Sparkplug 43

This week, I find myself needing to explain myself. Specifically, who am I to think that I can just write what I want about the sport that I love?

First, a little background is necessary. Before I fell for motocross as a teenager, I had already kindled a raging love affair with the written word. My parents, both voracious readers, surrounded me with books of all kinds and my first introduction to the world of periodicals was through the venerable Reader's Digest. Yet even though I had written a play in elementary school and several short stories by high school, I still did not consider myself to be a writer.

My senior year in high school, I was the editorial page editor for our award-winning weekly newspaper, and one particular event became a sort of turning point for me. Our paper featured a weekly guest column and I was in charge of enlisting a different teacher to do the honors. One week I invited a popular history teacher, who also happened to be a football and track coach, to submit an article. When I read his work, I was blown away by the sheer number of grammatical and spelling errors he had committed. I knew this man was no dummy, yet I couldn't understand why he would give us something he obviously neglected to proof. Instead of correcting the mistakes, I decided to print the column as it was written, pointing out each error with “syntax incorrect” notations (sic). Hell, I reasoned, the man was a teacher!

As you might imagine, the shit hit the fan when the paper came out. This teacher, understandably livid, responded by challenging the entire newspaper staff to come out and “see what it's like” to work out with the track team for a few days. Everyone knew it was a virtual death sentence, but I felt responsible for incurring his wrath, so I alone took him up on it. And that was the turning point for me; I took those three days of hell and turned it into a two-part series of my experience being ground into fine paste by the pissed-off track coach. Those articles were the most well-received stories I had written all year, and the rush of participatory, “first person journalism” filled me with a new sense of excitement about writing.

Thirty years later and I still love to write. That coupled with the fact that I am an extremely opinionated individual means all I need is an outlet and I can easily fill it with paragraph upon paragraph of thoughts, feelings and anecdotes. Which is why I am so bullish about the internet... writing in a paper journal and putting it on one's shelf is nowhere near as satisfying as self-publishing on the worldwide web. Bulletin boards and blogs were tailor-made for people like me, and we're the ones you see with thousands of posts covering just about every subject imaginable.

In fact, I think of motocross bulletin boards like Motodrive as some sort of game, an enjoyable way of meeting new people who share similar interests. Posting on these boards is also a great way to let off steam built up from the stresses of everyday work. And just like any game, there are a range of skill levels, from expert players to first-time beginners, all verbally jousting while discussing the hot topics of the day. Sometimes it can be a lot of fun watching the fireworks of an extended “flame war”, as two or more posters try to get the better of the others. On the flip side of that, however, are those uncomfortable moments when things get out of hand, too much is said and feelings truly get hurt. Yet it's all part of the game.

The “talent” on the motocross bulletin boards can pretty much be ranked just like motocross racing classes. There's the pro class, which features a wide range of professional writers from struggling freelance privateers like myself, up to full-blown “factory stars” who have full-time gigs writing for magazines. Of course, there are intermediates and novices as well, but all levels take to the “track” at the same time.

Occasionally real motocross professionals join the bulletin board fray, but their race experience doesn't automatically grant them “pro” status on the internet. Instead of being able to turn fast laps, it's all about turning a phat phrase, with candor, wit, logic and the ever-important proper grammar and correct spelling. Some of these guys show up and get their asses handed to them, sort of like a virtual Glen Helen Thursdays in reverse (for those that don't know, Thursday practice at the Glen is open to anyone and is usually well-attended by top pros pounding out practice laps. It's quite common to see them blazing past inexperienced beginners lap after lap). Yet some do quite well for themselves, hanging with the “best” of them. But all would do well to remember again: it's all just a game. Like motocross itself, we do it because we love it.

Now it is true the internet can get kind of funky because it's very easy to post anonymously... and plenty of clowns use bulletin boards to fire poison arrows while hiding behind multiple screen names. Personally, my approach is much different: I stand behind everything I write, and when directly addressing other people, I only say things that I am willing to say to their faces, in person. I do not use multiple online personas, in fact, I strive to show my true self in everything I write. I love this sport and I have absolutely nothing to hide.

So I started All Things Motocross as my own little “practice track” of sorts, a place where I could freely write about motocross and the people involved in the sport. While it really doesn't matter to me whether anyone actually reads this blog, my intention is to start a dialogue about the subjects I tackle, which is why I have enabled a “comments” function and is also why I alert my fellow Motodrivers whenever I post a new Sparkplug. So far my logs show that All Things Motocross has been read by motocross fans all over the world, and I think that's pretty cool. If you're so inclined, I hope you'll occasionally let me know how I'm doing, because we all make mistakes sometimes, and we all can use a little help from our friends.