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CN
III EMPIRE OF DIRT
BY STEVE COX
W
hen it was announced
that Ricky Carmichael
was taking Jeff Emig's
place alongside Ralph Sheheen
to do the television announcing
for the 2019 Monster Energy
AMA Supercross Series on NBC
Sports, I was skeptical. I like Jeff
Emig, but my skepticism wasn't
based on loyalty to Fro-daddy.
My skepticism was based on
Carmichael's racing success.
If that seems like a weird rea-
son, let me explain: People (and
dogs) learn either through posi-
tive results or negative results. If
you try something, and you suc-
ceed, you learn one thing that
works. If you fail, you learn one
thing that doesn't work. And,
over time, if a person succeeds
almost all the time, and very
seldom fails, I think that limits the
his ability to describe the deci-
sion-making process and predict
play-calls and results. I believe
this has as much to do with his
successes as it does with his
failures as a player.
Jeff Emig won four champi-
onships during his career, but
he lost way more than he won.
Ricky Carmichael lost a total
of three championships in his
entire professional career—his
first 125cc Supercross title and
his first two 250cc Supercross
titles. That's it. He won every
single other championship,
comprising 16 total (10 MX titles,
five SX titles and one regional
TV PERSONALITY
RICKY CARMICHAEL
breadth of knowledge you can
bring to the table on any given
subject. Failures make people
smarter.
In the NFL, former Dallas
Cowboy's quarterback Tony
Romo has become almost leg-
endary as a television announcer
in a very short period of time by
