Monster Energy Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto (Photo: Kawasaki Racing)

Villopoto knows better than anyone the dark side of the sport. He’s arguably endured more over the past few seasons than anyone of the frontrunner, save perhaps Canard. He's also fought through those tough times and risen to the pinnacle of the sport. He wrapped up the championship in Houston and from there it seemed like smooth sailing. Then came his unfortunately homecoming in Seattle Saturday. If an even worse case for the series was even possible, it happened that night as the champion was lost at his home race.

With Dungey’s return a week ago, Supercross still has one of its former champions to lead the way over the next two weeks. Stewart’s return in Vegas remains a possibility as well. However, with the championship decided and Villopoto not present to represent his triumph, there will definitely be something something missing.

Unfortunately, this is the truly harsh reality of the sport. Is this the worst season ever? No, it's not. No one could have asked for a better start and even when Reed suffered his injuries, there was still plenty of buzz surrounding the championship. It’s just a bummer that misfortune has decimated the field in a way that has never been seen before in nearly 40 years of competition.

In total, nine Supercross race winners, including its most recent member, Andrew Short, have been forced to sit out due to injury at some point this year. The only rider with a win to his credit who hasn’t been hurt at any point in 2012 is Davi Millsaps. In fact, Millsaps is now the strongest rider in the series thanks to his exceptional efforts through the second half of this season (made possible in part due to the injury of the superstars).

While it could be a stroke of extremely rare bad luck, this rash of injuries might also be attributed to the fact that the riders are faster than they’ve ever been. The bikes, the tracks, and everything else have more or less been consistent for some time now without any drastic changes. The fact of the matter is, riders get hurt every season and at least one is always a top-tier competitor. Crashes come from mistakes, which every rider is bound to make at some point. Sometimes, those mistakes cause injuries, but more often than not, a rider is able to soldier through the results of his error.

However, now that the athletes of this sport are pushing themselves and their machines to limits that we never knew were possible, it’s increased the chances of any mistakes having greater consequences than they maybe did in years past. Reed’s accident, Dungey’s accident, Stewart’s accident, and Windham’s accident all came from mistakes that altered their trajectory while in the air, dramatically increasing the odds of a bad outcome.

The percentages earned their clout in one fell swoop this season. Despite that, we’ve still seen captivating competition at the majority of the races, and in the absence of the superstars of the sport, riders like Millsaps, Short and Justin Brayton have taken the opportunity to step into the spotlight, showcasing the tremendous depth that has defined the most competitive era in the history of the sport. In fact, Short’s victory is perhaps the best feel-good story we’ve seen since Josh Grant won the opening round in 2009.

This isn’t the worst season ever, but it has been plagued. Things didn’t pan out the way the opening races suggested it might. But if you dig a little deeper, there are still plenty of reasons that 2012 has been a great season in its own right.