderson/Stewart crash derby that we saw unfold over a couple weekends could have definitely been avoided. I understand Anderson was chasing the championship even though now it pretty much looks like Tomac has it all but wrapped up. Anderson was chasing positions and I think he made a bad judgement call coming into the corner on Stewart. This bad call ultimately left both of them on the ground. These guys aren’t perfect, it is what it is. Now in Daytona when Malcom made the pass on Anderson as retaliation for what happened in Arlington, I get it. Some dude makes a bad call and cleans both of you out? Naturally you’re going to want some kind of revenge. Is making a clearly retaliatory pass that costs both of you points and positions worth it? Probably not. I already told you these guys aren’t perfect.

Case in point, the Craig/Friese debacle. Everyone was so damn mad at Friese. He is the scapegoat of the motocross industry. Perfect example: Most Hated Man in SX? News flash people: it wasn’t an attempt to take out Craig. Looked like it was at first glance to the untrained eye but when you look closer you’ll find out what really happened. There’s probably still some old dudes out there screaming at their TV still. I know, this was weeks ago, it’s old news…still relevant though. Friese thought he could beat Craig to the corner. It’s plain as day when you watch the clip replay. Friese was penalized for this and I don’t think it’s a fair call. I’ll tell you why in the next paragraph. All of this brings me to the events from 2 weekends ago: Christian Craig and Michael Mosiman.

Mosiman was on rails. Dude was straight up flying and I honestly don’t think Craig, or anyone else for that matter, could have beat him. I’m sure a lot of people are still fuming at Mosiman. If you are this person there’s only one question you need to ask yourself. Why? We see this type of pass all night long, every weekend. It’s a textbook pass. Another rider goes high in a bowl corner, you go underneath and make the pass. Capitalize on their mistakes. I’m no statistician but I’d be willing to bet that 9 times out of 10 that this type of pass results with no rider on the ground. In this example it was one rider, sometimes it’s two (scroll back up if you live in a cave and didn’t see or hear about the Anderson/Stewart bowl turn blowout). Mosiman executed the pass perfectly. Unfortunately, it left Craig on the ground and Mosiman with no rear brake. Hey, it happens. It’s part of the sport and there’s no way around it. Unless the AMA wants to penalize every rider on the track and wrap them in bubble wrap to protect their egos this sport is going to have contact. It’s not badminton. It’s not chess. It’s not the NBA where a flop is fair play and if you look at a player the wrong way you get a foul.

This is Supercross. Let’s embrace and enjoy it for what it is.

THE MOST HATED MAN IN SX?

Indy 3 was a wild ride: Roczen narrowly preventing Webb from upsetting his #3peat, Justin “T-bone” Barcia broadsiding our victor, and, of course, the Barcia-Friese-Tomac debacle.

With our commentators preaching incessantly about lapped riders, many people are viewing this as the blunder to end all blunders. We’ve all seen it. Whether you watched it live, caught a clip of it on Instagram, or both, the evidence is there and it’s clear to see who is to blame. Or is it?

There are an infinite number of ways to interpret the events that unfolded last Saturday night. I watched it live, then I watched it about a hundred times on Instagram, and then I watched the race broadcast again. The internet bench racers have had a field day with Vince Friese. I’ve never visited his profile before today but if it wasn’t private before then it is now. The hate I’ve seen thrown at Friese is relentless and unforgiving. Comment after comment about how he’s an idiot or that his pro license should be revoked because he’s a hazard. I even saw someone say there should be an early retirement fund set up for him so that we can keep other riders safe. What’s most disturbing is that even people within the industry, people closest to the sport we all love, are jumping in to criticize Friese.

So who is to blame for what happened? 95% of the fans, riders, etc. would quickly point a finger at Friese. Is he to blame? Sure. Completely? I don’t think so. What about Barcia? Does he get a pass because he was in the top 3 and battling with Tomac for the position? Many would say yes, I say otherwise. It is just as much Barcia’s responsibility to circumnavigate lapped riders as it is for a lapped rider to clear the way for leaders. Unless we start strapping rear view mirrors on every bike lining up in the main then I don’t think we can expect all the responsibility to fall on the man down. I didn’t see the internet mob crucify Dean Wilson when his failure to waiver potentially cost Roczen the win a couple weeks ago and we’re talking about holding up the leader of the race in that instance.

Every position is of ultimate importance, especially in what is probably the most stacked 450 SX Championship field to ever line the gate, but what takes precedence, first or third? 12th or 14th? Every rider out there is racing for a reason and has proven themselves worthy of being there. I have never raced professional motocross or supercross but I have raced in both at an amateur level. I also dealt with lapped riders on a frequent basis when I did race. Were my stakes as high as the riders we love to watch every weekend? Definitely not because I didn’t have my job or well-being on the line like they do each and every time the gate drops. Were the stakes high for me nonetheless? Absolutely. What I’m saying is if you’ve never dealt with lappers then you have no room to talk. Sure, it’s easy to say, “Oh, I would have done this if I were him,” but you aren’t him and chances are you won’t ever be anywhere close to being in his shoes. Sometimes lappers make it easy to pass and sometimes they get in the way, it’s the nature of the sport.

The real question that should be asked is why wasn’t anyone flagging? Where was Friese’s notification that more leaders were coming through? He got the blue flag for Roczen and Webb but how was he supposed to know that Barcia and Tomac were that close to the two front runners? How? If your answer is, “He should just know,” or, “He should be able to hear them coming,” then I say to you again, how? How can he just know? Are lapped riders supposed to develop some kind of secret intuition or, hear me out on this one, are they supposed to develop some dog-like sense of hearing that allows them to distinguish each rider’s exhaust note like they’re telling the difference between the UPS truck or the FedEx truck? Let’s be real, people, the answers to those questions should, without a doubt, be a resounding no from anyone answering. There should have been someone flagging in that section. Supercross triples are no joke and when the face is riddled with ruts like they were in Indy then they’re even gnarlier than normal.

So without ranting anymore I think that all parties “involved” are, in some way, at fault. Barcia, Friese, whoever the guy is that determines where flaggers should be placed around the track, they all have a hand in this. You may be wondering, “Who does he think the person most at fault is?” Well, my friend, that answer is simple. The answer is none of them but if I had to split it up out of 100% between the three parties I’d give the guy in charge of flaggers 33.4% blame. What I’m saying is there’s a lot to be learned from this incident. It’s not black and white and if you think it is then you can’t see the full picture. I’ve never met him but I would assume Vince is a good person and he’s just out there doing his best. So take it easy on the guy.

I just can’t help but feel a little bad for Tomac since he had nothing to do with it really and was just in the right place at the wrong time.