Cheex Skating Blog

OUTDOOR NATIONALS

2008-06-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

(i'm still living in colorado and I'm usually tired enough from training that I can't think when I write. Sorry it took a week to get out)

Ahhh World Team Tryouts. 9 races in 5 days. U spend something like 2hrs actually skating and 20hrs trying to figure out how the points are working out. It's the most mentally draining meet of the season b/c you have to be consistent the entire week. You can't get to high if you win one race, or too low if you lose one race. It seems like every year someone messes up on the first day and then their head is so messed up they don't' skate well the rest of the competition. Just like every other year the last few spots all came down to the last day of racing. I always like tryouts b/c everyone brings their A game, so the racing is so close.

For me this years was the best tryouts I've skated. I stayed consistent for most of the races(even did well in the 300m, YEAAAAAAAAH), I won both points races, and I was sitting in a good position to be on team after the 2nd day. I made a few stupid mistakes, but like I talked about earlier, I was able to put them behind me and not let them effect the next race. Hard to believe this is my 5th straight year going to worlds, and since i've never been to Spain so i'm pretty pumped.

The racing as a whole was great as usual. Soo many people skated better than i have seen them skate before. Dane skated stupid fast, Keith Carrol too. Erin Jackson and sophi webb were super impressive in Jr girls(all the girls were but i just didn't realize how well they were skating). It seemed like the whole Jr men division was skating fast. Chelsea Crevling looked better than i've seen her before. Kaitlyn looked like a whole new person that the girl at clinics a month ago. Harry skated half the meet with a broken collar bone, and made the team(even if i still think he's stupid for doing it). Josh was strong as hell, and Joey was Joey winning like 4 races. Jonathan Blair really struggled on the track(that'll get fixed at residency), but looked super strong on the road. I was really impressed at how he pulled it together the last 2 days. There were sooo many people skating well, and it was great to see.(if i left you off, and you thought u were skating fast, I prolly agree, I just can't think right now)

Congrats to my guys from home. Jake, Harry, Hank, and Mariah all made the team. Also Kimani skated great as a first year Sr. Harry made a sick come back for like 8months back on skates to make the team. For those guys to skate as well as they did after having to change teams and lose 2 super coaches. Also gotta give tons of credit to Tony Smith for helping everyone get ready this year. It's almost impossible for A) skaters to completely change a program they've been using for several years... and B) A coach to pick up that group of talent and ego and keep it all under control. I think I was happier for Jake to make the team and skate as well as he did than i was for myself making the team. I know how hard he worked this year and it was great to see him make his first world team.

Just to address one that thing that was kinda embarrassing looking back at it. Anyone who happened to see a bunch of us older skaters looking like fools at like Midnight on the last night, I'm sooooo sorry. I'm not going into details or anything, and I know nothing serious happened, but we looked like idiots. And it was completely unacceptable for anyone to act like that, especially with teenagers around.

OK with that said and done.. Next stop indoor nat's. That should be interesting b/c the last time I've been indoors was ummm regionals. But I hope everyone is excited about it, it's always my favorite meet of the year. See you guys there. Train hard.

So it's time for the big race

2008-05-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

Since nationals is creeping up quickly I thought I'd write a blog about a question i get a lot this time of year. Usually i get asked by parents but a lot of times it's from skaters or coaches too.... "I/my kid/my skater gets so nervous at a meet, it doesn't look anything like I/my kid/my skater skates at practice." Now I've seen the "deer in headlights" look and prolly had it a time or two myself. But now days outside of a little anxiousness, I don't get very nervous anymore. So, i'ma just write some quick things to think about before big meets....

My first suggestion is remember what your doing. Your skating.. go out there and have a good time. If you go out there and win, great, but if you go out there and don't win, life will go on. I remember sitting at world team tryouts one year before a points race, in which i needed to get points to make the team. While sitting around before the race, i started looking around. I was looking at the mountains in Colorado, in the middle of a beautiful sunny day. It actually made me laugh for a second. I was sitting there worried about a race when I could be cooped up in an office, or school, or anywhere.. why not just go out and skate, have fun, and see what happens. And i ended up skating pretty well. It always seems that if you put a race into perspective and have fun, it goes a lot better.

The next little piece of advice i give is to get your skater, your kid, or yourself to trust in your training/coach. I look at it like a test in school. If you've studied everything you can, you know you'll do well on the test. Same sort of thing in skating. If you trust your coach and believe in how you've trained, you really have nothing to be nervous about. You've done all you can to get ready. Sometimes you go out and do all you can, and just get beat. There's days when someone else is just better, and all you can do is shake their hand say good job and get better for the next time you race. It's a lot easier if you go into a race knowing you've done everything you can than to go into a race worrying if the other person has done everything they can.

The last thing i want to say is to a lot of parents. Just completely leaving out the point that a lot of parents put WAAAAAY too much pressure on their kids(wait i didn't leave it out at all, i just said it) remember there's a huge difference between practice and a meet. I'm not talking about the people watching, the medals or anything like that. When you skate at practice kids usually do lots of hard drills and many times they skate on a floor with no roll on. Just b/c your kid can beat another kid in 4 out of 5 races on a small slick floor, doesn't mean they're gonna be better than that same kid in a single race on a tight big floor. I've seen lots of kids who skate amazingly at practice, and then struggled at meets. And more times than not it's not that they don't handle pressure, they can't handle the conditions. ometimes you have to slow down at practice so that you can go faster at meets. Sometimes kids at a young age just aren't strong enough to push on roll on. Lots of times there's some big elementary or freshman kid who can just push hard on a tight floor. If i was a parent of a young skater(which I'm not) I would be way more worried about how my kid acted than how they performed on the floor. Having a kid that had fun and was a good sport would mean much more than having a kid that won ever race and was a jerk(it would also be good if my kid could win every race, had fun and be a good sport... ex. young Colin Thomas, and many others).

Alright on that note I'm off, hopefully that helps at least one person.. Train hard for regionals, nationals, ODN, or whatever your training for.. Talk to you soon

NEW PROGRAM

2008-05-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

It seems to me every one has all the complaints about the results of the US on the world level. It's like everyone thought our country would dominate like they did in the early days of inlines. Well the sad truth is the rest of the world got really good really quick. The opportunities in the US dried up quickly, and we lost all of the funding for the world team.

Well fortunately for us Spanky took over as executive director for USARS. Since then things have drastically improved. Suddenly we've gotten a lot of the funding back. Spanky also started having 2 "National Team Clinics" a year, which gives a lot of younger kids a chance to learn tons. We also now have apprentice managers and coaches for the World Team , giving more coaches experience at worlds. Which brings us to the next advancement for US skating, and hopefully another step towards getting us back to the top spot at the world championships.

Starting basically immediately, Spanky arranged for the first short term residency program at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Basically what that means is that for 3 or 4 months, starting June 1st, 4 athletes will be allowed to live on campus and have full access to the complex(including the gym, track, recovery center, sports med, etc). The program is fully funded and a huge step for inline skating and it's relationship with the USOC. Hopefully this program will be successful and get larger in the near future. Think how much the world team would benifit if 10 members lived togather for a summer of nothing but training. I know there will be bumps in the road, but i honestly think in the long run this will help get the US stronger on the world level.

I know there's prolly gonna be complaints about who gets to go and who doesn't. But right now we're just getting our foot in the door. This is a first for our sport and hopefully it won't be short lived. I'll let you guys know for certain who's going to be involved in the program for sure, but I want to make sure everything is official first(I know myself and Mantia for sure).

I hope everyones training hard for regionals, trials, and indoor nat's. Talk to you guys soon

I'm back

2008-05-06T20:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, remember when i started this thing how I said things would get hectic at some point. Well they did. I got sick, then i started traveling and training, it's pretty much been non stop. But i have a few weeks till regional and trials so i thought what better time to catch everyone up on what's been going on.

So there's been 4 or 5 big meets since I last checked in, so i'ma give the short short version of the 2 big ones i went to.

TAMPA-Great meet, even though i was still too sick to skate division indoor. It was sick to see the foreigners skating indoor, and they all did really well. Novice sophomore really sticks out to me, b/c the racing was sooo sick. They passed like a million times, it was nuts. Outdoor Joey was just ridiculous. Gotta thank Bobby, Joe, and Samie for being great hosts while i was there.

SEATTLE- Another awesome meet. Kinda weird the meet is called the Battle in Seattle, and it's not in Seattle. But hey who cares anyway. The racing was really good. It was great to see Miguel Jose skating. It felt like I was young again hanging out with him and Jeremy. Mike always puts on a great meet, and the floor was fast as always.

Also Linda Wood put on a meet in Cali I had to miss, but i heard that it was well run and everyone had a really good time. And ofcourse Mr. B put on an amazing meet that I had to miss AGAIN. I always end up heading to the west coast at the same time as Mr. B's meet, but i promise before i stop skating i'm going to go to one of his meets.

Then following those meets it was off to clinics. Now for those of you who have never been to a clinic in Colorado or Florida...... GO. I promise you'll learn a lot, you'll get in shape, and you'll have a blast. When i showed up to the Colorado clinics this year I was TERRIBLE. By time i left i looked like an athlete again. So, next fall i expect all the clinics to be filled.

Alright that was just a quick lil thing... Depending on a few things, i don't wanna talk about quite yet b/c i don't wanna jinx anything, I may have another blog in a day or 2. So check back when you can. Talk to you guys soon and skate hard.

Oh the cleverness of me...

2008-03-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

Ok.. this is a quick waiver... I'm not an idiot. I have this fear of doctors. I know I'm old and I prolly should have gotten over this at some point, but I didn't. You know that feeling you get before a big race, where your stomach hurts and you get all shaky.. I don't get that much when i race.. But one quick mention of going to see a doctor and I turn in to that guy. Prior to this little incident i hadn't been to the doctor in 4yrs, and that was b/c they had to put screws in my broken hand. Hopefully I wont' be heading back to the doctor for at least 4 more years.. Anyway lots of people told me not to write this, b/c it's gross, but hey i had to put up with being sick.. I'll leave out some description though.. and it's my blog, if i write about the cool stuff I do, I have to write about some lame stuff too.

So the story starts with a stupid little NIRA pylon. I step on it the last corner of the 5 lap at Roanoke..BOOOM... So, i get your normal little burn. Nothing worse than any other fall. Except I got a safety pin pretty deep in my leg(I have no idea if this had any impact). As far as burns I get, I actually cleaned this one way more than normal. I left for Colombia the day I got home and everything was still pretty normal. I started to get a few little bumps around the burn, but that's really not abnormal after a fall on roll on, especially titanium. In Colombia, other than feeling like i wasn't recovering at all, everything seemed normal. So I get home and the little roll-on bumps started looking worse. A day or 2 later one of them started to get really swollen. It didn't take long for me to figure out it was staph infection b/c i got staph when I was playing basketball about 6yrs ago. As the swelling got worse, basically everyone said "go to the doctor, go to the doctor." Like stated earlier going to the doctor isn't my favorite thing to do, so I didn't. I decided just to ride it out. Then the bad part hit me. The fever, the pain in the leg, and a huge lump in my leg. After a day or 2 of a pretty serious fever the lump burst and started to drain. Gross, I know.

Long story short I layed around for like 4 days, in that 4 days I should have gone to the doctor at some point. After the 4 days i went to go skate practice, and at the strong suggestion of all the parents and coaches on my team(understatement) I went to the doctor. Turns out my little staph infection is MRSA, which is a type of staph that can be deadly. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I was close to dying. But, just to make sure I had to lay around for a few more days. I get to take medicine for like 3 more weeks(just to make sure it doesn't come back). And i have this cool new hole in my leg(about the size of a dime). I prolly coulda knocked this out in a few days if i would have gone to the doctor earlier. But you live and you learn.

So, I wanted to give my story of how I had staph, but i wanted to wait till it was all the way gone. Just wanted to make sure I didn't jinx myself into it coming back. I'm not really looking for any sympathy or anything, I just wanted to let everyone know how stubborn i can be. Now I'm all healed up, and getting ready to go to Tampa. Of course I haven't done much of any tying for 2 weeks.. If my first practice or 2 is any sign, it might not be too pretty. But hey, last year I was terrible and they let me come back again this year... Hope to see you guys there, and it's cool you can come talk to me you won't get staph from me. And kids if your sick.. go to the doctor, better safe than sorry... I guess that's the moral of this story.

4person

2008-03-05T19:15:00.000-08:00

I'm sure almost eveyone who's ever skated regionals/nationals has been in this situation before..About a month or 2 before regionals everyone starts to hate everyone because there is 5 or 6 people fighting for a spot on a 4 person relay. 4man or 4girl, it really doesn't matter, for whatever reason people HAVE to be on the top 4person. Then someone gets left off, someone makes it.. then they hate each other. Their parents hate each other. Everyone on the team pretty much takes sides. A lot of times one person is basically isolated from the group. Then they get to nationals and realize they actually have to skate the race. They soon figure out that they were so worried about beating the people on their own team, they forgot to get ready to beat people on other teams. The skaters that didn't make the relay team get to sit back and say "i told you so" and "if i was on the team i would have...". Basically 4 persons for whatever reason tear a club apart. And i guess I do understand the competitive part of it, no one wants to not be one of the top 4 people on their club. However, it just seems to me like 4persons are really good for one or 2 clubs, and bad for all the other clubs.

Don't get me wrong.. I don't think 4persons are completely bad. Watching them is super exciting. Also, some of my most memorable races have been 4man races(or should that be 4men races.. o well). The first year we won, with myself, Harry, Matt Halbreich and Brandon Andrews; a race we dedicated to Johnny Patterson months after he and his father died in a car crash, is still my most favorite race I ever skated. And no offence to that sick federal way team, any of frenchtowns team, or any other team that's ever won, there was no team that was going to beat us that year. Last year was pretty cool, getting up after a fall and winning, missing the record by only a second(we'd fallin in the final 3 straight years). I won 4man with 3guys, then a whole new 3guys.

Basically where I'm going with all of this; after last year I told anyone that would listen that I was done with 4man. And i'm still at like 90% sure that I'm not skating 4man this year. I think piedmont still has a better chance than anyone of winning it, with or without me skating. I kinda wanted to split teams this year and see if we could get first and second, but with chad switching teams, that seems unlikely. The main thing that would make me want to skate the race again is if they made it first at nationals. Think about how much more exciting 4persons were when they were before division. Now it seems like everyone just wants to get them over with. Maybe someone important will read my blog and say to them self.. you know 4persons were exciting first.. and they'll move them around by next year(ps i know why they're at the end now, and it does save people money).

Ok that was my ode to 4person relays.. Next is the story of how i got sick... Ok talk to you guys soon...

CARTAGENA

2008-02-29T18:47:00.001-08:00

First I want to say how much i love Colombia. I've been there 3 times in the last year. The people are so full of passion, and all treat us amazingly. If you ever get the chance to go there.. Jump all over it.

So lets explain the whole set up. Basically, they fly in people from all over the world to compete. Take care of food, hotel, and flights. Then.. they call up sponsors and say, hey we got people from all over the world here, would u like to sponsor this event. Pretty smart stuff.

So, free trip to go skate in Colombia, that's the good part. Here's the bad part. This race is the last qualifier for their national tryouts. So they have to be training pretty hard. However for us, we're basically sitting in the middle of winter, and outdoor training is little to none. So, i read online how joey lost and all sorts of other stuff. Joey skated very similar to the way he skated last year, maybe a little better, and yet somehow he snuck out 7 golds medals at the last world championships. But don't get me wrong... The Colombians are amazing. There's several things that really stick out. First of which being depth. From top to bottom they're all good. There's no one that just can't keep up. The 2nd thing that really sticks out is they're technique. They all skate right. In the US you see people out there and sometimes think, did they ever get coached?? In Colombia even the slowest skaters skate the right way.

To me skating is a lot of times way more than winning and losing. This is the 2nd year we've gone to Cartagena to race, and I haven't skated good either time, not even close to skated good. But this trip is so great b/c of the people you get to meet. The Colombian people are some of the nicest on the planet. They always seem to be happy that you are there. Also, like I said they fly people in from all over the world. They brought skaters in from Venezuela, Italy, Argentina, New Zealand, Chile, Belgium, Korea, and the USA. The first few days all the countries pretty much just hung out with the people that spoke the same language as them. However, after a few days, we sorta got around all that. By the end of the trip we seemed to be eating every meal together, went to the beach together, and even played a game of mini water polo with something like 5 countries represented. One cab ride someone brought up how amazing it was that people from 3 different countries were riding together in a cab, in Colombia. It's super cool when u sit back an think about it, but when your there, your just sorta hanging out with your friends.

Of all the cool things we did, and all the cool people I met there's one thing that really sticks out. On the way to skate the road part of the competition we drove through an area of "houses" that made my jaw drop. These one room houses were probably about the size of some of you guys bathrooms, smaller than some. They were basically built around a swamp. Mostly the walls seemed to be made of plywood, some were made out of old signs. There were some houses with wholes in their roofs. Any house that had electricity had it run directly from the power line into the house. But it looked like not many of them had electricity. There were times when my family struggled for money. But we didn't miss meals, and my parents had an opportunity to make sure myself and my brother were provided for. Seeing how bad some people have it puts into perspective how much we take for granted. So next time you get mad at your parents b/c they didn't buy you your new shoes or cell phone or whatever.. just realize that there are people in this world who really do without. And your probably not one of them.

Ok That was posted a week later than i wanted. I'm pretty sick right now, and that's gonna get explained in a blog or 2 but i want to wait till I'm all the way better(yeaaah i'ma loook like an idiot).. i got 1 more I'ma try and finish 2night.. but it might be 2morro before it's done. Talk to you guys soon

Roanoke-Blue Ridge Challenge

2008-02-27T14:09:00.000-08:00

I think everyone has a favorite invitational. To me that's Mary Almonds Roanoke(formally Philly) meet. I always enjoy they way she puts the meet together. I love how she treats everyone. The numbers are always good. And it doesn't hurt that I usually skate well there.

This year proved to be no exception... I have no idea how many people were there, but there was a lot. There was something crazy like 45 sophomore men. There were heats in almost every division and the racing was super entertaining. Almost every vendor had a booth set up, so there was plenty of stuff to look at. Basically the meet lived up to the nickname of "winter nationals". I know it's hard for a lot of west coast people to get all the way to Virginia for a meet, but next year if you can make the trip, you won't regret it.

I prolly forgot like a million things since the meet b/c I've been in Colombia for a little over a week, but here are some things that stick out. I have to give credit to all the people who challenged up. You guys skated SOOO much. I think your crazy, but good for you. Has anyone watched the primary/juvenile divisions lately. They're REALLY good, especially the girls. You see groups of kids out there that could be racing each other for like 10 years, it's really cool to see(and really weird to think I used to race as a juvenile).

Quick little name dropping... Andrew Shatzer and Justin Mannon(whom i've never really spoken to), they both skated Sophomore and Junior division. They both skate pretty technically sound, and both like to lead, hard. So I defiantly expect to see big things from them in the future.

OK, i gotta give credit to guys on my own club which i forget to do a lot. Hank Galbraith, Kimani Griffin, Matthew Miles, and Jake Powers have all been my teammates for like 3+ years. I hardly ever give my guys credit b/c i expect so much from them. But man they've all improved so much in the last year.

Alright time for good bad and ugly

GOOD-MAAAN so much good. The meet was packed. The competition was awesome. There's really nothing else you could ask for. Prize money for all divisions. Well run. All the NIRA races were really cool

BAD-We did spend all day in the rink. Plus everyone had to bail on Monday. I guess that comes with such a big meet, when you have to add an extra day.

UGLY-ummm nothing really.. I crashed on the last corner of the 5 lap when that pesky pylon reached out and grabbed my foot. That was pretty ugly.

OK i'ma put up a lot on my trip to Colombia in the next day or two.. so stay tuned.

PS.... If you noticed i took down the whole pro men review of Roanoke for 2 reasons. The main of which being it was rushed and really poorly written. The other reason being that I jumped to defend myself when i should have just let it go.

A message to today's youth

2008-01-27T22:57:00.000-08:00

OK.. Before i start this post. It's been brought to my attention that I have friends from other countries who read my blog. Who'da thunk it. Anyway... I just wanna say ciao, hola, bonjour and hello in any other language if your reading this. With that said.. I'm going to write a blog that basically applies to all of the young American skaters. This is pretty easy to write b/c i basically got all of this advice at one point or another. And usually I just did what I wanted to anyway(like all the teenagers who read this are going to do also)

Now before i begin this there has to be a quick history lesson as to why I can say this stuff. When i was around the freshman division I was SLOW. And to make up for being slow i would be extremely lazy also. I really only skated b/c I had lots of friends that skated. (Now don't get me wrong, if your gonna skate b/c you enjoy it and you have lots of friends that skate, awesome. There is nothing wrong with that. I think lots of people who really enjoy this sport get out of it b/c it's a little too competitive sometimes). Since then i have been on all sorts of levels. I've been a guy "that's could be really fast". I've been a guy that's wasting his time skating. I've been called someone that was really fast but didn't know how to race. Been called the guy that wasn't that fast that just knew how to race. I've won meets that i wasn't the fastest guy, and lost meets that i was the fastest guy. I've gone to regionals and not made it out in division, and I've won a gold medal at worlds. I've asked almost every top level coach in the sport for help(thanks for letting me bug you) and tried to remember everyone that ever helped me(ex. that's right Mr. B i still remember in 99 when you had me skating warm ups with my hand on my hip, even if you don't). Basically I've been everything in this sport except a superstar. And everything I'm about to say i heard from someone before. I'm not perfect and I'm never going to be. So I still do dumb stuff(A lot). But I just wanted to share some stuff that I learned through the years skating.

-When you go to practice, try as hard as you can. If your going to spend time at the rink, track, park or whatever you might as well not go out there and play around. Despite what people say, you can go places in skating, it just takes a lot of effort.

-Speaking of practice, it's OK to lose at practice. If you go as hard as you can, and someone sits on you till 2 to go and beats you. That's how i got better indoor. I just led until i couldn't anymore. Eventually I got to where i could lead the whole race.

-Stop telling everyone how tough you are, and how your gonna beat up this person. Usually people just SAY they're gonna do this and that anyway. When you tell people how tough you are you don't really sound tough.. You just kinda sound like an jerk.

-Skate outdoor. If i could change anything about my career i would have started skating outdoor earlier. I still enjoy skating indoor more than outdoor, but skating outdoor will open so many more doors. Plus it will make you faster indoor. So even if you just plan to use it for training, learn how to skate outdoor when your young.

-If your fast... It's OK to talk to someone that's not as fast. At the end of the day we're all part of the skating family. Just b/c your faster than someone doesn't mean your too good to be their friend. In fact if you see someone struggling, why not take a few minutes and help them. Even if they look silly when they skate, you can help instead of laughing.

-Fellas.. I realize there's 10guys to every girl at a meet. But stop chasing them around. Go train hard and become the best, and let the girls chase you.

-Guys stop hating the fastest guy and girls stop flocking to the fastest girl. It's so weird, all the guys hate the guy that always wins. And all the girls will do whatever it takes to be best friends with the fastest girl.

-Remember where you are and what your saying. Don't act like an idiot in public. Realize that you don't just represent your self. You represent your parents, your coach, your team, and you represent speed skaters. So take some pride in the way you act and carry yourself.

-STOP DRINKING AT MEETS!!!(i know i know I probably broke this rule more than anyone) When your older and you can do it legally, by all means go for it if that's what you want. But when your 16 and running around the hotel drunk, nothing good can happen. You usually look stupid, and will most likely do something you regret. You might get in trouble or someone might get hurt. OO yeah, if you just turned 21.. don't buy kids drinks... If something goes bad, your gonna be the one in trouble. So kids just wait a few years, you can still have fun without drinking, and you won't feel as bad the next day.

-Cherrish the friends you have from skating. You will meet people in skating that you will know long after you quit. In this sport your only as good as your last race. So no matter how much you win people forget really quick. But if you make real friends, they'll still be there.(and you can remind them of how good you were)

-No matter what your goals. No matter how long you've been doing it. No matter how much you've won, or how much you've lost. How much Money you make, or how much you spend. HAVE FUN!!!! Almost everyone that i talk to that used to skate, always starts the conversation with "I wish i never would have stopped skating." So enjoy it while your able to(especially if your parents pay for it). Regardless of what happens with skates on, if you have fun, it's worth it.

West Palm Review

2008-01-22T17:52:00.000-08:00

(just experimenting with pictures and this is the only one i have from the meet)

What's up people...

So i just got back from west palm and after a serious nap, decided I'd post a quick review.

INDOOR

The indoor portion of the meet was really awkward for me. Since the only time most people race on concrete is this meet it makes the races a lot more even. The floor actually held a lot better than last year, and after a little adjustment time it was a lot better. We debut Answer's new indoor wheels at this meet. GREAT SUCCESS! Not only do the wheels look awesome, they definitely held better than any other wheel on the track. And even though it was the first time I skated on 100mm wheels(110's will be ready next month) in like a year and a half i felt really comfortable on them. It was great to see Stephen Carter in form that i haven't seen for a while. He won the 500m pretty impressively. And Harry Vogel and Jarret Paul also looked really good working on their comebacks(more to come on harry in a minute). The Pro girls all really looked strong. No one race really pops to my head as being super, but there was a lot of good racing. Jonathan Blair and Sophi Webb(sorry if i misspelled) both looked like a safe bet if your looking for some up and comers. A lot of hard falls too(including me... TWICE), so i hope everyone who went down ended up alright. OOO yeah.. fall of the meet for sure goes to my man Sammie Johnson who got hockey checked into the wall on a relay tag. By the way that was in the masters 3 person i believe.. Can anyone tell me if there were any placements in that race? B/c between us, every team should have been disqualified. And i think the race ended with Ed saying over the mic, "ok you guys are done". HAHA who needs a checkered flag anyway. Anyway overall good meet indoor. O yeah i really almost forgot.. I won the meet. That usually contributes to me saying weather the meet was good or not.

OUTDOOR-The return of American aggression

As always the outdoor part of the competition took place at beautiful Brian Piccolo Park. And before I start.. What is up with the track part of this meet. I think it's cursed. Every year it drops like 40 degrees on the day we skate track. Look here mother nature.. I came to Florida b/c it's warm, not to be walking around freezing. All in all the track part was pretty good. A few of the Colombians were there, they all skated pretty strong. Really want to give credit to my man Daniel who i just met this weekend. Any of you who don't know who that is was the young Colombian skating for tru-rev. The kid just attacked non stop and he's only 15. Speaking of young Kevin Quant looked really strong also. Will Bowen skated strong returning from his serious knee injuries. The powerslide girls looked really good, and they seemed to be working well together. OO yeah and Joey was busy being Joey out there. Making it look pretty easy. I got 2nd though and with the little outdoor I've been doing i was pretty happy with that.

To me the biggest story of the outdoor part had nothing to do with the speed. A lot of people in the US aren't accustomed to the rough style of racing that usually goes on outdoor. I'm not really a big fan of the tough fighting style of racing. But it's the way it is. So if you saw a lot of grabbing and pulling outside, just realize that was nothing compared to the way international races are run. However in the last few yrs the US team has been a little less aggressive than a lot of other teams. And i think it has cost us a lot of races. I think with the return of Harry Vogel to the scene things might just get a little more rough. A lot of people probably aren't going to like it, but I think it's gonna help in the long run. Harry raced in the old days with Chad, Keith, Derrick, etc.. And he defiantly races at a rougher style then we're used to. He absolutely refuses to be bullied on the track. In fact I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he may be the bully on the track. He got grabbed one time on the road, and i think the guy who grabbed him came away with a bloody lip. I'm glad Harry's on my team, and super pumped he's skating strong. I hope we don't all start beating each other up, but i do hope we can carry this style over to Worlds.

Ok quick good bad and ugly.........

GOOD---If you like racing skating this meet is for you. Indoor, Track, Road, and a marathon. Doesn't get much better than that. You get to see top level competition early in the year and you can quickly figure out if your on schedule... or if it's time to step it up a little bit. Great prize money for the pros, and they give away wheels, bearings and all sorts of stuff to the age divisions.... And our new uniforms are sick.

BAD-- Indoor, track, road and a marathon.... that's a lot of skating in 3 days. Especially early in the season where most people outside of Florida are doing little to no outdoor. I kinda wish this meet could be pushed back a few months so everyone could go in at top form. I think it would be a great tune-up for outdoor nationals(contradiction at it's best)

UGLY--Lots of falls.. The track is cursed with bad weather. I think we ran the slowest marathon ever(except Julian and Joey). Plus a lot of people at the meet didn't skate the marathon.

Alright.. good meet had lots of fun... Thanks a lot to Ed for putting on a great meet. Hope to see everyone in Roanoke.

Unevolution

2008-01-04T14:57:00.000-08:00

Since I started skate a lot of things have change. We've gone from quads to inlines. 2piece uniforms to one piece uniforms. 72mm wheels to 110mm wheels. We've even changed helments. We learned double pushing. And even got that little pylon going back into the relay box.

Personally I think all of these changes are great. I love to race and go fast. All of these changes help the atheletes go faster. Hey i'm all for going to bigger wheels if it will let us go faster. I know a lot of people want to say, "Well it's not fair for a smaller person who can't push them." As far as I know, no time in the history of sports has there been a time when a sport stopped evolving because someone might not do as well. When the clap frame was introduced for Long Track some people were terrible on it. They either learned to skate on it, or got left behind. I'm ready to go to 3x125mm wheels if that's gonna let me go faster,2x150's.. sign me up. So this is how I feel about changing for the better, which actually brings me to the point I was trying to make...

With all the changes we've made in the last 20 or so years, why do we skate indoor on a track that was designed to be skated on quads??? I know a lot of people that have been in this sport for a long time will say there's no need to change. But what a lot of people in this sport don't realize is that the top guys in the sport don't sprint. They can't. The track we skate on doesn't allow you to go at a full sprint. The top guys go a top speed, but that's not pushing as hard as they want where they want. It's pretty much a constant battle to stay in control on a liminting track. Do I have an easy answer as to what we should do... Unforutnatly not. But I really think we should try to make a track that's not limiting or atleast so limiting. Don't we want our top atheletes to go out there and see whos the fastest person on the track? Not just see who can handle the corners without slaming into the wall. Now days, most of the younger kids are just attacking the straight aways and rolling into the corners.

So what do I think the answer is.... I don't know. There's the Oval/Nira track, which i definatly think is a step in the right direction. However, the turn is a little tighter than i think it should be. Plus I don't like the way it's easy to protect the inside lane. Making it almost impossible to pass at high speeds. Then there's always an option of going to a larger track. Which could work at some places, but on small floors(like all of my region) would the floor be able to handle a bigger track. Who knows.. maybe someone will read this and come up with a simple solution. But i do think we have about 2 or 3 years of technology getting better before the speeds are just too fast for the standard track. Throw around some ideas people. Lets see what we can come up with. Because in the long run.. I really just wanna go faster(I don't mean lap time, I mean speed)

Joey Mantia Interview pt.2

2008-01-02T12:58:00.000-08:00

Ok sorry about the delay.. But certain things couldn't be talked about until now.. So here's part 2.

MC-So in huge news to the world skating scene, Luigino picked up Italian star Massimiliano Presti. Since most of my readers are from the US and know little about him, tell us about your new teammate.

JM-He's one of the very few people in history to beat the legendary chad hedrick more than once. He's won the world cup overall title something like 6 times. He's helped countless people attain gold medals at the world championships, as well as attaining many himself. He's an Italian icon that kids say they want to grow up to be... On top of all that, he was a wife and a little girl. I think he's probably the oldest guy to still be winning world cups as well. Oh, and he's one of the funniest people I've met... that's something good to have around ha.

MC- So how pumped are you going into the season knowing he's on our side now?

JM- I cant wait to go to the world cups and have a teammate as seasoned as max. Everyone in the world, independent of the states, knows who he is... and theres a reason. With the experience he has and our drive to win, i think it will be a very interesting season in the world cup circuit this year.

MC-Does this mean your planning on making a run at an overall WIC title this year?

JM-it would be something cool to add to the resume' at some point, but until I'm completely done with worlds, and don't care too much about the indoor scene any more, which isn't any time soon, then maybe ill give it a shot. but this is kind of like the whole 50 gold medals thing... its a cool title to own, however, its not something i need to define me nor the success of my career.

MC-Speaking of worlds, lets talk about a gold medal you didn't get. You never really got to tell your side of the 1,000m race in Korea. I know you were upset, but are you still bitter?

JM- Noo, actually me and the kid that was involved are pretty good friends now. Cheating someone is completely garbage in my opinion, but after i put myself in his shoes, i was able to understand why he did it. He was blocking for Jorge Botero, who was basically the Chad Hedrick of Colombia for a long time... He never beat Chad, but has a handful... OK maybe a BAG full of silver medals thanks to Chad. So, i asked myself, if i was a first year senior and someone that i really really looked up to all my life coming up in the skating world came to me and told me to keep everyone behind me no matter what... i might get caught in the moment as well and make some bad decisions. That being said, i just figured i should let it go, learn from it, and don't put myself in a position to be cheated like that again.

MC- Alight lets jump to 2008. Answer Wheels has just been launched. Give us a little inside info and maybe a little plug.

JM-Answer will be here before you know it and i personally cannot wait. Indoor, we finally get to see the sonic welding technology that I've been desperately waiting for to make the indoor wheels that much better. Outdoor, we're going to see a whole new hub design... a ONE PIECE hub. This is going to give us a brand new set of variables to play with and develop to adjust the speed and traction of our outdoor urethane's. Answer Wheels will be globally distributed by the Luigino Family, where as Matter was shared between Powerslide and Luigino. This is a huge deal, as WE now have complete control over any changes in development, sizing options, colors, hub types, and most importantly, quality control. I think everyone will be very pleased with the new Answer line that is to come. Answer Website

MC-Answer defiantly seems like it's gonna be a big deal in 2008 and beyond. Completely jumping subjects. People seem to always have something to say about you and what your doing. What do you want to say to those people?

JM-Ive come to grips that gossip is a part of life. Everyone does it, so I can understand why people go around and say some of the things they say... its juicy. However, it cracks me up that the parents get involved and spread it around like wild fire. With the whole steroid and baseball thing blowing up right now, its incredible how many people bring my name up in conversation on this topic. In a way its a little flattering, but i want to say I've never taken anything to enhance my strength, performance, or endurance EVER. I can't even stick to a simple diet, so theres no way i would be able to... as its been put, "stick myself in the butt" with a needle on any kind of schedule, let alone, be able to keep up with worrying about covering it up for a drug test. I was one of the highest tested athletes last year by USADA, especially for a non-Olympic sport. Apart, from the steroid thing, theres been other things said about me and i would much rather any skaters or PARENTS, come to me and ask me about them, rather than your friend who has no idea either.

MC- All that's left is a few quick ones. I ask a question you just shout out a quick answer....

MC-What's your favorite distance race?

JM-Outside Marathon. Inside 100m

MC-What's your favorite skating trip you've ever been on?

JM-Patinfiesta (MC-AGREED!!)

MC-Best place to train?

JM-Colorado Springs

MC-Country with the prettiest girls?

JM-Colombia/Venezuela

MC-What's your favorite music to train to?

JM-anything - classical - techno doesn't matter

MC-Favorite artist?

JM-Eminem

MC-Video game?

JM-Galaga!!

MC-Movie?

JM-Fight Club

Alright hope you all enjoyed. Will have at least one more post this week. Trying to figure out my next interview. Any Ideas let me know.

GIMMI, EQUIPMENT, SPONSOR

2007-12-17T14:06:00.000-08:00

I get asked 3 questions ALL the time. So, i decided to answer them all on here. So, next time i get one of these questions i can send them directly to my blog. This isn't too serious, so don't get all grumpy on me.

GIMMI- Ok, something I learned quite quickly after I got my first major sponsor was instantly everyone thinks you have an endless supply of equipment(that's not true by the way). And tho most people ask you jokingly, you tend to get asked atleast 30times a day if you can give some piece of equipment away. Here lies the problem. I can't give stuff away. This is kinda how it works. Company gives sponsored athelete equipment. People see that equipment. People buy that equipment. Unfortunaly I can't give all my friends stuff, or my sponsor wouldn't do very good business. I'd get fired. Then i'd be asking everyone else that was sponsored for stuff(hmm I think I understand now). Basically the moral is.. I'd love to give you all stuff, I just can't.

Equipment- Next question I always get is, "What do you think about this brand of equipment?" First thing to point out is, I've skated for Luigino for 4yrs. I haven't worn any kind of equipment other than than what we have. So instantly any opinion of something else, is just going off what I see. Second everyone is gonna feel things a little bit differently. So, what works for me might not work for you. And when it comes to other brands I think from now on I'm just going to respond with, "I haven't skated on them." True story last year someone asked me about another brand of wheels at a meet. I gave an honest answer as to what i saw.... "They're not even close." And from what I had seen I was right. And if anyone else is 100% honest they prolly woulda said the same thing at that meet. Next thing i know people are quoting me saying I don't know what I'm talking about. Prety soon i think people figured out I was right, so I guess I'm not that big of an idiot. People also like to say, you just say this or that b/c your sponsered by Luigino. However, if I wan't 100% sure that Luigino was capable of putting me on equipment that was the best out there, I wouldn't skate for them. Moral of this story is... Ask this question all you want, but don't turn around and doubt what I say b/c I give the obvious answer.

SPONSOR- "How do I get a sponsor?" Man I get this one all the time. I wish I could tell you an easy 3 step way to get a sponsor. There's really just no formula for it. But there are a few things I want to point out. The main thing that people think(kids especially) is that the main reason a company will sponsor someone is b/c they're fast. Sure a company wants to have the fastest team, but winning races doesn't keep companies in business, selling stuff does. That's what makes this question so hard to answer, b/c you don't get a sponsor just b/c you win this race or the other. I think the best way to get picked up is to go to as many races as you can, do well, and actually get out and talk to people. This is a pretty small sport, so you should pretty much know who the right people to talk to are. **DON'T CONFUSE TALKING AND NAGGING** I know it sucks that it's not cut and dry, if your this fast you get this sponsor. But if you want to get a sponsor in the US you have to know the right people. If your entirely too shy to talk to someone, ask your coach to do it for you. And another thing... Just b/c someone offers you a sponsorship, doesn't exactally mean it will be good for you. Make sure you think to the future before you jump on some team. So, if company X offers you a sponsorship, but you hate their equipment, and you still have to pay for most of your stuff; is it really going to be worth it? Just make sure the company sponsoring you isn't the only one benifiting. And please; when you get a sponsor, don't stop working. Your goal shouldn't be to get sponsored. Your goal should be something along the lines of getting as fast as you can, and having fun. Moral of this... A sponsor is a symbol of success. A lot of people mistake symbols of success for actual success. If you only skate to get a sponsor, your prolly in it for the wrong reasons.(but I hope anyone reading my blog who wants a sponsor gets one).

"That's all i got to say about that"... Hope you guys enjoyed. And I know I promised the 2nd part of Mantia's interview. It's coming soon.

P.S. Linda if your reading this I tried to capatilize all the I's, but i'm certin to have missed at least one.(Yes I know)

Joey Mantia Interview PT 1

2007-12-08T17:24:00.000-08:00

They say the easiest interviews to start with are your good friends. So, I decided to go that route(also b/c everyone else turned me down). Fortunatly one of my good friends happens to be arguably the fastest skater alive. Coming off a year where he won 2 WIC races, 7 gold medals at the World Championships, Pan-am Championships,and an Indoor National Championship, I sat down and talked to Joey Mantia.

MC- Lets get right into it. It seems like everyone's making the jump from inlines to ice, and doing it well. Do you have any desire to trade your wheels in for blades?

Joey Mantia- My plans for ice are still a little up in the air to be honest. Most poeple ask me what im still doing on inlines because there's so much more money in ice; they say i should be going to the olympics because if chad can do it, then i definately can. It always makes me smile to hear people say that, but i know that its not as easy as he made it look. Plus, although money is very important (because this is now my full time career), it's not everything. Theres not many things in life that i would rather do than inline skate.

MC- Well that being said, what are your goals for the upcoming inline season?

JM-This year i want to reach back to my junior years and really try to put the amount of passion and drive into every single workout as i had over those years. I'm going to do an immense amount of cross training, accompanied by intense indoor workouts and long vigorous outdoor skates. My goal this 2008 season is to be able to interval like i could when i was younger... i really miss those days. I also want to continue to help Luigino develope the best skates on the market.

MC-Your list of accomplishment seems almost neverending. What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment?

JM-Out of everything, traveling to switzerland this year, winning back to back world cups, and being presented a new car for the victory. Right after it happened, it really didnt sink in at first; i thought to myself, "There's no way you just won a world cup... and a car!"

MC-I know most people don't believe this, but you've had bad times on skates before. Does anytime like this stick out in your head, and what did you learn from from this?

JM-The worst thing i can remember happening was having a complete season of getting my butt handed to me on a silver platter. When i was a first year sophomore, i spent the entire season losing. Every meet i went to, including outdoor nationals, i was just terrible. One of my teammates and good friends, Paul Fitzpatrick went on to win indoor nationals that year, which was really hard for me to cope with. I had always been the one on top, always been the "fastest", and now it was him. On one hand, i was really jealous of Paul's success, because here he was, getting a ton of attention... just like i used to get. On the other hand, i was happy for him as a friend. After that year was finished, i started fresh. I put a 100% effort into every single thing i did at practice and it didnt take long to get back to myself. It really taught me that you can't give up when things start to fall apart, if you are determined, things will work themselfs out.

MC-This year in Cali, you moved into 2nd place for overall gold medals at the world championships. The only person left to catch is 50 time gold medalist Chad Hedrick. Are you going to catch him?

JM-This is probably the most popular question i get. Only time will tell i think. It was never a goal of mine from the start and its still not. I just go to worlds and try to win as many gold medals as i can. Chad is amazing and to be compared to an icon such as himself is flattering, for lack of a better word.

MC-Ok, who cares about the medal count. You now vs. Chad in his prime, who wins?

JM-I think the style of racing, the equipment, and the amount of compeitition are all much different between my and chad's eras, so i dont really think its fair to say yes or no. Although, i would love the challenge if it were possible.

MC- Somewhere there's prolly a 12yr old kid reading this, what advice would you give him?

JM-give joey mantia 5$ every time u see him.

MC-HAHA, how about any skating advise you would give them?

JM-ha, just kidding... Just that you should always follow your dreams and never give up on things. Most importantly, do what YOU want to do. If you love skating, then skate. If you love jumping jax, do jumping jax.

MC-Well thanks for the time away from your busy training schedual. Before I let you go is there anyone you want to say thanks to?

JM-Start off by sayin that im thankful for all the gifts ive been givin in life. I have an amazing set of parents who, despite them separating when i was 12, made sure they did everything they could do to make it possible for me to pursue my dreams and do what i love to do. Im grateful for just so happening to grow up in a small town that housed one of the greatest young speed skating teams of the late 90's and early 2000's, coached by the greatest technique coach in the world, in my opinion (Renee Hildebrand). She brought me to the top, i wish every kid could get the chance to experience a ride like that and to be passionate about something; it makes life much more meaningful. Doug Glass has been an amazing mentor to me over the past few years. Last, but not least, the Hohagen family, for taking me in and making me part of the family up here in WA.

Special thanks to Joey for being my first interview. If you check back in a few days i'm going to post a few more questions I asked Joey. It just got a little long so i stopped it short. Soooo part 2 coming soon.

Greensboro Meet Review

2007-12-07T13:11:00.001-08:00

What's up all,

So another Thanksgiving come and gone, another Thanksgiving spent in a rink. It's kinda crazy to me that every Thanksgiving since 1990 I've spent in a skating rink. I remember being a kid and getting super nervous about this meet. Even though we were never really training for it, you always like to do well the first meet of the season. Gotta say a very big Thank you to Hub And Daune Galbraith for cooking Thanksgiving lunch for like 30 people. It was awesome. I haven't heard much about the meet in TX, but i'm sure it was a great meet as well. Chris Tidwell is a really good guy for the sport and I'm sure his rink held a meet that was fun for eveyone involved.

Alright on to the meet. First thing that really stick out in my mind about this meet Is the talent level of the younger kids. Wow, really impressed with all kids and just how fast they're going. I think they said there was something like 240 entries which isn't bad. Nothing like it was ten years ago, but atleast you could breathe. Like I said earlier it's not really a meet you train for, so that takes a little bit of the pressure off(especially now that i'm older and understand that). As far as I can tell everyone seemed to have a good time. The floor held pretty well, dispite it being narrow.

As far as the racing, a lot more close races than usual. Lately most of the races are spred all over the place, here it seemed like there was lots of racing to the last corner. If i wanted to pick skater of the meet out it would definatly be Joe Widener. I remember talking to Joe like 2 yrs ago and telling him how much i enjoyed watching him race. The kid won't quit. I saw him 3/4 of a lap down i a 2-person heat a few years ago. He sprinted every lap even though he was out of the race. Soooo congrats to him keep up the good work.
The older crowd all hung out after the meet. Special thanks to Reverese and my good friends Derrick and Kate for taking care of everyone. Everyone I talked to the next day said they had a blast.

Just wanted to point some good, bad and ugly out. Seems like it'll be a good way to close out all my meet reviews.

THE GOOD: The competition as a whole was amazing. Everyone skated hard. Great to see William Bowen, Harry Vogel, and Stephen Carter back on their skates. Congrats to Ultimate speed winning the Team Award.

THE BAD: I would still love to see more people skating the meet. I know the sports in a down time, but I miss the days with 400 people crammed into that little rink.

THE UGLY: I hate mornings. And more than that i hate 5 in the morning. I know there's a lot to get done, but i just wish there was some way to sleep in a little past 4:30 am.

Thanks guys.. i'm working on my first interview i think i'll prolly post that up sometime the middle of next week.

What's up People

2007-12-06T15:27:00.000-08:00

What's up skaters,
Recently I discoverd 2 things. First Since it's pretty much down season, I have a lot of downtime. 2nd, I have a lot of stuff i like to say. By putting thoes 2 togather i decided I'd just start writing what I wanted to say. I have a Blog on myspace, but myspace pretty much drives me crazy. I'm going to probably do some interviews with people, answer questions, meet reviews things of that nature. It's gonna start as a Blog may make it up to a web page, I really don't know. Pretty much depends on how many people like it, and how much I enjoy doing it(the latter more than the former). If you guys have questions you want me to answer, great. Send them to MichaelCheek32@hotmail.com. I get enough I'll do a whole blog answering questions. A few quick things to say before I start.

1. I may be a little biased, I skate for Luigino and have for 4yrs, so if say a little more about their equipment and skaters, it's b/c that's what i know. But I'll try and branch out as much as i can.

2. I can't spell.

3. I know a lot more about indoor than i do outdoor. Yes i've been on the world team for a few yrs even have a few medals at worlds. But I've been skating outdoor prolly 4 or 5 yrs, been skating indoor my whole life. So if you ask me about getting ready to athens to atlanta or something like that, can't help ya. You prolly already know more than I do.

Ok i'm sure i left stuff out, o well. Anyway I hope you enjoy. I'll update as much as possible. Prolly gonna bring a blog or 2 over from myspace. Talk to you guys soon.

Michael Cheek

RANT

2007-12-06T13:03:00.001-08:00

This was a ranting blog i posted that apparently pissed some people off. OOPS.. so i decided to carry this one over too.

RANTING
WARNING: I'm sorta tired and in a ranting mood, but this has gotten kinda obnoxious. It really only applies to like a fifth of people at meets(and usually 16 and older guys), so if your not one of them, feel free to ignore.
Just got done with Thanksgiving Meet in Greensboro and one thing really really bothered me. I understand people always cheer for the underdog. And i'm completely ok with that, infact i do the same thing when i'm watching sports on TV. Pretty much for the last 2 or 3 yrs, people have cheered for whoever the next person in line behind the luigino guys. I could name names but it really doesn't matter. It's basically whoever is racing us. I'M FINE WITH THIS. What gets to me is how people are doing it. When you stand on the floor and yell rude stuff twards us. Me and Joey pretty much pay attention to everything going on. We hear what you say. I was always taught that you cheer for someone, you don't cheer against someone. A lot of times, the same people that are yelling obnoxious stuff are the same ones who ask us for autographs for their kids or for our used equipment. If anyone has the video of the 1,500m from 2006(when chris joey and I all fell, very hard, after the 4 luigino guys had pulled away) if you look in the background you'll see 10-15 people jumping up and down celebrating. Not worried that me and Joey just crashed into the wall at sub 9 second laps. Just happy we didn't win. That's not sportsmanship and that's not how someone wants to win or place in a race. And if we don't go over and shake someones hand in a race we won, it's not a slight of that person. But honestly, if I just lost a race it's kinda annoying for someone to tell me how great I did after they just beat me.
One more quick thing. WE'RE NOT TEAM SKATING. There are certin things we do that are kinda unwritten rules when your on the same team, that to me aren't team skating. For one we don't throw passes at 8.5 laps with one to go that could possibly take a whole team out. Another thing is, if one of us takes off, we're not required to chase our own teamates. If you watch races when one of us(usually joey or I) takes off, no one chases. People will sit behind us and never make a move to chase. Then say after the race how they got held back. If someone commits to take off, you have to commit just as much to bring them back. You can't just sit in the pack saying "well one of them got away and i lost the field sprint to the others, that's team skating." If we were to ever go out there and actually team skate like we could, there would be no question about it. No one has ever taken anyone out of a race intentionally, and if they did I didn't know anything about it. I had people saying I did in a 5 lap last year trying to go to the lead, with 3 to go. That doesn't even make sence. I got 3 laps left, if i'ma take someone out i'ma atleast wait till 1 to go.
Aight.. tha'ts all i got to say.. love you guys.. sorry if I sound like and ass. And if your on my myspace this pretty much doesn't apply to you. BUUUT I wanted to get it out. thanks.. be good... later

High Point Blog

2007-12-06T12:53:00.000-08:00

This was originally on my myspace blog but i wanted to bring it over.

The End of a dynasty
What's up peopleThe season is over and i wanted to write some stuff that's been on my mind. Now usually all i would want to write about is my first gold at worlds, the nationals i had(which almost everything went right), or just all the cool people that I've met and hung out with this year. And I'm sure that i'll get to all of that in the next week or so because i'm kinda relaxing right now. But not writing about that stuff sorta lets you know how big this is to me. For thoes of you that don't know the middle of next year the skating rink in high point will be closing, and with that there will be no High Point Speed Team.Most everyone knows me as a High Point skater b/c that's really where i made my name. But before that i skated for Piedmont and we HATED everything about that team. I never even went to the rink till like 8yrs after I had started skating. I swore i'd never skate there either. I was actually about to quit skating all togther before i joined. But thanks to some persistant buddies I decided to skate the last half of the 2002 season there. It was probably the best decision of my life. Whatever combination it was, be it; the way Scott ran things, how every practice was like a meet, or it was just the right time of my life. Things just sorta took off. I went from a face in the crowd to on of the top guys in the country. A lot of poeple will say you could have/would have done the same thing anywhere else,but i honestly think with out High Point I never would have accomplished what I have in this sport. Now most people I'm sure are like; who cares everyone will go somewhere else and life goes on. But for the people that have been there know what it's all about. To go into that crappy floor in that crappy warhouse like building that all it does is make champions. What it's like to hear scott/bob say 5laps 10 times and your just like wow. Then you go out and your blown up after 2 of them and you still got 8more to go. Or to go out on the floor with out your helment buckled and to get pushups. Everything that seems so strict at the time, but now it's hard to understand how you have practice with out it. High Point has the only practice I've seen some of the top skaters in the sport get nervous before a drill at practice. Everyone had so much pride there. If someone from another team came to practice with us, we wouldn't just try and hurt them. We'd try and lap them. In the last 7 yrs at nationals high point has won the over all points 5 times, got 2nd once, and 3rd once. Not a bad record.So basically i just wanna say, damn i can't belive it's over. Thanks scott, bob, shannon, and every teamate I've ever had there. I guess everyone has to move on at some point. From here I think where i skate is pretty much decided already. But I really like hearing all the off the wall things people come up with. So, I'm just gonna let everyone keep coming up with rumors for a lil bit. Hope someone actually reads this far. Thanks for ya time if you do. I promise i'll write some fun stuff in the next week or so.