Forgotten Gems: Jeremy McGrath “Showtime”

As the year come to end, this means the last Forgotten Gems article for the foreseeable future as my time with the vurbmoto crew has come to its conclusion. So, why not conclude this fun series by discussing The King of Supercross: Jeremy McGrath? While we all know what McGrath achieved in the sport, the real question is whether or not we remember the 1993 VHS film: Jeremy McGrath: Showtime. How I feel about Frezno Smooth flying a bit under the radar is also how I feel with Showtime, which is a great look at the life of Jeremy McGrath and his first-ever 250 Supercross championship in 1993. Like most of us, MC was who I (next to Shae Bentley) idolized. Thus, this VHS was one of the many in my rotation which was watched very, very often as a kid. 

Jeremy McGrath: Showtime has some fairly goofy moments throughout it, which brings the charm of what this is to life. Specifically, the “Dueling Jeremies” segment between MC and former 1991 125 East Coast runner up, Jeremy Buehl. Even as a kid, it always felt like such a goofy bit. However, the film sprinkles the history of Jeremy’s upbringing, his 1993 SX season, and some very rad free riding segments. Through the piece, we hear from individuals like Jeff Stanton, Damon Bradshaw, Michael Craig, Dan Betley, Dave Arnold, and others about MC’s infamous 1993 season. I would argue that, even today, I can still feel the annoyance those racers felt having to talk about Jeremy winning the ’93 championship. 

Not having watched this one in a while, it was yet another reminder of how far our sport has come in leaving behind the personalities. I find it hard to believe that Eli Tomac would ever have the desire to be a part of something like this. This flick is also a reminder of the glory days of the box van and bright neon and florescent gear combos. While MC’s 1993 Sinisalo wasn’t overly flashy, his 1994 Sinisalo gear has always been one of my favorite kits, even over some of the Fox stuff he wore in the mid-to-late 1990s. 

Throughout the entirety of the movie, there is one segment that stands the test of time, and it is at the end where we have several minutes of complete raw footage as Jeremy does some free riding at a local spot. It’s countless angles of MC hitting this steep cliff and playing to the camera. According to the continuity of the film, it is shortly before McGrath’s trip to the 1993 Motocross of Nations, and he is out in the hills free riding with the number one plate on his bike. The best part of it all? At the end, he hits a different section of the cliff, doesn’t make it, and his bike gets destroyed. His quote after the crash? “I wasted my bike.” I would love to know how the conversation went with factory Honda once Jeremy returned this bike. Or, if he didn’t return the bike, did Honda and his sponsors find out about this crash once the VHS was released? Who knows! Either way, it didn’t change much of anything for MC as he remained in the hills throughout the entirety of his professional racing career. 

To an extent, Jeremy McGrath: Showtime, is a bit of a graveyard of motocross past. Sinisalu is, to my knowledge, no longer around. We then have what maybe our first “energy drink” sponsor in Endura (race fuel for your body), which I cannot figure out if they are still in existence or not. From there it is the factory teams pitting out of a box van at the races (as we already discussed), mechanics like Skip Norfolk (yes, I know he is not dead) who had all of the personality and charisma that made Skip and MC such the dynamic duo, and the old school Supercross tracks. While SX tracks of today are still difficult, they have become very cookie cutter and very uninspired. I suspect, partially, this has to do with the bikes and how both 450s and 250s all do the same combos. But, man… as a fan I sure do miss these old school SX tracks. Like the riders and mechanics of this era, the tracks had their own personality and flavor to them that we just don’t get in 2022.

It ain’t going to be me because my time has mostly come and gone within the motocross filmmaking world, but I would sure love to see somebody step up and figure out a way to make a film like this again. Granted, I don’t believe we have the right athletes available to us to make it what it could be and should be, but maybe one day there will be a rad year-in-review type video like this that can harken back to the glory days of our sport. While that probably won’t ever be the case, at least we can say we have his forgotten gem to forever cherish and remember as such an exciting period of time in our sport and how this young man, Jeremy McGrath, was about the change the sport of Supercross for the next 10 years.