An interesting article from another website.
Some news is old, but some I haven't heard!
Happy reading....
SWRules
By Vince Castellanos
First of all… Welcome to a very special summer online version of "Dialed In." Things have been so busy in the snowmobile world that we just couldn’t wait until October.
Do you know how your favorite racer spent his summer vacation? We do. And unfortunately, for many the summer months consisted of injury, surgery and recovery. Let’s start at the top: Blair Morgan. The reigning WSA points champion and ESPY nominee suffered a serious motocross injury practicing before a race in western Canada. Air Blair’s throttle stuck on a jump face, he launched high and hard and his bike literally tore through the finish line banner. Morgan fell awkwardly to the ground and suffered a compression fracture in his back and a compound fracture of his right fibula.
"I was really going fast – third gear wide open," Morgan says. "I probably would’ve ended up in the grandstand if it wasn’t for the banner.
"The weird thing is that I don’t have a scratch on me or anything wrong except for my leg and my back," Blair adds. "I knew my back was broken right away. I was telling everyone to be really careful with me."
At first, Morgan thought he couldn’t feel his legs. "Then I realized my left leg was fine but my right leg was numb," he explains. "I looked down and thought, ‘Oh, that’s why it’s numb,’ and then I didn’t look again."
The end result was a plate and seven screws for his fibula and a bulky back brace. However, Blair says his back is healing well and he should be riding by Duluth. And the news wasn’t all bad in the Morgan household. Blair and his wife Terri welcomed their second child at the end of July, daughter Breck.
"Terri’s been great and everyone’s really helped out a lot," Blair says. "And that’s key because I’m just useless right now."
But he’ll be very useful to Ski-Doo, because Morgan signed a new three year deal with Doo that will also reunite him with Carl Kuster and Steven Taylor. "We’re obviously thrilled to have Blair and BMRT back on board," says Ski-Doo Race Manager Steve Cowing. "Their whole team brings a history of success, and we know with our race machines and their riders we should all have a lot of fun this season." No doubt.
Pop quiz, hotshots: From which movie did I steal the whole "Pop quiz, hotshot" line? That’d be Speed. There is no prize for a correct answer. Moving on…
Amsoil/Polaris/Scheuring Speedsports star D.J. Eckstrom is recovering well from the torn ACL in his right knee. "I can do pretty much anything except ride a dirtbike," he says. D.J.’s been staying in shape and expects to be back on the bike basically any day now. "I’m really excited about the season. I can’t wait to get back riding and I think it’s gonna be a great year."
In more injury news, Trevor John and T.J. Gulla are both riding dirtbikes again after surgery. John went under the knife in May to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. "That injury was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through," Trevor says. "I couldn’t train, I couldn’t hold on in corners, the doctors didn’t know what was wrong. It was very hard mentally because I couldn’t do what I’m supposed to do and nobody could tell me why."
John is back to near 100 percent, and as of this writing he had his Arctic Cat contract in front of him. "I loved the guys I worked with last year and I want to be with them again," he says.
Gulla broke the right tibia plateau and stretched the ACL in his right knee in a freak accident at Canterbury last winter, but he was fully healed by April. Unfortunately, he then broke his left kneecap in a motocross crash. "But I’m all good now," he says. In fact, he even drove from Vermont to California and rode some of the well-known tracks like Glen Helen. As of the end of July, Gulla was without a sled ride for the 2003-04 racing season.
Here’s big news: Noel Kohanski is signed, sealed and delivered for the upcoming year. Noel will campaign a Ski-Doo and focus on the CSRA schedule. "As long as I make all the [Canadian] Nationals, the team is totally open to what I want to do," Kohanski says. "So I definitely want to hit a few WSA Nationals and hopefully get to a Winter X Games qualifier."
Kohanski has stayed busy this summer by keeping in great shape. "I’m lean, man," he says. "I’ve lost a lot of weight, I’m really healthy and I feel great." Kohanski hasn’t been riding his dirtbike as often as in past summers, in part because he’s been taking flying lessons and is nearing his license. He’ll give the term "snowmobile pilot" a whole new meaning.
Got a taste for Dairy Queen? Head on down to Antioch, Illinois, and visit the D.Q. owned by Kent Ipsen and his wife Ginger. The store closes in October, meaning Ipsen will have plenty of time to prepare for Duluth. Unless he’s been eating Blizzards for all three meals. "It’s tempting," he says with a laugh, "but I’ve been riding my dirtbike most days and don’t eat too much ice cream."
And finally…Due to a rules change, Steve Martin is forced to move up into the Pro ranks. And that’s just fine with him. "I got kicked out of Semi-Pro and I’m really excited," Martin says. "It’s what I wanted, and if I get smoked that’s OK, at least I’ll be learning."
Some news is old, but some I haven't heard!
Happy reading....
SWRules
By Vince Castellanos
First of all… Welcome to a very special summer online version of "Dialed In." Things have been so busy in the snowmobile world that we just couldn’t wait until October.
Do you know how your favorite racer spent his summer vacation? We do. And unfortunately, for many the summer months consisted of injury, surgery and recovery. Let’s start at the top: Blair Morgan. The reigning WSA points champion and ESPY nominee suffered a serious motocross injury practicing before a race in western Canada. Air Blair’s throttle stuck on a jump face, he launched high and hard and his bike literally tore through the finish line banner. Morgan fell awkwardly to the ground and suffered a compression fracture in his back and a compound fracture of his right fibula.
"I was really going fast – third gear wide open," Morgan says. "I probably would’ve ended up in the grandstand if it wasn’t for the banner.
"The weird thing is that I don’t have a scratch on me or anything wrong except for my leg and my back," Blair adds. "I knew my back was broken right away. I was telling everyone to be really careful with me."
At first, Morgan thought he couldn’t feel his legs. "Then I realized my left leg was fine but my right leg was numb," he explains. "I looked down and thought, ‘Oh, that’s why it’s numb,’ and then I didn’t look again."
The end result was a plate and seven screws for his fibula and a bulky back brace. However, Blair says his back is healing well and he should be riding by Duluth. And the news wasn’t all bad in the Morgan household. Blair and his wife Terri welcomed their second child at the end of July, daughter Breck.
"Terri’s been great and everyone’s really helped out a lot," Blair says. "And that’s key because I’m just useless right now."
But he’ll be very useful to Ski-Doo, because Morgan signed a new three year deal with Doo that will also reunite him with Carl Kuster and Steven Taylor. "We’re obviously thrilled to have Blair and BMRT back on board," says Ski-Doo Race Manager Steve Cowing. "Their whole team brings a history of success, and we know with our race machines and their riders we should all have a lot of fun this season." No doubt.
Pop quiz, hotshots: From which movie did I steal the whole "Pop quiz, hotshot" line? That’d be Speed. There is no prize for a correct answer. Moving on…
Amsoil/Polaris/Scheuring Speedsports star D.J. Eckstrom is recovering well from the torn ACL in his right knee. "I can do pretty much anything except ride a dirtbike," he says. D.J.’s been staying in shape and expects to be back on the bike basically any day now. "I’m really excited about the season. I can’t wait to get back riding and I think it’s gonna be a great year."
In more injury news, Trevor John and T.J. Gulla are both riding dirtbikes again after surgery. John went under the knife in May to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. "That injury was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through," Trevor says. "I couldn’t train, I couldn’t hold on in corners, the doctors didn’t know what was wrong. It was very hard mentally because I couldn’t do what I’m supposed to do and nobody could tell me why."
John is back to near 100 percent, and as of this writing he had his Arctic Cat contract in front of him. "I loved the guys I worked with last year and I want to be with them again," he says.
Gulla broke the right tibia plateau and stretched the ACL in his right knee in a freak accident at Canterbury last winter, but he was fully healed by April. Unfortunately, he then broke his left kneecap in a motocross crash. "But I’m all good now," he says. In fact, he even drove from Vermont to California and rode some of the well-known tracks like Glen Helen. As of the end of July, Gulla was without a sled ride for the 2003-04 racing season.
Here’s big news: Noel Kohanski is signed, sealed and delivered for the upcoming year. Noel will campaign a Ski-Doo and focus on the CSRA schedule. "As long as I make all the [Canadian] Nationals, the team is totally open to what I want to do," Kohanski says. "So I definitely want to hit a few WSA Nationals and hopefully get to a Winter X Games qualifier."
Kohanski has stayed busy this summer by keeping in great shape. "I’m lean, man," he says. "I’ve lost a lot of weight, I’m really healthy and I feel great." Kohanski hasn’t been riding his dirtbike as often as in past summers, in part because he’s been taking flying lessons and is nearing his license. He’ll give the term "snowmobile pilot" a whole new meaning.
Got a taste for Dairy Queen? Head on down to Antioch, Illinois, and visit the D.Q. owned by Kent Ipsen and his wife Ginger. The store closes in October, meaning Ipsen will have plenty of time to prepare for Duluth. Unless he’s been eating Blizzards for all three meals. "It’s tempting," he says with a laugh, "but I’ve been riding my dirtbike most days and don’t eat too much ice cream."
And finally…Due to a rules change, Steve Martin is forced to move up into the Pro ranks. And that’s just fine with him. "I got kicked out of Semi-Pro and I’m really excited," Martin says. "It’s what I wanted, and if I get smoked that’s OK, at least I’ll be learning."
