In Summary
COMMENT. Of course it is not national captain Maxime Van Pee’s problem that he is too much for the rest, neither is it Oilers’. Yet the duo’s almost unchallenged supremacy hardly excites.
There was no mistaking the centre of attraction at last Sunday’s fourth round of the Mountain Dew National Motocross Championship at the Uganda Motocross Arena (UMA), Busiika.
He paced about, inspecting a makeshift runway his KTM SX 350 bike would negotiate before flying off the launch pad and over a heap of murrum the size of the first floor of a house. Once the stunts were over, he parked atop the mound of murrum and gave the air one hard punch, urging the thousands of fans to support him. They roared back. The South African free-style superstar, Nick de Wit, then rode down back to the runway. The stage was set for him to mess with the spectators’ normal heart beats. De Wit accelerated and his KTM SX 350 obeyed, the 31-year-old going airborne in a backflip, or simply put- summersaulting – but this time together with the bike, before smoothly landing in charming telepathy.
The free-styler repeated this and many other tricks, including holding the airborne bike’s seat with one hand with the rest of his body in air as the crowd cheered him on in both frenzy and bewilderment. Yet in between, there was another ‘sideshow’, for which points were being battled for, where national MX1 champion Maxime van Pee was having fun and meal of every other thing.
Only that the said battle was just between the chasing pack of Barak Orland and Michael Ntailo, who finished behind Van Pee over the three heats. Just as he has done since dethroning legendary Arthur Blick Jnr in 2014 to become the national MX1 champion, and so far this season, Van Pee is that master entertainer – that rider that always gives opponents seconds head-starts before overlapping them like poetry in motion.
It was the same story at the weekend as he effortlessly kept his grip on the championship, overtaking opponents mid-air and often stopping to shake hands with fans and throwing stickers to them before proceeding.
He is assuredly revelling in his panache but it is difficult to see how he is also not feeling bored as the competition seems to be against himself alone. Trained by Jurgen Kuppers in Germany, where he used to travel for drills from his school days in Netherlands, Van Pee, 23, would clearly do with more competition.
He will surely be looking forward to the FIM Africa Motocross of Africa Nations Champions in Kenya come August where he will have some more credible challengers.
Van Pee has dominated his class so much that there may not be spectators if he were not to ride. Of course it is not Van Pee’s problem that he is too much for the rest. Only that it exposes the deep gulf in class between him and his comrades that the sport is crying for more competition.
The same is being felt in the National Basketball League (NBL), where the three-peat kings City Oilers – the miracle workers that sprouted from the lower division to sweep aside everything in their way locally – continue choking opponents on endless class.
Until a couple of days ago, when coach Mandy Juruni’s reigning champions were somewhat pushed in their 72-63 victory over Our Saviour for an 8-0 record, only UCU had come close (73-72 defeat to Oilers) to attempting to blight the Oilers matchless run that also claimed KIU and Power along the way.
Granted, Oilers have a big purse. But their success goes beyond the quid. It encompasses unmatched professionalism and a deeply detailed recruitment strategy.
It is the absence of the same factors from the rest that has contributed to those teams folding in Oilers presence; it is those factors that are rendering the league least pleasing on the eye for you almost know the result if Oilers are involved.
Yet Oilers supremacy also presents an exciting challenge for other teams to measure up. The champions are playing their part. So, who is not playing theirs?
amwanguhya@ug.nationmedia.com, @TheLoveDre on Twitter
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