Sunday, August 7, 2005

   X Games XI recap 3
Listening to: "Ignited" - T.M. Revolution

BMX Freestyle Dirt must be the most unpredictable event of the X Games. The top pros can wind up in last, and new guys can steal the gold. Before last night's finals, no rider has won 2 years in a row. It seemed to be the case last night. The big names, like Ryan Nyquist and T.J. Lavin, were crashing, and 2 alternates had to be brought in. Inconsistency plagued just about everyone. If you had a solid run, you could place. Chris Doyle was sitting comfortably at the top w/ his smooth style and killer 360 tailwhip. Things changed in everyone's 3rd run. Ryan Guettler busted big w/ a front flip, followed by a 720! :o However, he couldn't beat Doyle, and neither could Nyquist who let the pressure prevent him from clearing all the jumps. Finally it was all up to Australian Corey Bohan, and the guy delivered w/ a barspin tailwhip, one-footed tailwhip 360, and front flip! He became the 1st dirt jumper in history to win a 2 consecutive gold medals.

Results:
1) Corey Bohan
2) Chris Doyle
3) Ryan Guettler

Random BMXer quote: "Hold my tooth for me." - Corey Nastazio to his team manager after knocking it out in a big crash

Before I get into the drama of Moto X Freestyle, I have to talk about the Metal Mulisha. They're a group of rowdy riders lead by Brian Deegan, and they don't give a damn about what anyone thinks. Ronnie Faisst and Jeremy "Twitch" Stenberg were representing, but only Twitch made it to the finals.
I'm disappointed in the judging b/c some of the riders didn't score as big as they deserved. There was definitely favoritism. Adam Jones might not have had the biggest back flips, but he had huge extension on right-side up tricks like the cliffhanger and the dead body. On the other hand, Twitch was a bit sketchy on some of his normal tricks, but he was 1 of 2 riders who back flipped over the 100' jump. Kenny Bartram had an early lead; he saw the chance to snag the gold and whipped out a running man (where he's "running" on the side of his bike w/ no hands) to side-saddle lander and then straight to a side-saddle back flip. However, his buddy Travis Pastrana beat him out w/ a wall ride transfer and saran wrap back flip. He capped his 1st run off w/ a flip dismount for the fans. Nate Adams (IMO the best rider out there), whose broken toe looked very purple, tried to defend his gold medal. Alas, even w/ a very scary holy grab (where you let go completely to grab the back of the bike) and a 360 followed by a flip, he could not beat Pastrana's panache. See, this is where I get upset b/c the judges seemed to have favored flashiness over precision. Meh. I think Twitch summed up my opinion w/ his eye roll after seeing his low score. I'm officially a big fan of his now after he mocked Pastrana and Bartram in his 2nd run by pulling knock-off tricks: a can-can back flip to side-saddle landing and a flip dismount which destroyed his bike (he had to walk all the way back to the platform). That is how you end things Mulisha-style. \m/ ^_^ \m/

Results:
1) Travis Pastrana
2) Kenny Bartram
3) Nate Adams

Random FMXer quote: "Every time my scores came in this weekend, here and at Best Trick, I thought, 'What more do I need to do?'... Everyone always thinks they should have done better and I don't want to be that guy who always complains about getting screwed." - Nate Adams, who handled his low scores a little more graciously than Twitch (but you can't deny that he went out w/ style)
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