Whitelock to FIM: "Sucks to be you..."

Of course, I'm paraphrasing. Call it artistic license or something, or maybe chalk it up to the fact that I may not have been fully awake. Yes, I got up early after a late Saturday night (my bad) to watch the CBS broadcast of the Seattle 450 supercross. Yes, at an hour when most smart motocross enthusiasts are getting ready for their first motos, I dragged my sleepy butt into the living room and fired up the boob tube instead, to listen to Sheheen and his enablers mangle another broadcast.

So maybe I wasn't fully awake when the championship awards ceremony happened, but as it was getting underway, I perked up slightly, remembering the absolute fiasco that occurred at the Vegas finale last year. In fact, here's what I said about that foolishness in a post written nearly 12 months ago:

But the last straw that broke my camelbak was the “ceremony” during which the top official of the AMA and the FIM presented their respective number one plates to our exalted champions. Did you see it? I just couldn’t believe it. After hyping up the title chase for three hours, the actual title presentation consisted of a few mumbled, un-microphoned words by Whitelock and Gallagher, while Ralph talked over them, adding absolutely nothing to the process.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Supercross Champion of the World!! Here, take this piece of plastic, good job, now scoot…” Unfriggin’-believable. If I were a casual fan, I would be perplexed; as a huge fan, I was hugely disappointed and embarrassed.

So, this time around, it seemed the broadcasters were prepared for this important moment. AMA rep Steve Whitelock and FIM rep John Gallagher surrounded James, somebody off-camera threw them a cue, and Gallagher went first, graciously congratulating Stewart and presenting him with the FIM World Supercross GP championship plate.

Then it was Whitelock's turn.

I hope somebody posts this moment to YouTube or something, because I'd really like to see it again, just to make sure my eyes and ears weren't deceiving me. Because what I heard Whitelock say to James was something along the lines of "This is the one you really want." BooYah! Take that, you frenchies (or something)! Poor James. He was already in a state of delirium; he blinked as if to say, "Did he really say what I thought he said?"

Of course, I'm sure Mr. Whitelock was only joking, but it would have been nice if he had considered the concept that the joke might be lost on the MILLIONS of people viewing at home. I wonder if it would have been funnier if Gallagher responded by playfully bitch-slapping Whitelock off the podium?