http://www.off-road.com/dirtbike/columns/editorial/stupidcross.html
SUBJECT: INJURIES

I am two weeks away for being fifteen years old. I live with my Mom, and I am a motocross racer. I have earned all of the money for my bikes and equipment. A few months ago at the highest point in my carrier yet, I broke my right radius and back over a 120' quad. I required surgery on my radius, 6 screws and a plate. My second week back to riding I hit a double and blew my fork seals. I also tore ligaments in my knee and will now most likely require surgery.

My mother is saying that I have to sell my bikes and stop riding. As you know motocross is an addiction. There is no way I can stop riding. My mom wants to know if there are any alternative sports. Are there any?

My mom didn't really understand how it meant to tell me to quit riding. She doesn't understand the friends I have made and how well I have progressed. It's the only thing I have. I am getting severely depressed over this issue. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Keith H.
"If theres no blood in the picture its no good, right?"

Read this and learn. When I brought my kids up, I not only let them race motocross, I encouraged it. I told them that there are downsides to racing. You can and will get hurt, and that's no fun. They all raced, had fun, and learned from the experience.

However, I would not let my kids race the motocross of today. Or should I say, Stupid-cross? Think about what you wrote: You got hurt going over a 120 foot quad jump! That's pure insanity. The fact that they would even let a minor like you even ride on a track with such lethal hazards in it boggles the mind!

Racing has always been a risk sport. If you don't know and understand this going in, then you should not get involved. But the stupidity of the current supercross trend in racing is truly monumental. You're a kid and certainly not mature. Especially not in your thinking. Your last sentence proves that without a doubt: "If there's no blood in the picture, it's no good, right?"

That shows that you've bought into the crazed freestyle culture where common sense means nothing, but showing off body scars, tattoos and body-piercings is important. Real racers, like the legendary Roger DeCoster, never walked around jabbering utter garbage like that. And he was five times World Champion.

I can understand your love of competition and the fact that you have friends in the sport. But, let me shock you a bit, Keith. If you screw up real bad in a stupidcross race and get paralyzed on one of those 120 foot quad jumps, those "friends" will visit you a few times in the hospital, and then you'll never see them again. Get that through your head.

There are alternative forms of racing. Hare scrambles, enduro, desert racing, cross country or even Baja. And all of them are far safer than stupidcross.

Also, get off your little soap box. You're sooooo depressed. Really now! Gee, I wonder how depressed your mother might be if you lost the use of your limbs, or even worse, get killed on your beloved "120 quad" jump. You might even get more depressed if all your nourishment came into your body via tubes because you could not move.

One last thing: It's about how far you've progressed. You are now 15 years old and already have screwed up your body big-time. You keep this crap up and by the time you're 20, you'll be walking like a 90-year-old man with crippling arthritis. Take what I just said to heart. I'm not telling you all this just to be a hard-ass. I've stood alongside too many hospital beds with busted up riders laying there who will never walk again. I suspect that you would prefer to not be one of them.

Bravo, Brad.

And this point is not just for Motocross or Off-Roading.. it applies to any and every sport.

Athleticism in itself is a good thing. It helps build musculature, skeletal structures, confidence, skill, balance, hand-eye coordination, perception, awareness, maturity, and general overall health. However, any sport taken to an extreme, or "Pushed to the limit" can and will result in injury, destruction, and tragedy.
Athletics are an integral part of every child's life. This is evident in the integration of athletic education in the modern scholastic structure. Starting in elementary school, through Middle and on to High School, children are introduced to athletics and taught how to be physically fit. Some kids take the basic education and apply it to further pursuits by joining junior varsity or varsity athletic teams. These sports are safe, controlled, and relatively tame. But how many kids get injured playing basketball, football, hockey, volleyball, or track. Pulled muscles and tendons, broken bones and pride are not only common, but are expected - to a point.
However, by participating in sports that add to the level of danger in order to achieve the "Thrill of adrenaline" as many extreme sports do in today's times, only adds to the potential for injury. Sports which are even moderatly tame like wakeboarding and snow skiing can cause grave injury to the human body.

The point is, normal, controlled activity is good and healthy, however, taking that activity to the extreme levels and launching yourself 120 feet into the air on the back of a 1000 piece of machinery, or riding a 40' wave or dropping 60' off of the cornice into a bowl on your snowboard are things that only professionals - or those with suicidal and immature tendencies - should do.

I agree with you that many of the sports that today's youth are into are far above and beyond what should be allowed. I also feel that too many of today's youths are not active enough and simply sit in front of the Game Cube for hours on end.

If this trend continues, we are going to have a full generation of either Lard-asses or Cripples. We need to find a way to get today's youth somewhere in the middle - with good eating habits and good, safe excercise habits.

Ha. Just saw a commercial for Wrangler Jeans during a Professional Bull Rider event on NBC...

Cowboy Wisdom: Ride Bulls ... Meet Nurses.

Isn't that kid on this board???