Ask Ping

Jas,

I’ve re-watched the video and I have to say I’m disgusted that you turned a diagnostic rendering of the discussed topics, provided only to help those who prefer visual aids, into a life-giving female organ. Those “boobs,” as you so crassly referred to them, represent the motocross related items being discussed and nothing more. The drawings were a couple circles and parenthesis coupled with dots to specify a location. Let’s not make sweater meat-mountains out of mole hills. Thanks for watching the shows. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to get back to my lunch at Hooters.

PING

Pingermeister,

How fast is too fast? Are athletes such as Tomac pushing the limits of physics too much? I was wondering after seeing Tomac’s crash over and over again on the web, what was it that really derailed his campaign for the 2015 MX championship after such a dominant start to the season? Was it mere bad luck, was it the Honda, which I hear is twitchy and unstable at times, or was it the fact that Tomac took a whooping minute and a half from Dungey and everyone else and that such speed could hardly be maintained without too much risk. In other words, was it just a matter of time? It came to my mind that we had riders before who were equally capable of raising the speed in just about any given situation to ridiculous levels. Both of them have a lot fewer championships to their names than their capabilities of riding a motorcycle very fast would indicate. The first was #199 who was just blatant at times and tried to force the issue in a way that made you scratch your head a lot. He had an abundance of talent, race-craft maybe not so much. He paid the price and he left the sport. The next is #7, it appeared almost as if he could be the fastest anytime he chose to be, but often we saw him throw it away a few corners into a ridiculous lead. Sometimes he still came out on top, but sometimes does not bode well when you’re paid for collecting #1 plates. To go full circle, I wonder if we are at a point in MX history at which men just cannot consistently go faster than let’s say Dungey, Canard and Roczen without a pretty high chance of eating it rather sooner than later. This brings me to the next point; do you think that Tomac has to “detune” himself in order to grace his mantel with a multitude of #1 trophies that would reflect his level of skill and fitness, and do you see potential that if he doesn’t, we will have a new James Stewart from Colorado?

Cheers, Oliver

Oliver,

This is a great topic for bench racing with your buddies over a twelver of your favorite beer. Of course after a dozen adult beverages pretty much any topic becomes entertaining but that’s another point entirely and kind of going down a rabbit hole, so let’s get back on track. There is no question that Pastrana and Stewart both tried to push the limit at times and it bit them. Both riders have had their fair share of injuries and, most disturbingly, head injuries. Would they have collected more championships if they checked up a bit and settled for the occasional second place or first place with a narrower win margin? Who knows? I believe it is way too early to add Eli to that list of guys. He’s had a few crashes but the one at the Anaheim opener last year wasn’t his fault and anybody twisting the throttle enough to win races is going to hit the deck now and then. That leaves his Colorado crash to discuss. Was he pushing too hard, was the bike not working or was it just a fluke? He’s already said that he felt totally in control and like he was riding within his limits. It’s no secret that he and the front end of his Honda had a tumultuous relationship ever since he started riding red. Eli never quite had the feel he was looking for and this could be a case where it just crept up and bit him. The crash was brutal and it ended badly, like all volatile relationships do. Chris Brown and Rhianna, John and Lorena Bobbitt and Eli and his CRF450 all turned out horribly. Thankfully there were no severed genitals in Tomac’s Colorado debacle. I think this year will be very telling for the #3 as he has a new bike and team around him. If he can harness his speed and stay on two wheels he is the next guy in line to wear the #1. I’m betting he keeps winning.

PING

Ping-a-ring-a-ding-a-ling,

So the races are now live on Fox Sports, yippy. But, why in this modernized world can't I simply open my laptop, punch in a website for live stream (heck, I would pay $10 per race at this point), open a cold one, sit back in my recliner and bench race? I don't care to ever have cable or dish, yet I STILL can't use the internet to watch live racing. What say you?

-Benchracing junkie needs his fix