The Isle of Man TT went on a two-year hiatus like so many other spectator-driven events following the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. This event - this spectacle of unreal proportions - has captivated attendees for decades and thrust the tiny island community into a spotlight of discomforting dynamics.
Sadly, its return to primetime in 2022 was marred by five deaths and multiple serious injuries. The fact that death is a part of the TT has been quietly accepted over the years, but in the bizarro world we find ourselves in where feelings count double what they used to, the social media chorus to ban the TT has become quite vocal.
However you look at it, it's tragic what happened. But if you ask the drivers if they know what they signed up for - that is, they're aware that death is likely and the only way to escape it is to be exactly as talented as you proclaim to be and then some - they will resoundingly tell you yes. The Isle of Man TT is one of those few events left where you can dance with death of your free will, content knowing that whatever the outcome is, you'll have done something that many of us - nay, 99 percent of us - would never have the gumption to do.(Read more about this year's event here at motorsport.com)
Rust Cohle, the deadpan detective from the first season of True Detective, says: "The world needs bad men. We keep the other bad men from the door." In the same vein, we also need those individuals who yearn to live in the extremes, so that we may see what's possible when you go to the edge and return to tell the story. To take that away leaves us constantly falling short of knowing how to survive on the other side.
Rest in peace to those who perished, who died a far more valiant death than the legions of us who face our final days hooked up to a machine in a dirty, state-run nursing home.