Observations from the X Games
AUGUST 8, 2007
By Steve Matthes
Photos by Simon Cudby
Look, this column is long and it was a lot of work. I would appreciate
if you read it all and laughed at it. I did it on a Sunday and was not
required by anyone at Racer X Canada to type anything. Like Rocky in
Rocky IV, I’m doing it for my country, only it happens to be Canada and
not Hollywood. It involved a lot of thumb action—stopping and starting
my DVR—and if you have looked at me lately, you would know that even
that is tiring to me. So please, no nasty emails.
I wanted to go to the X Games—I really, really wanted to. I could watch
Tim Ferry compete in the Moto X, my wife could go to Orange County and
get her hair cut by apparently the only person in the world who can cut
hair and it would be a good time by all.
Here’s where it all fell apart: I couldn’t get a pit pass. I asked DC
and he laughed; Ferry dropped out and there went his passes; I got the
ESPN media contact (like I’m media, ha!) and they never even wrote me
back. My wife was crushed and will soon be looking like Chad Reed and
Captain Caveman if she doesn’t get to the OC soon, and Buddy, Hank and
Fred were upset that they couldn’t pee all over my friend’s house. It
was a sad time but all was not lost, I decided to observe from my couch
the Supermoto and MotoX and here is what I came up with.
: 30
Supermoto is up first and ABC dusted off Paul Page to announce it! He’s
my childhood announcer from the Carlsbad USGP and the Superbikers—the
only two dirt bike races we got every year in Canada—and I love
listening to him. I wonder if he thinks he’s in a time machine when he
sees Jeff Ward on pole?
: 32
To even confuse Paul even more, Micky Dymond, the 1986,87 125 National
champion is also in this race, and Racer X’s own David Pingree
qualified 2nd behind Wardy on this new grid start. Much better than the
last two years when it was a moto start on dirt and everybody would
charge in hard before realizing they’re on slicks and skid into each
other always knocking down a favorite.
: 45
I notice that Chad Reed is at the back, that doesn’t bode well for him
because in my limited Supermoto experience, I’ve learned a couple of
things: 1.) It’s hard to pass;
2.) You can’t magically find seconds out on the track, because when you
start to push and “override” the bike, you actually do worse. Good luck
Reedy!
1:00
And they’re off!! Short start straight but everybody comes out good and
Jeff Ward is in the lead with Ping right behind him. 3rd is Mark
Burkhart and just to let everyone know, when I was at Yamaha, I built
him a Supermoto bike and went testing a bunch and to a race with
Burkie. He’s my guy and I’m sure you’ll assume this but the one race I
did with him (Fontana) we split wins with Wardy but we won the 2nd race
and the overall. I’m undefeated in Supermoto competition, like the
Summercross.
1:45
They drop into the dirt section for the first time and Ping is the only
guy to take the inside line—does he know something that no one else
does?
1:46
Just to recap, last year Burkie got 2nd right behind, and I mean right
behind Wardy. He would’ve won but for the second straight year, factory
Yamaha screwed up the pit stop. You can only pit in a 3-lap window and
in motocross, it’s tradition to count laps up from zero but in road
race you count down to zero. So one year, Yamaha had a guy in the
stadium to signal riders when to come in and a guy in the pits to tell
the crew when the riders were coming in. Problem was one guy was a
moto-x guy and one guy was a road race guy! They counted wrong and the
guys came in when no one was ready! Last year, the Yamaha guys couldn’t
get the axle nut on and lost a ton of time. Oh, did I mention that they
again miscounted the laps? This was the most exciting part of the race
to me; would they go for a three-peat? Second-most-exciting thing would
be Keith McCarty’s head exploding.
2:01
Robbie Horton is in this race, former Primal Suzuki rider. I believe he
has stood on the box at some 125 Supercrosses before. Good to see he’s
not working at 7-Eleven with Ben Riddle.
2:15
Look, I’m just throwing this out there for debate. It’s time to start
wondering if Jeremy McGrath has jumped the shark tank? For those of you
not familiar with that term, it’s used in TV land when a popular show
is no longer any good. The King is back in the pack here and also was
the first guy eliminated in Step-up! I don’t want to remember the King
getting beat by Robbie Horton and Matt Buyten at the X Games. That’s
not what my lasting memories should be!
2:40
Paul throws it down to Erin Bates, except that it’s not Erin-it’s
Kimberly Pressler! Paul corrects himself and is probably thinking both
of these ladies are a hell of a lot more attractive then David
Stanfield or Dave Despain. Kimberly explains everybody’s tire choices,
with Dunlop being the majority, followed by Michelin and one
Bridgestone, who would be Chad Reed.
2:54
Wardy is still out in front and stretching it out. Ping is fighting off
Burkie but is riding a little past his limits, I think. Wardy also has
on a red polka dot shirt over his leathers. He looks like Strawberry
Shortcake.
3:45
Mr. Pink himself, Carey Hart, goes down in the SX rhythm section. It
actually looks pretty bad with the dirt being as hard as the 405
Freeway. The dirt sections are better than in past years but it would
be nice if there were some different lines, all the guys are riding in
the same 4-inch line. I would to, have you ever ridden a 450 with
slicks on in the loose pebbles?
4:15
We’re four laps in and Paul’s announcing buddy just called Ping a
“great Supercross rider”. Yes he is, but Shae Bentley is just a little
greater, wouldn’t you say?
4:30
MC and Reed are in 14th and 15th. Just thought I would throw that out
there. A guy named Ivan “Drago” Lazzarini is beating my hero’s. I reach
for the Kleenex now.
5:50
Ping and Burkie are catching Strawberry Shortcake! Wonder if
Strawberry will send Rhubarb the Monkey out to run interference?
6:52
Ping and Burkie are jumping an extra jump in the SX rhythm than Wardy,
but it doesn’t seem to matter as they aren’t really making any time up
there. Wardy’s probably thinking, ‘This is just like Pittsburgh ’83—to
jump this isn’t worth it. I beat the Rhinestone Cowboy by doing this
same rhythm, and who the hell is this Pingree guy anyways’
7:30
they show Ivan “Drago” Lazzarini, he looks……stiff. Just in the corner
of the screen you can see the top three and literally you can throw a
blanket over them. Strangely, nothing is mentioned.
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David "Freddie Spaghetti" Pingree holds off Burkie in Supermoto action. Good ride for Ping in getting a bronze. |
7:52
Burkie is ALL OVER Ping. Good for Ping, though, he is holding his own
with the two top dogs in Supermoto right now, but I think it’s time to
let Burkie go and see if you can stick with him. Otherwise I’m thinking
Burkie is going to ram him off the track at any time.
8:52
It kind of sucks for Burkie, he can’t pull out of that 4-inch line to
try anything on Ping. You can see Ping is pushing hard, he’s losing the
front and rear ends, remember what I said about overriding the bike?
9:43
Erin tells us that Wardy “has never been more prepared for a race then
this one”. Come on, you’re telling me that 7-time AMA champion that’s
40-something years old is preparing harder for a made-for-TV race in a
parking lot where winner gets a gold medal and not a major title?
9:44
Paul says that in Wardy, you have a guy who does triathalons “just
because he wants to”. Someone tell Paul that it’s not 1985 anymore; I
don’t think Wardy does triathalons just for fun these days.
12:40
The announcer tells us that the teams have the pit stop down to 13
seconds and that once Team Yamaha got set up, all they did was practice
pit stops. Like I was saying, if they screw the stop up this year, they
may as well just immediately hail a cab and go home to start looking
for work.
13:11
An interview with MC about the track, they show him riding practice which is the only time you will see him this whole race.
17:34
Back from commercial and we missed Burkie finally getting by Ping.
That’s means that in the whole hour we will only see one actual pass on
TV.
17:45
Burkie is catching Strawberry rapidly and gapping Ping. They show a
drawing of Burkie’s face and he looks like he is pooping during the
sketch.
18:34
Sal Masekela reports for the one millionth time the condition of Jake
Brown, the skateboard dude who fell 40 feet to the ground and blew his
shoes off on landing. I swear we know more about this guy and his
medical condition than Barbaro. Does anyone even remember the name of
the guy who won the skateboard contest?
18:56
Paul says that they are very concerned for Jake’s health and want
everything to go well for him and then says that the producers of the X
Games would like for Jake to do that again next year. Ok, he didn’t say
that but I bet it’s true.
23:31
Announcer guy says that Burkie is chasing Wardy hard “like a shark in
the water.” Yes, because sharks on land do not get around well.
24:09
Burkie pulls into pit lane, Wardy stays out. The Yamaha guys complete
their stop in 19 seconds with no problems. Good job guys! You can all
keep your jobs.
26:17
I have to say at this time that when I was a kid, my dad bought me
legendary trainer Jeff Spencer’s Total Taping book. It told you how to
tape yourself up and provided some training tips. What I remember most
about it was telling my dad that I couldn’t believe how hairy Jeff Ward
was. He looked like a baby gorilla in his tank top squatting and
running. My point is, this race is an hour long, and can you imagine
the sweat inside Wardy’s leather suit? You could probably fill a kiddie
pool with Wardy’s sweat after this race is over. Just thought you
should know what goes thru my mind….
Wardy's pit stop. If you look closely he's eating a cupcake right now.Either that or draining his leather suit.
27:34
Strawberry Shortcake pulls into the pits, eats a cupcake and his team
gets it done in 17 seconds. So they beat Yamaha’s mark by 2 seconds,
and Wardy pulls out in front of Burkie by about, oh I dunno, 2 seconds
or so. Team Yamaha calls a cab at this point.
28:45
Erin reports that she spoke with Team Yamaha’s crew chief for Burkhart,
Jeff Dagget, and he says that they are thrilled with the stop and that
now it’s up to Mark to hunt Jeff down. Yeah, easy for you to say pal,
how’s about getting Mark back those 2 seconds you lost him in the pits?
29:24
Robbie Horton holds up Burkie while being lapped. Paul says that Horton
was an alternate for this race and mentions that when Horton finally
realizes that he’s being lapped, what good sportsmanship he has for
pulling over. Yes, it would have been good about 15 seconds ago, now
he’s just hoping Burkie doesn’t find him in an alley after the race.
31:11
Paul tells us that Wardy just reached down and adjusted something on
the “center console” of his bike. Paul, it’s a CRF450, not a Ford
F-150.
37:24
After some commercials about TV shows that I’ll never watch, Kimberly
reports that everything is fine with Wardy’s bike. They were worried
that something was up with the fuel line. Now the team is drawing
straws to see who helps Wardy out of his suit after the race.
38:43
Burkie is trying to find a way around Ward, he has to be getting
frustrated here. Ward is thinking “Just like Saddleback ’79 when the
Bomber was all over me, I’ll wear him out”
41:04
Reed is 12 laps down at this point, his chances of getting on the box
are slim right now. In other news, MC is showing some fight and is now
in fifth. Too bad they never show him once in the whole hour.
42:54
Kimberly tells us to not count Mark Burkhart out of this race. Really?
I already wrote him off despite being a half a second behind Ward, now
I will keep watching I guess.
45:55
In the only pass they show in an hour, Burkhart finally gets by Wardy!
Ward immediately makes a mistake and loses a bunch of time to Burkie.
He fought hard but on this day Burkie showed that he was the better
rider. Remember that I groomed him early on in his career.
48:00
Mark Burkhart takes the checkers, Ping gets third and throws a fist
pump in honor of Wardy from Atlanta 1990 SX. We will not hear him speak.
50:32
Three little kids and a small dog drown when Wardy pulls off his suit.
Observations from MotoX
1:00
Here we are, at Moto X now and they are showing RC with dudes in the
background that I know I’m more important than. Yes that means you
Steve Cox and Big E. from Answer. How did they get in and I’m out? I’m
really not bitter.
1:30
Funky format here with six riders making the main but only the winner
of the each heat and semi make it. Its all-or-nothing folks!
1:35
Gates about to drop and they show a graphic over Kevin Windham that
says one of only two riders to beat RC in a motocross race since 2001.
Who could the other one be? Hmmmmm…..lets take a wild guess here……..Tim
Ferry? DING DING!!!
1:38
My wife informs me that the answer is “James Stewart.” I am crushed.
2:00
The riders are off, all four of them (??) and the dude who drops the
gate is not hidden at all, he is just standing there. You can see his
foot!! There is now way that Steve Whitelock lets this happen on his
watch.
2:10
Paul Page is back along with Jeremy McGrath announcing. The riders are
dicing it out on a track that looks like I made it in my backyard. Good
thing there is only four guys; otherwise they wouldn’t all fit.
2:30
The races are only a few laps and Ryan Clark is out front! He could win
this. He’s followed by KW, Grant Langston and Jason Thomas,
2:31
Clark was doing a great job of hugging the inside and I thought again
that maybe he can just ride like that and hope for a mistake from one
of the guys behind him but then KW blows by him in the whoops and I
remember that Ryan Clark has never beaten KW for a reason—and it might
have more to do with factory suspension than just talent.
Here Langston gives the crowd it's biggest thrill all night at the Moto-X race.
2:48
Clark is holding off Langston until GL blowing by him in the whoops.
Wonder how that factory suspension is working for KW and GL?
3:50
KW is checking out and the track looks good…. For a minefield in Baghdad.
3:51
MC reminds us that the fast guys are the fast guys. Hard hitting analysis for sure.
5:00
GL comes back and sticks a wheel in there at the finish. Pretty exciting stuff, in a PBS kind of way.
9:52
After a commercial break they have a graphic for keys to success in the
race. Now I’m sure that MC is just reading these for the first time
because one of them is gate selection…when there are only four gates!
What if you have the last gate pick? Oh no, you’re four feet from the
guy with the first?! Well there goes your race…kind of strange. One of
the other ones is ‘Don’t look back.” At this point in their
careers, I’m sure these guys know that—it’s the first thing Gary Bailey
tells you when you’re 10 and at his school. Unless you’re Mike Alessi,
then you’ve just started to not look back. This last “key” is so bad
that MC can’t even bring himself to say it, instead he says “Chase the
rabbit” which means he got “X Games” confused with the “Great Outdoor
Games,” another ESPN production that might have involved rabbit hunting.
11:00
Travis Pastrana is back racing! Something strange happens as they show
him and everybody else revving their bikes up getting ready for the
gate to fall but it doesn’t fall—for, like, 20 seconds. He then backs
off and looks around, the camera shows the starter talking to the guys
and then all of a sudden BAM! The gate drops! Good times, I’m sure that
Live Nation and the AMA are giggling a little watching this.
12:50
Tes Sewell tells us that if Josh Grant can get up to Pastrana, he’s
going to really tag Travis. What, has he been watching the Lites West
Coast this year? Of course he’s going to T-bone him—those guys don’t
know how to pass any other way.
13:45
Tes says that leader Michael Byrne is chasing the rabbit, just like
Jeremy says. What is this, a dog race? I stopped the DrVR but couldn’t
find any rabbit anywhere. Oh, and he’s also not looking back, we’re
told.
17:34—Burner is the winner, Travis screws up and in a shocking move,
gets brake-checked by Josh Grant on the last lap. We see a replay of
the start and first lap also. This is so exciting, I think I’m going to
stop yawning.
19:22
We see the third heat lining up and I couldn’t figure out who number 35
on the Kawasaki is. It’s Josh Demuth! How his 36th place finish in the
2007 Sx series get him invited to the X Games? I know lots of guys that
wanted to go and placed higher then him get turned down. Did it come
down to the number of neck tattoos a guy has? Other riders in this heat
are Chad Reed, Mike Alessi and Jake Weimer.
21:03
Paul reminds us that Reed has 26 AMA Supercross wins. That got me
thinking that he has to be the least respected 26-race SX winner in the
history of the sport. That’s a crap load of wins, message board guys.
23:14
The guys are spread out, just like the last three heats. Makes for some
boring TV and the announcers are looking to fill time by talking about
arenacrosses, reminding us these are lightning rounds (I would call
them “paint-drying rounds” myself) and lots of dead air.
25:42
Reedy takes the win. My wife has had enough of me sitting on the couch
and sends me on a short errand. Besides, RC’s heat is coming up, I
think I know the outcome.
38:44
I’m back and RC won his heat in a thrilling dice of death with…..what?
You mean he just ran away with it? Wow. Anyways, Sal the host is back
to tell us that something very special happened on Thursday when Jake
Brown the skateboard dude fell from forty feet up. Yes, I’m sure that
Jake thinks it’s very “special” as well. He’s out of the hospital and
walked to the Home Depot Center right away for an interview (and
somehow never dropped that Monster Energy can). The sound goes out just
as he tells us how he is, so Sal has to ask him again—real tearjerker
for sure. ESPN replays his “special” moment for the 8, 348th time.
40:32
The guys are lining up for the semi and again I see a whole bunch of
dudes behind the gate that don’t belong there. I’m just saying, that’s
all.
41:55
This should be good, Pastrana and Langston going at it, winner goes to
the final. I’m thinking that Travis is about to lose his mind again….
42:00
… Except that Travis hits the gate and comes out last! He was looking
at the gate dropping guy and went on his flinch. Except it took the guy
two tries to drop it. See ya next year, TP! And here’s betting ESPN
finds a friendlier-to-the-199 gate guy.
45:32
Ryan Clark and Pastrana are going at it, makes for great racing and TV.
ESPN immediately cuts to an all-by-himself Grant Langston and I throw
Buddy’s dog-toy at the TV. What are they thinking?
53:21
Second semi is on the line, David Vuillemin is right beside his former
pupil, Mike Alessi along with Heath Voss. Voss is back, I guess—I
missed him in RC’s heat.
54:32
DV grabs the holeshot and leads the first lap. MC says that DV looks
good “as long as he’s chasing the rabbit, he’s alright.” Now I’m
getting worried for MC, maybe he’s been listening to “White Rabbit” by
Jefferson Starship lately?
57:40
Mike passes Jeff Alessi pretty easily. Jeff just gives it to him. Reminds me of when the William’s sisters meet in the finals.
59:21
DV12.com wins and does a one-handed goon to celebrate. The announcers
tell us about Weimer taking Demuth out and how bad it was and the
Sheriff isn’t happy but never show it to us. Perhaps they think that
the thrilling battles out front are enough for us. Between Moto-X and
Supermoto, we have seen one pass in two hours.
68:15
The main starts and RC gets the holeshot and begins to check out. The
riders quickly file in order behind him. AHHHHHH, I can’t take this
anymore. The announcers are trying to get me excited but I……just……can’t.
74:45
We have a pass!! We have a pass!! Langston gets Reed for second, we
just get a glimpse of it in the top corner of the screen, I won’t
complain though. At least it’s something.
76:32
Paul keeps telling us that RC dreamed up the X Games event, he pushed
for it, it’s his event, etc., etc. Really? Is this true? I didn’t know
that, did he dream up that the track would be lame and the racing would
be a bore also?
80:20
Reed goes off the track and KW gets him. Boy, Chad is not having a good
X Games weekend. Good thing he has 4 months to get ready for the real
Supercross racing. I now kneel down and thank baby Jesus in a tuxedo
T-shirt that there is only one and a half laps left. If you’re still
reading this far I’m sure you thank him also….
82:34
RC wins! Yay! Paul tells us what a show he has put on, I missed the
last lap after I slipped into a coma from all my Cherry Cokes I’ve been
drinking to stay awake. RC has won his last race, they tell us… At
least until Millville. Then the Motocross of Nations. Then maybe the
U.S. Open. And certainly the Paris-Bercy SX.
Thanks for reading, I am happy that X Games decided to include our
little sport into their deal, but can we call Dirt Wurx and Live Nation
next year? Please?
Email me how you managed to stay awake at matthes@racerxcanada.com
