The Big Picture: Congratulations To You

Hey, though you may not have heard about it, you took home an award over the weekend. Time magazine awarded their Person of the Year to…You. For what? For helping to reinvent the web via participation in user community sites like YouTube, MySpace…and yep, VitalMX.com.

As author Lev Grossman explained in the article, "It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes."

Our suggestion? Don't sit by the mailbox waiting for your award to show up. Instead, use the time to get signed up on VitalMX.com, jump in, and get involved. At Vital MX you definitely have power to make things happen, and it's fun to watch as people contribute and get involved, whether in their member profiles, user reviews on products, in the Forums, or via photo or video uploads.

To see more of what Lev and Time had to say, you can check out the entire article here.

Also, don't forget that memberships for VitalMX.com might be the ultimate stocking stuffer. The price is right (free), so let all your friends know that you hooked them up with memberships, and that all they need to do is come here and click the register button to redeem their gift. And if you can do that with a straight face? Priceless.



Team Honda's Tommy Hahn


Just for fun, and to get a little clearer picture on who's racing which coast during the '07 Lites season, we started working on the following table. Some of this is guessing, some is rumor, and a good chunk of it is fact. Let's see if we can fill in the blanks and get it as correct as possible. If you have an update, correction, or addition, e-mail to sgiberson@vitalmx.com


Honda






East West
  Tommy Hahn (52)


Yamaha






East West
Broc Hepler (60) Josh Hill (58)


Makita Suzuki






East West
Ryan Dungey (62) -


Red Bull KTM












East West
Mike Alessi (800) Martin Davalos (577)
Jeff Alessi (801) Josh Hansen (100)
Zach Osborne (168)  
  Bonus: Michael Willard (84)


Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki










East West
Ben Townley (101) Ryan Villopoto (51)
Brett Metcalfe (123) Chris Gosselaar (102)
  Bonus: Christophe Pourcel (377)


Rockstar Energy / WBR / Suzuki








East West
Kelly Smith (47) Troy Adams (34)
Andrew McFarlane (30)  


Sobe / Samsung Wireless / No Fear / Honda








East West
Ryan Sipes (55) Josh Grant (24)
Jake Weimer (73) Billy Laninovich (50)


Yamaha of Troy








East West
Matt Goerke (33) Ryan Morais
Jason Lawrence (338) Kyle Cunningham (622)


MotoworldRacing.com / PPG / Yamaha










East West
Branden Jesseman (121) Michael LaPaglia (138)
Sean Hackley (157)  
Justin Brayton (114) Bonus rider: Andy Bakken


Lucas Oil Yamaha








East West
Sean Collier (42) Dusy Klatt (344)
Broc Tickle (75) Matt Lemoine (630)


Motosport.com / Kawasaki








East West
Matt Boni (609) Kyle Chisholm (48)
Bob Kiniry (54) Steve Boniface (141)


Tamer Motorsports Kawasaki






East West
Ronny Jackson (633) Bradley Graham (240)


MDK Lucas Oil Yamaha (Wonder Warthog Interns)








East West
Ryan Abrigo (103) Chris Blose (177)
Jimmy Albertson (702) Brady Sheren (611)

P-Lok Hog Haven (Wonder Warthog Privateers)


















East West
Geddy Karrle Jimmy Hazel
Ashlee Waskob Charles Castloo
Tim Hollenbeck Ryan Grantom
Tyler Bright Clay Higgins
Gray Davenport Ty Morrow
  Vernon McKiddie
  Adam Chatfield

Privateers






East West
Tucker Hibbert  

As we count down the days until Christmas (seven), and the start of the '07 race season (19 days as of when this was posted), we can't help but look forward to an awesome season of racing ahead. So far, riders have seemed to escape any serious injures at the practice tracks, which is good news. Things are slowing down at the test tracks as riders head home for the holidays, but things will ramp up in a big way in the weeks between Christmas and A1.

Last week we stopped out to see the Lucas Oil Yamaha guys in action at their team photo shoot. The '07 crew is almost all new, with rookies Broc Tickle and Matt Lemoine, as well as Canadian Champ, Dusty Klatt. Only Sean Collier returns to the roster from last year's team. If you missed it, click the following link for a 44-photo gallery of shots of the 2007 Lucas Oil Yamaha team in action.

It was a cool chance to see all of them in action, though we're still suffering a bit of nervous twitching after watching the rotations of the half-blue/half-silver Alpina rims that the team will be using.

It was also fun to spend a bit of time with Dusty Klatt. We'd run into him last season when he was running the East coast Supercross series, but it was fun to watch him a relaxed mood, and throwing in some goon-riding passes between jumps for photos. It wasn't that we wanted to make his first U.S. video a goon-riding deal, but we were there…and we had the camera in hand…and he was riding… But you can check out the results for yourself by clicking the following link to Dusty Klatt's video.

In the meantime, feel free to grab some wallpapers of these guys below.

Click the dimensions (1400 x 1050 or 1440 x 900) next to each photo to open the large image in the aspect ratio that work best for your monitor. After the window pops up with the large image, you can right click to save it as your desktop image (PC), or Control-click to set it as your desktop (Mac).













Matt Lemoine

1400 x 1050

1440 x 900



Sean Collier

1400 x 1050

1440 x 900



Broc Tickle

1400 x 1050

1440 x 900



Dusty Klatt

1400 x 1050

1440 x 900



Team plates

1400 x 1050

1440 x 900



We also visited the Suzuki track last week, where Ryan Dungey and his (and Ivan Tedesco's) trainer, Derin Stockton, were busy at work. You'll be able to check out more from there tomorrow, but in the meantime, know that Ryan has come a very long way in only 12 weeks of riding Supercross, as evidenced by his runner-up finish in Vancouver.

Speaking of Ivan, there's one very important date on Ivan's calendar…a doctor's appointment around Christmas that will determine whether the bones in his hand have healed sufficiently to allow him to race when the season starts at Anaheim. Damage to the skin was apparently gnarly enough that it eliminated the possibility of surgery to the bones, which could have sped up the healing process. We've got our fingers crossed that he can make it back in time (which would be a feat in itself), but also hope that hurrying back doesn't boost his prospects for reinjury.

Back around Thanksgiving, we offered up a pair of Etnies Cinch Shoes for new registrants between Thanksgiving and the end of November. Well, we went in and picked an entry, and they go to YWxs
">bark41, who not only did up a sweet profile, but he managed to get in a nice plug for his business. Nice work!

Etnies is also sponsoring a contest on their own site at the moment, where you could win an autographed copy of Brian Deegan's new DVD, Disposable Hero.

If you want one more way to grab a cool item, check out the giveaway we're doing with a new aXRlLVVuaXZlcnNhbC1Nb3RvY3Jvc3MtU2Ftc29uLUJlZC1SYWNrLDY0NA==
">White Universal Motocross Samson Bed Rack. We want it to get into the hands of someone who can really use it (namely someone with a white truck), so we did put some limitations into the contest. But if you do score this puppy, you'll be the envy of all your friends, who will have to wait months before the production version becomes available.

Today, (December 18th) is Nick Depalo's 20th birthday, and over the weekend, we heard of a very well-attended Nick Depalo Benefit ride at the Seminole Tribe MX park in Clewiston, Florida. While racing at the Winter Mini Olympics at Gatorback on November 24th, Nick sustained a dislocated hip, shoulder and severe spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the chest down. There were tons of auctions, with everything from pro rider gear to complete bikes, and all the funds raised went to Nick and his family. If you couldn't make it, but are interested in helping, you can check out nickdepalo.com

That's it for this week. Just like everyone else, we're scrambling to finish some shopping. Have fun, and ride safe.

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