James is killing it.

I agree.  He explains racing better than anyone I've listened to so far.  

For me the value in guys like James commentating is the subtle technical stuff that I would never notice.

In the 450 moto last weekend when Chase nearly crashed James pointed out a leg position thing going on that he had noticed.  Also he relates his thoughts on what is likely going on with the rider’s thinking at various times - e.g. he’ll be taking a little breather there in that section.

Gives an amateur like me a great insight into what elite level riders are doing.

James is much better at that aspect than RC.

James is killing it for sure… My only complaint is the use of “dangerous” a wee bit too much for me. But each to their own..

We’re lucky to have James back and an active part of racing again. I was worried he would disappear into motocross history oblivion there for awhile. He’s doing a great job as a commentator.

James is a good man and a legend in the sport. Doing a great job on the booth.

Is he doing all of the rounds?

He’s got great observations and he’s hilarious.   Great that he’s back in the sport.   

I was saying over the weekend, they would be doing themself well by locking him up in a contract for the next few years.

I really enjoy listening to him in the booth. He's as entertaining as informative. Some folks can spit out information but it's just boring to listen to. James is actually fun to listen to, and he's just at the beginning of his career, he's only going to get better!

And when he calls a pass , it usually happens. Way higher percentage than when RC calls them. 

Agreed. James gives very good insight - a lot of the stuff he points out, I’d never noticed or understood. It’s kinda changed the way I watch guys ride 

James gives the insight you’d expect an all time great to. Carmichael does not. Carmichael says shit 90% of this board could say. James says shit less than 1% of this board would notice.

To be fair to RC, I'm obviously not saying he's perfect but I think the guys in charge hamstrung him a little and kept him on too short of a leash, hindering his technical insights. The SX broadcast is brimmed with poor decisions like that.

I'm sure I've heard examples of this too, but if I'm full of shit then fair enough.

I agree totally Stew is great though, always liked him and everything he's turned his attention to now is great. He may be the best placed man on the planet to critique Chase's and Jett's riding as well, and his insight is gold.

RC is probably more preprated, but James is definitely gooder than him..

all jokes aside he is awesome and I hope we hear from him a lot more!

Stew is great with the rider technique stuff, but he was way off the mark with his mentality takes last weekend in my opinion. It displayed his way of thinking, which is often what brought him undone as a rider.

I enjoy both RC and James in the announcer's booth. However, RC sounds like he has had speech and announcer coaching, James doesn't. I prefer the raw colour commentary of James than the coached version. 

I think Mav said that both James and RC do selected rounds.

Agree with ya James is so good and his insight invaluable 

James is doing a lot better than when he started. He explains things that the TV cannot show you. Its truly amazing at times. Just listening to him explain the real reason Malcolm crashed in supercross when going straight is spot on. The ruts are turning from inside to outside off the lip. So when he goes outside and hits a curved rut pointed left off the track, of course he jumps off track. You can't see that from the TV. It reminded me about how much different the Pro's lines are compared to us mere mortals.

My wife told me while I was watching Pala (mind you, she only popped over to watch for a few minutes): "I learn more from James in 5 minutes about how riders ride than from listening to anyone else for years."  She LOVES listening to him. His is the only moto pod she will let me play in the car lol 

And how fortunate we are to have a platform like YT!

Consider the former champions that never had a platform ... say pre-2010, other than TV? 

From Jean Michelle Bayle, Jason Lawrence to Stefan Everts and everyone in between, I wonder who we never got to hear from.  

It's not coaching, it's just different people.   Like if we were contrasting Mike LaRocco with MC.  

Stew has improved so much with reps it would be shocking if he doesn't dissect the work with someone after each show.

I am happy to hear from both guys, and it's obvious RC has worked hard to overcome some of his speech glitches.  Iwould love having them cycle these two and other thoughtful ex pros through the booth for different perspectives.

I do think RC is restrained.  If he said what he was thinking it would come across as way to critical.  Then everyone would be complaining he is an asshole.  RC can do no right.  I'm surprised there is so much love for James.  People are way too damn critical of the announcers in this forum.  I like and appreciate all of them.  I'll keep negative comments to myself when speaking personally about other people.  But I do think James is by far the best and my all time favorite.  I hope he sticks around for many years to come.

I think that Stewart is getting better the more he does it.  My only 'gripe' (and not that big of a gripe) is his trying to work in the little nicknames into areas where they are just too forced.  

I know that people didn't like it when RC was first starting out and said some small, silly things but I actually preferred that style of RC over today's RC.  It seems like he is trying to be more 'polished' than he was, and it comes off as phony.  He repeats the same buzzwords far too many times, like he has practiced trying to use a word so much that it just comes out of his mouth for any situation, whether warranted or not.  His buzzwords for the season become very apparent by the end of Round 1, or mid Round 2 at the latest.  "To your point" being the latest overused phrase, but I still remember the season when he began using "At the end of the day" almost every single time he spoke at all.  

I do think that when both Stewart and RC are in the booth together it makes them both better, though.  They seem to loosen up a bit and not worry so much about trying to appear to be 'professional'.  I'm pretty sure that both of them barely have a high school education (although both are obviously very smart) and there is no reason for them to try to pretend that they have the vocabulary of a college English professor.  I think that when they keep it simple, it actually reveals their high intelligence more than when they try to 'fake it'.  It definitely comes off as more natural, and it's better to listen to for me.  

James just has a much smoother delivery. He and RC both say some goofy things at times but James just lets it flow where RC misses a shift or two with his speech pattern

He's a natural for sure.  Really enjoy his input. 

I like it when JS and RC talk truthfully about how they felt when racing each other back in the day. 

Dude offers incredible insights, keeps the mood light and is damn funny. What more could you ask for?

I like what you did there!!! Glad to see someone else that hears what I do. This place can get so one lineded sometimes.

it's soon to be Bubba vs RC 2.0

James commentating with Weege on Hangtown today was excellent. So impressed by how natural James is.