November 29, 2005 3:09 pm (EST)

Mind Your Numbers

Last year at this time James Stewart had all the hype. Video surfaced on the Fox website with Bubba charging on his supercross track, and it looked like he could just kill everyone once Anaheim rolled around. Then he ran the legendary, “My whole life is about January 8th” line on the cover of Racer X, and it was on.

I don’t think anyone doubted him at that point. Ricky Carmichael was the underdog, Chad Reed was champ and Bubba was the man. But still, Bubba hosted a press conference in December and talked about how he’s motivated to prove all the doubters wrong. That he isn’t going to just flame out or fade out like everyone thinks he will. And that he won’t be pushed around.

Well I’m glad he cleared that up because in December of 2004 there were a lot of people doubting him. Yeah. A lot of people thought the fastest 125 rider ever – the rider everyone was hanging the future of the sport on - wouldn’t be able to perform. Sure.

But for those three people on earth who doubted the kid, at least he had set the record straight.

Unfortunately here we are a year later and doubt is EVERYWHERE. Thanks to his terrible summer and mysterious pull out from the U.S. Open, uncertainties about Bubba’s mental and physical health cloud everything. Plus he’s switching to a 450. And now, in the ultimate sign that all can’t be right in Bubba land, he’s leaving 259 behind and replacing it with number 7. This is almost as bad as switching from Bubba to J-Mac for a few weeks this summer.

I suppose he’s getting a fresh start or maybe rolling lucky sevens. But 259 was James Stewart, and sticking with it is a sign of strength. A sign that he was going to stick with what worked for him, come back strong and really prove those doubters wrong (now that they exist). Now it’s like he’s admitting things aren’t right and that he needs to make a change. You can bet there will be some doubts on everyone’s mind when he rolls to the gate with a 7 on his bike this weekend.

That’s the good news: there is no need for a press conference this year because James is racing this weekend in Toronto and again in Vancouver. At least we hope.

But man, if I were him I would think like this: “Hey, remember the end of the supercross season? Before the nationals and racing a 250 against a 450? Yeah, remember how I came into the series after an injury and won three of the last six races? How I was fastest in almost every practice? How I won Dallas without a front brake? You didn’t doubt my conditioning, my heart or my will back then, did you? Well I’m still the same rider and you’re going to find out when I start whooping everyone’s ass again straight up, just like I did last year.”

Even if that doesn’t happen, at least make it seem like you think it will happen. This is a mental game and dropping 259 isn’t a very strong statement.

Meanwhile you’ve got the #4 guy (who runs 4 on any brand, any class or in any situation) hanging up Christmas lights on his house. Seems like he’s making the statement that all is right in his world.

P.S. Don’t even bother asking these riders about any of this because every professional athlete on Earth has been conditioned to say, “I’m not trying to make a statement, I’m just trying to win races/play good football/win one game at a time etc.” But trust me, those RC pictures didn’t just show up on MotoTalk because Ricky is afraid Santa won’t find his house. He wants to make sure all of the competition knows his house is in order.

RC: Let me flex my overdeveloped calves so everyone can see I'm both in awesome shape and I'm still relaxed enough to hang Christmas lights.

Photo: Stolen from a Scott Taylor/TFS post on MotoTalk

We’re only days away from Toronto and my hype meter is going off the charts. There is so much to cover here – did you note Josh Hansen’s little dig at Mike Alessi in his interview on Racer X Online today? I am strictly a Lites guy this year. My focus is on a championship right now. Maybe in 2007. I’m leaving the premier class to the big #800.

I'm no even sure what that means, but I’m telling you, GET A CAMERA out to the KTM test track when Hansen and the Alessis are out there! There is absolutely no way this marriage is going to last. And let's get their buddy Millsaps out there and maybe some J-Law, too. And then maybe Hansen and Alessi can team up on their old buddy Josh Grant and - oh man - let's get this racing started!

- blogandt EMAIL ME HERE

November 28, 2005 6:45 pm (EST)

And The Banquet Goes on

As expected Saturday night was an awesome one. We jammed 550 people into the Lakeview Resort banquet hall here in Morgantown, and, as expected, the ATV crowd delivered.

First of all ATV guys pull better-looking girls than bike guys. Go ahead and shoot me stab me and sue me but I've done the research and it's indisputable. If you go to a National Motocross race, there are 20,000 fans and a solid amount of eye candy. An ATV race draws far fewer spectators but seemingly the same number of attractive girls, which means they're pulling better percentages. And it's on at these banquets, too, where the girls like to get gussied up. The result: A guy in jeans accompanied by a girl in banquet dresses. The four-wheeler crowd isn't much for overdressing.

Plus the guys don't dance in huge numbers, either, so you get a way-disproportionate number of girls dancing at the end of the night. It usually breaks down with hot girls on the dance floor drinking mixed drinks while the dudes hang out in the shadows bench-racing and getting hammered on beer.

So be careful. As I have been told many times, if it was this easy, there is something wrong with it. The girl may look good, but the brooding boyfriend or husband is right over there running surveillance.

And it finally boiled over. All of a sudden I just saw two guys fighting and swinging at each other in full intensity, I mean really going at it. We had a fight on our hands. I could have been the first to break it up, but honestly when I looked at the prospects - two of them in full rage swinging madly and me trying to step right in between - it didn't look good. Then I saw Jeff Russell making a move toward breaking it up, and then I knew I would be alone, so I went for it. By the time I got to them a few others had joined the fracas and we were all on the ground holding one dude down while the other guy got dragged off.

I had swallowed my pride and chose not to be the hero who broke the thing up. I felt really bad about it.

Later one of the guys tried to re-enter the bar, so a friend of the guy he fought got all mad and tried to fight him. So we were back to restraining people and bringing a dude back to his hotel room.

Later I heard this was only the second time they have ever had a fight at one of these banquets. I believe it because normally the group is very much like a family, and with only one night each year to let their hair down, everyone is in a good mood. And honestly, once all of that cooled down, everyone was. I guarantee you the bike banquet this weekend won't pack this kind of excitement.

But I'm going to be in Toronto for supercross anyway, just so I don't even have to worry about breaking anything up.

An astute Blogandt reader warned me that I misspelled Brett Favre's name last week (Farve). And I knew that, too! But did you hear what happened late in the Packers game last night? Favre got picked off and the Eagles won. Favre now has a 1:1 TD to INT ratio this year. But don't say anything because he's still the man.

I also watched the entire Giants game for the first time this year. I'd rather not talk about that.

- blogandt EMAIL ME HERE

November 25, 2005 3:20 pm (EST)

Thanks

Tomorrow we'll hold another rousing GNCC ATV Banquet. These are always good times, as you're mixing a lot of the right elements together. And I hate to pick sides, but the quad guys always do a better job than the bikes guys do when it comes to the Saturday night party. They usually have better-looking girls, too.

It's also an interesting time because we solicit feedback from our GNCC riders so we can discuss things with them at the banquet. You know you've had a good year when most of the commentd are totally selfish - such as holding more races close to where someone lives. We have racers from the Florida, New England and out west and everywhere in between. Everyone is going to have to travel, there is no way around it. We don't fly to any of the GNCCs here. We know how far away the races are.

Time is running out. If David Vuillemin is going to race Supercross in Vancouver in two weeks, Donovan Mitchell needs to get on it. I've been waiting all year for the interview on Racer X online where DV claims he is instantly some obscene amount of time faster per lap on his Honda as he is on his Yamaha. It's the oldest hype trick in the book for a rider when he switches brands. You know Jeremy McGrath was 2 seconds a lap faster on his KTM250SX than he was on his Yamaha. YEAH RIGHT! Two seconds is a lifetime on a supercross track.

Plus DV is riding a CR250. This is a scary time for all of the riders because the 4-stroke revolution is about to take over supercross, and it has to be hard to make these discisions now. From what I have heard, Ernesto Fonseca is lighting up the Honda test track on his 450 while MC himself is, well, not looking as hot on his CR250. Who would have thought Ernie could even handle a 450 at all? Now it's the weapon of choice.

Thanksgiving for me took place at my Grandmother's place which is for some ridiculous reason only a half hour from my house. I have two Aunts that live in WV too, and we're all from NJ but my moving here had nothing to do with them. It's just a happy coincidence that I probably don't take enough advantage of. But I was there for turkey, of course, and a few sessions making fun of everyone in the world. We're not the nicest gang.

Wednesday night turned into a crazy one. Tim Cotter invited me by his house for dinner, but by the time I got back to Morgantown the party was rolling downtown with DC, Langers, The Hoopers and Brozik. Eventually DC demanded we get the Karaoke going, so we dug the equipment out of Gibbies closet and started jamming out, Brozik at the controls as always. It was awesome and I was very thankfull for it.

- blogandt EMAIL ME HERE

November 22, 2005 6:22 pm (EST)

Huge in the world

People are reading. After my post about Toronto last week, an astute member of the blogandt community wrote to say this race is merely a sign that Canada will soon take over the motocross world. Here's a snip:

In terms of the new “Series Opener” in Toronto and the following round in Vancouver, I can assure you that it is a conspiracy by us Canucks to take total control of AMA supercross. Since we can’t seem to get a rider to finish in the top 5 in supercross or outdoors (JSR has made us proud but we want more), we have no other option but to take over the series and make it a total Canadian affair. By 2009 there will be no more events in the USA. All rounds will be held in Canada and eventually we will make sure there is no dirt and that everything done in the ice and snow. Do you remember the footage of Donny Schmidt hucking it over jumps made of ice and snow? I have attached a pic so that you will know what the new look for the series will be like. You get the idea….hehe

- Marc Coffin

2009 Supercross Season Opener: Exclusive Pics!

Thanks, Marc. I also got an email from my buddy Wes Parker, who is perhaps the world's biggest Winners Take All fan. Wes used to live in Italy chasing the GPs and stuff, and it turns out his roommate back then was none other than David Knight! As Wes said, at least one of their prop careers worked out. I'm going to keep giving the Knighter press until he comes over here and we can hang out.

By the way, Knight did race a GNCC once, the grand finale of the 2002 series, which was by the way the best season of GNCC ever. Four riders had a shot at the title going into the last round, and then Knight showed up out of nowhere (or wherever the Isle of Man is) and pulled a huge holeshot. Not only was his bike through the first turn first, but I think his leg was already into the second turn by then because it was so damned long. Rumor is the EnduroCross guys want to hire Knight to lay down on the track next year in case they run out of logs.

Anyway Knight rode awesome that day and I believe he finished fifth, but no one gave him a ride so he stayed in Europe. Now they've got to be wishing they had.

If you're wondering how Wes and Marc emailed me, there's a link on the top of this page. But that has always been there and no one noticed so I'm going to include a link at the bottom for now on.

Just saw some analysis of the Monday Night Football game last night - in which Brett Farve made a few mistakes that cost his team the game. Listen, I'm far from a football expert, but I'm not the loser kid who only watches the Superbowl each year and then marches into school the Monday after acting like he knows everything about the NFL so he can be thought of as cool just once.

I've never been cool but I do see enough football to have realized Farve has been making mistakes and costing his team games for YEARS now. This is not a new phenomenon. But Farve is in that Ricky Carmichael stage where people love and respect him so much it will take forever to realize that he has actually lost some of his skills. Right now Ricky is still on the top, but even if he loses a little something, people are going to let it slide for awhile just because of what he's already done. And remember these were the same people looking for flaws in his game a few years ago, running things like the "lack of competition" angle.

And as for the lack of competition angle: You know how many motos Ricky Carmichael would have won this year if he was going against that star-studded 80's crop of racers (Bailey, RJ, Glover, Bomber, O'Show, Ward etc)? My guess is 22, just like he did this year. And last year he would have won all 24. What other moto would he have lost? What track does he not have completely dialed? When does he ever fall or get a bad start? When would he get beat?

Did anyone catch the Supercross on TV commercials that played Sunday on Speed, DURING the NASCAR finale? First race is on Sunday after Toronto. Supercross has never had a push like this. I can't wait!

- blogandt EMAIL ME HERE (yeah I bet that Carmichael part has you ready to write)

November 21, 2005 2:00 am (EST)

A Knight in Vegas

The Isle of Man man of the hour, your 2005 Maxxis EnduroCross Champion, David Knight!

Dude, I made a HUGE mistake. I knew months ago that Saturday night after the EnduroCross would be a bad one, so I booked a flight early Sunday morning. It's our classic Vegas East Coast strategy: rock all night, then grab your bags, hop in a cab and stumble through the airport at 6 am. Sleep on the plane and by the time you land you are awake and sober (and the person sitting next to you is happy to know that you were actually not dead). Do this just right and you will be just tired all day, so you can go to bed at 11 pm Sunday night East Coast time, even though you had just spent the last few nights partying rocking out until 7 a.m.

Perfect. I did one better this time when I suckered Dirt Rider magazine's website hostess Jean Turner into hanging out, as well as KTM PR girl Laurette Cushman. The goals here were two fold: as long as I had these girls in my sight I knew they couldn't update their website or send out any press releases. Dirt Rider and KTM would be the only companies who could outscoop Blogandt on the Endurocross and I whipped them!

The second benefit comes because, although my infinite wisdom told me to get the Sunday morning flight, it did not tell me to invite The Girl. Sure it's Vegas, but I knew I would be working at the AMA Sports Banquet on Friday night and the EnduroCross on Saturday, so I figured it would be the same drill as every other race weekend: "Hey babe, do you mind going away for the next, say, 12 hours while I announce/type/shoot pictures? And yeah thanks for taking time off of work for this!"

Turns out the EnduroCross people don't drive you as hard as other promoters (like those GNCC people that sign my paychecks everyweek) and I had tons of free time on my hands. Ooops. Meanwhile every guy I knew out there either brought his wife/girlfriend or was looking to get tickets to a "one night only" performance. I was stuck in the middle, not wanting to flirt with anyone but still trying to be a Vegas cool guy. Remember, one week ago I was stuck flirting with gays and tranvestites in Paris so I had to make sure my reputation to fix here.

Hanging with Jean and Laurette was perfect because I would be in the general vicinity of girls all night, which made me look like I had some sort of game even though I wasn't even playing. Plus I knew they couldn't send out any press releases or update any websites from the bar!

Oh and Jean told me she reads the Blog so I'm sure she's firing laser beams into her computer screen right now.

I'm telling you something about this Dave Knight guy: he could be a huge star if he came to the U.S. He had a big posse of KTM people and they were celebrating his win in grand style, and he seems like a good bloke. Plus his wrench for the weekend was Anti Kallonen, who is normally Juha's mechanic, meaning they had a really cool vibe going. Anti and I ran it hard the last time I was in Vegas for the supercross ....

Where was I? Yeah, Knight. So a big pack of us ends up at the Palms (which could be a great name for a strip club running the look-don't-touch rules). And guess who the Knighter is hanging with? Johnny "Jackass" Knoxville! Yes, that's right, Johnny Jackass was rolling through the Palms all bleary/wonky eyed and also all alone. Soon he was mobbed.

There's Johnny Jackass on the left with the Knighter on the right. I'm not kidding about this.

This was my first-ever Vegas celebrity sighting, and I whipped out the digital camera in hopes of a huge payoff from the National Enquier or something. (Note: Knoxville played Luke Duke this summer in the Dukes movie, and since I saw Willie Nelson in concert two weeks ago, this means I have seen Luke and Jessie Duke in a 12 day span. So, Jessica Simpson, why don't you stop prolonging the inevitable and sing some Karaoke in Morgantown with me this week?)

Here is one more Knoxville picture I snapped before he literally ran into the store behind him to get away. I wonder if I can get sued for this?

By the way, Knight is a huge guy. And I think he kept getting taller throughout the night as I drank more. When Knight took down Juha (and Travis Pastrana) at the Erzburg Enduro this summer, Juha told me why he got beat: "David is a big guy and my legs are too short."

It would be awesome if this guy came to the U.S. A larger-than-life star from the Isle of Man dominating the U.S. scene would be about the wildest thing for GNCC Racing since the Shane Watts era, which sadly, I wasn't around to be a part of.

Word is I may only have to wait until 2007.

So, I got to run with the pack all night/Knight on Saturday. But I made a huge mistake a took a nap this afternoon while eating sushi and watching the Colts/Bengals game. Now there is no way I can get to sleep, with Paris/Vegas and all of these other time zones just taunting me.

But I do find solace in the fact that it's not even midnight yet on the West Coast, and the AMA Pro Banquet is probably just wrapping up. So there's no way any of those girls are going to get their website updated before I do.

- blogandt

November 19, 2005 3:50 am (EST)

The Knight Rider

As always Blogandt is the first to break the news: David Knight wins the Maxxis EnduroCross. Bascially whatever this dude touches turns to gold this year, as he has won everything from World Enduro Titles to ISDE Overalls and anything else you can think of. Then he won the Red Bull Last Man Standing event last weekend (with a $10G payday) and takes another $10Gs for winning this one. That's 20 Gs in one week in the States.

And what did the man from the Isle of Man say on the podium?

"That was bloody awesome!"

And it was. It was bloody hard, too. The track was tough and guys were just crashing everywhere. Like Ryno, who was battling with Knight like he was last year, but then all of sudden he caught crashitis and couldn't stop falling. But John Down rallied on the last lap and got second, with virtual unknown WORCS racer Ricky Dietrich taking third. Everyone else was pumped up and basically exhuasted.

This is a really cool event and it's definitely worth checking out. Anytime my boys from the off-road side get in the spotlight, it's good with me. Unfortunately some of them probably wished they had stayed out of the limelight since their performances were not so hot. This thing is really tough, and until there are more races like it, no one will be able to figure out the strategy or formula for success. There are just a million elements to this.

But regardless whatever this Knight guy does is right. Man, he needs to race Juha one of these days. Oh and Juha, by the way, was pretty smart with his strategy because he stayed home and left the pushing, shoving and pulling to everyone else.

That's it. One more night in Vegas awaits and I'm sure it will be as tough as a lap of the EnduroCross track.

- blogandt

November 19, 2005 3:44 pm (EST)

Vegas

Barely have time to write as I'm headed to the Orleans Arena for some EnduroCrossing. Should be nuts. Here is a pic of the track.

As they would say in New Orleans - these obstacles are not Au Natural.

Anyway it was a big night last night as MX SportsCenter won the Broadcast Journalist of the Year Award at the AMA Sports Banquet. So now I'm a two-time, two-time, two-time AMA Winner, which, is not the first time I've been called a two-timer.

Thanks to the DMXS Radio guys, Davey Coombs and Tim Cotter for making that show happen down at Loretta's every day.

But I'm the one who got the award!

When it's good and late and the drinks are flowing tonight I'll post an update here. Cheers.

- blogandt

November 17, 2005 11:32 am (EST)

blame canada

What's this? Carmichael, Reed and Stewart have all commited to racing in Canada for the World SX GP rounds?

The idea of starting early really appeals to these guys, and with good reason. RC raced Canada last year and showed up ready to fight in Anaheim and Phoenix, while speedy Reedy was just holding the bat on his shoulder.

Now everyone who wants to win wants to race in Canada to be ready for Anaheim. What a strange situation this creates. First, if these races are supposed to prevent someone from getting the jump on you at Anaheim, don't these races just become Anaheim, anyway? I mean, would Stewart really get his butt kicked in Canada and just say, "oh no, I was just cruising and getting ready. We'll have another second per lap once we get to Anaheim," and then actually go out there and do it like that? No way. A win is a win over competition like this. Confidence wise, winning over ths comp in Cananda in December is the same as a win in Anaheim in January. So is this really a warm-up, or is it just the new season opener?

And if it is now truly the season opener, then it's not really giving anyone a jump on things. It is just shifting the season forward one month. What's next? Riders will have to race something in November to get the jump on December. And then September to get the jump on October.

Eventually riders will have to race 13 months in advance of a race to get the jump on things. AMA Supercross rounds 1 - 16 in 2008 will just be warm-ups and test rides for the 2009 series. Everyone will be bragging about how long they have been racing: "I know I'm ready, we have spent the last four years actually just as a warm-up, and now we're actually going to hang it out and win."

Honestly, now that everyone is racing Toronto, it's not giving anyone a headstart. Now it's just a real race.

This is awesome for anyone going to Toronto (personally I'm super pumped about this). But where does it leave Anaheim? And the AMA Series? We fans don't care who is sanctioning or sponsoring what. The AMA Series mattered the most only because that's the only series all of the top guys raced. Now if all of the big boys race both series, which one really determines the true supercross champion in our eyes? What if Chad Reed DNFs in Vancouver, then wins a bunch of AMA races and wins the AMA title but not the WSXGP crown? Is he the man, or is he only half of it?

I'm really confused as to what this all means. But let's hope everyone stays healthy and is ready to race in Canada, or is ready to get ready to race in Anaheim by racing in Canada.

Last night we hosted an open house here at the office for the Morgantown Chamber of Commerce. We actually had to wear nice clothes to work and clean our offices, which NEVER happens. We had to fool a lot of people.

Toughest part is that guys never want to admit they don't know anything about something as macho as motorcycles, so you always have to wade through the small talk of guys telling you how much they know about racing and riding when you know they're just grasping at things. I mean, do you think if Monongalia General Hospital had an open house, I would go in there telling the doctors all I know about surgery? Leave it to the experts, people.

Thank God I know no one here last night is into motocross enough to read this.

Go read the Suzuki Between the Motos on Racer X with Eric Perronard. Eric was a big help at Bercy last weekend and he's running the show at the Endurocross this weekend. He does a great job explaining the events of last weekend, which is a relief to me because he basically explained the whole thing like I did (which means I got it all right). And I'll be working for him this weekend since I'm announcing the Endurocross.

And that means I have to go to Vegas. You know we'll have some good stories to tell overthe next few days....

- blogandt

November 15, 2005 11:10 am (USA Time!)

Gay Paree

After the dust had settled and the racing was through, everyone gathered in the hotel lobby on Sunday night. The promoters in Bercy really take care of their guests, and they had one more treat - a shuttle to a downtown club.

Actually they had a bunch of shuttles since there were a lot of us, and I was stoked because we had the legendary Sebastian TORTELLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!! on our bus, and he was the hero of the weekend for all the French fans. I was also stoked because out driver got lost, and was so pissed about it that he reverted to English cuss profanity. We got lost enough to drive past the Eiffel Tower, which was as close as I was going to get on this trip.

When we got to the bar it was pretty empty, but it was Sunday night so that wasn't that strange. It started to fill up though, and got more and more packed and loud and crazy. This bar was also home to the most expensive beer I've ever pruchased, and worse yet it was just Heineken. I mean, maybe if it was some exotic drink I could understand but I know I shouldn't be paying more than $10 U.S. for a freaking beer.

They also had face painting going on. Yes, you could get your face painted in the club. How French.

I knew I would have to do some Weege dancing before the night was through. I've done my crazy dancing in nearly everytown we visited this year, and in only one of them, Anaheim, did I get completely shown up. But would my dancing skills be enough to dominate the floor in downtown Paris?

Just before I went out, a word of warning came from the supercross crowd. "Look around you. Look at these guys."

The club was filled with guys. GAY guys. It really looked like a full-on gay club, to be honest. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course, but one thinks twice about busting a move when there are so many guys hoping that you do.

Mike Brown couldn't stomach this and just bolted from the joint. He was smart. We tried to find solace with the few girls who were in the place, figuring they were in defenseless "gay card" mode and maybe they would like us (and I know The Girl is reading this right now, but hey, no fear, do you really think I would buy a girl a drink when the beer was costing me $10+?)

As it turns out, even worse, many of these girls were not even girls. My friends, The dudes looked like they were ladies. Yes, when you go out in SoCal you see a lot of girls who have had some plastic surgery. But nothing like this. NOTHING.

We were surrounded by gay guys in tight horizontally striped shirts, and then other gay guys who had gone full out and were wearing women's clothes or even womens' body parts. And everyone had face paint and wasn't speaking English and I couldn't afford to get drunk enough to not notice.

Sometimes you just need to Forget Paris.

- blogandt

November 13, 2005 8:10 pm (French Time)

France Day 3

(This is the race report. There is supposed to be a party tonight, so if anything good happens there I'll just post it here Monday night and get everyone mad for spilling the gossip.)

Do you want the short story or the whole one? Because the short story is the Short story, as in Andrew Short simply dominated the 23rd Annual Bercy Supercross, winning all three nights with ease. So the results show Short as King of Bercy, with Mike Alessi second and Mike Brown third, which means that Team USA also won the Team Championship over France and Team Rest of the World.

But the results are in no way indicative of this weekend. First, this race puts on a huge show beyond the racing, with killer music, wild announcers, pom pom girls, freestyle and tons of other stuff going on. And the crowd is unlike anything you’ve heard at any other supercross. They’re loud!

But this year they had a lot to scream about. For the full report on what went down, check the Friday and Saturday report we posted earlier. Basically, Steve Boniface and Mike Alessi collided on the first lap on Friday, and Boniface got mad and punched Mikey in the pits after the race. The French riders really, really want to win this race – and the pressure they put on themselves makes strange things happen, especially when mixed with the Alessi recipe for controversy.

On Saturday, Mikey was battling with Sebastian Tortelli. It was awesome seeing Seb getting huge cheers, running up front and looking like a contender. But his brakes went out and he crashed. Then Boniface and Jeff Alessi crashed into each other. Sorby saw all of this and believed the Alessis were taking people out, (but they weren’t), so he reacted and ghost rode his bike into Mike like he was Johnny Rivera in the famed 1980’s supercross movie Winner’s Take All. Then Jeff rode up to his brother’s rescue and the fight was on between Sorby and Jeff.

In the aftermath, a few facts have changed: apparently Steve Boniface was not involved in the Sorby/Jeff Alessi dust up. Jeff thought Boniface was involved, but he must have been mistaken, as Boniface had already crashed out of the race and was parked on a hay bale with a wounded leg. Boniface was unable to race on Sunday.

Also, Jeff Alessi and Sorby were both banned from competition on Sunday. It was a shame because they were both riding well and brought major excitement to the show. Sorby was hyper aggressive as always, and Jeff looked like a totally different person than last year. A year ago Jeff couldn’t even qualify for the main, and this year he was a sure podium contender until he got all mixed up with the Frenchman.

So that’s the controversy part. As for the racing, Short got good starts every time, and then killed everyone in the whoops, so he was able to make passes when needed. On night one, Tortelli reeled in Mike Alessi and took second. The crowd was stoked because Tortelli was a contender, but his brake problems resulted in a DNF on Saturday night.

There was still hope that Tortelli would win on Sunday. Jeff Gibson got the holeshot and Seb was up there, while Short started in about fifth. The fans were going nuts, but then red flags came out due to a big first turn crash. You could hear everyone groan in unison. And of course, when they restarted it, Seb didn’t got a bad start. Brown got the holeshot, and Short passed him a few laps later and took off. Tortelli passed Brown for third, leaving one last battle with Alessi for second to settle the weekend. But then Tortelli made a bobble on a tabletop section and hit the dirt.

So Short has now won all three nights at Bercy for two years in a row. Alessi wasn’t on his pace, but he fought hard and finished second all three times. Tortelli was probably the second fastest, but bad luck and crashes did him in (sadly, that’s the typical Tortelli tale).

Brown ended up third overall. The Rockstar Suzuki team only had one set of works suspension with them, and it went to Sean Hamblin at first. But then Hamblin crashed out on Friday, so they played musical suspension until Hamblin injured his foot on Saturday. After inheriting Hamblin’s suspension, Brown rode much better.

The event program for the Bercy supercross explained the event as 100 percent race and 200 percent show. And that’s exactly what it was.

- blogandt

November 13, 2005 4:30 am (French Time)

France Day 2

(Check below for the late but great France Day 1!)

Listen, I would love nothing more than to tell you some crazy stories of my adventure in France but guess what? I don't speak the language here and it's driving me crazy. I only do two things with my time: write and speak. In English. That's what I specialize in. So I can't get into any hijinks here, I don't even know how. I walked around Paris for 5 hours this afternoon and nothing noteworthy happened. Sorry. But the town looks cool.

Thank God the racing turned up absolutely brilliant. Thank God for real, because these are the times when I feel like taking up religion hard-core to thank Someone for blessing me with these great stories.

Let me sum it up like this: at one point during tonight's main, a full-on wrestling match broke out between Mike and Jeff Alessi and Steve Boniface and Eric Sorby. It was everything Vince McMahon would have dreamed of - French guys in France ganging up on the hated Americans, just so they could help a third French guy succeed. It's so bizzare and crazy, I still can't believe it happened, and I had a ringside seat. After all this fighting went down, everyone ended up in the same room enjoying the buffett dinner, yes, the French connection and the Alessis were all in the same room, and Jeff decides to sit down right next to me. So he's going over retaliation strategies, and then we get the Tony Alessi theory on what went down, and everyone is quiet and tense. It was like being in the cafeteria in third grade, only these were professional athletes and we were in Paris!

On Saturday everyone was cool through the heat races. Short won one, while Boniface calmly passed Jeff Alessi, no big deal. Tortelli beat Mike Alessi in heat two.
In the main Short took off again, and Alessi was in second with Tortelli all over him. The battle was on, but then Tortelli’s brakes went out and he blew through a berm. But that was the trouble: Sorby came around and saw Tortelli off the track, and he assumed Mikey boy had taken Seb out.

Also, Boniface and Jeff Alessi had crashed into each other, but it was just incidental contact. But the blood was beginning to boil. Boniface crashed again in the back tunnel, so he and Sorby apparently decided to park back there and wait for Mike to come around. Then Sorby ghost rode his bike into #800! Then Boniface came out and helped Sorby double team Mikey, pinning him against the wall to allow Tortelli to go by. Are you reading this? Two French guys taking on the American in the back of the arena so the third French guy could get ahead. It was unbelievable!

So then Jeff Alessi shows up and stops, gets off his bike to help, and now he’s in the mess with Sorby and Boniface! While they wrestle two-on-one, Mike was able to get away in third place. Later, Tortelli dropped out with bike problems, so Mike was able to hold on and finish second, despite getting double-teamed by Sorby and Boniface.
Please go back and read the last two paragraphs again, because you will probably never hear about something like this happening at a motocross or supercross race again.

But that’s the kind of stuff that follows the Alessi clan.

Best of all, everyone gathers each night for a big buffet dinner at the hotel, so Sorby, Boniface and the Alessis were all in there creating tension. It was a wild atmosphere and a situation that is still waiting to be resolved. Who is getting fined? Who is getting suspended? Did 16-year-old Jeff really hold his own in a fight with two Frenchies?

I had no idea this race would be this good of a show.

- blogandt

November 12, 2005 3:00 pm (French Time)

France Day 1

(Note: I spent 2 hours this morning trying to figure out how to get this friggin internet to work. Not easy getting advice from the front desk at any hotel, let alone one where English is the second language. Finally, 12 hours later, I solved the problem - the Wi Fi doesn't have signal strength all the way on the 5th floor of the hotel. So now I'm on in the lobby. So enjoy Friday's report now, and I'll start writing Saturday's report right about now...)

Looking into the riots, I decided to forgo a rental car and wear a flame-retardant suit. I also had both a beret and a turban ready to go in case I was forced to pick sides. I was also worried about getting from the airport to the hotel since I don’t speak the language. Of course that lasted all of five minutes, when I spotted Motoworldracing.com Team Manager Paul Lindsey on my flight in Washington. No one in this sport had traveled more than Paul – he spent years making money racing in South American, Asia, Australia, whatever. He told me he has probably flown on Singapore Airlines 25 times. So France is nothing. The advice was to sleep on the flight because we would land at 7 am, so basically you wanted to have all your sleeping done by then. But I had been stockpiling magazines and books preparing for this trip. I had a lot to read. But surely I would sleep. I’ve slept on just about every flight I’ve ever taken. I have also slept while driving, at a few concerts, weddings, you name it. I can sleep anytime, anyplace, anywhere.

And yet my powers failed me. I could not fall asleep. I maybe got an hour in by the time we landed, which only made me feel worse.

Now – getting from airport to hotel. There was a guy there holding a sign that said “Hi Jason”. He didn’t speak English, so Paul asked him, “Here for Jason Thomas?” and he kind of nodded yes. “Okay so Jason Thomas?” He kind of nodded yes again. The driver tried to repeat the term “Jason Thomas” but it didn’t sound right at all. Oh wait, was he saying “Jason Journalist?”

That was me. Xavier had sent a driver. We piled in and headed for the Novotel and got there in 15 minutes. Europe is crazy!

I (actually) enjoyed a strange breakfast at the hotel. They had this food called bacon, eggs, sausage, and juice and fruit and cereal. It was fine. Really. Europe is crazy!

Then I took a nap – daring all convention since everyone there said if you sleep in the afternoon you will never got onto French time. Who cares? The race was at night anyway and I have to be in Vegas next weekend, which is a nine-hour time difference. So I’ll just stay where I am.

In the lobby I ran into some guy carrying two big cases of Scott goggle. I helped carry them in exchange for a few answers to questions like “where is the stadium?”

You would think it’s obvious but this place is covered in grass.

Next up was maneuvering through security and finding the press room, which took about 1 minute since I found TFS and he guided me there. They had my name and a credential dialed. Europe is crazy!

The show in Bercy is all about the show, not just the racing, and if you want to put on a good one there is really only one option: Mike Alessi. Yes, promoters pay big money for back flippers and freestyling, but the controversy the Alessi clan brings to the races is really priceless.

One day down in Paris and it’s already on.

In practice Andrew Short was putting in the best times, until Mike Alessi finally bettered it. His father Tony was yelling and smiling in the stands, pumped out of his mind, and then Mike stopped in the whoops so dad could lean over the railing and give him advice. Who else does this?

Short went even faster and bettered that time. Then on the very last whoop of the very last lap of the last practice, Mikey popped his shoulder in and out of the socket. He didn’t even crash, but he walked off the track holding his shoulder.

Next up Frenchman Ben Coisey stacked it up in his practice, which was a shame because his lap times were actually faster than everyone sans Short.

I went on the hunt for Alessi information and ran into Racer X European Correspondent Matt Allard. This was a huge hookup since Allard knows tons of people and the ins and outs of the town and the race. But he was struggling since his girlfriend’s bags didn’t check in on their flight. Otherwise it was good, and we hooked up with the third member of Team Racer X, shooter Steve Jackson, and we were dialed in for the weekend.

Word came out that Alessi was going to race. That’s all he does. This kid would race the Wednesday night Marion Country Fair race in PA if all he has was one broken bone, so this was nothing.

The show began and 8 pm, and I really mean it. This is a show first and a race second. The music is awesome, the announcers and fired up and the crowd is so incredibly jacked up with their air horns and stuff. It is an amazing atmosphere, and it better be because they didn’t drop the gate once until 8:40. Forty minutes of opening ceremonies!

They were good even though I didn’t get to see any of the crazy stuff I heard that they used to run in Paris, like Ricky Johnson being lowered into the stadium in a UFO that was being eaten by Godzilla, blown up by explosives but then doused with fine French wine.

This time they just had the French team lowered from the ceiling in a bog box with a bunch of cheerleaders around them, while the American’s walked up the finish line jump to be greeted by cheerleaders, and the Rest of The World team drove out to the starting line in Nissan Frontier, sorry, Marava here, pickup trucks. They had cheerleaders greeting them too.

There was a race for the French riders who weren’t automatically seeded into the program, and the familiar #917 of Eric Sorby won it. He was on a roll because when he lined up for his heat against Andrew Short and Alessi, he won it! The place went nuts. Better yet, Sebastian Tortelli was in the other heat and he won that, so the fans were super pumped up. If only Coisey hadn’t taken himself out of it the French could have been the favorites to win the whole team thing.

In the main though the Americans stepped up as Short grabbed the holeshot in front of Alessi. But Sorby was right there in third, and when he moved to the inside of Alessi through the whoops … oh wait the red flags came out.

Tortelli was stuck in the first turn, so there was no way they weren’t going to red flag this one. Actually, David Phillapaerts was stuck in Seb’s rear wheel (like Seb was in Tedesco’s wheel at the des Nations) and since they were still on the track, they had no choice.

But just before the riders got to see the flags, Sorby put a huge block pass on Alessi, which is like Chapter 1 in his book of how to ride aggressively. The crowd was fired up for the next start.

This time Alessi got the start and Short passed him through the whoops. Sorby and Tortelli were further back, and then Boniface and Alessi came together out of a corner heading to a triple, and Boniface went down. It looked like nothing more than the standard racing you get on the first lap of a tight track.

Short pulled away hard and fast while Sorby was shoving people out of the way in classic Sorby fashion. As he closed in on Jeff Gibson, you could pretty much see his block pass coming from a kilometer away. And so he went inside and slammed him so hard that they both went down. Gotta’ love Sorby!

Tortelli was the man on the move down the stretch, and the crowd kept getting louder and louder as he closed on Alessi for second. Alessi was really struggling through the end of the whoops with that shoulder, and the fans sensed the pass coming on. But Alessi, as stated here 1,000 times already, is a fighter, and even if you’re going much faster and have the crowd on your side, he will fight you for it. And he fought, taking it all the way to the last lap. Tortelli finally made the pass there and the place erupted and Short won and everyone was happy. At 11:55 p.m. the freestylers were out doing backflips and not a single seat was empty. (But TFS just told me it’s because no one is parked here so there’s no ‘beat the traffic’ syndrome. Oh. Europe is crazy!)

But the real action was back in the pits. Boniface was still not happy with the hit he took from Alessi. He slowed up on the second lap of the race to try to take him out but he missed, so instead he got his revenge in the pits, actually throwing a real deal haymaker and slugging #800 right in the face! And remember, this is 20 minutes or so after Alessi had hit him. Plenty of time to cool down, and yet Boniface was still going nuts.

At this point it all got broken up, and the rumors started flying: the Alessis are pressing charges and Boniface is going to jail for striking a minor, the Alessis have demanded Boniface be removed from the Saturday and Sunday lineup, etc. It was basically every race the Alessis have ever run come to life once again.

Cooler heads have prevailed coming into night two, and everyone has apologized. But man, how cool would it be if they lowered a wrestling Alessi and Boniface from the ceiling tonight while being eaten by Godzilla and blown up with explosives?

We enjoyed a nice buffet dinner after the race that the promoters set up for everyone, and it’s a real nice atmosphere over here. Alessi’s girlfriend showed us video of Boniface and Mikey coming together on the track. She said she has house of footage of aggressive riding dating back to Mike’s amateur days. Dude, what kind of goldmine is she sitting on? Can you imagine the four-hour Alessi’s Greatest Hits DVD package?

Later we had some beers with Xavier, the promoter of this whole thing, and he told us about the latest on hostage negotiations with Alessi and Boniface. I had a few Hoegarten beers in me, which is clearly the best name ever for anything ever. And after the Hoegarten, it was off to bed of course.

- blogandt

November 10, 2005 11:00 am (EST)

We WE

Blogandt is off to France for the Supercross in Bercy - I've never been to Europe before so this should be good. My digital camera is all ready so look for some good stuff on the blog providing my AC adapter works, the internet is dialed and ... wait, what is this? Riots in France? 13 days and counting?

Did I mention that streaks and slumps thing last week? With my power out and my flat tire and wheel and now my newly-flooded house for good measure. And now the WV IRS just sent me a bill for $938 dollars in 2004 State Income tax I apparently didn't pay in 2004, which is news to me since I paid a whopping $3900 in taxes that year, and plenty of that went to the state.

So things are looking up just in time to fly into the riots. No worries. I've taken up smoking, bought a beret and have one of those French translation guide books. And I'm going to study the ways of the Muslim on the flight over just in case I have to switch sides.

Or maybe I'll just wrap myself in an American flag. Yeah, that will go over well.

- blogandt

November 9, 2005 5:11 pm (EST)

Old Willie

Okay, I may just have to light my house on fire to dry it out.

Moving on to some history: Monday night. I had just driven in from New Jersey and Rita asks me, "Hey you doing anything tonight?" This is the easiest question to answer because all you have to do is say "nothing providing my boss lets me out a little early."

So we were on the road. To nowhere. She wouldn't tell me where we were going, I just had to trust her instincts for fun. Finally, we rolled into the Pepsi Roadhouse, which is a concert place outside of Pittsburgh.

"So I guess we're going to the Roadhouse, huh."

Rita just smiled.

Then I saw people coming out of the front door with Willie Nelson posters. And shirts. And bandanas. I tried to deny the obvious. Maybe country music fans are so dumb or drunk that they don't even know what they're buying or seeing?

Nope. Indeed we were watching Willie Nelson in concert. WILLIE FREAKING NELSON.

I know nothing about country music by the way. Recall that I am from New Jersey.

Rita actually wanted to go so we could meet Willie's guitar player. He was Big Dave's buddy back in the day. But today he was sick and off the road (again). So no guitar buddy. Willie would have to make this show worth our while all on his own.

Nope. First, the guy is 73 years old! This makes the Stones look like young kids. Second, Willie actually is stoned. His announcer guy comes and out and asks the crowd for a big welcome, and then we stood and cheered and all of that, and then finally, TEN MINUTES later, Willie finally came out! Also the announcer had to say stuff like, "Willie wants to thank everyone who contributes to Farm Aid." Willie would have the microphone for 90 minutes. Why couldn't he say this?

Finally, Willie is a songwrite and a singer, but he's no entertainer. Ever notice how the guy just seems scared when he's singing?

So add this to hockey, soccer, road racing, drag racing and other country acts under "I've experienced this live and I still don't like it."

Only NASCAR has suceeded on the coversion process.

But the show did include one highlight: the opening act band sucked, but they did play the Dukes of Hazzard theme song. I belted it out Karaoke style, prompting the people sitting next to me to say "Oh, see, we knew you would get into it." But once The Good Old Boys ended, so did the good times.

And Willie did play Uncle Jesse in the new Dukes movie. Not sure if I should give him credit for that, though.

Word is Willie's new reggae album (yes) has a big pot leaf on the cover, except on the Wal-Mart version which has a palm tree. Got to love it.

Big plug here for my man Matt "Mike" Wozney who has a new DVD out called Moto Xposure. It covers amateur motocross in the Northeast area. Matt/Mike has some game shooting both still photos and video at the same time. He is from New Jersey, also, so you know he hates country music.

Check out the DVD at http://www.holeshotgraphics.com

Finally, a news headline from England:

Two motocross brothers from Gaywood have been riding to glory in their first season of racing.

Gaywood. Nice.

- blogandt

November 9, 2005 10:20 am (EST)

Washed up

I have to leave for Paris tomorrow to see the Bercy Supercross. I have a lot to do so I threw a load of laundary in this morning. Something went wrong and by the time I stepped out of the shower there was water, water everywhere. About half of my place was under standing water - including the carpet in the living room.

Apparently there is a problem with the washer. Let me get a shop vac from the office here and go back to clean up some more.

I'll be back.

- blogandt

November 7, 2005 4:44 pm (EST)

The New Jersey

It's been over four years since I left the most populated state in the nation for Almost Heaven here in West Virginia. WV has 24,000 square miles and 1.8 million people, New Jersey has 7,700 square miles but 8.5 million people. Yep, that's nearly five times as many people crammed into less than 1/3rd of the space. There's a big difference there.

I didn't realize how crowded New Jersey was until I left. I venture back there two or three times a year and man, the traffic battles are ridiculous. You battle in parking lots, highways and toll booths. It's a constant war, and it's such a normal part of life there that you can cut dart over five lanes at once and the other drivers don't even flinch. Cutting a swath through five lanes heading to a toll both is normal in NJ. Failing to accelerate .004 seconds after a light has turned green is totally unacceptable, though.

Plus you've got a million roads going every direction and those damn toll booths thrown in for good measure when you're cruising on the Which Exit? Garden State Parkway.

I had to carve through all of this for a wedding on Saturday night. One of my old college buddies was getting hitched. This also meant a reunion of sorts with some of the people who I shared dorm space with way back when.

Sadly, The Girl was busy for the weekend and couldn't make it, so I was doing this solo, and since all of the college people have dates (spouses usually at this point), I was the odd man out at the seating chart. So I had to sit with a bunch of strangers, and it's strange, indeed, when I have to describe my job. First I usually say I write for a motorcycle racing magazine, and that usually intrigues people but also surely makes them think I'm one step above poverty. No way there are any real jobs in a field they don't even really know about.

I usually mention that I get to travel a lot, which makes the job seem much cooler than the minimum wage tales they probably expect. As luck would have it I'm going to Paris this weekend and Vegas the next, so I sounded like the ultimate high-roller (or lyar) after explaining that.

I also mentioned that I do some announcing. One girl at the table just couldn't understand how you would announce a motorcycle race, so to demonstrate what it might sound like, I gave the live call to the dinner rolls gettting passed around the table. I'm sure she was impressed.

Later on I stopped at the bar for a drink and realized I only had $20 bills. How do you tip the guy? I mean, do you ask him for change when the only reason money would be exchanged at all is for tipping him? If he breaks that bill, he's breaking himself. I found a five in my wallet and just had to drop it on him as one big tip. This probably impressed some people, too.

Later I had to get my car from the vallet attandant. I only had $20s. And what's the going rate for vallet anyway? And how can you ask him for change? Does he even have any?

I bit the bullet and asked for ten back on a $20, but I did it after he was out of the car and couldn't do damage.

The bride at this wedding. Her name is Lori, and we've been friends since I first started college and everyone used to do all that regular college stuff in their dorms. Anyway she looked very, very happy getting married and I'm glad she found a good guy in Ross. (NOTE: Lori is a blogandt reader so I have to say all good things here). So, might I ad she looked stunning in her wedding gown and that she's totally awesome in everyway shape and form. And not just in a wedding dress.

Anyway back in the day people were always saying we were going to hook up and get married, and trust me I've heard that about a lot of girls over the years and I haven't even got engaged yet even once. I figured now that she was married I was officially out, and everyone who said we would hook up was now wrong. So I decided to sign this in her guest book: "I guess everyone was wrong about the way things would turn out."

Now that I think about it her husband is probably going to be wondering what is going on when he reads that.

- blogandt

November 3, 2005 7:28 pm (EST)

Just barely making it

Believe it or not Blogandt is heading towards its one-year anniversary, so if anyone else in this industry comes up with the brilliant idea of starting a blog, they are officially a year behind me. Get with the times!

That said our Racer X Senior Editor Jeff Kocan has finally started the blog he planned on starting in 2001 - the well-named cigarettes and coffee.com . Actually, I guess Jeff got that domain in 2001 and has spent the last few years waiting for someone to invent the blog so he would have something to do with it. It's like the guy standing there with a chocolate bar waiting to get run into by the guy with the peanut butter jar and invent the peanut butter cup.

So why no updates this week? We're due on The Racing Paper this week, which means classic double shifts as we try to keep that going while not messing with the regular jobs we have here. The Racing Paper is a labor of love, and as we all know, love can be very labor intensive.

Actually, when we started thinking about this thing two years ago it was an easy sell, the paer was the way out. Racer X was already logjammed at the top with people like DC, EJ, Ping, Cudby, and Scott Wallenberg our master as salesman. We second-generation employees didn't have much room to grow there, so the paper seemed like an awesome idea when the bosses pitched it as us. So we worked hard at it and tried to make it good enough for the locals to appreciate it, and funny enough so people who weren't from this area of the country would want to read it.

The quality has never been an issue in any issue. We made our deadlines at first (barely, though) and the paper was free of typos and errors. We took pride in it because TRP was the way out. After all, look what happened to the old Racing Paper. It became Racer X!

It's not that way anymore though. Racer X already exists, so there's really no place for TRP to go all national. And as the official paper of the district, we have to stay where we are. Meanwhile, the TRP crew started getting other gigs. I got a job announcing supercross and nationals and GNCC and arenacross TV and suddenly I went to three local races this year. My Associate Editor Billy Ursic is writing more for Racer X both in print and the web than anyone else. Jason Berry, our ad man, is now selling ads in the magazines, too. And Mike Farber, our other ad guy, is back in the clothing business with Racer X wear. And designers? We lost our first one and hired a new one, who was so good he now works Racer X exclusively. Congrats, Hooper. Meanwhile we hired three guys that failed, found one that worked but then he quit, and then finally found our savior in a girl that works at the place where we print the thing. It's been a tough road lately, and it just doesn't seem to be leading to the way up like we thought.

I don't know where I'm even going with this. First, I'm apologizing for all of those local races I missed this year. Second, I'm apologizing for not doing all that I could with all of the jobs that I have. I coulld do so much more for our GNCC guys. And for the paper. And everything else. I want to accomplish more - when this year is through I'll have gone to about 40 races in 52 weeks. I'm not burnt out, I'm not tired and I'm not over it. I can't wait to go to Canada for Supercross. And Paris next weekend (freaking PARIS!). And Anaheim again. And GNCCs in March and the Nationals in May and Loretta's in August. Life is good, and that's why I've been sharing it here. It's a labor of love, and that's fine because I love doing this kind of labor.

- blogandt

October 31, 2005 5:00 pm (EST)

Arenacross

I got to hit the first arenacross this weekend in Albany. I haven't been to an AX since Madison Square Garden in like 1986 or something, and things have certainly changed (and as an added note, it turns out those early arenacross races I went to were produced by Racer Productions, who would turn out to be my employer two decades later).

Back in the day the arenacross was all gimmick - tons of races with the top riders over and over, as well as a truck mud bog, Bigfoot, some quads (and three wheelers!) and the greatest idea of all: the State Championship Battle Royal!

At MSG in NYC, they would hold a New York vs. New Jersey grudge race, with 10 riders supposedly from NJ on one side and 10 supposedly from NY on the other. Each team would designate a captain, and whichever captain did like 10 laps first, won. Everyone else on the track was a blocker ala Supercross: The Movie.

So the New Jersey captain gets out front and dominates for nine laps, and I'm pumped because we're gonna' win it! Then on the last lap it gets crazy and the New Jersey captain gets rammed, slammed, jammed, block passed, brake checked, submarined, stuffed and taken out by everyone. And while he's all pinned up, the New York captain is reeling off the laps, catching up, and then takes the lead and the win by inches!!!!!

Years were removed from my life for expriencing such a traumatic event at such a young age. Worse yet, this seemed to happen EVERY YEAR the Arenacross came to town. Team New Jersey is like the Washington Generals of Arenacross. But if they ever held a race at the Meadowlands I bet they would get a win....

Sadly Rita told me a year ago that the whole thing was fake. I was crushed. Then I found out that the guy racing on the black Harley Davidson bike was actually TIMMY COOMBS all along.

I was bummed, but the point is that when I was between the ages of six and eight I loved it.

Now Albany 2005: Arenacross is a mini supercross. Especially this year since they have changed the format with the AMA Arenacross (read: 250) class as the premiere division. Dash for Cash is gone. The top riders racing the 125 class is gone. Basically, the show is just like supercross except now you wait for a main event starring Brock Sellards and Chad Johnson instead of Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart.

Honestly, I missed the Monster Trucks, quads, mud bogs and fake races. There were some good moments, though, as Sellards and Johnson swung some elbows in the Saturday main. And you could see guys getting their one shot at glory, parking someone while battling for 9th all while getting lapped for the second time. It was like the riders were saying "Hey, I'm not getting anywhere so I might as well go take somebody out for fun."

Either way, the series has gotten a lot more polished and professional than the wild and wacky show I remember as a kid. But then again, everything seemed wilder and more wacky when I was a kid. Now I'm just trying to figure out what is actually better. It's like the GNCCs. We spend all this time building up Bill Ballance and Juha Salminen as stars, but you know what the fans love? Watching C riders flip over on big hillclimbs.

And by the way, this Chad Johnson guy is going to clean up this year if he doesn't get hurt. Remember that column from last week about talent and mental confidence? He has that confidence right now, so unless someone starts running the Team New York nine-rider block on him, he's going to be hard to stop.

- blogandt

October 27, 2005 7:42 pm (EST)

Streaks and Slumps

When it rains it pours, and I suppose, when it poors it rains (right?)

Anyway everything seems to work in streaks and slumps. When a rider is having bad luck, it is really, really hard to turn it around. But when things are good, they're awesome. And the whole time the guy might not be doing anything different, but his results are 180 degrees apart.

It works like that a lot in life. You know you'll go for awhile with no chicks, no hookups, no prospects, and then all of a sudden you're trying to juggle two that you're interested in. Or you're saving money like mad and then all of a sudden someone bashes your truck in a parking lot, the furnace goes out at the house and your bike blows up.

Same here. I bought the house over the summer because it's a good investment more than anything. It's not what I wanted to spend my money on, but it was the smart move. What I wanted to do, after four years of saving with this full-time post college job here, is to buy something fun to drive. I wanted a Subaru WRX - fun, but still the most practical sports car around. It's not that expensive, it has room for people and stuff, four-wheel drive for snow and it's refined and non "Fast and the Furious" enough to live with everyday.

Honestly I've wanted a WRX since they came out in 2002, but I was trying to be smart. So when I finally decided it was time to plunk down on one four years later, it wasn't a rash decision. And neither was the house. These were well planned.

So that's the streak: new house and car within a few months.

And here's the slump: SIX DAYS after buying the Subie I bent the rim driving over one of the 176,248 big holes between my house and work. This is West Virginia and the roads suck, but hey, that's why you buy a rally car - the WRX, World Rally Cross - so you don't have to worry about a freakin bump messing up your car. But these Fast and the Furious lo-profile tires just bend on anything. Better yet, Subaru doesn't have any wheels around since they're new this year, so I've been waiting THREE WEEKS driving my BRAND-NEW car on a temporary spare. And then it snowed this week.

Awesome.Oh and that snow? I STILL don't have power at the house. So I just dumped a bunch on money on a car and a house and at the moment they're both basically useless.

Harriet Miers has withdrawn her bid for a supreme court spot. I believe the reason cited was "This is just too ridiculious."

So wait. Last year the Red Sox win the World Series after waiting since 1918. That still hurts. And then this year the White Sox win for the first time since 1917???

If the Cubs win it all next year, then it's obvious baseball is about to die and the league is just trying to give everyone a happy ending.

- blogandt

October 26, 2005 6:27 pm (EST)

Maybe he's born with it

First of all, congratulations to Timmy and Jessica Coombs on the birth of their son, Cade McConnell. They crossed some pretty big odds to have this baby. When God found out Timmy might create another male off-spring, he tried to intervene. First Jessica went a full seven days over due, despite our attempts to jar the kid out by having her flag and score the Racer X Office Championships last week. But God is only so strong, as today doctor's can induce labor. So Jess was all set the have the baby at 8 a.m. Monday morning, until God intervened again and dropped a huge snow storm and power outages on the town. The docs called at 5 a.m. to cancel the delivery.

Then Jess went into labor all on her own, and Cade came into the world last night. Congrats! By the way both Timmy and Jessica have spent their whole lives racing motocross so if this one doesn't get into it, someone is in big trouble.

Certainly this kid should have some talent and if he's like his dad, some confidence. It sounds nuts to make such a statement just 24 hours into Cade's life, but it's the perfect fit with my new theory on winning races.

It's a tough pill to swallow though, so sit down and poise yourself over the send button on your email (and by the way my email link is at the top in red).

Here goes: As much as we all like to believe hard work wins championships and races, and that you get out of it what you put into it, I have come to the realization that that isn't true. Looking around, I would put the qualities of a championship racer in this order:

Talent

Confidence

Hard work

Right now we're in the RC era so everyone is all ga-ga on training and hard work, but RC is a huge anomally as the rare "hardest worker" who is also the fastest. That's because he's got huge, huge numbers on the talent and confidence part, too. RC may say he has less talent and just works harder than the rest, but you don't destroy kids when you're an eight-year-old in the 65cc class if you don't have talent.

Was Jeremy McGrath the hardest working rider or his era? Or Jeff Emig? Why did they end up with more success at their peak than, say, Mike LaRocco or Mike Kiedrowski, who undoubtably outworked them both? Why didn't Ryan Hughes win a pile of titles if it's true that hard work wins championships?

When James Stewart was killing everything and everyone in his path from age five through 18, what do you think the percentage was on those three ingredients? Were other kids working as hard? I bet Mike Brown trained as hard as Bubba did. But what about talent and confidence? Bubba is way more talented than any other rider out there, and until this summer he had way more confidence. So he had way more wins.

Same with McGrath. Damon Bradshaw was crazy fast and won a lot of races at a very young age. Was he working harder than everyone else? Was Jean-Michele Bayle? Nope, but they had tons of talent and confidence. So did Ricky Johnson. He didn't outwork Jeff Ward or David Bailey, but he thought he could and should win and he made it happen.

The ranks of guys who made real steady improvements and eventually became champions is actually slimmer than the guys who didn't work hardest but did win. Jeff Stanton wasn't destined to be a six-time AMA National Champ, but he made it happen with work. Ivan Tedesco didn't win a single title at Loretta's. Neither did Doug Henry. These guys work for it. But McGrath, Bradshaw, Emig and RJ just had it.

I've been to every GNCC save one for the last five years. Rodney Smith has won three titles during that span, and he'll be the first to tell you he's not the hardest worker. But he has talent and confidence. Barry Hawk puts in his time but I bet he's not signing up for any triathalons soon. He's just confident that he can beat anyone at anytime. And Juha? He's off the charts on confidence and talent.

Now there's this new kid named Charles Mullins tearing up the GNCCs. He must be working so hard to have improved so quickly, right? Nope. Charlie works a regular job during the week. But he's outrageously talented. So talented that I guarantee you he has zero fear of Juha or Smith or Hawk or anyone. He has confidence because he has talent. Train super hard? Why? That's just a cover for some weakness he doesn't have.

Grant Langston has a pretty impressive resume', and save for some injuries he might have added another 125 National title to his collection this year. Has Grant outtrained, practiced and raced his competition? I doubt it. But he's a bad-ass racer with a lot of talent and an inner belief.

There is only one guy to mix in all three elements at the overload level. That's why Ricky Carmichael is the G.O.A.T. But if he didn't have the talent and confidence like the rest of those guys, all of that hard work wouldn't do anything for him. I wish it was the other way around, too, but it just doesn't seem that way.

- blogandt

October 25, 2005 9:08 pm (EST)

It makes snow sense

This is the view out of the front of our office today.

Photo by Matt Ware

For some unknown reason we had a good four to six inches of snow in Morgantown last night. Power went out everywhere, including at my house, which was just barely getting warm after I was gone all weekend. Now there is no heat. Or light. Or just about anything.

Same for the office, which ran all day on two generators that we took from the GNCC equipment. Good thing the season is over.

By the way having your town paralized is awesome when The Racing Paper deadline is hanging over your head....

- blogandt

October 24, 2005 10:24 am (EST)

Riding it like it was stolen

It took two years to finally get revenge on the Klotz Ironman GNCC track, but I finally got just a little bit of it yesterday. The track destroyed my old CR125 back in 2003, as my brand-new WR250F, the perfect GNCC bike for me, sat at home in the garage. That bike hadn't been broken in yet, and you don't do that at a GNCC. By '04 I would have it dialed in ... until it was stolen.

Then it returned. And I finally got to race at at the 2005 Ironman.

I did my three laps and finished a solid 200th overall in the morning race out of 290 guys or something like that. I suck. But I'm pumped.

But now we have to leave our hotel in Indiana and get home.

Internet connection will be lost...

- blogandt

October 20, 2005 8:00 pm (EST)

Ghosts really do exist!

Blogandt is on the verge of a heart attack as we try to pump out the next issue of TRP and also prepare for the grand finale of the Suzuki GNCC Series this weekend. But as always it gets done .... usually poorly but it gets done.

I should go back to work but I have a few things to write. First, remember The Ghost of Unadilla from back on September 30th? The guy riding around at the Unadilla GNCC without gloves or goggles while wearing dress pants? Yeah, well I've uncovered more evidence that he does exist - video proof!

Click here for a 20 second clip of the Ghost of Unadilla in action. Thanks to Corey and the GNCC DVD crew for finding this footage!

Got a classic email today regarding GNCC. Here it is, unedited:

Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 11:06 PM
Subject: any races close to the black water 100

>i no there prbably aren't any races were you can do what you want like the
>black water but are there races like the river crossing was in the 100 you
>know were racers need help or they just realy can't make it up out of the
>rivers up hills i like helping racers out but if there is any races like
>the 100 werer it was all fans helping and having fun please mail me back i
>would really like to go cuz when you watch the movies you want to go to
>races after seeing the fun i like in tucker but want to go to some so tell
>me the details of what goes on thanks zak

My GNCC announcing colleague Rodney Tomblin will make his racing debut this weekend at the Ironman. Check out the press release I did on it. Anyway, everything is coming up Rodney right now. Not only will he race this weekend, but he just received a nomination as the AMA Sports Broadcast Journalist of the Year. Good job, Rod! The good news is that Rodney may not be going to Vegas for the banquet, so maybe, um, maybe I could accept his award! Yeah. I'll be there, baby.

Sadly, riding Rodney's coattails is all I can do. It appears for the second year in a row I have failed to get a nomination in any AMA Sports category. In 2003 I was a prodigy, a phenom, a dynamo. Now my performance has slipped considerably, and alas I was left off the ballot again. And my lonely, two-year old Print Journalist Award sits here cold, waiting for a companion. 2003 was just, what can I say? It was just my year.

So Rodney, represent, my good man!

In the meantime I'm considering racing this weekend's GNCC on the stolen WR. It's supposed to rain like crazy out there too which will be perfect. The key it to race and get cleaned up enough for TV in mere minutes. We'll see. The good news is all the stress this week had taken my cardio to a new level - I've been keeping my heart rate elevated for several days straight now.

By the way, doesn't Ricky Carmichael's success almost make it look like he's not as good as he really is? Let me explain: he had to ride a 450 at the U.S. Open because he hadn't been on the two-stroke in months. It's impressive that the guy's program is so carefully tuned that he can't just switch back to the RM250 and be ready after a day of practice. But then he goes out there and waxes everyone on a 450, and it makes it look like he can just win on whatever. But apparently he can't - these are big, calculated decisions, and sometimes that last ounce of testing and practice makes the decision on what bike he rides. But the thing is, no matter what brand, what model, or what physical condition Ricky is in - hurt, sick, healthy, whatever - the result is the same. He beats people anyway. That guy is so good that you would swear he doesn't do all the stuff he says he does. Couldn't he just take a 1994 DR350 out of a shed and just win on that anyway?

- blogandt

October 18, 2005 8:57 am (EST)

A New Lowe's

First, two announcements:

A) More photos of the Racer X Office Championships are available at www.racerxill.com/champ

2) Get your name in the next issue of The Racing Paper. We need to know: Are you happy with your 2005 season? Why or why not?

Explain it all to us in 20 words or less. Make sure to include your first and last name, your town, your class and your riding number also. email it here. Put TRP Asks in the subject line.

Okay, now back to your regularly scheduled Blogandt

Since I can get into the pits at the motocross races, you would think I would have been prepared for the NASCAR hookup. The Girl and I walked right into the garage area with our passes, but we couldn’t figure out where we were allowed to go. Then we ended up standing next to the #8 and #24 cars, just sitting right there with crews working them over. I guess I’ve stood that close to the #4 and #259 bikes before, too, but still, shouldn’t there be more security than that?

Later we walked on pit road – another surreal experience. I noticed a guy with this shirt on –

Very profound.

I see.

Then we headed to the media building where they were holding a driver’s meeting at 5:05. We weren’t sure if our passes got us in, but I said I would try. I shuffled to door and jammed in with some random group. The security lady said “are you with them?” and I just said yeah all matter-of-factly. So she let me in. Good thing, because our passes didn’t give us access to the media building. The Girl and the other two guys in our group were not allowed in. So the jerk I am, I just hung out inside the media building and ate dinner without them! I checked out two huge rooms filled with reporters and laptops while I had some chicken and green beans and cake. Then the drivers walked past for the meeting – but it was only the stars like Tony Stewart, Junior and the Gordons. (Junior and the Gordons would be an awesome band name, by the way…) I guess I was hanging out by the back door where only the big names come through.

I had seen and ate enough, so I left, but not before stuffing a few cookies and a can of soda into my pants so the rest of the group could eat. Then we hung out around some stacks of tires, because that’s what you do at a racetrack.

While hanging out near the tires, a photographer asked The Girl if she would pose for a picture with some guy from the navy. He asked “would you take a picture with him so he could take it home?” She was skeptical, but the jerk I am, I immediately volunteered her for this. Then I took her camera and snapped this picture.

The Girl was a favorite of the seaman.

A strange thing happened while traveling with The Girl. Everyone would ask her “So is this your first NASCAR race?” and her answer was yes. But guess what? It was my first NASCAR race too, but no one asked me because I’m a guy so surely I have been to one before.

We had tickets to a suite where I ate more dinner and even drank free beer. We were in the penthouse looking down on 150,000 paupers – go ahead and hate us. While I ordered the bartended to get me another free beer, Racer X Designer Dave Brozik called. He was sitting in the cheap seats with his buddies. “Yo Weege, we’re in turn two and we’re loaded. The only reason we started drinking at noon is because we didn’t stop until 5 am last night. You should see these ugly chicks surrounding us. You gotta’ come down here.”

It was real have and have not. But Brozik did have some hookups. His friend “Taco” had a pass for the Dupont corporate tent, so he swiped 18 steaks off of the grill, put them in zip lock bags, stuffed them in a backpack and returned to the bleachers. Brozik and the boys ate stolen steaks by hand above turn two. That’s what it’s all about.

The suite was cool. I even got to meet Ray Blank, who pretty much runs Honda’s American Motorcycle Division. He was hanging out, too. But you just didn’t get the feel for things up there. It was too quiet and climate controlled. Eventually The Girl and I headed to the bleachers, found Brozik, and watched the race the way God intended.

Like I said, it was fun.

- blogandt

October 15, 2005 9:49 pm (EST)

Live it Live

Hockey? Check? Road Racing? Check? NASCAR? Check.

I never liked hockey. My old college roomates told me it was awesome though, and that once I saw an event live I would love it. So I saw one. A bunch of them. Big games, good seats, rivals, battles, overtimes. All of it. Never liked it, be it Rangers or Flyers or Devils or whoever.

I wanted to like road racing since we have a magazine dedicated to it here. So I went to mid-ohio. It was okay. But it didn't convert me.

This weekend I got a chance to try NASCAR. I did some writing work on the side for a NASCAR magazine that needed some info on bikes and quads, so they hooked me up with tickets this weekend for the race in Charlotte - the heart of NASCAR.

Guess what? Where road racing and hockey failed, NASCAR delivered. It was really, really great.

First of all the whole thing is huge and the culture and the amount of freakin' people they cram in there is ridiculous. A NASCAR race in Charlotte is the biggest thing you will ever go to. It's bigger than a concert or a football game or anything like that. We're talking 200,000 people here or something like that, and they're paying $65 for the CHEAP seats.

But you knew NASCAR was big. But did you know it was cool or fun and not boring? Guess how they get you? EVERYONE has a favorite driver. And for some moment in these marathon races, these super-long all-day endurance events, that favorite driver is going to have a moment where they are the star. That driver may take the lead for one lap while everyone is pitting. He may crash. He may run with the leaders. Or move from 20th to 10th. But all 40-some drivers will have their moment out of a long, long period of moments.

Sooo much happened. Ryan Newman took the lead early with Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart behind. For a few hours they were the cars to beat, but most peole didn't care because they were just waiting for their driver to have a moment....

Dale Earnhardt Junior is the favorite driver for obvious reasons. But he pretty much sucked this year. Fans are salivating, dying, desperate for Junior to just do something. But he had his moment, when he moved from like 14th to 8th or something. The announcers told everyone Junior was on the move. He was merely up to eighth but you could feel the electricity as he moved up. He was finally not sucking! Then he cut a tire and hit the wall. You could feel the air suck out of the place after that.

But the moments would come. My man for the night was #41 Casey Mears. We had some pool going and I would have won $215 bucks if he won the race. Plus Ilike him because he used to race the old Mickey Thompson Off-Road Truck Series in a Stadium Superlight. He started 9th. Moved to sixth. Started sucking and was way, way back. But then, after I left the suite we were in, walked around for awhile, found some cheap seats in the bleachers and generally wasted some time, I looked at the scoreboard at lap 196 of 324 and #41 WAS IN THE LEAD! This was my moment!

He led for maybe four laps. Then he dropped back.

Then it was Tony Stewart's turn. He was running near the top three all day and then had it all going his way around that 200th lap. He would pull away. Then a yellow flag came out. Pull away again. Yellow flag. Pull away again. Yellow flag again. Stewart has been the strongest driver in NASCAR this year, and he's the points leader and looked the fastest tonight. But he just wasn't going to win easy because that's not allowed in NASCAR. Then he spun into the wall for no reason. How many times has RC taken hours to get the lead, have to pull away three seperate times and then eventually crash and finish 25th?

Then #41 was up there again! He was in third. I was pumped. And the people arou

ARCHIVES:

Mind Your Numbers

And The Banquet Goes on

Thanks

Huge in the world

A Knight in Vegas

The Knight Rider

Vegas

blame canada

Gay Paree

France Day 3

France Day 2

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A New Lowe's

Live it Live