BEST OF JODY’S BOX: WHY MOTOCROSS STARS ARE JUST LIKE BUTTERFLIES

By Jody Weisel

What I’m going to tell you is no secret. Common sense would lead you to the same conclusion eventually. In the pursuit of excellence, great athletes reach beyond themselves, raise the bar higher than anyone thought possible and transcend the mortals surrounding them. However, that pursuit of excellence doesn’t make them good human beings—they either are or they aren’t regardless of how fast they can ride a motorcycle. But, the leeway given to those who excel in physical activity by a worshiping culture, often puts no demands on the individual to attain the minimum goals of common decency.

The examples are the rule, not the exception. Think of the number of football stars who spend an equal amount of time in the courthouse as they do in the end zone. There are those who say the National Basketball Association should change it’s name to the National Paternity Suit Association. Drug addled players, whether on steroids or cocaine, seem to be immune from legal, administrative or public censure. When caught in foul behavior, biting an opponent’s ear off or spitting on a referee, any shallow excuse will be meekly accepted (with accolades following as soon as the game begins again). Players can strike, owners can lock them out and the media can say, “The fans will never forgive them for what they have done”—but we do. Because we worship at the altar of sport.

How stupid are we? World class. Behavior we wouldn’t accept from an acquaintance, men we wouldn’t allow to date our sisters, business decisions that make us blanch and crass behavior that we pray our children never display, passes for the modus operandi of sports figures in America.

Motocross is not an island unto itself. Thankfully, we are a family sport, some dream of it as G-rated sport, and because a young racer must climb a ladder supported by adults (parents, mechanics, team managers, business agents and corporate presidents) the excesses of fame are not so evident. But don’t believe for a minute that the social, moral and cultural forces that have dragged other sport’s athletes into the morass of degradation, aren’t pulling on young motorcycle racers as well. Drugs? We have riders who use them. Alcohol? Beyond a shadow of doubt. Lack of morality? It comes with the territory.

THE BARABARIANS ARE AT THE GATE AND, SURPRISINGLY, A HOST OF QUISLINGS ARE TRYING TO OPEN IT UP.

When you add in a lack of education (most factory riders drop out of high school to pursue stardom) and a traveling circus atmosphere it is amazing that motocross hasn’t made tabloid headlines more often. We might cringe at the occasional “Dirt Bike Riot” that blares across the front page of the L.A. Times after a jump video premiere, but that doesn’t touch the surface of where our sport could be. The barbarians are at the gate and, surprisingly, a host of quislings are trying to open it up. It’s not necessary to point fingers at those who are damaging our sport. Whether in the name of self expression, personal freedom. power politics or counter-culture hipness they know that their actions, attitudes, language and behavior are wrong — the contrariness of it is the attraction.

Many social theorist wonder why modern society lacks the heroes of earlier generations. Why did individuals like Eddie Rickenbacker, Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth, Bobby Jones, Jack Dempsey, Dizzy Dean and Roger DeCoster achieve both stardom and sainthood at the same time, while modern heroes, who’s achievements are often just as glorious, fail to stay in the limelight past their prime?

Think about it. Can you name the first man to walk on the moon? Historically more significant than Lindbergh’s 1927 transatlantic flight, Neil Armstrong’s stardom was muted by probing press coverage (focusing on every blemish instead of his bravery), institutional support (the over analysis of the organizations behind him), military blandness (a man doing his duty is rarely viewed as a “Lone Eagle”) and the expansion of media outlets (each one in search of its own hero to build up or tear down to boost ratings).

Fame is seductive. It draws the uninitiated in, caresses them with warmth, plies them to seek more adulation, offers a sense of omnipotence and then, when they least expect it (and are ill-prepared to handle the effect), kicks them in the groin. Hard.

THE BIGGEST STARS THAT MOTOCROSS HAS EVER KNOWN ONLY INHERITED THEIR FAME FROM THE MAN BEFORE HIM (AS PART OF A SUCCESSION PLAN SIMILAR TO THE WINDSORS OF ENGLAND).

Motocross stars tend to be nice young men, who with a few glitches, handle their fame with perceptive aplomb. In fact, some of our galaxy of stars, are less affected by their popularity than lesser stars in the motocross constellation. But no matter what you may think, the biggest stars that motocross has ever known only inherited their fame from the man before him (as part of a succession plan similar to the Windsors of England).

Where motocross stars are headed is not as glorious as where they were at the height of their fame. But, without much effort, just a glance over the adoring crowd surrounding him, every modern super star should be able to get a view of the harbingers of the future. The past stars of motocross barely make a ripple when they pass through a crowd. Former AMA Supercross Champs can stand in the hot dog line at the same stadium that they once seemingly owned unbothered by autograph seekers—totally unmolested by the burden of their former fame. Someday in the future today’s greatest heroes will be ignored by a crowd cheering for the next world beater, just as Gary Jones, Pierre Karsmakers, Jimmy Weinert, Tony D, Mark Barnett, Kent Howerton, Johnny O’Mara, Jeff Ward and Jeff Stanton aren’t on the lips of today’s teenage stadium goers—neither will they be.

In the currency of today, the greats of the past are glad to have achieved stardom, no matter how fleeting, but it isn’t what they are about. They know that who they are after the cheering stops lasts for the next 50 years. Motocross fame is a cocoon—the butterfly comes later.

 

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