Well, I had the opportuinity to hang around Metz, Mike Jones, Bartram, Twitch, Clowers, Vines and a few others while they were doing a contest/filming for Godfrey's next film.
Sure, they have some serious tats, which I don't care for, but sitting with them I found that they have families and are generally nice kids. They seem to have the same qualities that we expose as being a benefit of getting kids to ride dirt bikes with their families.
These guys didn't know me. I was just some flagger for the event. They also didn't care about the contest. They just wanted to ride and jump their bikes. That was a surprise to me. I thought these guys wanted to win and would be upset at anything less. It sure didn't appear that way. They wanted to play on their bikes like the majority of the folks on this site.
I left that day with a different impression of these folks.
One other thing I saw, Mike Cingmars was in town for an autograph sigining at the No-Fear store with MC. When they got their, as they came through the back of the store, there where two kids sitting there with handcuffs and cops. The kids had been caught shoplifting. Cinq stopped and asked the kids what they thought they were doing trying to steal from the store while hoping to see MC? The kids were shocked that he got down on them.
As to FMX in general; judged events always suck in any sport. I'm not sure how long FMX can go on just due to the nature of the bike and ability to keep doing new tricks.
I can't do FMX, and I get a bit bored at exibitions like the US Open, but I respect what these guys can do and realize most of them are really nice guys. But, of course I still respect Leichien and Emig in spite of the troubles that they had.
As to their skill: I'm amazed that they can size up a jump and hit it so consistently so quick. The fact is, without the tricks, these guys are good on their bikes. The tricks are just bonus.