What’s Up With James Stewart?
I don’t know about you but I sure can’t put a finger on what’s up with James Stewart lately.
(If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you probably can’t put a finger on it either.)
Sometime last year, JGR Motocross, an up-and-coming non-factory race team, did what seemed impossible: They signed one of the top title contenders, James Stewart, away from all the other factory teams. Expectations were certainly of the highest sort. Stewart is a multi-time Supercross and Motocross champion, and JGR was looking to establish themselves as a premier team by bringing Stewart on board to win a title.
This despite Stewart’s Supercross record last year where he crashed more often in main events than not.
Now a year later, both Stewart and JGR are clearly disappointed in the results they’ve had. Just a couple of days ago it was announced that JGR had released Stewart from his multi-year contract, as I expected. Today Yoshimura Suzuki announced a multi-year deal with Stewart as a Suzuki rider, also as I expected (but not as I would have done in their place).
Everyone’s wondering, which Stewart is going to show up for the Motocross season? Will it be the former champion, one of only two people to win ever single moto for the entire season? Or will it be the Stewart of late, unable to run at the pace of the top guys and usually crashing himself into oblivion?
Regular readers of this blog know that I’m not exactly a fan of James Stewart. I think he’s a spoiled brat, unmotivated, selfish, and a poor sport. But he’s also incredibly talented and fast. I sure would like to think that a couple of years of pounding himself into the dirt instead of standing on the podium might have helped him grow out of the police-officer-impersonating, superior-to-everyone-else, reality-tv, whiny-crybaby phase. Maybe this time the deal wasn’t all about the money, but instead about being on a historic team with a great bike that needs a great rider, just for the love of the sport.
Could we really have a new James Stewart that races because he loves to race, one who competes in every race in every season, wins some of the time, but is a great sport all the time? I’d sure take it.
