BEST OF JODY’S BOX: THE INFAMOUS POST-RACE POST-MORTEM

BY JODY WEISEL

“Hey, guess what?” I yelled into the phone after this week’s race. I didn’t wait for an answer. “I won.”

“That’s great. Was it a mud race?”

“No. It was sunny. Why did you think it was muddy?” I asked.

“I just assumed that the conditions must have been unusual.”

“No, the weather was great,” I said. “I dominated both motos.”

“What class? You weren’t cherry picking again were you?”

“No,” I said. “It was my regular class against all the good guys.”

“How many people were in your class?”

“I don’t know, 15 or 20,” I replied.

“Which one? 15 or 20?”

“More like 17,” I said.

“Was Crazy Dave in your class?”

“No, his bike blew up in practice, but I wouldhave beaten him this time,” I said defensively.

“What about Jimmy Floyd?”

“He had the flu,” I said meekly, “But, I beat his brother Monte and he’s almost as fast as Jimmy.”

“How about Jimmy Mac?”

“He was there. I beat him bad.” I said proudly.

“Stumpy Phalange?”

“I lapped him. I lap him every week,” I said.

“Don’t be a bad winner. Show respect for your competition if you want them to show respect to you.”

“I like Stumpy, but he is the slowest guy in the class. I never see him after the gate drops,” I said.

“Who got the holeshot in the first moto?”

“I did. It was beautiful,“ I said.

“Did anyone go down in the first turn?”

“I know what you’re implying,” I said. “But, no one got to the first turn in front of me, nobody fell, I was a bike length ahead and was never challenged.”

“How long was the moto?”

“It was 20 minutes,” I said.

“How many laps?”

“Eight,” I replied.

“What were the lap times?”

“About two minutes,” I said.

“That only adds up to 16-minute motos.”

“Okay, but when I crossed the finish line nobody was behind me. And, in the second moto I got a bad start and worked my way up to second place before the end,” I said defensively.

“I thought you said you dominated both motos?”

“I did dominate both motos,” I said. “I came from the back of the pack and caught the leader, but I didn’t have to pass him because he had finished sixth in the first moto. My 1-2 was good enough for the overall. I could have passed him, but I didn’t need to. My 1-2 beat his 6-1.”

“That is a very poor attitude to take to the races or into life.”

“I thought it was good strategy,” I said.

“Is that what you think? To me, it sounds like you settled for second best. I don’t want to hear about you taking the easy route in the future. If you ever want to amount to anything in life you need to give it everything you’ve got. Giving less than 100 percent is cheating yourself.”

“But, I won!” I said.

“On paper, but deep down inside you know that the winner of the second moto was better than you and, because you didn’t pass him, he knows it too.”

“He’s not better than me,” I said. “This was the first moto he has won all year long.”

“Wasn’t this the first moto that you have won all year long?”

“Yeah, but I had the flu for a couple weeks, my clutch slipped while leading two months ago and I got passed on the last lap back in January,” I said.

“He who excuses himself, accuses himself.”

“Okay, but I think I’m at the start of a winning streak. I’ll show you!” I said.

“I’ll be surprised if you win again, but I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks mom,” I said. “I’ll call you again next week.”