Ups & Downs
UPs & DOWNs
UP: To organizers of the 2010 Monster Energy AMA Supercross series, for finding another outside-industry sponsor to support racing in America. New backer Jägermeister got its feet wet in 2009 supporting the Freestyle Motocross Jump Team that performed during intermissions. This year, Jägermeister is the exclusive spirit sponsor for the series. A state-of-the-art mobile stage will be set up in the pits at 15 of the 17 rounds, with live music, DJs and the Jägerette dancers. Jägerbombs for everyone!
UP: To shop teachers everywhere, # % for managing to keep their programs alive while school districts across the nation cut curriculum for budgetary reasons. Tom Hull, a shop teacher at Marshfield High School in Coos Bay, Oregon, takes it one step farther by producing a quarterly newsletter called “Quarter Inch Drive.” Cool art, essays on engine mechanical functions, book reviews and tips from the field are inside. The newsletter is produced for friends and graduates of Hull’s shop programs. What a way to keep shop class cool. Keep up the good work.
DOWN: To video games, for sucking kids inside and out of the sunlight. Generations of kids played with motorcycle toys crafted from cast iron or tin long before ever getting the chance ride a real motorcycle. Those childhood memories propelled many to jump on the real thing later in life. The National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa, has just opened an extensive exhibit called “Little Wheels” displaying more than 400 motorcycle toys from around the world. The show will run through April 2010. For more information, visit www.nationalmcmuseum.org.
