So many years ago I bought Jeremy McGrath's book "Wide Open" and was lucky enough to have him autograph it and have a picture taken of him, my son and myself with the book. I read it in like 2 days. My son enjoyed reading his book as well.
I've thought about this a lot, and I have three people I wish would also write a book about their lives in this great sport of MX and SX.
First would be Big James Stewart. He's been a staple as a parent (dad) in this sport for over 20 years with his two sons racing at the top. I would love to hear his personal thoughts, stories, of how he trained his sons. What he tried to instill in them when very young. Did he push them or let them come into their own. James had all the hype and pressure. Malcom is taking the long road. Both have won a championship (or more) in Supercross. If Big James wrote a book, I'd buy it and read it immediately.
Second would be James (Bubba) Stewart himself. Would love to read about his life in this sport. From amateur days to turning pro. From contracts and sponsors to pressures and money. His perspective on all facets would be so interesting. Would like to know how he did his own training, then hired trainers, then his time with Aldon Baker, to moving on. All the decisions he made, his rivaliries, and the whole doping bullshit. (He really did get screwed, heck we all got screwed, missing him for a bs ban). To where he is now, and his perspective on racing today.
Finally, Chad and Ellie Reed and their story. I'll be honest, I despised Chad for a long time. I'm not sure I'll ever get over the takeout of JS7 at the Atlanta SX, but their story on moving from Australia, to Europe to America and his life as a pro, them settling in Florida as he raced and them raising a family. All interesting to me, and I really know so little about.
So there ya go. Thats my top 3 great humans in this sport I would love to read a book on.
Give me yours.......
I second all of those. Especially Bubba. Maybe in 10-15 years he will open up and be honest about his retirement/disappearance, I can’t imagine that was an easy decision.
I would prefer a more fringe rider, like JT or Chisholm. Dudes who made careers by being absolute grinders. The stories about the random races they would do to make a few extra bucks, the questionable teams they rode for, hideous gear but money is money, and just what it’s like to do it for so long would be cool.
Bob Hannah
Jason Lawrence
Justin Brayton would be awesome as well
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honestly I get enuff of the athletes lenses & point of views , I want an alternate perspective so I’m going with skip norfolk
Davey Coombs. Insight across era and at all levels. The chapter on the Comp Park non MXdN and 2000's FIM wars would be something.
Any rider I'd expect to be interesting but with a narrower perspective. Rodger D's would be something I bet.
Yup, but I was thinking J-Bone
Ron Lechien
Troy Lee
Mitch Payton
Roger Decoster. No one has been to more places in the sport and industry than him. I'd bet he has a ton of great stories from his 60 years in the sport.
yeaaaa j-bone would be a good one!
Roger D is a good call. So many experiences with teams that were the best in the sport. I'd like to hear Jody Weisel talk about bikes over the decades. He has to be up there for people who have ridden the most production bikes.
What about a book from the man friends that were so common in the RC,JS,CR era 😂
Jim Holley Unrated Edition
I spent a couple hours at “an evening with Matt Rendell” last night.
If you don’t know who he is, he’s a cycling journalist, worked many years for ITV & Sky pro cycling amongst other jobs.
He wrote a book about the death of Marco Pantani- for which he actually received a death threat!
Well his stories about pro riders behind the scenes is endless! Nothing incriminating, all harmless fun, it’s just ‘stuff’ that happened, which the average fan will never know about.
Do we have a guy like that?
Mitch would be cool.
TP 199 could be interesting. SX, MX, FMX, Rally driver, sky diving with no chute, Nitro Circus, it'd be like reading war and peace lol
They’re not as dense as a book, but some of these guys have told a lot of stories when they were on David Pingree’s Whiskey throttle show. Mitch’s episodes are awesome. Roger’s, DV’s, and Casey Johnson’s are a few other incredible ones I can think of. David does a really great job going through these guys careers starting from the beginning. Really enjoy the guys that maybe weren’t as popular, like Casey Johnson, Michael Brandes, and Ty Davis’ episodes. Some really great stuff in all of the WTS productions.
After spending just a few minutes with J-law, I agree that seeing a book about his life would be very interesting to read.
Bob Hannah too. He seems like he would have a ton of stories.
After hearing the Mitch Covington interview, some agents might be interesting to hear from too.
Jim Holly with a tell all, and include his polaroid's .
I have enjoyed the big brand owners/founders interviews best . I love to hear what they did that worked ,and didn't.
Troy Lee
Or some of the people that I've never heard of that have been a part of growing a big moto related brand.
Mitch Payton - book about engine development and modification.
Jeremy Albrecht
James Bacon - book about suspension tuning and development.
Chad Watts
Mike Gosselaar
Pit Row
James Stewart . I want to know how they did things and what his inner challenges were .
I was pretty sure there would be a lot of Decoster's in here. Rightfully so. I'd buy his book
David Bailey, his memory of past races is second to none.
I would love a book by Christophe Pourcel. His story and what he went trough was tough and his comeback to the top after being paralyzed is awesome. Also how he lost those 2 mx titles 2009 and 2010 were heart braking. His riding was poetry in motion.
Bevo
Christophe and Roczen both really suffered career ending injuries. Both share a drive to get back to the top that few possess. And those two possible titles, I agree with you. No question Mitch believed in him.
I read MC's book when it first came out (20+ years ago)... All I remember was wishing it had a bit more depth and a little less "fluff". He's always been the king of cool and never rocked the boat too much (regarding the industry, though he did sit out the dark Vegas race...). I feel like he could have really dug in to more personal or industry stuff regarding some aspects of his career.
Reed would be a good one. He wouldn't be afraid to say some real shit.
Surprised to see him come up, but I definitely agree he had to have a zillion stories
This was kinda my thought as well, there’s a lot of good interviews from some legends in the podcast space. Whiskey plus some on pulp especially early on.
As far as a book, I like someone that was at the top level of the sport but no longer has ties to the industry, so they can be completely forth coming and not worry about making the wrong people mad.
Tp already has a book “the big jump” I believe, it wasnt very good, seems like it was more geared towards children
A real in depth TP book would be awesome
Wide Open was a lot of surface level for sure. But he did touch on his sponsors, pay outs, parties and even meeting 'Mr Honda"
I did learn a lot of interesting things of him and his time that I never knew, and once I started reading I barely put the book down until I finished
How about an audio book by Ricky Carmichael, with Will as a guest?
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