The X Games STILL Suck

Yeah, I watched the Supermoto race today. In fact, I almost watched the entire X Games presentation this afternoon, meaning I sat through the Sk8 Big Air craziness and the BMX Vert Big Trick contest, while waiting for the big Supermoto show. Was I disappointed? Very.

First off, I was always skeptical about the foolishness of adding a mandatory "pit stop" to a short motorcycle race. I never got how that made Supermoto more "extreme". If the "pit stop" resulted in making this race an improvement over last year's race, someone please explain it to me. To me, it violated the entire spirit of the X Games. The X Games were always about wild 'n crazy guys doing wild 'n crazy things, and INDIVIDUALISM was key. The fact that most of the top X Games events are creative endeavors that are scored by subjective judging only underscores that point. Adding a mandatory "pit stop" to the Supermoto race meant adding a "team" aspect to what was before a solitary athletic pursuit. And to top it all off, it was goofy.

I mean, why change a tire that doesn't need changing? Why limit the crews to non-powered "hand" tools and production wheel mounts? What other X Games event has equipment rules and limits?

But the "pit stop" silliness was just one of the many very bad things that happened during this race. Here are more:

- What was the point of having the AMA involved? Just so the racers would get to run their AMA numbers? Maybe to "enforce" the rules? Since when do the X Games have rules and referees?

- The announcing was beyond terrible. What was the point of having some of the world's best supermotard racers in the field if the announcers never even introduce them or talk to them?

- Why have a field of 20 racers, for that matter? Ten would have been plenty. As it was, there were just enough lappers in the way at the end to make the finish more confusing than it needed to be.

- Why have timed qualifying (or "seeding" as they called it) and then start everyone on a supercross gate in the dirt, instead of in rows on the pavement as they would at any other supermoto race on the planet? That was the only "extreme" part of the race... extremely goofy, that is.

- The coverage was spotty, to say the least. They were covering the race live, and still ended up going to commercial break just as key passes were being made. Eh, that's TV, right? Whatever.

By the time the checkered flag flew, I had enough. I didn't stick around for the post race foolishness, although I did watch Doug Henry stop to give one of his crew members a ride for the victory lap. Henry is a class act, and it was great to see him get the gold.

I know a lot of people were stoked about this race, and I was truly looking forward to it. But it could have been so much better, if only the X Games producers had truly cared.