Balls from the States

America, the so called ‘country of endless possibilities’ has always been intriguing to me. Once upon a time (1980 to be exact) my parents gave me the oppurtunity to visit the home of the hamburgers. I have to say, being there gave me a special vibe since everything is so big and different. It’s a world in our world, wich to me can’t be compared with other countries. This will probably work out both ways. I bet Europe must be a little bit of a culture and perhaps scenery shock as well for any American visiting. Battle between countries of the world will always be there, and competitions to determine who is the best in a certain sport come with this need to compete. In motorcross there is no difference. The battle between riders is getting more important over the years. Who is the fastest on this planet? This question rises over and over again. Now with Herlings and Coldenhoff riding like they do, this question can’t be asked without mentioning these two ‘dutchies’. We could say that our boys ‘schooled’ America on their homesoil and now we can’t wait to show them how its done in the MXoN Assen. On the ‘beachy’ sandtrack will be a lot of roost to eat, but knowing that didn’t hold the fearless guys from flying over. Aside of ‘Big Shot’ Cooper, who turned second in the ‘lites’ this year, the big names from the 2019 season won’t compete in Holland to hunt the desirable title. Anderson , when fit, is surely able to step up a few podiums, but rode only the first three rounds this SX season. Then Osborne used to be very capable, but only rode 11 of the 17 rounds this year. This is very unfortunate for the ‘Big Country’ and rises the question why the ’19 big names will not attend. Could be a conflict of interest, or just the fear realizing they’re not the legends they used to be. After seeing a vlog of the fearless American delegation traveling all the way over to our tiny country, I can only have respect for these guys. You can see they’re having a lot of fun and the self- mockery they posses is fun to watch.

Things like, renting a bicycle, a tootiny ‘Kia picanto’ or even having a look at the overwhelming amount of sand on our MX tracks, makes this videos great material. Yet, they do realise, all the kidding aside, that they’re not able to outclass the rest of the world in Assen. For them it’s a horror track and mostly a job that needs to be done. Real countryman just do those things. It’s impossible to practise for a track like this, since the sand of Assen is pretty gnarly and not easy to be find somewhere else except the beach. A fast lap at ‘Lommel in the morning’ is doable off course, but a whole heat is going to be a little bit heavier, knowing you missed half a season of SX rhythm. Whatever the results will be, the boys will be honest and judgemental about their riding. They will, without a doubt, accept the fact that it is what it is. These guys are not claiming to be the fastest in the world and have the respectful balls to show this to the world. I don’t expect them to think this will be easy in any way. This belief belongs to the people at home who make crazy eqations and have personal fan interests. Add some patriotism to that you get a unrealistic point of view about the race of the year…

I will be there and all I can do is hope that these boys bring some fire to Assen. All that for the sport we love so much. The fire that makes us the fans we are today…

Tekst: Olav Heijt – Translation: Djardy Heijt

Thank you Danny Relouw for the ‘Big Plates’. (relouwmxpics)