Voice Box
Jason Weigandt
Voice Box

By JASON WEIGANDT   Racer X Twitter  @JASONWEIGANDT

Jason Weigandt
Voice Box

By JASON WEIGANDT   Racer X Twitter  @JASONWEIGANDT

R

easons versus excuses. That becomes a pitched battle as soon as the FIM Monster Energy Motocross of Nations concludes. Monday-morning quarterbacking is normal for any sport, with fans spouting theories as to why their team lost. The losing coach and players have to give reasons after the game, and that’s understandable. It all looks different under the prism of nationalism, though.

V22#12 RX Voice Box

If Team USA doesn’t win the Motocross of Nations, blaming anything for the loss—luck, conditions, scheduling—is just a jab at the winners and their fans. Lately, in the face of a mounting losing streak, the Team USA riders have taken the high road. Last year at RedBud, Team USA’s Justin Barcia, Eli Tomac, and Aaron Plessinger trudged out of their team trucks for our Best Post-Race Show Ever. Tomac spoke first and quickly went to the magic words: “We got beat.” Barcia, behind him, let out a sigh of relief. “We just got beat” became the mantra. Behind the scenes, all the riders were befuddled by RedBud’s different track prep and feel. Maybe five weeks off of racing hurt too. We wrote an entire magazine feature on the loss last year. And the year before that. Whatever—if you’re the rider, don’t make excuses.

Except the rest of us can’t help ourselves. We want reasons! The American fans and moto industry are still bewildered and confused over this losing streak, spoiled after winning 22 times in 31 years.

The rest of the world doesn’t want to hear it. Unlike nearly every other contending nation in this event, Team USA represents an entirely different racing culture and schedule. When Belgium battles the Netherlands, it’s two nations with two sets of Grand Prix riders. When Team USA battles anyone, it’s the full American schedule, bikes, teams, tracks, and way of racing pitted against the European way. Everything we do differently here gets held accountable. Lots of reasons, with fingers pointed in every direction, from the million dollars up for grabs at the Monster Energy Cup a few weeks later to any dozer operator who fixes ruts at a Lucas Oil Pro Motocross national. Meanwhile, do you know that Feld Entertainment, the supercross promoters, actually donate tens of thousands of dollars to the Team USA effort every year? There are more people spending time, money, and effort to help Team USA at this event than you might know.

A Motocross of Nations win for a GP-based nation is a win for all of Europe—a way to say that the European way is superior to the American way. Thus, the three USA riders, in one race per year, become the entire litmus test for two different racing cultures, just as it was when Team USA dominated in the 1980s.

Team USA probably wouldn’t have won this year’s race anyway, but the squad had trouble immediately when Justin Cooper went down early and took Jason Anderson with him. That, combined with horrific weather that favored the locals (is that a reason or just an excuse?), made this an extra-long shot.

Reasons or excuses? This time, fans on social media seemed to support the American effort. This was easily the least ire, frustration, and anger I’ve seen from fans on both sides of the pond. When Cooper crashed into Anderson, it was first tweeted by European website MX Vice with the words “Luck…it is just bad luck.”

On Sunday night, I went to my Instagram account to write a post about the team getting beat. I was sure not to list any reasons, lest they be seen as excuses. But MXGP TV commentator Paul Malin (the Brit who famously ended Team USA’s win streak in 1994) offered that, had Cooper not crashed with Anderson, things might have been different.

Why did excuses turn to reasons this year? Because this was a likeable Team USA. This was Jason Anderson, Zach Osborne, Justin Cooper, and #TeamFried showing respect to Europe and its tracks, teams, and bikes. This was an underdog American team admitting the challenge was huge, never disrespecting the regulars, and having fun with the experience. It was something everyone could get behind, even if they weren’t American.

For once, when Team USA lost, everyone was reasonable about the reasons.