Wow, RJ thinks James is the best ever!

7/28/2014 1:48pm
Brent wrote:
"Greatest" or "Most Talented" ? I alway thought championships were the benchmark. James is by far and away the most talented man ever to ride a...
"Greatest" or "Most Talented" ?

I alway thought championships were the benchmark. James is by far and away the most talented man ever to ride a dirt bike, In my opinion.

But does that mean he is the Greatest?

Define "Greatest" please...
he answers your question in the original post:

"The best rider ever, at least in terms of technique and speed, is James Stewart."
40Plus_922mx
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7/28/2014 1:57pm Edited Date/Time 7/28/2014 2:01pm
The greatest by stats alone would be hard to choose from between RC and MC. Both riders accomplished insane numbers. 72 mains and 7 SX titles (Almost 8). Then RC with2 perfect seasons outdoors along with all his wins and SX titles? Both of these guys are nuts good.

The greatest by ability alone would have to be James when everything is clicking.
neysbo
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7/28/2014 2:11pm
I think RJ is just very jealous of what RC accomplished in his career. No doubt RC is the GOAT. James certainly has times where he is the fastest but is way to inconsistent. James definitely has much more natural talent but talent does not beat hard work.

The Shop

rockbottom
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7/28/2014 2:16pm
"I don’t think that he would have survived had he raced in an earlier era. He was too small. He could not ride in the 1960s with Roger DeCoster and Joel Robert, because his style would have broken the bike. He would have been injured. Yes, he’s the greatest of his time, but not all time. I’m not saying that I’m better, but to put that label on him isn’t quite right with me."
hvaughn88
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7/28/2014 2:18pm
rockbottom wrote:
[i]"I don’t think that he would have survived had he raced in an earlier era. He was too small. He could not ride in the 1960s...
"I don’t think that he would have survived had he raced in an earlier era. He was too small. He could not ride in the 1960s with Roger DeCoster and Joel Robert, because his style would have broken the bike. He would have been injured. Yes, he’s the greatest of his time, but not all time. I’m not saying that I’m better, but to put that label on him isn’t quite right with me."
Howdy, leonard
davistld01
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7/28/2014 2:20pm
neysbo wrote:
I think RJ is just very jealous of what RC accomplished in his career. No doubt RC is the GOAT. James certainly has times where he...
I think RJ is just very jealous of what RC accomplished in his career. No doubt RC is the GOAT. James certainly has times where he is the fastest but is way to inconsistent. James definitely has much more natural talent but talent does not beat hard work.
Envious...maybe, jealous...I doubt it.

I think it would be hard to see what he could've or might've attained had he not been injured and been forced to leave the sport prematurely. Heck, Ricky had just really started to dominate when the wrist injury happened. Could he have been as successful as RC? Personally, I think RJ had more raw talent than RC...but RC had the amazing will to win that pretty much hasn't been seen since, except only a few times in RV. James, on the other hand probably has more skill, talent and the ability to figure out how to go faster on a track than pretty much any racer yet...but his weakness, as RJ said, is not being able (up until recently) to settle for second place, or simply a win without completely humiliating his competition. No telling how many race wins Stewart could have racked up if he had just known how to back it off a bit.
Old Mate
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7/28/2014 2:22pm
McGrath at sx in his day, JS7 on mx and sx, Herlings in sand , these things just blow any mx fan away, goat, I don't know, can only be judged on trophies really
JB 19
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7/28/2014 2:24pm
I don't think he called Stewy the GOAT. Sounded like he left his GOAT open, but said it wasn't RC. I think he just said that in his opinion James is the most talented.

RJ and RC would have been one awesome battle.........RJ was a bad man before his wrist was ruined.
Insider347
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7/28/2014 2:26pm
C ' Mon RJ,
he's obviously bitter about something because to be taken seriously he needs to do better than that. RC is the GOAT. Plain and simple. He knows that or at least should at his level. Let's be real people.
rcm406
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7/28/2014 2:35pm Edited Date/Time 7/28/2014 2:40pm
I like his ideas regarding SX and I agree with him about our champions of today. Besides James and RC, riders of today just don't give back to this sport enough to make it better for the next generation of riders.

DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN IF YOU HADN’T BROKEN YOUR WRIST? Yes, I have thought about it. Sometimes I think that it was a blessing. I also think about the record books and about how much more money I would have made. I would have won a lot more races. But then I look at the way my life is today. I married a beautiful woman, and that’s because the injury forced me to open up to a person. When I was racing, I wouldn’t let people in. Once I got injured I broke down, and my wife saw a side of me that no one else saw. In turn, we had kids at a younger age. Financially, it would have been better had I not broken my wrist. Yet, would I go back and change it? I wouldn’t change a thing. A lot of people only look at wins, records and money. That’s not how a rider’s career should be measured.

WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT SUPERCROSS? First, I would bring back 250 two-strokes. The racing was much better with two-strokes. A 250 makes more than enough power. It’s cheaper to work on, and more people would buy them. The racing was better because there was inside passing and fewer one-line tracks. If I were going to keep four-strokes, then I would bring down the displacement. I would have a 250cc class, two-stroke or four-stroke. I asked Ricky Carmichael to have everyone race 250s for the Monster Cup. That would be something.

ANYTHING ELSE ON THE WISH LIST FOR SUPERCROSS? I’d like to see a competition yellow flag, which is used in truck racing. That would keep the racing tighter. On lap 12, I would have the racers stop, line them up and drop the green flag again. That way, if a rider fell in the first turn, he could work his way up to third. Then, at the mandated yellow, the gap would be closed and he could have the opportunity to win. That would make the racing unbelievable.

IS IT BAFFLING TO SEE HOW FAR THE SPORT HAS COME SINCE ITS INCEPTION? It is not baffling to me. It’s surprising that it’s not further than it is. Where it’s at now is good, but it should be better. It would be better if the riders cared more about the sport than themselves. Many of the racers might not like what I have to say, but it is their job to make the sport a better place for the next generation. Roger DeCoster, Torsten Hallman, Joel Robert and Brad Lackey worked hard to make motocross a better place so that guys like Danny LaPorte and I could have a better living. The sport started with riders in the backs of vans. It wasn’t about the money. They were good spokesmen and represented their sport. Now a lot of these racers think that they are superstars.

ISN’T THAT JUST PART OF THE NEW GENERATION? Don’t get me wrong, there are some good kids, but what are they doing to make this sport better for the next generation? Sure, they win and they train hard, but what else? Everything is about them. They should branch out and show everyone that motocross racers are great athletes and also good people. Instead, they ride, train, race, sleep and eat. That’s it. The riders need to work harder. They aren’t taking the responsibility of being a champion. I wish that they would share who they are as people instead of acting like robots.
burn1986
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7/28/2014 2:39pm
That's a tough one to call -GOAT. JS has done some pretty amazing stuff. I kind of agree with him on JS, but I don't think you can ever put the GOAT title on anyone.
dice78
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7/28/2014 2:56pm Edited Date/Time 7/28/2014 3:00pm
JS7 beat RC all the time in SX..but remember JS7 battle with RC on a 250 his first season in the 450s MX and then the next year I think james got hurt a few races in..to me RC is the greatest.. back then RC only had KW 14 and CR22 and sometimes TF15 and ST13 to deal with.. but RC almost had 2perfect seasons he won all the time.if RC had stayed longer I think JS7 would beat him all day once he had time on the 450 that's my 2cent.
TDeath21
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7/28/2014 2:57pm Edited Date/Time 7/28/2014 6:50pm
Everyone has a right to their opinion, but Johnson could not be more wrong when he says this. Calling a guy with 3 championships the greatest ever just seems silly to me and pretty much everyone else.
lostboy819
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Fantasy
7/28/2014 3:01pm
rockbottom wrote:
[i]"I don’t think that he would have survived had he raced in an earlier era. He was too small. He could not ride in the 1960s...
"I don’t think that he would have survived had he raced in an earlier era. He was too small. He could not ride in the 1960s with Roger DeCoster and Joel Robert, because his style would have broken the bike. He would have been injured. Yes, he’s the greatest of his time, but not all time. I’m not saying that I’m better, but to put that label on him isn’t quite right with me."
Whats up Big Lenny?Pinch
Outsider
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7/28/2014 3:37pm
We all will be old and senile one day... even former champs.
KMC440
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7/28/2014 3:41pm
I couldn't unlock my hips enough or I'da been the greatest. Angry
zook11
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7/28/2014 3:43pm
Zracer wrote:
Hes not very smart and he crashes alot but hes the best of all time. Good logic RJ. Why do you 7 Fans always bait with...
Hes not very smart and he crashes alot but hes the best of all time. Good logic RJ. Why do you 7 Fans always bait with stupid shit like this?
Exactly. Three championships in ten years and he's the greatest ever? LOL Laughing Laughing Laughing
Park Boys
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7/28/2014 3:47pm
James is the best rider of all time and we all know this BUT he is not the best racer of all time, that is RC by a mile.
Motoxdoc
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7/28/2014 4:12pm
Zracer wrote:
Hes not very smart and he crashes alot but hes the best of all time. Good logic RJ. Why do you 7 Fans always bait with...
Hes not very smart and he crashes alot but hes the best of all time. Good logic RJ. Why do you 7 Fans always bait with stupid shit like this?
davistld01 wrote:
Yeah, you're right. RJ is a dumbass, and has no idea what he's talking about.
In all fairness, he DID allude to not being too smart, "I can't spell or read very well" and then he also said, "My president is messing up the government."........a more intelligent person would understand that a president CAN'T mess up the government even if he tried. Now the SUPREME COURT can mess up the government, and the government CAN mess up the president (both scenarios evident it the last 6 years)...but not the other way around.....with that being said, back on point, 99.99% of that was an interesting and great read. I was always a huge RJ fan!
rcm406
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7/28/2014 4:47pm
Zracer wrote:
Hes not very smart and he crashes alot but hes the best of all time. Good logic RJ. Why do you 7 Fans always bait with...
Hes not very smart and he crashes alot but hes the best of all time. Good logic RJ. Why do you 7 Fans always bait with stupid shit like this?
zook11 wrote:
Exactly. Three championships in ten years and he's the greatest ever? LOL Laughing Laughing Laughing
Laughing wow, this post was unexpected!Dry like I said, only post stuff that allows your hatred for James to come out. So predictableShocked

Do you even know who RJ is?Blink
c3011
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7/28/2014 4:58pm
I bet RJ is bs'ing everyone, in his head I bet he believes he was the best ever. I think everyone of these guys believe that in their own mind.......
neysbo
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7/28/2014 5:02pm
neysbo wrote:
I think RJ is just very jealous of what RC accomplished in his career. No doubt RC is the GOAT. James certainly has times where he...
I think RJ is just very jealous of what RC accomplished in his career. No doubt RC is the GOAT. James certainly has times where he is the fastest but is way to inconsistent. James definitely has much more natural talent but talent does not beat hard work.
davistld01 wrote:
Envious...maybe, jealous...I doubt it. I think it would be hard to see what he could've or might've attained had he not been injured and been forced...
Envious...maybe, jealous...I doubt it.

I think it would be hard to see what he could've or might've attained had he not been injured and been forced to leave the sport prematurely. Heck, Ricky had just really started to dominate when the wrist injury happened. Could he have been as successful as RC? Personally, I think RJ had more raw talent than RC...but RC had the amazing will to win that pretty much hasn't been seen since, except only a few times in RV. James, on the other hand probably has more skill, talent and the ability to figure out how to go faster on a track than pretty much any racer yet...but his weakness, as RJ said, is not being able (up until recently) to settle for second place, or simply a win without completely humiliating his competition. No telling how many race wins Stewart could have racked up if he had just known how to back it off a bit.
Ya maybe envious is a better word. Don't get me wrong , I was a huge RJ fan when he raced. The bottom line is that RJ, JS and many others could have done more but they did not and so far RC has a record that makes him the GOAT for now. No one is even close in what RC accomplished in his career.

RC did not have the raw natural ability that many riders had , he had that bulldog style and ability to just make it happen.
Racer92
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7/28/2014 5:13pm
Who cares what RJ says ?
7/28/2014 5:13pm
Everts is right there with RC too, Goat is a hard one to really put on anybody, but If RC is the Goat then Stewart is TFMOTP of all time or TFMOTPOAT
mx317
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7/28/2014 5:25pm
These arguments will go no where and you can't compare eras. The thing is though, RC and JS7 were in the same era and RC came out on top in every AMA championship they raced each other in.
Tradmark
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7/28/2014 5:28pm
How exactly does one determine the most talent. I always judged it by winning championships. I could see where the case could be made james had an edge in sx in speed and being stupid but to think he was in mx means youre f-ing high.

I also dont think stewart is faster than villopoto
Crush
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7/28/2014 5:31pm
RJ is a bad dude, but it's kinda mute to say Ricky is not the best ever because his style would have broken the bike in the 60s, when James would have crashed and broken or tried to jump something and broken the same bike.

I do agree James has had the best technique for a lot of years, but I think he might have been overtaken in terms of how to ride at that upper echelon for a prolonged period, he can still do what others can't and for magic nights like Toronto he can't be touched, but he hasn't reproduced such rides consistently for a long time, and the guys who are literally a tenth behind him on all out pace don't have nearly the trouble delivering full seasons or championships.
Grizz
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7/28/2014 6:21pm
Wtf is there to talk about? He said EXACTLY the truth.

"The best rider ever, at least in terms of technique and speed, is James Stewart. He’s not very smart and he crashes a lot, but when he does it right, he does things that make me scratch my head."
7/28/2014 6:32pm
mx317 wrote:
These arguments will go no where and you can't compare eras. The thing is though, RC and JS7 were in the same era and RC came...
These arguments will go no where and you can't compare eras. The thing is though, RC and JS7 were in the same era and RC came out on top in every AMA championship they raced each other in.
RC's and Stewarts career only overlapped for a short time (like RC with McGrath) as soon as it was evident that Stewart had RC covered RC retired. RV has something to say in this conversation as well.

Post a reply to: Wow, RJ thinks James is the best ever!

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