Hey Ping,
I'm a long time reader of your column and look forward to reading it every week. I watched the MXoN this Sunday on CBS sports (great coverage by the way, huge props for getting it on tv) and I have a question about team USA strategy. With Dungey being the team captain and losing last year, it was said he wanted to win badly. But watching Tomac come from 20th in moto one and pass him and then catch Roczen makes me wonder what Dungey was doing? Did he think finishing seventh in his second moto was going to bring home the Chamberlain trophy? Didn't the pit board tell him to get moving? I'm a huge Dungey fan and I'm sure there was a lot of pressure on him. It just seemed like he went into conservative mode a little too early. What are your thoughts?
Aaron
Aaron,
So you think that Ryan Dungey, a multi-time champion and one of the best in the sport right now, just put it on cruise control intentionally and hoped that a seventh would squeak out a win? That’s crazy talk. I’m sure if he was capable of going faster he would have. I haven’t heard what Dungey said about the day so I don’t want to speculate, but there was obviously an issue keeping him from riding to the best of his ability. And let’s face it: Some days you just don’t have it. This sport is absolutely mental and if your head isn’t screwed on straight it can/will directly affect the way you ride. Before you go ripping on any of these guys, remember that they gave up time off and time at home with their families to go compete in this race for free. Would you go to work for free if your boss asked you to? The guys all rode their asses off and rather than pick apart their effort I’m sure they would appreciate it if we would all just tip our caps to them and say thank you. Congratulations to the Belgians and we’ll see you in Latvia in 2014.
PING
Ping,
Will you finally admit that Antonio Cairoli is the best there is in world motocross at the moment? His last four MXoN motos have proved this once and for all. Long live King Cairoli!
Guiseppe
Guiseppe,
Antonio “Ravioli” Cairoli is an incredible rider and his efforts the past two years at this event have certainly helped solidify him as one of the greats in the sport. His truck-full of world titles don’t hurt either. Personally, I appreciated the fact that he was very humble and gracious following the wins and didn’t gloat or try to convince everybody that he was the best rider in the world. It speaks volumes about a man’s character when he closes his mouth and lets his actions do the talking. Besides, it sounds like his fans do enough talking for him. It is a slippery slope calling someone the “best in the world” when all of the world’s best don’t compete in the same series. If you don’t think Ryan Villopoto would’ve impacted the results of that race [specifically the MX1 results] you have been eating too much pasta. The biggest disappointment of this generation is that we won’t see Tony and Ryan go head-to-head for an entire series. Like Carmichael and Everts, Tony and Ryan are the best from each series right now but to say one is better than the other is like saying penne is better than spaghetti… purely objective. We can agree on this: Cairoli was amazing in Germany last weekend.
PING
Hello Ping !
Whatever happened to Racer X's "Fan of the Week" feature ? I can only surmise that Racer X staffers wives and girlfriends simply said "Enough, grow up".
Jim
Jim,
The very popular FOTW segment had to be pulled down out of respect for the girls shown in the feature. It had nothing to with growing up. If that were the case there would be a mass exodus in the motocross industry in general. And the internet would shut down completely. The removal was actually caused by a self-proclaimed “media mogul” who was rating the photos that were posted. I can’t stand here and tell you that his rating systems weren’t moderately entertaining, but they were equally offensive to the ladies involved. I guess you could always divert to the O’Neal model search, which I believe is going on right now. This way you can go ahead and perv out, Jim, because it’s all in the name of the democratic process.
PING
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