Chad Reed - AMA Supercross Champion

Embarrassingly, I have neglected to blog about the awesome fact that Chad Reed is the 2008 AMA Supercross Champion. Sincerest apologies, readers.

2008 will be one of those Supercross seasons to remember, unless your name is Kevin Windham. Don't get me wrong, I'm not dogging on K-Dub. He rode a great season and shouldn't be at all upset with his effort. But I'm betting that this one hurts enough that he would like to forget it.
Maybe he'll remember it just enough to compete the 2008 Nationals and win that title. I'm all in favor of that.

But this post is not about K-Dub, it's about Chad Reed. Chad had an uncharacteristically inconsistent season, with some rather distant finishes in a number of races due to minor things like a blown engine or a broken shoulder. This season, it was Windham who was consistently top-5 or better every race, not Chad. What Chad did do that was very Chad-Reed-ish was to fight like a dog for every point possible, against conditions and obstacles that would sideline practically any athlete of any sport you want to name.

I'm a big fan of both Windham and Reed. What made the difference this season was that Reed went out and got that championship. At the start of the season, when Stewart dropped out, everyone thought we might as well just hand the championship to Reed. Well, it wasn't handed to him - he went out there and earned it, every point of it. Both Windham and Reed had opportunities to seize the championship; the difference was that Reed seized it when it really mattered, and Windham didn't. When Reed faltered, when Windham had those opportunities to take points and really make it hurt, he didn't always grab those opportunities.

That, my friends, is the difference between winning and just having a really great season.