Monday Gate Drop

Good Morning and Happy Monday to everyone. Also, Happy Family Day to those in Canada who are celebrating this awesome day. If you are lucky enough to be off work or school today, I hope you’re spending the day doing something family orientated. Since 99% of the people who read MXP absolutely live and breath motocross, I would assume that all of you agree that moto is hands down the best family sport going. In every sport, families begin participating together. Mom, dad and the kids trek off as a group to the competition whether it be a hockey game, soccer game or whatever sport they’re doing. But where moto really excels is how it keeps families together even through the child’s teenage years and sometimes longer. I mean, in this day and age when it seems like all kids want to do is grow up too fast and get away from their parents, moto seems to keep families together and at the track. So on this day, let’s celebrate families and how much this sport brings and keeps them together.

The piece of news that every Ontario rider was waiting for was finally released last week. The 2014 SWO CMRC Racing Schedule was put to ink and now everyone can begin to make plans for this coming racing season. I’ve looked over it a few times and I think it looks great. It all begins with the annual pre-season practice at Gopher Dunes on April 6th and then we’re back there seven days later for the first official race of 2014. After that we travel to the long term tracks of RJ Motorsports, Moto Park, Paisley RAT Track, and then on June 8th it’s the must attend final ANQ at Walton Raceway. There are also two tracks that are brand new to the CMRC. Both Gully Mor and Panic Rev are located within 20 minutes of each other in Southwestern Ontario. I was lucky enough to ride these tracks last year and I think everyone is going to love them. While both have the hard packed clay soil that the Sarnia area is famous for, their layouts are awesome and I know everyone will enjoy riding them.

In the midst of this busy Ontario racing schedule is a seven race Provincial Series that will be sponsored by Rockstar Energy Drink, and there’s also a new vintage series that is sure to be exciting and will no doubt get the blood flowing of some of our older riders. In my interview with Jim Scott last week he spoke at length about some of the exciting things the CMRC has planned for this summer. It should be a great year in Ontario and I’m sure everyone is very excited for it all to begin. I know when you look outside these days, April 6th feels like a long ways away. If you do feel like getting a little taste of moto, don’t forget about the Toronto Motorcycle Show this coming weekend at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto. MXP will have a booth there as well as all of the manufacturers. It should be a great show at this brand new location. Here is the website for you to get all the info you need: www.torontomotorcycleshow.ca/

AT&T Stadium in Dallas is one pretty amazing building and a perfect host for SX.

Now let’s talk about Saturday night and round seven of the 2014 Monster Energy Supercross Series. As everyone may know, Chad Reed attempted to ride in Dallas to see if he could salvage a few points and somehow stay in the championship points race. He courageously made it around the track for a few laps until a hard landing off one of the triples literally popped his already badly injured shoulder out. In GuyB’s audio interview over on VitalMX, it almost sounds like Reed has now done even more damage to his wing and may require surgery. This will no doubt put him out of action for a long time. You have to wonder if trying to ride on Saturday was really worth it. I know it was gutsy to try and his intentions were good, but he might have turned this injury from fortnight layoff to a few months and possibly longer.

Either way you have to feel bad for Reed as he was certainly riding good before his crash in San Diego. This is such a tough sport at any level but after Reed’s crash last week I thought about something Kevin Windham said a few years. Windham was talking about racing and his age. He said that although he still felt fast and competitive, with the nature of the sport there was a reason why there aren’t a lot of 30 year old Pro motocross riders. Physically and especially mentally, this sport at that level is just too hard. Having said that, I hope Reed can comeback [again] and get to the level he was the first month of this season, but it’s going to be tough.

In the Lites class in Dallas it was great see Cole Thompson do so well. I thought with all the crashes and the somewhat useless track, finishing sixth was the perfect position for Cole at round one. As this series moves on he’s obviously going to feel more comfortable, so hopefully he can build on his Dallas finish and move forward. I personally can’t wait to watch Cole in Toronto next month. How cool would it be for Cole to holeshot the main event at the Roger’s Centre and lead some laps? The capacity crowd would be going crazy! The next round is this weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. With all the crazy weather the Peach State has been having lately, the dirt might be a real factor as it might be really soft like it was in the ’90s. Whatever the conditions, all of Canada will be in front of our television cheering on Cole.

Cole Thompson was with some pretty fast company in Dallas for round one of the East Lites Series. However, he rode fast and smart to finish an impressive fifth.

So that is it for me. I hope everyone has a great week and I hope to see some of you at next weekend’s Toronto Motorcycle Show. With the Olympics going on right now and all the world class athletes competing in Sochi, it’s easy to forget that at the end of the day these athletes are human beings regardless of how good they are. When Shawn White failed to win a medal in Russia he was ripped in the press for his failures. But sometimes top athletes don’t win and here is how Shawn White handled his defeat last week. I think his reaction is something we could all learn from. Have a safe week and Happy Family Day!

Sometimes, not winning can prove more valuable than taking home the gold. American snowboarder Shaun White, favoured to win the men’s half pipe competition at the Olympics, finished fourth, just off the medal stand. But when he didn’t win, White set a great example that all kids can learn from. Here are several lessons we can take away from White’s fourth place finish by Shannan Younger, journalist for Chicago Now’s Tween Us:

1. You don’t always win. Sometimes in life, you do your best and it just isn’t good enough. While it’s heartbreaking, it happens. Keep a broader perspective in mind: You tried your hardest, you accomplished something. That’s enough.

2. Being a good sport matters. Right after his last run, which didn’t go well, White hugged Iouri Podladtchikov. In an interview later, he said, “I’m happy for the guys who did well.” He was gracious and sincere. As hard as it may be, kids can learn to rejoice in the success of others.

3. He didn’t give up. White said, “It just wasn’t my day. I’ll live on to fight another one…. Next time.” One bad day doesn’t mean you’re not good at something. It simply means you had a bad day. Everyone, even Olympians, can have a bad day now and then.

4. He asked for a hug. After the competition, White said to his friend, “Come here, man. I need a hug.” The agony of defeat is never easy, but having friends who support you no matter what makes it much easier. Plus, in a world where men are expected to be so tough, it’s nice to see him asking for a hug in his time of need.

Perhaps the icing on the cake came when White spontaneously leapt over a barricade to high-five Ben Hughes, a young boy and cancer survivor visiting the Olympics thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Before Ben had finished his treatments in 2012, he had found two new inspirations: snowboarding and Shaun White. He loved both. Meeting Shaun White was not part of the original plan, but the snowboarder made it possible after he heard about the boy – and changed the 10-year-old’s life forever. Read the full story by Mike Wise at WashingtonPost.com.

We think it’s fair to say that this famous sports star delivered an Olympic moment on the day he failed to win a medal.