Why is McGrath "The King" in the Current Era?

This is when most mortals let go of the handlebars!

MC was far better than his competition at the time. They all had access to the same stuff he did, yet his technique was so flawless that he could uncork a 4-8 second lead in the first 3 laps. He did what no rider today can do, which is leave the others in dust because they aren’t that much better than their competition. 
 

You can’t compare eras, only who they raced against at the time. The same argument could be made that had MC had access to the same training regime as these boys, that he would have been even better. MCs talent was unmatched is his time and is the King of Supercross. 

Yer an idiot. 72 wins and no one else is even close. 72 is still very, very relevant. 

Eli Tomac is 21 away

Cooper Webb and Ken Roczen are 51 away

Jason Anderson is 58 away

Chase Sexton is 64 away

Justin Barcia is 66 away

Josh Hill, Zach Osborne, Jett Lawrence and Aaron Plessinger are all 71 away

Most will retire in the next few years, Chase and Jett are the only ones who may have long enough careers to reach 72 SX wins.

This is the easiest debate ever.  Jeremy McGrath got 72 wins with the same format basically.  I know they got rid of Semi’s then brought them back, but he raced the same schedule.  While the races were 5-7 minutes shorter, also the series were a couple races less.  I look at Jeremy McGraths 72 the same way I look at Wayne Gretzky 894 goals.  It looked like for decades nobody would touch that record now we have Alex Ovechkin closing in.  Record are meant to be broken.  But the fact MC had 72 just goes to show how dominant he was.

Didn't a waitress drop a tray of Mexican food on his foot that year?

Not really. There is no other factual way to quantify it. He did what he did and it’s documented. end of story. 

The op is either smoking the real good shit or is just a casual fan 💁‍♂️

Yes he is.

No he’s not.

Jett is the bestest ever ‘cause my mom said so. 

(For those looking for a thread explanation)

I got more of this sort of vibe -

OP ~ Q: "Why is McGrath "The King" in the Current Era?"

Vitard: ~ A: "Well, I think it's bec.....

OP: ~ "WRONG!!!! You effin' idiotic boomer, moran, blah, blah, blah.....!!!!"

I’m 33 and MC will always be The King. Like others have said, can’t even have the conversation of someone else being considered the same level until the hit at least 6 titles and 60 wins. 

He was everywhere and opened the door for the moto related commercials during non moto programs. There was nothing better than watching tv and MC pops up on TV for the 1-800-COLLECT commercials. Seeing him on Jay Leno too. I just don’t see that happening again and if it did, I don’t see it being nearly as big of a deal as it was when MC did it.

The sensitive ruffled feathers, tough-guy posturing and obvious tight-jean-fan-boyish fits have made it all worth it. I’m still laughing at the premise and some of the responses…

LMAO....    ...and perfectly summarized.  

Not possible you have your opinion and are dead set on it. It would be a waste of time to try to make any valid argument to you. 

Pretty sure there was some alcohol induced shenanigans with a golf cart on a golf course behind that injury

As soon as somebody gets Eight (8) AMA 450 SX titles and wins more than 72 races MC will remain the King

I seem to remember “He stepped on a broken glass” ? 

You sure are acting like a baby because nobody agrees with your hot take. 

Didnt read through all this but "of supercross" is missing. He's the king of supercross...not the king or the goat.

72 supercross wins. King of supercross. Pretty simple. 

Bingo Ringo!

Seriously dude.... if you had any shred of dignity left, you should delete this thread.    

Browns running Jim Brown back from the 60s, I thought made an excellent point when asked , who the greatest running back of all time was. Jim at one time was regarded as the greatest. When asked the question , he had been retired for many years and many of his records by that time had been eclipsed. Anyway he answered the question by saying you can’t compare eras because the game changes ,training gets better and rules change all the time. So to answer that question you should look at who was the most dominant of their era? So if you use that as a bench mark , there is no question that MC is the Greatest SX rider of all time.

It's funny how at the end of McGrath's career there was almost no other SX champs on the line. Same with Carmichael, at the end of his career there was almost no MX champions on the line. but some how cause we have 4 or 5 champs on the line now. That makes the field more STACKED and the racers McGrath raced was not as good. That is complete BS, the reason McGrath has 72 wins is cause he was better than everyone 72 times. 7 seasons he won the SX title. He is the KING! 

How does this make it easier for Jett to win? 

 

Nah…

What you do is…msg MC on the socials…text him your perspective respectfully in a “Dude, I’m just not seein’ it…” sort of way…and you’ll probably get an answer.

In meantime…it seems to be Lost In Translation…the simple fact that MC’s relevance, during his reign & beyond, has yet to be matched by ANYONE both in the sport and in the mainstream. It can be argued that Travis has done the same, better or even eclipsed MC…but, from Movies to Television to mainstream media, in general, as a MOTOCROSS RACER AND CHAMPION…Travis’s career is a bit different and VERY much based on the peak days of The X-Games. 

No one has touched MC’s accomplishments…some of which I even rolled my eyes at…at the time…because, you know…us mx’ers are so cool that we’re sometimes stupid…well…from being on Friends(hugest weekly comedy at the time…epically HUGE…his friend Matt LeBlanc tossed him in their as an on-screen xtra), The Tonight Show (back when EVERYONE watched it. Btw, Leno -is- himself a fan), to appearing in mainstream commercials (and being brutally honest with us about Hollywood douchebaggery while it was all going down🤣)…to being in hi-budget movies (and their promos) …MC not only kicked the door open…he set records…or…established The Bench Mark…if you will.

But, let’s leave all of that alone…and simply focus on The Obvious…

72 Wins 

7 SX Premier Titles

And…since way too many in here seem to think he’s “not a true motocross dude”…

15 National Wins 

1 National 250 Title (today’s 450 class)

2 MXON Championships 

How many others have that much depth in their storyline combined with his 125 wins and titles, X-Games medals…oh…and have even come close to…

SEVEN SUPERCROSS TITLES…?

How about WINNING 13 CONSECUTIVE mains…in a season? (I think it’s only him & RC ?)

But, here’s the real deal for those of us that have witnessed all of this: MC was seldom “a little bitch” and instead of “burn out” or other modern complaints…MC lived like a Rockstar & stayed hungry into his mid 30s. He made it FUN! He made being an MXer or MX fan…FUN. Yes, even MC had to buckle-down & even had his days of “over training”…and certainly had his days of under-training 😂; but, he wasn’t a whining, complaining, “I’ve had enough. I’m burned out!” kinda dude about it. EVER.

Years later, at an SD SX…2017?…I was with Goerke at an SX while we were prepping for Canada…at dinner before the night show…and I watched those 2 dudes (Matt & MC) shoot the shit as coupl’a damn fast racer “kids” would do…yup, they were all lit up and excited like a coupl’a kids…talking like they were 2 kids headed to an LL’s regional…still Stoked on “the racing”. When I asked Matt about how funny it was to see you guys laughing and bench-racing like a coupl’a kids…Matt’s response…

“He’s always been like that. He get’s you realizing how great this all is and how fortunate we are. And he’s still got ‘it’…he’s so damn fast.” And Matt was smiling the whole time.

That’s the thing that, to this day, makes MC different and…just a dude…to me. He always loved it. Still does. 

Btw, he races BMX a bit…still…which I may have spoke to earlier in this thread…and STILL hates losing…which is anything other than 1st. To hear him talk about it…he’s just a dude…

That wants to win. 

And he’s Stoked…

About it.

Still. 

Very well written post and I agree totally X 10,000.  So many races I went to through that period of time were always so fun, energized, exciting nights. . .

I've always been a huge fan, and I will say that the night Jeremy lost to RC was a great race to watch!

But. .. .I have been around buddys who called Jmac boring to watch because he ALWAYS won!

To me, I just liked the competition, knowing riders backgrounds and the many stories.

Jeremy is a down to earth fella, always with a smile and great attitude. Everyone should check out his interview on Gypsie Tales, he is a solid dude and father..

Dude! Nice post….Golf Clap to you Sir…👏💯👍🏻

"Dude, I'm pretty sure I remember MC was racing guys who were like working construction during the week give me break."

👆

Besides the fact that the vast majority of people completely disagree with your theory in general, that statement right there is where it all starts and stops for me. IDK who told you that or what memory you think you have from that era, but that statement is completely ridiculous and just not true (not even close) I can assure you that there weren't any top level riders working a "day job" during the week back then lol.  MC beat tons of very well paid, elite level factory riders, the same way any champion in this series has for the past 50 years; he just did it way more than anyone else before or since (by an insane amount) There's already been quite a few replies to your post offering up plenty of big "name" guys he dominated over a 10 year period as proof, but you still seem hell bent on defending your theory (I know it's hard to admit you might be wrong when most replies are harshly worded personal attacks; that's just Vital these days sadly) and I know this post is a year old so maybe you've given up on it by now, but if you haven't, go do a little research yourself and you'll see just how far off base you really are. As many in this tread have also mentioned, it's nearly impossible to compared legends from different eras in any sport, but in this particular case the numbers just don't lie. The sport hasn't changed THAT much since then; def not enough to justify claiming it was somehow easier for a person to dominate the way he did. Supercross was hard then and its hard now, period. 

So as the kids say: Put some respect on MC's name damn it! He's certainly earned it, and he is without question the undisputed King of SX! Full stop.

Paul