“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” – Brian Tracy. Another great to start of your Monday morning. It makes a lot of sense to me after a weekend of nothing but favours for some and receiving favours from others. I gave my thanks ten times over to those who deserved it but I missed getting a few in return for things I went to bat for. I guess that means it’s a 50/50 split so I should be alright with it. Though, I guess I should expect it to be that way. I won’t dwell on that because this past weekend at Monster Energy Supercross in Toronto was the best one yet after 9 years. From every angle this was an amazing weekend, which has now set the stage for the summer. The racing, Nicky Beatty making the night show, Cole Thompson smashing his way to stardom, hanging with Andy Bokma on Friday, Houston’s on Friday night, Pulpcast with Matthes, I could just keep going but I think you get what I’m saying. It was a successful weekend. The only problem was that it ended.
The biggest news out of the weekend was Nicky Beatty finally making his first night show. The cool thing was that he didn’t just make it but he was strong all day during practice and qualifying where he qualified 35th. All the races beforehand are now a memory because of the Toronto SX where he reached his goal. I couldn’t be more proud to be a Canadian and of Nicky himself. The kid laid it all on the line with huge sponsor support and the love of a great family while making this nation stoked to learn who the #961 was on Saturday night. Nicky explained to me on Friday that this will be the last round of his SX tour, and what a way to end it. Look for our next issue with a full recap of Nicky and his dream chasing winter at Supercross. The kid deserves it. We want to know what it cost, what it took, and how it all happened so that more Canadians, just like Nicky, can chase their dream without any excuses. Thanks Nicky for showing that heart, determination, and a lot of courage is all you need to achieve your goals. Thank you for showing us that.
What can I say about Cole Thompson? This kid has been uber impressive all year but some inconsistency has been his Achilles heel. On Saturday night the ride that we saw was as inspiring as anything I’ve seen. Coming into this race Cole has shown he’s in great shape; if the races were longer he would finish even better. In Toronto he started just outside the top 5 and at one point looked like he may just accept the position he was in, but something ignited the young star. Whether it was the 40 plus thousand fans cheering, or the fire that burns inside this kid to just keep fighting, he showed that he wouldn’t settle for the position he was in and charged all the way to the checkers, eventually smashing for 5th spot over the finish line with Vince Freise. It was the craziest finish of the year so far and it sucks that Cole didn’t get the position, according to AMA results page, but man what we all witnessed was better than watching the “Rudy” movie. I was cheering like a super fan for the #48 and I will be till I’m 6 feet under. I keep saying how proud I am and I will say it again. Cole is helping put Canada back on the map like Doug Dehaan, JSR, Carl Vaillancourt, Kyle Beaton, Darcy Lange, and Ross Pederson did. I can’t even wait to see what this kid has for us in two weeks at Houston when the series resumes with two rounds remaining. I also talked to a whole bunch of teams and Cole is on the top of their list as a rider to watch. Hopefully that will go from just chatter to a spot under a tent for the summer or maybe 2014.
So Friday night was an awesome time at the pit party, Red Bull office then over to Houston’s to party with tons of industry folk. The best part of the night was my good buddy Brent Thur treating myself and Steve Matthes like a relationship that had broken up ugly and it was affecting his life. Haha He brought me into the VIP room where Steve and I hashed out some differences we may have had and just laughed and benched raced. Then at about 1pm on Saturday I received a TXT from Steve asking if I would like to do a podcast with him. Of course I accepted and you can all listen to it today at some time on www.pulpmx.com. I believe our beef was started because of our side of the fences we each sit on but this weekend put that all to rest and things are on the upswing now. I’m stoked for it because I really do have a lot of respect for what he does for this sport. As he said to me before the podcast, “You’re just as passionate and can talk just like me so let’s just go.” It was fun, and I’m thankful Steve let me do it with him. Hopefully you all like it.
The news has broken that Chad Reed will undergo surgery on Tuesday and miss the remaining SX rounds to prep for the outdoors. Actually it doesn’t say he will miss the rest of SX but I have to assume that’s the plan after a surgery. I guess his knee has been causing issues and he’s been favouring it, which is causing more issues for the friendly Aussie. Now that this is out, you have to give him credit for riding through it for his team and sponsors. He may not seem to have what the top three have but he has fought pretty hard this year being the old guy all beat up. Let’s hope CR22 is back strong for outdoors and we get a repeat of the 2011 season, minus the Chad-a-pult in Millville.
So the Toronto Supercross is now in the books. How did your weekend go? Did it live up to your expectations? How crazy did you go for both Nicky Beatty and Cole Thompson? Did you manage to meet the Monster girls? Did you consume enough beer to last a lifetime? I would have to say it did what I expected and I am sure stoked to hear that since the very first show in 2004, the attendance has increased by 46% over 9 years. When I heard that stat I asked if that was good. They replied yes, they’re very happy at the growth they’ve seen year after year. Way to go Canada!!!
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The last thing I will bring up in this column is the launching of our first issue of 2013. It came out great. It’s super clean, way bigger in size, and Spencer Knowles looks solid on the cover. I let quite a few people take a look at it and got nothing but great reviews by all. It will be on our site this week and in your mailbox soon.
