So we're at the MXDN and today was the first opportunity for the media to check in and see what this whole deal is about. Upon arriving it was just like America, there was a huge Monster tower and then there was a Red Bull tower right across from it. Then I saw Michael Byrne and he had a Rockstar Energy hat on, so I was blasted with three choices for my energy drink needs!
We checked out the track and it's pretty cool, really. Some small elevation and pretty easy jumps that are forgiving. I do think that the only way for this track to favor the Americans more would be to put a dome over it and have Terry Boyd asking us if we're ready to party like rockstars. It's not going to rain, it's not going to get rough and it's got jumps. Europe, you're going to see what the "Bubba-scrub" is all about!
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I've got a Reed towel to go next to my Ferry lightswitch cover!
I made sure to check out Team Canada and everything looks good for a top ten finish and in all my walkabouts around, I was asked about Blair Morgan quite a bit. "Superman" is on the minds of people all over the world it seems. I walked into the Alpinestar hospitality and was surprised to see Tim Ferry in there chilling (ok, I followed him around the pits and "acted" surprised to see him in there) with Team Australia. Michael Byrne, Brett Metcalfe and Chad Reed were all in good spirits and Reedy even asked me if I was a bodyguard for Timmy this weekend. I think they're also going to do very well this weekend with the combined SX experience. Ellie Reed gave me a Reed towel to wave for the five-eight this weekend.
After that, I ran into one of my favorite GP riders (ok, I really don't know very many but still) Josh "The Lizard" Coppins. We spoke for a while, he gave me the low down on his season and when I asked him what it was like for his teammate, an Italian being his main competition for the title, when they were on an Italian team he just smiled and said "It was a little difficult." Josh is a guy that always calls it as he sees it and that's refreshing in these PC times. He also said he was close to riding MX only in America in 09 and that his third guy on the NZ team will surprise some people. You would also think that with me being a journalist-type guy that I would be prepared to be a journalist but I forgot my camera and also my adaptor for my laptop so I was pretty much screwed on the day. Nobody has ever accused me of being a rocket scientist.
Oh yeah, I also ate with Team USA so even though we're across the ocean, some things never change.