If you did not know the first round of the X Fighters kicked off a little while ago in fact it’s finished. If you were lucky enough to remember it (or get a little reminder in my case) then you would have seen the new kid, the 17 year old phenom went off and is instantly my favourite for the year.

Let’s head back to the beginning. To the surprise of commentators Ronnie “Who’s your daddy” Renner and Tes Sewell, Danny Torres 8th in qualifying. To add to that he didn’t even make the semi final going down to X Fighters veteran Eigo Sato who was superb the whole night. Aussie FMXer Cam Sinclair was also on top of this game riding a 2-stroke bike which he had brought along to do the double backflip in an FMX run; Too bad Mexico is so high above sea level and the oxygen levels are low so power to the bike suffered. However he displayed his Aussie pride and took out 4th place overall.

Mat Rebeaud the champ from ’08 had a crash in practice; the day prior whilst doing an underflip. Of course he felt a little pain but you couldn’t tell by watching his run. Throwing down his signature tricks he was flawless against all the competitors except Levi Sherwood. Mat had his usual tricks, the underflip and backflip variation but Levi has the same tricks almost with his one style for each. Not to mention he worked the crowd.

It was disappointing to see so many riders screw up. Eigo Sato missed a shift, Sherwood was a little quick with the throttle on the slick ramps, Andre going off the down ramp. There were many mistakes but most recovered nicely. It’s also disappointing to see so much emphasis on how many tricks you do. Tes Sewell mentioned that the judges want 8 tricks. In my opinion it’s about how good the tricks are. More tricks equals less extension maybe they can improve the course design to compensate that.

But the major shock for the night was Levi Sherwood, the young gun, 17 years old from New Zealand (South-East from Australia for those unfamiliar) literally whacked a frying pan over everyone. It’s hard to comprehend how someone which such huge tricks is a) 17 and b) never been to a big competition before. That’s right, he hasn’t been at x Games, Dew Tour or the IFMXF series. He’s the new kid on the block who is sure to provide some intense rounds ahead.

Tags: Backflip Cam Sinclair Freestyle Motocross LuskFMX Metal Mulisha Video X Knights

After reading the bad news from prayforjeremylusk.blogspot.com last week I decided to make a video. The amount of attention it got far exceeded my expectations and just shows how much Jeremy was respected by the FMX community and well … everyone. Here’s the video about him below, if you had issues with it (and I know quite a few did) continue reading, otherwise enjoy the video if you are yet to view it.

Here’s some explaining for some offended people:

The Title: Has nothing to do with military soldiers, it is related to Jeremy’s involvement in the Metal Mulisha. “The Troops” is what the members are called and Brian Deegan is the “General”, hence the military theme throughout. I didn’t want to call it “Jeremy Lusk Tribute” as it would be rather uncreative and boring. EXPN/ESPN Action Sports FMX blogger Ryan Leyba also called one of his blog posts by the same name (after I poted my video).

The Tag: Is used to prevent people re-posting my work. It’s discouraging to see people claim my videos as there own and reap the rewards without credit. The watermark or tag is the only permanent way to ensure credit is given to me, I have been doing for quite a while. Currently this is the 3rd tag design, I believe it’s more pro-viewer then the previous ones. I don’t see why people are so annoyed by it, TV stations have always done it.

Tags: Backflip Brian Deegan Crash Freestyle Motocross Hart Attack Jeremy Lusk LuskFMX Metal Mulisha Stack X Knights XKnights

Bad news. Reigning X Games Gold Medalist and all round good guy, Jeremy Lusk has had one of the most intense and disturbing crashes in FMX history. He was performing his signature Hart Attack Backflip when he under-rotated it. This made him and his bike land upside down, Lusk landing on his head and and bike increasing the harsh amount of pressure placed on his neck and head when it landed on him. He’s in hospital in an induced coma with brain trauma. A helmet can only do so much, maybe FMX riders (like Mat Rebeaud) should always wear Leatt Braces if Jeremy wasn’t himself. Apparently his spine is still in good shape which is great news considering the crash, it made me cringe just thinking of what it must have felt like.

Here are the facts from Ryan Leyba’s Blog at ESPN Action Sports (EXPN)

• Jeremy Lusk was transported to Calderon Hospital in San Jose, where he now remains in a medically induced coma, in stable, but very critical condition where doctors are closely monitoring the swelling on his brain.

• Post-crash, suspected brain trauma required immediate surgery to treat a subdural hematoma on the brain.

• Surgery lasted 4 hours and 30 minutes.

• X-rays were done to the neck and spinal column and no breaks are being reported by hospital.

• When asked about injuries to other parts of his body, hospital is not reporting other injuries at this time.

• Jeremy was attended to by the head of neurological surgery, Dr. Jorge Ramirez.

• Doctors report that they will know more Jeremy’s future prognosis within the next crucial 36 to 48 hours.

So I Let’s keep Jeremy in our prayers, I’m not too religious so I’ll just hope he pulls through.

In other news, I made a new video the other day, some would say it’s a late video, others will say it’s next X Games’ Trailer. Anyway, here’s the X Games 14: MotoX Freestyle video, which does not include Andre Villa and Nate Adams because I didn’t have their runs. Enjoy!

Tags: Crash LuskFMX Metal Mulisha Video X Knights XKnights