Posts
6523
Joined
2/22/2011
Location
Somewhere, MO
US
Who is to blame? His predecessors. McGrath, Carmichael, Stewart, Villopoto, and Dungey.
Think about it. As far as US riders go, we went through that line in that order, and some could argue that is the top 5 US riders EVER. I wouldn’t personally, but I can see how some would.
Those guys have placed an insane expectation on the next US rider to be like them, which is Tomac, and he just isn’t quite at the all time great level those guys are. There is nothing wrong with this. He’s still a top guy in today’s SX/MX world.
If I had to compare him to any of those five, it would be Stewart, but a worse version of him. Very fast, but doesn’t handle pressure very well and doesn’t know when to back it down and look at the big picture. And if you’re a slightly worse version of Stewart, then you’re an incredible rider and will have a great career.
It’s extremely hard to be “the guy” year in and year out, race in and race out. That’s why the sustained excellence of Dungey, Villopoto, Carmichael, and McGrath is so incredible. Roczen looked like the guy last year and crashed out. Tomac finally fought back to be the guy heading into New Jersey last year and he had a horrible race. Tomac was the guy coming into this year and he crashed out. Musquin was the guy going into the second round and he crashed out.
What those all time greats did before Tomac has placed an unrealistic expectation on Tomac and what he should be like and what he should accomplish. We all need to sit back and think that maybe, just maybe, we went through a rare era where we saw all time greats pass the torch to each other, and we are now in an era where there are no US riders who are all time greats. This is okay, and it actually creates better championship battles and more exciting races for us fans.
Think about it. As far as US riders go, we went through that line in that order, and some could argue that is the top 5 US riders EVER. I wouldn’t personally, but I can see how some would.
Those guys have placed an insane expectation on the next US rider to be like them, which is Tomac, and he just isn’t quite at the all time great level those guys are. There is nothing wrong with this. He’s still a top guy in today’s SX/MX world.
If I had to compare him to any of those five, it would be Stewart, but a worse version of him. Very fast, but doesn’t handle pressure very well and doesn’t know when to back it down and look at the big picture. And if you’re a slightly worse version of Stewart, then you’re an incredible rider and will have a great career.
It’s extremely hard to be “the guy” year in and year out, race in and race out. That’s why the sustained excellence of Dungey, Villopoto, Carmichael, and McGrath is so incredible. Roczen looked like the guy last year and crashed out. Tomac finally fought back to be the guy heading into New Jersey last year and he had a horrible race. Tomac was the guy coming into this year and he crashed out. Musquin was the guy going into the second round and he crashed out.
What those all time greats did before Tomac has placed an unrealistic expectation on Tomac and what he should be like and what he should accomplish. We all need to sit back and think that maybe, just maybe, we went through a rare era where we saw all time greats pass the torch to each other, and we are now in an era where there are no US riders who are all time greats. This is okay, and it actually creates better championship battles and more exciting races for us fans.
The Shop
A ) Everyone here is slow (irrelevant)
B ) It's ok to crash a few races in a row even though you are paid a lot of money to win?
monster energy cup wadded up gave up , A1 wadded up gave up and a few other times same thing.
he will not be on the level of "McGrath, Carmichael, Stewart, Villopoto, and Dungey " anytime soon if at all.
IMO but that's that.
Pit Row
I think thats what he’s saying!
The Red Plate is very heavy...so those great champions you've mentioned deserve the title of Legend.
However I'm hoping he can find a consistent switch and do his thing and win the sx title
Y’all can go back to beating the 1 guy up.....
Post a reply to: Tomac’s main problem is completely out of his control