It’s a hard feat for any great — sorry, legendary — athlete in any sport to accomplish.
It’s a hard feat for any great — sorry, legendary — athlete in any sport to accomplish.
Lead Photo By: James Lissimore
By Alex Halverson![<--break->” src=”http://pulpmx.com/app/uploads/2017/01/spacer.gif” title=”<--break-->“></strong></p>
<p>Jerry Rice didn’t catch a pass in his last game with the Seahawks, Michael Jordan ended with a few good but forgettable seasons on the Wizards and the curse of arm pump kept the King of Supercross from the top step of the podium at the end of his illustrious career.</p>
<p>However it seems one athlete won’t be appreciated for not only exiting the sport on his terms and winning on his way out the door, but for everything else he’s accomplished. (Which is basically everything.)</p>
<p>As the news of Ryan Dungey’s retirement, the biggest offseason move since Ken Roczen’s switch to Honda, spreads like wildfire across all supercross and motocross media, I see some negativity among the congratulations. In addition to the negativity, I see a lot of apathy. Boring goodbye for a boring athlete, maybe?</p>
<p>But that’s not fair. No, Dungey didn’t ride and handle himself with the no-f**ks-given attitude that his early-career rival Jason Lawrence did (yes, in middle school I was team Lawrence all the way), or scrub his brains out over triples like James Stewart. Dungey was methodical, consistent, hardworking and not that flashy. However, he was also really fast. </p>
<p>He didn’t win 11 Loretta Lynn’s championships and teams weren’t bidding on him when he was 10 years old. Dungey entered the pro ranks as a “What the hell is Roger thinking?” hire. An unproven B-class rider in a sea of Josh Hills and Zach Osbornes. </p>
<p>Oh man, did he explode into the sport though. Ryan Dungey won his first supercross race ever, two 450 championships in his first year in the class, three MXDN titles and eight national championships. And before anybody says it, stop, you do not get eight titles handed to you. Sure there were injuries in some years he won titles, but tell that to MC in ‘98, Reed in ‘04 or ‘08, Stew in ‘08, RV in ‘12, well you get the point.</p>
<p>Dungey gets the rap of being too consistent throughout his career or for not taking chances and showing balls out speed like Stew or RV. That’s not entirely fair though.</p>
<p>Flashback to Southwick, 2011. A hurricane sweeps through Massachusetts, the sandy track is absolutely soaked, Jason Weigandt misses the first few minutes of the broadcast and Ryan Dungey doesn’t line up for moto two. In the middle of a title hunt with Villopoto, even after running out of gas at Freestone, Dungey experiences more adversary as his bike won’t start. The parade lap passes as Dungey looks anxiously on and soon 39 riders take off without him. His only hope? To get the bike running before the leader finishes a lap.</p>
<p>Long story short, Dungey’s Suzuki makes it to the track and he starts clicking off laps hoping to gain some sort of points. Almost a lap down at the start of moto two, Dungey goes on to place seventh out of 40. Three spots behind RV, his title rival and the source of championship trouble for Dungey’s next few years.</p>
<p>Yeah, Ryan Dungey was really f**king fast.</p>
<p>As for Dungey being a boring champion? Sometimes supercross can be boring. Dungey clinching six out of his seven 450 titles multiple rounds early certainly doesn’t help. But let’s face it, if it wasn’t for Dungey, RV’s title runs would have been even easier. Was anyone really enthralled in 2012 when Dungey actually missed some rounds?</p>
<p>There’s always going to be haters. Whether it’s genuine dislike, or people jumping on the bandwagon, no one athlete is universally loved, (well, besides McGrath) but I hate to see someone like Dungey not appreciated for what he did. He helped take KTM from a joke to a powerhouse, brought the sport mainstream attention through multiple channels and showed that working your ass off is what brings you success. He showed that you don’t have to be a superstar by age nine or that you have to be ruthless to be competitive. I’m by no means a Dungey super fan, and even thinking of writing this would disgust 14-year-old me, but love him or hate him, Dungey’s retirement deserves some hoopla. Tell me with a straight face you wouldn’t rather have him racing this summer.</p>
<p>Exactly. </p>
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