This week on the always popular Pulpmx Point/Counterpoint column, Swizcore and I debate which 250 coast is stronger.
This week on the always popular Pulpmx Point/Counterpoint column, Swizcore and I debate which 250 coast is stronger.
East/West Lites SX, which is more stacked?
Swizcore- If ever there was an open and shut case, this is it.
West coast hands down. In terms of experience alone you could take the sum of main event starts from only Hanny, Davalos and Morais and surpass the entire east coast pre- entry list. What does that mean? Experience and experience spells difficulty for those without it.
Just to look at some bullet points in my thought process.
1. Hanny- Main event winner and top-ten list of most naturally talented riders ever, on a PC Kawi.
2. Broc Tickle- Main event winner, consistent, experienced and continually moving up steadily, also, on a PC Kawi.
3. Ryan Morais- “Old” Mr.Reliable who always finds his way to the front regardless of age.
4. Cole Seely- There’s just something… ok I won’t do it again but you know it’s true. Main event winner!
5. Martin Davalos- Always fast, experienced and crashy. Has the ability to affect finishing order across the entire gamut.
6. Eli Tomac- Not experienced nor flashy but rides a Geico Honda and is a quick learner. Those Geico guys don’t hire dummies.
7. Wil Hahn- He may not be lining up but since he is technically a West coaster, I get to claim him. Geico, winner.
Ding!
Matthes- Uhhh yeah, you got me there Swizcore. Wow- Career wins in sx and nationals by all the riders that you have listed above?
4.
Knock me down! WOW! Look, I like all those guys you have listed above and they are all great riders but there’s nothing there to crow about. Right now, in 2011, the west is not the best. Hanny is 43 years old and been there, done that-sucked at it and had to move back down. Morais has the most career 250 starts in the whole class and has yet to win (although he wins my heart for being cool) and Davalos has had decent equipment and has yet to do much with it.
Over on the east side you have three of the more highly touted amateurs ever in Dean Wilson, Blake Bagget and Justin Barcia. You also have former sx winner Blake Wharton and the new hottest amateur guys from the past two years in Ian Trettel and Jason Anderson.
Something I like to do when comparing who is the better rider is combining everyone into one big ol’class and letting them do it the old fashioned way. By dropping the gate and racing. Oh wait, they do actually do that in our sport. It’s called the OUTDOOR NATIONALS.
Guess who’s going to be at the front of that pack this summer? Not Morais, not Hanny, not Davalos but Dean Wilson, Justin Barica, Anderson, Trettel, etc , etc. That to me means more than anything that these guys do on a indoor track and that, my friend, is why my argument rules.
Swizcore- Oh my bad, I thought we were basing this off of what riders have done, not who is touted to do what. Let’s add some more highly touted names to your list shall we? Justin Buckelew, Bobby Bonds, Jeff Dement, Charlie Bogard, Craig Decker, Johnny Marley… all super fast but in the end those high expectations didn’t exactly equate to race wins and lengthy careers. You can spin this with a forward view of the outdoor series but don’t forget were talking about the here, the now, the supreme West Coast Lites SX series.
I am in full agreement, Dean Wilson and Justin Barcia will be the elite in the east coast and gunning for wins in the outdoors but to suggest there is more competition in the east than the left coast is pure poppycock.
Matthes- Look, all we have to do is throw every name that is mentioned above into a fantasy moto league of dorks and find out how the guys would be picked. And I don’t mean just in the who is a better sx rider deal, I mean, do a full-on-who would you take as the better riders?
The list would be Wilson/Barcia or Barcia/Wilson no matter how you slice it so right there, the east has the two best riders. After that? Well I might want the guy who beat Wilson quite a bit in amateurs but waited one more year in Jason Anderson. Then maybe your guy Hahn gets picked. Then it’s Blake Bagget who was a consistent top five guy before he got hurt last year and is now on Pro Circuit. And so on down the list, it’s nothing personal with your west guys-they are all good riders but unfortunately, the east has two of the best and when you add in the rest, well I’m sorry but you just got worked like Jake Canada.
What do you guys think?
