I ’ ve had a great run and I ’ ve lost so many good friends , that for FMX , I ’ ve had my day . As far as dirt bikes in general go , I ’ m not done yet . I ’ ve got this water-bike and I ’ m still not done with the world long distance record yet .
So you ’ ve still got plans for more distance record attempts ?
Definitely . I haven ’ t got into the meat of that yet . I feel like I could take that to a whole new realm but the right tool for the job doesn ’ t exist yet . It ’ s something I ’ ve got my sights on though .
What are your thoughts on the action sports industry as a whole at the moment ? Do you think it ’ s in a good place ?
Aaaah …. no I don ’ t . Where the athletes are at is amazing and incredible and I ’ m totally blown away by how much freestyle motocross blew up . The level of athleticism and dedication of the guys now has never been higher . As far as the athletes are concerned it ’ s the highest and most professional it ’ s ever been ...
But ..?
But as far as a business model goes , it ’ s economically a very sad state of affairs . People don ’ t have the sport ’ s longevity in mind with the decisions they ’ ve made and the way they ’ ve gone about creating events and the outcome of events . A business plan for FMX was never put down , and all these events out there seem to be promoted with a short vision of making a quick dollar . Because of that mindset the outcome of the events haven ’ t been just , and that turns people away from the sport .
I ’ m not saying it happens all the time and there are events where the best guy does actually win , but as a business model and making this whole thing understandable , I think they missed the opportunity and it went in the wrong direction . Then they tried to simplify the sport to make it logistically cheaper , but in doing so it was all about standard ramps and distances and it was up to the rider to find creativity in what they did in the air .
It seems like sponsorship dollars are getting harder to come by too . I heard DC has pulled out of moto altogether now .
Yeah dude , I was dropped after 12 years ’ association with them , and that ’ s really disappointing . I think honestly as far as sponsorship dollars go , people are still getting sponsored , but the days of Kenny Bartram and Nate Adams getting paid $ 20,000 to do some backflips doesn ’ t happen any more .
We need something like the bull-riders have , with an association , insurance , a payment system , ranking order and judging system that ’ s professional .
Even the level the young guys coming through have to get to just to be on the radar is ridiculous these days .
And there ’ s not any fair academy , ranking system or governing body for them to come under and grow themselves either . It ’ s frustrating because if the sport had played out a different way , if AMA had structured and accepted the sport and made a judging system and put processes in place , then it could ’ ve been a different outcome . But it just flew under the radar for so many years .
Do you think it ’ s too late to turn the sport around ?
Maybe not , but I ’ ve actually asked myself this same question a bit lately . I feel like I ’ ve come up with a solution on how to judge the sport and it ’ s not too dissimilar to what Tony Hawk Skateboarding used and the mathematics involved in it . For each trick you have a certain number and if you repeat tricks your score drops .
If say Levi Sherwood and Rob Adelberg do a Double Hart Attack and execute it perfectly they get the same points , then an overseeing judge has the power to differentiate by five or 10 per cent , depending on execution .
That sort of system removes situations where a judge has the shits at a certain rider for spilling a beer on him the weekend before and gives him 20 points instead of 80 for a trick . I ’ ve seen it happen with my own eyes where guys who aren ’ t liked kill it , but then get ripped off by the judges , then a well-known guy goes out and f ** ks his run , but still finish second , because first would ’ ve been a total rip-off .
I believe that this judging bias , and the lack of attention to judging contests properly is screwing things up for us as a sport . u
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Judging bias , and the lack of attention to judging contests properly is screwing things up for us as a sport
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