BMX Hall Of Fame inductee evening, San Diego, CA. By BdJ

Sep 28, 2010

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 17379 times

It wasn’t until a week or so before we left for the USA that we found out that there was a BMX Hall Of Fame banquet taking place in San Diego on Thursday, a day after we arrived in the same city. If I remember correctly, these Hall Of Fame dinners usually took place around the ABA Grands in Oklahoma but moved to San Diego last year. This actually goes well with the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup that kicked off the next day in nearby Chula Vista giving the OS racers that came to the banquet a chance to check out the race in the same trip.

The BMX Hall Of Fame has been going on since the mid ’80-s and focused mainly on BMX racing and its industry. The ABA has been behind it since day one but a few things are changing. Freestyle riders have been inducted the last few years and the BMX Hall Of Fame has become more of a united effort of all sanctions to memorate BMX people. Since the inductee evening moved to San Diego, the attendance has grown making those who need to hold a speech a bit nervous to speak in front of the big group of BMX friends. But that’s a good thing.

When Paul and I entered the San Diego Hall Of Champions Sports Museum in Balboa Park it took us 30

minutes to make it in. Not that there was a huge line to pick up the passes but the” who’s who” in BMX were all there. Xavier Mendez, Brian Blyther, Todd Corbitt, Todd Huffman, Steve Blick, Woody Itson, Todd Lyons, and the list goes on and on. We made it to the main hall and tried to figure out what the deal was. The line for the bar was long which usually means free drinks. Indeed. Xavier Mendez had reserved a table for the freestyle crew which we were part of.

We checked out the items for the silent auction and signed in on multiple lists. Dinner arrived and we sat on the table with the RIDE crew, Mike Dominguez and his lady, Brian Blyther, Xavier Mendez and Todd Lyons. Good company. But there were more riders around that we’d either never seen in real live or had not seen for a long time. It’s pretty amazing to meet legends such as Tim Judge, Richie Anderson, Vance and Brian Patterson, Gregg Grubs, Gary Haselhorst, Bobby Woods and many, many more. The camera came out on several occasions to capture the Kodak moment, just like John Kerr did for BMX Plus!

Speeches can drag on but as long as they’re BMX influenced they can’t be long enough in my eyes. It’s interesting to hear what BMX legends have to say. You hear it from the horse’s mouth and it doesn’t get more direct than hearing it live. Mike Carruth did a great job presenting the evening

. He managed to give the evening a true BMX family vibe, no matter where you were from, no matter if you raced or rode freestyle, no matter what sanction you supported. BMX was the word.

Congrats go out to the new Hall Of Fame inductees for 2010: Woody Itson, Steve Veltman, gOrk Barrette, Linda Dorsey, Tim Judge and Al Fritz.

BdJ

Pioneer BMX Racer - Tim Judge
TJ was one of the top stars on the East Coast in the mid 1970s. His fame expanded exponentially after winning the 1981 Jag World Champion title and getting picked up by the legendary Hutch BMX Factory Team. At Hutch, he added a 1983 IBMXF Cruiser World Title to his list of accomplishments. Tim`s BMX experience played a pivotal role in his post-BMX career, when he became an internationally-known racer and mechanic in the Jet Watercraft (JetSki) industry.

BMX Racer - Steve Veltman
The first rider to win the ABA National Number One Amateur and Cruiser titles in the same year (1982), Steve Veltman also stacked up two Jag World Championship Age Group titles, and two IBMXF world age group titles in his amateur career, and was an Elite Cruiser

Bronze Medalist at the 1989 World Championships. As a professional, Steve won both the NBL and ABA Grandnationals, and the 1993 ABA National Number One Pro title. He competed in three X Games and raced in the top class for 15 years, retiring in 2004. Steve is the only BMX racer to have ever appeared on a Wheaties cereal box.

BMX Industry - Craig "gOrk" Barrette
Few industries have a person so well known and respected that one name suffices in identifying them. In BMX, it`s "gOrk." As someone who has raced at a national level (UBR national number one sidehack three year running), rode and promoted freestyle shows, worked in the warehouse at CW Racing, and served as editor of both the iconic "BMX Action" and the ABA`s BMXer Magazines, he has made his mark on nearly every era of our sport. In 1999, after 10 years with ABA, gOrk moved to the Pacific Northwest to join Seattle Bike Supply as the Director of Marketing for their flagship brand, Redline. He remains in that role today.

BMX Freestyler - Woody Itson
Most people had their first exposure to Woody Itson in BMX Action`s "Hot Shots" feature, as he blasted an impossibly high air at the Big O Skatepark. This racer-turned-freestyler wowed crowds all over the nation on tour for Vans Tennis Shoes, but it was his riding for Hutch BMX Products that made him a household name. He designed the Hutch Trick Star, one of the most popular bikes of the day, and captured both an AFA and an NFA National Title for Flatland in 1985 ands 1986, respectively. As half of the Diamond Back Freestyle Team, he was "Mr. Flatland" to the "Mr. Air" of Mike Dominguez. After a break to attend college, Woody hung up his riding uniform, and became Freestyle Program Director for the megawatt GT Freestyle Team, where he stayed until 2001. Soon after, he started his current company, Satellite Sports Group, and has since been managing a crew of riders who perform BMX Freestyle shows at over 500 venues each year.

Special Recognition - Linda Dorsey
In honoring someone for whom the sharpest wit and cleverest turn of phrase was as natural as green on grass, words are difficult to wrangle when talking about legendary announcer, Linda Dorsey. Her son, Bryan, probably summed it up as well as any of us could, saying, simply, "BMX was her life." During her three-decades on the mic, Linda was a fixture on the NBL National circuit, served on the NBL Board of Directors, and brought her voice to France and Japan, among other places motos were posted. Linda passed away from cancer in 2008, but announced BMX races with the same fire and passion until three months before the end of her life.

Special Recognition - Al Fritz
Father of the Schwinn Sting-Ray Starting on the welding line of Schwinn`s landmark Kostner Avenue plant in Chicago, Al Fritz worked his way up from the factory floor in 1945, to become the number two man and a member of the Board of Directors at Schwinn Bicycle Company. During a chance Saturday phone call in 1963, a West Coast sales rep told him of a "goofy" fad out there, where kids were "buying used 20" bikes and equipping them with Texas Longhorn handlebars." That Saturday morning phone call planted the seed for a project Mr. Fritz would rapidly prototype, and ultimately launch as the Schwinn Sting-Ray. Every BMX bike on today`s track and trails can trace its roots directly to that first Sting-Ray, built by Al Fritz in the winter of 1963.

BE A PART OF HISTORY! A select number of tickets are being offered to the public for the 26th Annual induction ceremony at the San Diego Hall Of Champions (San Diego, CA) on Thursday, September 16, 2010. More information .

ABOUT THE NATIONAL BMX HALL OF FAME
The National BMX Hall Of Fame, founded in 1985 as the "ABA BMX Hall of Fame," has established a mission to further the sport of BMX by helping future generations remember the champions, heroes and thought-leaders who shaped the sport over its history. The Hall Of Fame currently has 90 inductees for the years 1985-2009, and is honored to welcome the six in the class of 2010.