What's Tomac's WORST finish the rest of the way?

freebroctickle wrote:

As downvoted as this has been, this is the smartest reply. Yes, Eli can absolutely dazzle us, but he is just as prone to the odd...

As downvoted as this has been, this is the smartest reply. Yes, Eli can absolutely dazzle us, but he is just as prone to the odd meltdown. And if Webb (who has taken Musquin's place as Mr. Consistent this season) keeps up the good work, even ONE Tomac goof-off could be fatal to the 3's championship hopes.

TbonesPop wrote:

Except Eli is riding different this year. Its very noticeable IMO. Eli of the past would have won last nights race by 30 seconds or crashed...

Except Eli is riding different this year. Its very noticeable IMO. Eli of the past would have won last nights race by 30 seconds or crashed out and finished 5th. Last night, he "managed" the race and won handily. His fastest lap was about 0.8 seconds faster than the rest of the fast guys in the field. He seems more willing to settle on nights where he's not feeling it. He also took his time passing Adam and didn't pressure the issue where in the past, he would have just blown by people early to try and get a lead (then wash the front end trying to do so).

I think Eli is riding at that ~98-99% as opposed to the 101-102%.

I also think its worth nothing that there are more riders in the mix this season that can get between Eli and Cooper (Anderson is back and healthy, Barcia is riding better, AC is in the mix, and Kenny is as strong as he has been in a long time, and on any given weekend Osborne and Baggett could be in the top 5, or even podium). This isn't a 2 horse race.

freebroctickle wrote:

Yeah, this is his best start to the season yet. And don't get me wrong, my odds are on him, too. BUT you can't entirely write...

Yeah, this is his best start to the season yet. And don't get me wrong, my odds are on him, too. BUT you can't entirely write off his checkered past over a string of good early races (he has had absolutely BRILLIANT races every season!) and claim with 100% certainty that the hot streak will continue, and that Webb/Roczen/everyone else will keep eating his dust.

SWOHIO GUY wrote:

When comparing the all time greats of an era you get into the territory of splitting hairs. When comparing Reed to Ricky and James, my knock...

When comparing the all time greats of an era you get into the territory of splitting hairs. When comparing Reed to Ricky and James, my knock there is he never won a title against them when they all raced the whole series. He was damn close in 2003, 2006, 2007, and 2009. Also really close in 2011 in MX and SX against Villopoto, Dungey, and James. He won his titles in 04 without Ricky, 08 without James, and 09 MX without James. He’s an all time great but that hurts when comparing him to other greats. Dungey is a similar thing for me, he never beat Villopoto straight up for a title.

Reed and Dungey are both in the top 3% of the sports history but when comparing them to the other guys in that territory you start splitting hairs.

toroP wrote:

Funny that nobody notes that James never won a title against Ricky. So who did James beat that validates his titles? And who was the big...

Funny that nobody notes that James never won a title against Ricky.
So who did James beat that validates his titles?
And who was the big shot that Ricky beat in 2003?
The truth is, Chad is one of the greats. Period. Chad had a win taken from him in 2004, and still beat Windham.

SWOHIO GUY wrote:

I never said Chad wasn’t one of the greats and Stew beat chad in 2007 and 2009 straight up!

toroP wrote:

Funny that nobody notes that James never won a title against Ricky. So who did James beat that validates his titles? And who was the big...

Funny that nobody notes that James never won a title against Ricky.
So who did James beat that validates his titles?
And who was the big shot that Ricky beat in 2003?
The truth is, Chad is one of the greats. Period. Chad had a win taken from him in 2004, and still beat Windham.

SWOHIO GUY wrote:

I never said Chad wasn’t one of the greats and Stew beat chad in 2007 and 2009 straight up!

toroP wrote:

So James beating Chad makes James’ titles legit. But Chad beating Windham is not legit. And also, James never beat Ricky straight up. What does that...

So James beating Chad makes James’ titles legit. But Chad beating Windham is not legit.

And also, James never beat Ricky straight up.
What does that say?

SWOHIO GUY wrote:

I never said Chad wasn’t one of the greats and Stew beat chad in 2007 and 2009 straight up!

toroP wrote:

So James beating Chad makes James’ titles legit. But Chad beating Windham is not legit. And also, James never beat Ricky straight up. What does that...

So James beating Chad makes James’ titles legit. But Chad beating Windham is not legit.

And also, James never beat Ricky straight up.
What does that say?

SWOHIO GUY wrote:

When comparing the 3, Ricky beat them both so he is #1, James beat Chad twice for a championship so that makes him #2, Chad couldn’t...

When comparing the 3, Ricky beat them both so he is #1, James beat Chad twice for a championship so that makes him #2, Chad couldn’t beat either for a title so that makes him #3. Is it really that hard to comprehend?

Ozy wrote:

2019 outdoor people were asing "What's wrong with Tomac?" because he wasn't in beast mode all the time. I still believe he changed his mental approach...

2019 outdoor people were asing "What's wrong with Tomac?" because he wasn't in beast mode all the time. I still believe he changed his mental approach to racing after 2019 SX.

I can't see Tomac finishing outside of the top 5 more than twice the rest of the way. Webb would have to have amazing luck to finish on the podium the remaining 10 rounds.

with 10 rounds left I think the 2020 championship will be decided on who gets the best start because of how close these guys are in speed