Gallery
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In San Francisco for the October 2005 stop of the Red Bull Air Race, I spent the afternoon with top stunt pilot Kirby Chambliss.
One of my favorite things about covering the Winter X Games in Aspen each January is the post-X Monday riding session at Snowmass.
In September 2006, I flew to Salzberg, Austria to interview Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz. I am one of only a handful of journalists ever to do so. At Hangar 7, his private airport hangar, the bossman’s heli stunt pilot took me for a spin around the Alps.
In December of 2007, I flew to the North Shore of Oahu to attend the Roxy Pro and Pipeline Masters surf contests. But one of the most memorable events I attended was the opening ceremony for a big-wave contest commonly refereed to as The Eddie … or the In Memory of Aikau Big Wave Invitational.
This wasn’t the first time I’ve been asked to have my head examined. At the de la Hoya-Mayweather fight in Vegas in May 2007, I took a turn in the first portable CT-scan machine, which made its way to NFL sidelines that fall. (No, the scan didn’t find anything. And yes, I’ve heard that one.)
One of my favorite moments in Beijing at the 2008 summer Olympics. Shortly after setting yet another world record, in the 200m, Usain Bolt walked to the stands to celebrate his performance with the Jamaican Minister of Sport. It was a really intimate moment I felt privileged to witness. In February 2009, I watched the Steelers beat the Cardinals at Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa. Thanks to the kindness—and tickets—of my colleagues, I was able to take my dad, sister Mandee and brother-in-law Brian with me. In spring 2009, after signing many nondisclosure documents of secrecy, I flew to Silverton, Colo., where snowboarder Shaun White was training for the 2010 Olympic season in his own private, secret halfpipe, built and funded by Red Bull. It is my most James Bond experience to date. Shortly before his second Gymkhana video dropped in the summer of 2009, DC Shoes co-founder Ken Block took me for a spin in his modified Subaru. I’m still gaining my equilibrium.
In my opinion, there is no better place to watch a football game than from the sidelines. A few weeks after the 2009 summer X Games, I scrubbed in for the ACL reconstruction surgery of freestyle motocross rider Blake “Bilco” Williams and wrote about it for our annual Body Issue. In January 2010, I was in Park City for the final Grand Prix snowboard contest of the season and for the announcement of the 2010 Olympic halfpipe team. After the contest, I dropped by the DC Mountain Lab and took a spin through the company’s private park. One of the things I love about the Winter Olympics is the fact that my birthday falls during the event. The Vancouver torch made for quite a birthday candle.
In May 2010, I earned the “adventurer” tag at the top of this site. I spent three days camping, splitboarding and hiking in the Sierra with big-mountain snowboard icon Jeremy Jones and Jones Snowboards sponsored rider Ralph Backstrom. I can’t wait to do it again. When Steve Nash asks if you can fly to Kona, Hawaii, to interview him for your story on how soccer has shaped his athletic career … you say yes. Then you find a quiet, out-of-the-way place to interview him. One of the perks of moving to Los Angeles is living a few miles from the Staples Center and all that goes on inside. Game seven of the 2010 NBA championship series between the Lakers and Celtics was one to remember. In 2009, my mom had the flu and was unable to make it to Tampa to watch the Steelers play in the Super Bowl. So when her favorite team made it to SBXLV, we flew to Dallas for a mother-daughter weekend of football, parties … and unforgettable memories.