Boring, boring supercross
By TMX Archives on 12th Jan 04
hope. It makes you do strange things, things that in hindsight seem absolutely absurd but at the moment make complete sense.Men will do any number of bizarre things with little more on their side. FUNNY THING, hope. It makes you do strange things, things that in hindsight seem absolutely absurd but at the moment make complete sense.Men will do any number of bizarre things with little more on their side. The smallest band of rebels will believe wholeheartedly that they can bring about revolution - a doctor will plug away for decades to defeat an incurable affliction. What is it in our nature that makes hope such a necessity?In America, particularly, we seem to rely on it. Pessimism has never been a dominant trait here, perhaps because it rarely occurs to us that our little political science experiment might fail. We don't often worry that things will all go wrong even if a healthy dose of doubt may be just the thing we need.We certainly could have used it at Anaheim this year. In December of '03 when Ricky Carmichael shocked us all by announcing that he would miss most or all of the '04 supercross series our hopes were raised. It's somewhat grim, to be sure, that a man's knee surgery should bring us so much incidental joy but you take your hope where you find it.Across the nation, fans of our sport collectively held their breath in anticipation of the season-opener at the fabled Edison International Field, right in Mickey Mouse's backyard. And while thoughts of close racing, multiple passes and unexpected champions tangoed through our minds we should have known all along that we were much closer to Fantasyland than we thought.How did we forget so easily that Chad Reed had already staked a legitimate claim as the dominant stadium rider in America? Even with a healthy Carmichael in the mix, Reed had won the last six races of '03 on the trot, leaving Ricky scratching his ginger head and tinkering with the height of his Renthals hoping to find an answer to the blazing-fast Aussie.When the gate dropped at Anaheim on the night of January 3 we all had hope. Half-a-dozen racers were thought to have a legitimate chance at the chequers - a poll we conducted on Racer X Online found that more than 50 per cent of our readers believed Kevin Windham would be the victor. Others were sure that it was finally Ezra Lusk's turn at glory. David Vuillemin, always a threat, brought along his following - no doubt bolstered by his online presence (Le Cobra or DV12 as he now prefers has become a wonderful public relations man - he communicates directly with the fans more than any top racer in the States).And any number of dark-horse candidates could pull through with the big win. After what seemed like an eternity of Carmichael domination - it's actually only been a few years - the door was open for a new champion's arrival. And even someone like myself, who generally prides himself on knowing better, was giddy with anticipation.By the halfway point of the race, most of the pack couldn't even see Reed. In fact, a father stuck in a long queue for the kids' nachos and sodas might have wandered back to his seat and not realised Reed was even in the race - let alone winning it. You see, Chad saw that open door and knocked it off its hinges.And just as quickly, the fans began to protest. In this wonderful age of instant feedback, those listening from the comfort of their home computers marched lockstep to the message boards. The prevailing opinion - brilliant, another boring season.Hang on! Pushing aside for the moment the fact that it was only the first of 16 rounds, let's look at Reed's remarkable win for what it was. This is a man who just a month before sustained a fairly serious shoulder injury which required an operation. And while it may not have been as severe as Carmichael's, his quick return and complete domination - his gap on second place at the end was a full 19 seconds - was fully commendable.Perhaps the gravity of the injury would have been heightened had it occurred on the track rather than at the pool table but that's hardly being fair. If anything, it shows that Reed's uncommon intensity is available to him in all aspects of competition, even seemingly harmless parlour games.Certainly, barring injury or severe mishap, Reed has the inside line on this year's title - that's been obvious from the start. But it's far too early to give up on this season. Carmichael's title will be handed down to a new champion this year and that has motivated his competitors to redouble their efforts and find new depths of focus.Some may falter along the way, others will no doubt have something unexpected in store. Trust me, there are few things more volatile and exciting than a man who suddenly sees and makes a charge at his big opportunity. We are in for a surprise or two yet - I hope.Jeff Kocan, courtesy RacerX