mauricedorris, on 27 March 2012 - 09:56 PM, said:

RC proved that James can do better

But Bubba ain't no RC

geo-eo, on 28 March 2012 - 12:46 AM, said:

If Canard & Reed stayed healthy Bubba wouldn't be in third

shit happens its as easy as that

mauricedorris, on 27 March 2012 - 11:11 AM, said:

2010 after failing misserably at Unidilla his quote from Bubba's World "The bike is Un-ridable"

MNkayaker, on 28 March 2012 - 06:22 AM, said:

Actually he said "that bike is unrideable", but it was clear he was referring to the suspension set up at the time

Edited by Towelie, 28 March 2012 - 06:42 AM.

mauricedorris, on 27 March 2012 - 09:56 PM, said:

Only the standards he set for himself.

meyermetal, on 28 March 2012 - 03:42 AM, said:

That's right, Bubba ain't no RC... but...   who is?   If Villopoto doesn't break all of RC's records, is he a "could have been" also. I watched him fall a little bit short in the lites class to both Townley and Canard.  Then we watched him wad himself up on the big bikes.  He's been healthy the past two years and is amazing now.   But he has struggled in the past, just like all of them do.

Canard is the resident series crash dummy.   His riding, lately, has been worse than James.', worse than anyone's riding.

Chad has the same story, he wadded himself up and took himself out of the series.  That's worse that what James' has done this season.

Oh... where is Dungey...   also took himself out.  

I guess my point is...   There's only one guy doing what he's supposed to be doing, which is keeping the bike upright, riding within the limits of himself and the bike and winning races.   James isn't riding much better or worse than Canard, Reed or Dungey at this point.

"IF" has nothing to do with reality

Edited by mauricedorris, 28 March 2012 - 08:55 AM.

mauricedorris, on 28 March 2012 - 08:53 AM, said:

poto didn't say he know's what he need's to do to dominate for the next 6 or 7 years when he moved up to big bikes like JS did or people would be calling him out too IMO

DH367, on 28 March 2012 - 09:49 AM, said:

I don't think Poto is anymore humble or brash than James is.  I would be surprised if he doesn't have the exact same thoughts.   He just doesn't talk.

I know James kinda put himself in a position to be judged by sharing his thoughts and letting everyone peek into his life.  I guess I am just surprised in the way that he is judged at times.  He still gives more to the sport than he takes.  

I would imagine though, that he is in control of his image and gets far more love than he does hate.     Even the haters love to hate him.  The only thing worse than everyone talking about you is having nobody talking about you.  

He is much more of a 'personality' than any of the others, that's for sure.

mauricedorris, on 28 March 2012 - 08:53 AM, said:

I think all your points are valid. And I don't think RV will ever do what RC did. But you asked if we all hold James up to impossible standard. Obviously what RC did isn't impossible

mauricedorris, on 28 March 2012 - 01:05 PM, said:

James is the one that built up the expectations and he wasn't able to live up to them

And your right. He is more of a personality than a racer right now. He needs to look at what everyone else is doing and get back to the basics.....Train & Ride


I like watching the guy ride I just can't stand all the other crap that he does. Although he has been much quieter this year. Which is good IMO

mauricedorris, on 28 March 2012 - 01:05 PM, said:

thinking it is one thing , saying it is totaly different IMO

meyermetal, on 28 March 2012 - 03:42 AM, said:

If?? Ha! I won't go there.
Okay so you're saying the problem is JS and not the bike? I can respect that. My point before is people are saying he's not "all that", and the Yamaha is "crap", but he's third in points while on a bike that's supposedly junk??

I don't like or dislike the guy, just trying to figure out how he can do this.
I just don't think he deserves that much credit.

Edited by geo-eo, 28 March 2012 - 04:44 PM.

geo-eo, on 28 March 2012 - 04:41 PM, said:

I don't think he's to proud of his place in the point standings. He also has a lot of issues...obviously....but I don't think his bike is a POS. It might not suit his style but he knew what he was getting when he signed to ride blue again

And remember that "IF" Carmichael & McGrath were in their prime today and healthy along with CR, TC & RD James would be sitting in 7th....Just saying

Edited by meyermetal, 28 March 2012 - 05:03 PM.

meyermetal, on 28 March 2012 - 05:02 PM, said:

If McGrath was the same age at the same time as RC and their prime years were the same, then he would have continued to beat him and he might not be known as the GOAT.

If RC was the same age at the same time as JS when they both were in the lites class, then niether one of them would have been as dominant.

If Chad was still in his prime years, he would have rubbed RV out by now.

If I had rode dirtbikes all my life and trained like they did, I'd kick all their asses.        

If you think it makes any sense to talk about "IF's", then you would be very wrong.

Its hard enough to make sense of the real world.  Please don't take us to the fantasy world.

Yeah yeah yeah.  James talks, Poto lets his riding do the talking.

'Nuff said, back to the OP topic.

mauricedorris, on 28 March 2012 - 06:10 PM, said:

Your posts would indicate you're stuck inside Bubba's World.

36MotoMarc, on 28 March 2012 - 06:17 PM, said:

Yeah.. When he crashed out in 2010 and broke his leg  trying to run down RD for the points, his riding said "OUCH!".

meyermetal, on 28 March 2012 - 05:02 PM, said:

Okay.  Yeah. I agree with your first point, but you're cracking me up with the "what if's".

Edited by geo-eo, 29 March 2012 - 12:54 AM.

Don't forget. James said it himself he is going to get McGraths SX wins record....haha. Good luck

03sik50, on 29 March 2012 - 04:45 AM, said:

"IF" James didn't say that he would have been better off

mauricedorris, on 28 March 2012 - 06:10 PM, said:

The if's should be replaced by maybe's. Problem with all these type of discussions (this entire type of thread) is they attempt to rationalize results other than those that in fact happened. Fact is those 50 years from now will look at the numbers. Simple as that. AND racing is a brutally honest sport. There is a first, second and lower results. They are documented. The G.O.A.T. is the goat because all those who raced against him in a ten year period of time lost more than they won.

Also EVERY generation thinks they had the best...and as a sport evolves so does technique as all these racers push the boundary's new ideas get brought to the main stream. Fact is the best from any one era could be the best in any other as the core attributes required to win remain the same. I get a kick of going back and watching some of the old you tube video's of racers like Bob Hannah, Ricky Johnson, etc. 30 years there will be folks looking back at the 2006 Washugal race between RC & JS saying those guys were....old style and the new stuff would have kicked their tails.

BUT the record books remain emotionless. My bet is 25 years from now RC's amazing ability to raise to the occasion with every new challenge for 10 years will still be a record. As will Stewart's amazing armature career & 125 win record. These two guys were arguably the best ever in any time while in their prime...just unfortunately for JS and with so many before him his career overlapped the G.O.A.T's and ruined his chance to own the record books.

( as a fan..I still believe Stewart on either a Green,Yellow, or even Red bike would be chiseling a littler more at the records set before by RC & Jeremy!   )

Edited by weimedog, 29 March 2012 - 05:49 AM.