Edited Date/Time:
Watching RaceDay Live.
I'm sure that this has been said a million times over, but the big beef I see with modern SX racing is 2 things:
1. It absolutely blows to watch the riders figure out the fastest line, and then have them ALL capable of doing it! The rhythm section before the finish is a great example: all day the riders were doubling their way through it, Tomac busts out a 3/3/3 combo and then like magic, they are all capable of it.It's not because of their insane skill level (though it certainly takes skill)...it's because they're on a land rocket that can propel them that far. Also, to see 250s doing what the 450s guys are doing is just flat out lunacy. It's not two different classes anymore...it's just a "training class" and a "premier class". In the old days, 125s would struggle to even clear the triples. What we all reminisce about was watching Carmichael or Stewart or Reed whip out some crazy line through a section that nobody else was doing...it seems like (for the most part) those days are over as the top 10 guys are all running the same combos, which is why we get the "lazy train" races that happen frequently. There's nothing to separate the great from the good.
2. The tracks are cookie cutter. I'm not sure when it happened, but when us old timers pine about the lost days of great SX racing, it's because the tracks were kind of a mess. Rhythm sections weren't perfectly separated. Whoops differed week to week. Step on/offs were a crapshoot. Hell, even the triples were built based on random tractor operator's assessment. Now they are all equidistant week to week, and replicated at practice tracks which removes the whole element of "surprise" for the riders to figure out a section. Watch some old races and you'll see sketchy landings, weird distances between jumps, and whoops that would rattle your teeth. The current tracks are simply video game pieces that they place down week over week.
ok, bitching done. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest as I know that my opinion is of great value to all of you. Here's to some hopefully great racing tonight. :-)