https://www.motorcycle.com/bikes/features/rip-evans-brasfield-44594668
Evans Brasfield became my editor at Motorcycle.com in 2018 upon the unfortunate departure of Kevin Duke to parts unknown, one of the radical staff reductions-in-force that have plagued industry publications during the past decade. I had read some of Evans’ work and was familiar with him by name only. He continued as my editor until early this month when MO published my mid-season review of the 2023 MotoGP season.
During these six years, I cannot remember a single time when Evans lost his temper or criticized me for anything undeserving of criticism. He agreed to my stipulation that my work get posted without much, if any, editing by Dennis or anyone else. He did his best to protect me from the Verticalscope suits in Toronto. He gave me utterly manageable deadlines and was entirely supportive of my efforts to enhance MO’s coverage of racing. He had clearly forgotten more than I ever knew about motorcycles, but was tolerant of my ignorance and complimentary of my writing style or lack thereof. He managed to get me paid out of a freelance budget that had shrunken dramatically. He was able to answer to his own corporate masters and the interminable bean counters without making me feel worthless. In short, he was every freelance writer’s dream editor.
Since 2008 when I took my first stab at covering MotoGP, I have reported to Joe Magro, Sean Alexander, Kevin Duke, John Burns (briefly) and Evans. I pitched Joe on allowing me to assume the role of MotoGP Correspondent before I had actually watched my first race. (When he asked me if I was a rider, I said yes because I thought he had said “writer.”) Throughout the years, my editors at MO have supported my efforts despite my being an old Hoosier who drives cars. They sent me to Malaysia on a junket in 2014, probably because none of the real editors wanted to go sweat their cojones off for a week on the equator, but it was a blast and I got to meet a number of folks in the business–Jensen Beeler, Marie Wilson and David Emmett, to name a few.
To me, Evans’ passing feels like the end of an era. I’ve been at this for 15 years, but am skeptical that it will continue now that my rabbi has left the building. Certainly whoever steps into his job will be looking for someone capable of bringing more to the party than dick jokes and actionable slurs. And even though I was never able to shake Evans’ hand in person, I join with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of riders and writers who will miss his even temper and thoughtful posts. Once again, we are shown the hand of God and are left to shake our heads and mumble about how the good die young. Happy trails, Mr. Brasfield.
Tags: Bruce Allen, Evans Brasfield, motorcycle racing, motorcycle.com
Late-Braking MotoGP 
September 16, 2023 at 7:13 am |
Billy Joel’s “Only the good die young” comes to mind.
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September 17, 2023 at 10:51 am |
They got the guy who hit and ran:
https://signalscv.com/2023/09/hit-and-run-suspect-reportedly-arrested-in-scv/
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September 17, 2023 at 4:22 pm |
Shucks, I’ve ridden Big Tujunga plenty of times. RIP, Evans.
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September 18, 2023 at 11:02 am |
I visited the scene (it’s on my regular weekend ride), and in my opinion there was absolutely nothing Evans could have done. Some damnable game of cosmic Russian roulette put him at just the wrong place when a driver lost control of their vehicle while rounding a curve. Like getting hit by random, drunken lightning. 🥺
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September 18, 2023 at 8:20 pm |
Had to be something like that, unavoidable wrong place at the wrong time. As Dean Adams over at the Superbike Planet said: …suggesting that he’d gotten into a bad situation was almost unthinkable.
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September 16, 2023 at 12:28 pm |
Evans did not attract extreme opinions of favor or dislike from the audience as some of the other MO writers and editors, past and present did. But I liked that in him. I admired the way he navigated the mini-maelstroms that occurred when more women’s content was featured in a manner some thought was heavy-handed, while others thought was overdue, and when, out of financial necessity, “adverticles” became more frequent in MO. He was calm yet firm, engaging but not patronizing; almost the perfect mediator. Which is why, when the format and process for commenting on MO articles changed in ways that made it feel less of a community, and reduced the ability to converse, I only stayed in the fold because of Evans’ attitude about the whole thing. He convinced me, at least, the MO community wasn’t ending with the new format – he just recently expressed in a reply that he missed “the old gang”, which was a wonderful thing to write. I am now not so sure that MO will survive the loss of Evans, but out of respect to him I will stay in the fold. Thanks to Evans, for all the things he did to keep MO online that we never properly understood or appreciated. Thanks for keeping the ship steady during the rough seas of change. And thanks for keeping Bruce’s essential GP commentary a part of MO (even if too infrequent). Sincere condolences to his grieving family and large network of friends and colleagues (past and present).
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September 16, 2023 at 7:55 pm |
Well said, better than me.
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September 16, 2023 at 7:51 pm |
Even though I don’t frequent MO anymore, I feel like it is a part of me. And good ol’ Evans, willingly or no, was the eye of the MOronic hurricane. I don’t doubt that his family will suffer immensely without him. I never met the man, but I can feel his absence in the moto cosmos.
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September 18, 2023 at 10:31 am |
I never met Evans, but feel like I’ve been reading his name and material for decades. RIP Mr. Brasfield.
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