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Edited Date/Time
1/27/2012 3:33am
Here's my take on Bubba at the moment and in the future...
I thought BobbyM's farewell thread was actually a good post. And it got me thinking about Bubba in the long term.
There are a lot of rumors surrounding the Stewart camp. Some of my closest friends are extremely close with the Stewart family. Ive heard quite a few stories regarding Bubba, and even both sides of the whole Larry Brooks saga. But to me, all that crap is just a symptom of the real issue at the core. Too me, and Im just making some semi-educated speculation based on the stories Ive heard, I just think the root issue is that he's burnt out. Everything else stems from that.
Eating breating and sleeping moto (or any sport for that matter) your whole life eventually takes its toll. A young athlete can only hold that pace for so long. Especially when the goal was beating RC for so much of his life. And when RC retires, and then Bubba goes 24-0, its gotta feel like the rug has been pulled out from under him. Whats left to do?
Sure, everyones gotten better, but when Bubba is the Bubba of old, he makes them all look second tier. We have all forgotten that early in this SX season, there was a stretch where these forums had pretty much died down in activity because we'd all pretty much conceited the championship to him as fans.
Bubba is still very young as a human being. IMO, one day he will look back at this period in his life and regret a lot of it. You only got so many years of being in your physical prime. He's in the prime of his life yet he's taken it for granted. And like I said earlier, IMO, its understandable and pretty much human nature. He wouldnt be the first or last athlete to be going thru this.
It might take a year or two or even three, but at a certain point, he will fall back in love with racing again. I believe that he will one day will mature and realize just how rare a position he's in. And with age I think he will find a new appreciation for MX and life for that matter. Weve seen this same thing happen with KDub. We're seeing it happen as we speak with Reed. And if any of you have ever had the privilege to have a conversation with MC about this topic, you'd hear him say it too. When a great athlete starts to see the end off in the horizon, its a massive wake-up call. Losing ones youth is every athletes biggest fear and when it finally is staring you in the face, you learn to appreciate every moment you have left at the highest level.
Despite all of his accolades, MC wasted some of his prime years by not exactly being 100% focused on racing. Ive never asked him but I bet he would give about anything to be 25 again and go do one more season of SX out with these guys. I say that because his love for the sport is written all over his face everytime you see him out at the local tracks.
Everytime I see Bubba on TV or in person, I just dont see it. He just looks burnt. Its not something time off is going to fix. Its not something a change in bike or a change in routine is going to fix. I think its just going to take some time. And then, we will see him return to being the guy we all remember, maybe not as fast, but I think at some point we will see a second chapter of his career where he picks up a few more titles.
The biggest shame for me is not getting to see him battle with Reed. Their rivalry is epic. But I think by the time Bubba figures his shit out, Reed will be long retired or no longer riding at the elite pace he is currently displaying.
aight, done. sorry for posting another bubba thread.
I thought BobbyM's farewell thread was actually a good post. And it got me thinking about Bubba in the long term.
There are a lot of rumors surrounding the Stewart camp. Some of my closest friends are extremely close with the Stewart family. Ive heard quite a few stories regarding Bubba, and even both sides of the whole Larry Brooks saga. But to me, all that crap is just a symptom of the real issue at the core. Too me, and Im just making some semi-educated speculation based on the stories Ive heard, I just think the root issue is that he's burnt out. Everything else stems from that.
Eating breating and sleeping moto (or any sport for that matter) your whole life eventually takes its toll. A young athlete can only hold that pace for so long. Especially when the goal was beating RC for so much of his life. And when RC retires, and then Bubba goes 24-0, its gotta feel like the rug has been pulled out from under him. Whats left to do?
Sure, everyones gotten better, but when Bubba is the Bubba of old, he makes them all look second tier. We have all forgotten that early in this SX season, there was a stretch where these forums had pretty much died down in activity because we'd all pretty much conceited the championship to him as fans.
Bubba is still very young as a human being. IMO, one day he will look back at this period in his life and regret a lot of it. You only got so many years of being in your physical prime. He's in the prime of his life yet he's taken it for granted. And like I said earlier, IMO, its understandable and pretty much human nature. He wouldnt be the first or last athlete to be going thru this.
It might take a year or two or even three, but at a certain point, he will fall back in love with racing again. I believe that he will one day will mature and realize just how rare a position he's in. And with age I think he will find a new appreciation for MX and life for that matter. Weve seen this same thing happen with KDub. We're seeing it happen as we speak with Reed. And if any of you have ever had the privilege to have a conversation with MC about this topic, you'd hear him say it too. When a great athlete starts to see the end off in the horizon, its a massive wake-up call. Losing ones youth is every athletes biggest fear and when it finally is staring you in the face, you learn to appreciate every moment you have left at the highest level.
Despite all of his accolades, MC wasted some of his prime years by not exactly being 100% focused on racing. Ive never asked him but I bet he would give about anything to be 25 again and go do one more season of SX out with these guys. I say that because his love for the sport is written all over his face everytime you see him out at the local tracks.
Everytime I see Bubba on TV or in person, I just dont see it. He just looks burnt. Its not something time off is going to fix. Its not something a change in bike or a change in routine is going to fix. I think its just going to take some time. And then, we will see him return to being the guy we all remember, maybe not as fast, but I think at some point we will see a second chapter of his career where he picks up a few more titles.
The biggest shame for me is not getting to see him battle with Reed. Their rivalry is epic. But I think by the time Bubba figures his shit out, Reed will be long retired or no longer riding at the elite pace he is currently displaying.
aight, done. sorry for posting another bubba thread.
There is a serious changing of the guard and or comp and if ever he needs to rise to a challenge this is it IMO-
RC would somehow stay motivated and rise that ability alone is probably why his records will go untouched- You are probably right on JS's mindset but using Reed as a constant.... RV did exactly what RC did to Reed and won the championship by a sliver so you can't say that a burnt JS is the reason it went this way see..RC beat him for a championship before he was"burnt" and CR is our constant (Make sense?)....More credit for the young, driven and amazing ones please-
The Shop
They only raced each other for 2-1/2 years (2005 thru mid-2007) and RC beat James tons in that time, without a James crash. It is almost offensive to claim that the only times RC ever beat James is when James couldn't stay on two wheels.
James might be burnt out, or he might just not deal with being unable to dominate well. He didn't deal with it well when RC was out there, he didn't deal with it well this year. Otherwise, he has pretty much dominated everyone else he has faced from PeeWees to the Pros.
My point is these guys RV TD and even RD deserve much more respect for the work and the inhuman gap they have closed-
These kids are that good and I know because Reed has been through all of this and he's riding better than ever this year he is the constant and RV. RD, TC are no fluke, they are no product of someone's burn out they are amazing young men that have risen to a bar and now when challenged we get to see what people are really made of- do they burn out or do they rise? only time can answer these questions-
The thing is If he is to win another champiosnhip it will be harder than anything he has been against- RC may have been tough but he was 1 even with Reed a 3rd was guaranteed- it's now into 4th and 5th ...2012 Pourcel and several hungry sophmores are going to give hime fits- this means understanding that the domination is over. podiums and smart rides win the championships from now on
I hope he does it it will be more rewarding than anything in the past (I would think) I don't know how these guys stay so driven it's amazing really-
i think inside he is so arrogant and so egotistical (within the mx world) that he mentally can't handle defeat...not because he's the best but because he THINKS he's the best (even if he is). and if he gets beat it was "somebody else's or something else's" fault. And when you blame others you'll never find the real answer to the real question of "why...why did I get beat?"
A true champion handles defeat as well as or better than he handles victory and he will learn from it to be better the next time. winning breeds success and success breeds complacency...ever since bubba was a mini rider he's been winning...BIG, almost humiliating the competition at will.
if he grows up a little and matures a little more...he'll be back.
imho i doubt it.
It also makes me respect RC that muchmore(sorry to keep bringing him up)
I for one I'm not buying the whole Burn Out Theory at age 25, but you can think what you want. What did catch my attention in your post was that you wrote that you had heard both sides of the whole Larry Brooks saga.
So are you saying;
You have heard Larry Brooks' side of the story?
Or are you saying;
Both sides of the story from the Stewart Camp?
Please let us know, because as far as I know, no one has spoke to Brooks since he left for "Family Time". Please let us know if you have spoke to Larry Brooks and he gave you or "your friends that are extremely close with the Stewart family", the Brooks side of the story.
Once he learns humility and can take losing he will own supercross again.
As for your arrogance theory. Very valid from the outside looking in. But I do not know Bubba personally so I cannot speculate very accurately on that one. Most champs relish having a challenge, a la RC. And Bubba never shied away from the challenge that was RC, but I definitely did see the frustration of not dominating start to plant seeds way back then so I see your point. I think your last paragraph could not be more accurate.
But IMO its not just about not handling defeat. He's not supposed to be getting beat in the first place. Thats not just his arrogant opinion, thats the opinion of his competition as well. If he was focused, he'd be dominating and all these symptoms wouldnt even exist to talk about.
As for those who have suggested that the competition has gotten better (cook441)....the comp is great and no doubt better as a whole, and I sincerely dont want to take anything away from any of these guys. But I have not heard one pro actually say anything except that Bubba hasnt been Bubba. Every time Ive ever heard one of these guys talk about him, theyve pretty much conceded that the only person that can beat Bubba, is Bubba. Hell, I doubt RC would even disagree with that. James just hasnt been himself. And yes, the real Bubba is the guy "humiliating" the competition. He tapped into that for a short period early in the SX season and then for whatever reason (pick your favorite rumor), it all fell apart. And its not cause he's "riding over his head". That was the case when he had to go up against RC. But none of these guys are RC.
RC matured as an athlete at a very late age. Remember when he was sneaking In N Out burgers while on PC? During his Suzuki days he wouldnt even entertain the idea. It took RC a while to mature and truly commit himself as well, and thats when he became the GOAT.
A lot of people thought that BobbyM was just laying bait in his thread. But he was actually stating a very real situation....Bubba might be done. It takes so much heart and enthusiasm to do what these guys are doing and he just may be all tapped out for good. Time will tell if Bobby is right.
But IMO, father time is extremely sobering and humbling, ever more so to a athlete. He will have to face that day and I think he will handle it by re-commiting himself to the sport. And hopefully he goes back to doing victory dances and running the 259.
Without MX, he's just another jerkoff in a lambo on southbeach. The shine of that routine dulls rather quickly and he'll wanna come back home to MX where he's a legend. I just cant see him walking away a la Bradshaw or JMB.
Pit Row
All rumors Ive heard are all 3rd party. Very solid sources, but 3rd party non-the-less. And quite frankly, even if I knew them to be 100% true, this aint the forum to air that dirty laundry IMO nor is it even remotely my place to do so. Im not a paid reporter. Plenty in the media are more informed than me, and could easily leak the truth if they felt so inclined. IMO, the only thing that makes this story as big as it is is the secrecy surrounding it. And it certainly isnt the topic of this thread.
My point wasnt meant to be regarding any rumors, so lets please not fixate on that. Simply quoting that part of my post really takes my statement out of context.
Brooks may not have spoken to any media outlets, but he has spoken to people. And with a story as hot as his, do you really think people can keep there mouths shut? This sport is way to small for that.
Oddly enough, the story I heard from friends of the Stewart camp blamed the Stewarts. The story I heard from friends of the Brooks camp blamed Brooks. Both stories were completely different and seemingly unrelated except for the names involved. Its a mess but if you can see the forest from the trees, the root of the issue seems pretty clear to me.
as for your not buying the burnout theory cause he's only 25.....in athlete years thats a long time. Think about it, he's been a pro athelete for the vast majority of that time. It takes its toll.
Some of the points raised are very valid.
the series he was out with the knee surgery, he commented on his return to racing how much he missed racing and was going to race without taking it for granted.
your point?
i think inside he is so arrogant and so egotistical (within the mx world) that he mentally can't handle defeat...not because he's the best but because he THINKS he's the best (even if he is). and if he gets beat it was "somebody else's or something else's" fault. And when you blame others you'll never find the real answer to the real question of "why...why did I get beat?"
A true champion handles defeat as well as or better than he handles victory and he will learn from it to be better the next time. winning breeds success and success breeds complacency...ever since bubba was a mini rider he's been winning...BIG, almost humiliating the competition at will.
if he grows up a little and matures a little more...he'll be back.
imho i doubt it.
An insightful post.
However, it is often hard to grow up, mature, and to learn from your mistakes if you are surrounded only by folks who are sycophants. Over and over we have seen folks in the music, movie and other entertainment fields who have a posse that includes no one who will offer critical advice...they are all "yes men" for various reasons (some purely economic as they do not want to say no to someone who is their revenue stream). The person in the spotlight keeps repeating the same behavior patterns because everyone around them says they are perfect and that everyone else is wrong.
The latest episode with the staffing at L&M may be another example of tightening the circle.
Stewart is still a prodigious talent. He can still win a lot of races and fight for championships. Hopefully there is someone close to him who can see the forest for the trees and who is unafraid to say that there are things that need to be improved....
If I had that many people swarming around me every second trying to "help" me as he does, I'd go postal on them. It appears that his handlers have "helped" him in being 27 years old going on 14 in terms of maturity. [apologies to all you 14 year olds]
That said, the constant spin of BS from the JS camp makes me thing I'm listening to C-span.
I agree that he may rise to the top again but I'm not sure he can do that without a different "team"/environment....perhaps like CR.
Maybe he should just quit now and pursue his dream in law enforcement
that means your sources don't even know half the story. JMO.
As far as burnout, that's entirely possible. My guess is that it's not the racing that has him burned out. All the bullshit he's brought into his life is what is taking away from his mental recovery time.
Just because James doesnt win doesnt mean that James isnt James- The two races you keep referencing are where the other guys chose to ride smart and let him go- Poto tried the quad in Oakland and decided to ride smart which is the one element James is lacking and ironically RC would use against him time and time again-Some of his other wins were holeshot pull away which was done but every other rider-
If you say they don't believe they can beat him then why at A1 did Trey run back to his crew after first practice and ask the guys where is James getting those 2 tenths- he believes and knows he can win- This is the evolution James didnt loose the title he got beat and on a regular basis far too often for it to be his own fault- I don't mean to dimish your theory and God knows he may be burnt out but even if he is rejuvinated he is gonna have to deal with these guys and be able to run his top pace mistake free for 20 laps- he will not be 1 sec a lap faster and cruise to a win-IMO
All the haters need to cut the guy some slack. Hell, I can't even make it through a 5 day work week without getting burnt out.
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