One Year Later
The FMX community expresses their condolences for Jeremy Lusk
February 9, 2010, 5:22 PM
By: Ryan Leyba
ESPN
Jeremy Lusk celebrates his first X Games gold at the Home Depot Center in 2008.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of
Jeremy Lusk's
death. It's hard to believe that an entire year has flown by since his passing. It seems like just yesterday that I was reporting the horrific news of his crash and ultimately his death right here on ESPN.com/Action. Since Jeremy's passing, the sport hasn't been the same, but even though the FMX community's wounds are still healing, his untimely death has ultimately changed the sport for the better.
After Lusk passed, the
Lusk Legacy Foundation was founded, as well as the
AFMXA -- which stands for American Freestyle Motocross Association. With the focus of making FMX a stronger, successful -- and most importantly -- safer sport, both organizations wouldn't exist if it weren't for Lusk's unfortunate situation. As it turns out, the old statement really does ring true: "Sometimes you have to lose everything in order to gain something."
Since Jeremy Lusk touched so many people throughout his short, yet overly-fulfilled life, I decided to reach out to the motocross community, asking them to share a few words about Lusk.
Jeremy, thanks so much for showing us how powerful the human spirit really is. We all love and miss your presence.
Click here to view our Jeremy Lusk ZOOM gallery, celebrating Lusk's life and career.
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Super Duper, Ya'll!
Jimmy Fitzpatrick's uncle throws one heck of a Super Bowl party
February 9, 2010, 6:53 PM
By: Chris Tedesco
Chris Tedesco
This was Mat Rebeaud and Andre Villa's reaction when I asked them who they were rooting for. Super what? Villa said that the Super Bowl isn't broadcasted where he lives in Spain. They made up for their lack of football knowledge at the bar.
Whether you are or aren't a fan of football, everyone loves a good Super Bowl party. What's not to love about good friends, lots of food, and of course excessive amounts of alcohol? I have been to some good Super Bowl parties in my day, but none of them can begin to compare to Big Ron's Super Bowl extravaganza. Ron is Jimmy Fitzpatrick's uncle, and every single year, he spares absolutely no expense to make sure his guests have a memorable time at his party. With two fully-stocked open bars for the adults, an inflatable play place for the kids, and a spread of food that would rival a 5-star restaurant, Ron's party is no joke. He even had a raffle for an autographed Super Bowl football signed by Drew Brees and Payton Manning, with all the proceeds going to charity.
Attending the party were some of the sport's icons, such as
Jimmy Fitzpatrick,
Derek Garland,
Mat Rebeaud,
Andre Villa, and
Wes Agee. Pro FMX'ers and two open bars make's for one heck of a party ... just check out the photos if you don't believe me.
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You Don't Know Pain
Travis Pastrana featured on ESPN's Mayne Street with Kenny Mayne
February 9, 2010, 12:28 PM
By: Ryan Leyba
A few months ago I followed Travis Pastrana around the ESPN Campus in Bristol, Connecticut as he made the rounds in what we like to call "the carwash." In addition to SportsCenter and First Take, Pastrana spent a good amount of time filming with ESPN funnyman Kenny Mayne for Season 4 of the wildly popular ESPN original series, Mayne Street.
After months of patiently waiting, the episode is finally here. You don't know real pain.
KICKSTART Receives Nod
"Editing that movie on my 15" Macbook ruined my eyesight."
February 8, 2010, 4:44 PM
By: Cliff Talley
TransWorld's feature film KICKSTART has been nominated for Best Freestyle/MX Movie of the Year at the 2010 Impact Video Xtremey Awards. In honor of this honorable nomination, we decided to pick TransWorld Editor Donn Maeda's brain on the difficulty of filming and editing his first feature film, as well as get some funny behind the scenes tidbits out of him. Check it yo.
TransWorld
KICKSTART features a killer little skit from the skit-master of all skit-masters, Brian Deegan.
How did you come up with the name KICKSTART?
Well, I wanted to make the movie feel like an extension of the magazine, with a little of everything in it. KICKSTART is the name of the section at the front of the magazine that is made up of a bunch of fun stuff, so it was a no-brainer.
How many shots did you ruin trying to backlight them like you do in photography?
Dude. I'm a beginner with a video camera. I didn't try to do anything fancy like that. I barely used a tripod, guy! You, Taylor Congdon and Chris Williams probably got sick of me texting with camera questions. [laughs]
What was the most memorable moment of the whole process?
"Editing that movie on my 15" Macbook ruined my eyesight and I have no more fingerprint on my right index finger. 
-- Donn Maeda
There were a lot of memorable moments, it's hard to narrow them down to just one. Am I allowed to list a few? Chris Kinman [Associate Editor] and I had a lot of fun jacking with Ryan Dungey when we were at his house. I kept asking him questions that made him uncomfortable, and he finally just looked me straight in the eye and said, "You make it awkward, man." Kinman and I couldn't stop laughing.
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The Fitzpatrick Files
Metal Mulisha's Jimmy Fitzpatrick chats with RG3 Suspension
February 8, 2010, 2:46 PM
By: Ryan Leyba
World-renowned suspension tweekers, RG3, caught up with team rider Jimmy Fitzpatrick during a recent ride sesh at the Metal Mulisha Compound. Click play to hear Fitz talk about filming for the new Jay Schweitzer-produced Metal Mulisha DVD, Jeremy Lusk's impact on his riding and his mission to land the double backflip in 2010.
Nate's Fate
ESPN.com/Action contributor Chris Tedesco catches up with Nate Adams
February 5, 2010, 8:38 PM
By: Chris Tedesco
Chris Tedesco
Nate and his mechanic Buddy Morgan tune in his YZ250 at Jimmy Fitzpatrick's house. Gotta clean out those cobwebs that built up during the past month of dormancy.
While shooting photos this past Wednesday night, I spotted
Nate Adams riding at
Jimmy Fitzpatrick's house. It's been a while since I've seen him because this was his first time back riding since dislocating his left thumb shortly after the first round of the
Monster Energy AMA Supercross series. However, after talking with him for a bit, I found out that his left thumb still isn't 100%. "It's sore, but it is actually better than I was expecting it to be. I still have to baby it." But when it came to his riding, it sure didn't look like he was babying anything. Withing a matter of minutes, Nate was back to business as usual, hucking huge cordova flips and stripper flips.
So, how did Nate spend his time while off his bike for nearly a month? I can tell you it was all put to good use. Aside from running one of the most talked about new startups in action sports,
DEFT Family, Nate kept busy and most importantly had fun. "I wrote a lot of dope-ass hip hop rhymes, had a pitty party for a week or so, and boarded at
Winter X for four days courtesy of Target! I did a lot of soul-searching and thinking about what I want to do next."
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The Mike Metzger Interview
The Godfather of FMX fills us in on hectic and exciting, yet never dull life
February 5, 2010, 6:59 PM
By: Ryan Leyba
Todd Stewart
Metzger is back on the bike, looking better than ever and eyeing another X Games gold medal.
I've been fortunate enough to know Mike Metzger for over ten years and throughout the years, "The Godfather" has always been nothing but supportive and cool to me. Back when I was at the height of my riding career, Metz started a team including
Dustin Miller,
Drake McElroy,
Jimmy McGuire and myself. He got us hooked up with custom graphics, gave us proper exposure throughout ads and videos and he gave us a place to ride. Metz was the man and because we were young and fresh to the FMX thing, just having the chance to hang out with Metz was an honor in itself.
In the following years Metz did the FMX thing, winning X Games gold in 2002 (the year he did the back-to-back backflips) and then branching out to Supermoto racing, truck racing, clothing, art and web ventures. Now, wiser than ever ever, Metz has gone full circle and is back at square one with his new team and clothing line,
MOB Syndicate. As always, Metz doesn't pay top riders to wear his name -- he finds new, emerging talent and takes them under his wing in an effort to boost their budding FMX careers. Remember
Jeremy Lusk (RIP)? Well, Metz was the first to take notice of him and launch his career into orbit -- eventually losing him to the Metal Mulisha.
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Nuclear New York
Nuclear Cowboyz infiltrates infamous Times Square, New York City
February 4, 2010, 3:05 PM
By: Ryan Leyba
Ryan Leyba
Some d bag in a blue hoody ruined this photo, but it still gives you an idea of just how massive this freakin' thing is...
I got a tip that Feld Motorsports purchased a massive space in
Times Square, Manhattan to advertise for the East Rutherford, New Jersey stop of the
Nuclear Cowboyz tour, so I had to head down there myself to see if the rumor was true. As you can tell by the photo above, there
IS indeed an insane billboard parked right smack dab in the middle of Times Square.
This absolutely blows my freakin' mind because advertising in Times Square is like the holy grail of promotion and to see
Adam Jones and
Matt Buyten hucking on a billboard right next to the ESPN Zone, MTV, Planet Hollywood and more is straight up big time. Just think of how many tourists are scratching their head trying to figure out what freestyle motocross even is ... I love it. And how about the
MASSIVE Metal Mulisha logo in the lower right corner? I guess they're not joking when they claim global domination.
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Jeff Emig's Love Recap
Fro gives us the lowdown on Dr. Drew and his Loveline appearance
February 3, 2010, 5:47 PM
By: Cliff Talley
While hnging out under the Joe Gibbs Racing tent last weekend, we bumped into moto legend Jeff Emig. Before Emig ripped into the stadium to announce, he took a minute to fill us in on his appearance on the national radio show, Loveline. If you didn't catch Emig on Loveline, peep the full episode here.
Lost in Translation
French FMX magazine Freestyle shows Leyba some love
February 3, 2010, 1:08 PM
By: Ryan Leyba
While filming at Manu Troux's compound in France for Fuel TV's M80 more than three years ago, I met Jean-Francois Muguet -- the Editor of French FMX mag, Freestyle. Jean, or JFM as I like to call him, is a hard worker and attends every big FMX event in Europe and the states, mainly X Games. Like Australia's Freerider MX, Freestyle is an all-FMX mag that has been around for years -- in fact they've recently surpassed issue #40.
While at Summer X Games this past year, JFM asked me if I'd be into doing an interview with him for the mag. Never one to turn free press down, I jumped at the opportunity to look way cooler than I really am. Just last night I received the issue featuring my interview and after having a good laugh at my "gangster" looking pose on the opening spread, I opened up Google Translate and translated the entire article from French to English. Though Google Translate does a good job, it's not perfect and since I didn't want to change around his wording, I just left it as is. Since I'm a self-absorbed narcissist, I thought I'd share the article with you, but I just want to warn you -- it's a bit tough to read. But, if you really pay attention, you can figure out what's being said.
Freestyle Mag
I have no idea why I made this tough face. In real life, I'm a total wuss. Iggy Chop on the other hand? He's straight gangsta!
Disclaimer: This article was translated from French to English using Google Translate and has NOT been revised to make any sense in English. Enjoy.
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