[Becky]

MTB News and Notes: Bon Jovi in, Green out
By Jason Sumner
VeloNews associate editor
This report filed October 2, 2003
With the mountain biking season all but done and the "silly" season yet to fully ramp up, things are pretty quiet in the fat-tire world. Of course there was last weekend's Tour de Dewey here in Boulder, Colorado, but for the most part I've been sworn to secrecy on that one, except to say that when they put their minds to it, some of America's top cross-country pros can sure throw down the beers.

Things will get rolling again in earnest in two weeks when the cycling world descends on Las Vegas for the Interbike Trade Show. Expect lots of team/rider news and look for the unveiling of the 2003 NORBA schedule. In the meantime here's a few notes to chew on.






Rock and roll racing
Got an e-mail from a guy named Jacob Fetty the other day. Turns out Fetty runs a small sport promotion/training outfit and he wanted to tell me about one of his clients. According to Fetty, he's been charged with putting together a mountain bike racing team that's to be funded by the world's most famous big-hair rocker - Jon Bon Jovi. Fetty said that last season Bon Jovi Inc. Management backed a smaller team in partnership with the West Virginia tourism board, but this year he's looking to ramp things up even more.

Fetty said that the team will include six riders - three or four who will be pros - who focus on the NORBA circuit. There will also be a regional development team that will focus on the mid-Atlantic region. As for Bon Jovi's direct involvement with mountain biking, word is he likes to ride but doesn't see himself as a racer.

Green bags Hamilton
According to a news release from the Canadian Cycling Association offices earlier this week, former world cross-country champion Roland Green has decided not to contest the time trial at the road world's after all. The CCA said that Green's doctors had advised against making the trip east from Victoria to Hamilton, and that he should instead stay off the bike for the next month in order to fully recuperate form a litany of ailments that plagued him throughout the 2003 mountain bike campaign.

"I'm obviously very disappointed, but my health is my number one priority," Green said. "I thought I would be ready to go. I was really looking forward to world's, especially with them being in Canada and all. That makes it even harder to miss them."

Jean-Francois Laroche, 23, of Magog, Quebec, will take the place vacated by Green.

Canada throws in the towel
Ran into Canadian cross-country pro Geoff Kabush here in Boulder last week, and he told me at the time that after a few rest days (read Tour de Dewey), he was heading back over to Europe to hit a few late season races in hopes of grabbing enough UCI points to put Canada back into the top five of the nation rankings. The Canadian men fell out of the top five in August, and that in turn cost them a start spot at next year's Olympics in Athens.

Four days later, though, Kabush said the plan had been scrapped.

"The Germans picked up some more points and it just got to the point where it wasn't going to happen for us," lamented Kabush, referring to Germany, who is fifth in the nation rankings while Canada sits sixth.

That means that with just two start spots, the chase for a place on the Canadian men's cross-country team will be as tight as they come. Besides 2000 Olympians Kabush and Roland Green, Ryder Hesjedal, Seamus McGrath and Chris Sheppard will all be in the mix for those two spots.

Kabush said that he didn't know how the team would be selected yet, but expected it to be similar to 2000 when one spot was a coach's selection and the other was determined by a qualification race.

Here's a look at those UCI nation rankings following the World Cup finals in Kaprun. And while there are still a few races yet to be contested this year, don't expect much to change. In the men's cross-country, the top five get three Olympic start spots, with the next 10 getting two each. For the women, it's three for the top three, two for those ranked four to nine, and one for 10 to 14.

Men's UCI cross-country nation rankings:
1. France, 3349 points
2. Netherlands, 3256
3. Switzerland, 3226
4. Belgium , 2978
5. Germany, 2782
6. Canada, 2472
7. Spain, 2311
8. Austria, 1899
9. Italy, 1748
10. Poland, 1709
11. Great Britain, 1346
12. Australia, 1251
13. USA, 1215
14. Denmark, 1100
15. Czech Republic, 1085

Women's UCI cross-country nation rankings:
1. Germany, 3467 points
2. Poland, 3107
3. Canada, 2821
4. Switzerland, 2773
5. Spain, 2233
6. France, 2184
7. USA, 1994
8. Netherlands, 1713
9. Norway, 1550
10. Australia, 1449
11. Austria, 1406
12. Italy, 1397
13. Russia, 1109
14. Brazil, 1027
15. Sweden, 772

Swisspower Cup final
Marathon world champion Thomas Frischknecht checked in with his final mountain biking report of the season from the Swisspower Cup finals in Volketswil.

[Becky]

Ron Jaworski Finally has His Team, With a Little Help
by Randy Snow
Thursday October 2, 2003

Ron Jaworski secured the rights to an Arena franchise in Philadelphia some years ago, but it wasn’t until rocker Jon Bon Jovi and Philadelphia businessman Craig Spencer came into the picture that the dream finally came true for the former Eagles quarterback.

During a conference call on September 23 with members of the media just a few hours before the official unveiling the Philadelphia Soul expansion team, Jaworski talked about how this team finally came to be.

“I’ve actually followed the Arena Football League since 1993,” said Jaworski. “So it’s a culmination of ten years of trying to bring an arena team to Philadelphia. Four years ago we had the rights to the franchise, but we were not able to put together the arena deal with the Wachovia Center or the Wachovia Spectrum. Fortunately, with Jon and Craig, they were able to consummate a deal. They felt strong enough in my face and my football commitment to bring me on board as part of their team so it certainly is a joyous time for me to see ten years of work come to fruition.”

Also present during the conference call were league commissioner David Baker, co-owner Jon Bon Jovi and Philadelphia head coach Michael Trigg, who spent the last six years with the Grand Rapids Rampage and led them to an Arena Bowl title in 2001.

League commissioner David Baker had nothing but praise for the man known as Jaws. “I think Ron Jaworski is one of the great X and O guys in all of football. It always impressed me, from early on when I got here, that Ron was a great student of Arena football.

“He’s been one those guys who has been an outspoken proponent of Arena Football, so it’s exciting for me not only to see Jon and Craig Spenser bring the Philadelphia Soul here, but to see Ron Jaworski now get to be a part of it as well.”

Unlike Jaworski, Jon Bon Jovi didn’t catch arena fever until just this past season.

“I was aware of the league obviously, but until it was on NBC, I’d never seen a game,” Bon Jovi said. “Then I started traveling and going to as many games as I could.”

“Jon is deeply committed to the integrity of the Arena football game,” said commissioner Baker. “He has demonstrated to me that he is the hardest working guy in all of entertainment and now he’s about to be the hardest working guy in all of sports. He and Craig are really doing this the right way.”

Philadelphia is the second franchise added this year, bringing the total number of teams from 16 to 18. The New Orleans VooDoo is the other expansion team. A franchise has also been approved for Austin, Texas and if they can secure a lease to play at the arena on the University of Texas campus in the next few weeks, we could have 19 teams on the schedule for next season.

There is also talk of putting the new Philadelphia team in the Eastern division along with the Dallas Desperados to take advantage of the Eagles-Cowboys rivalry that already exists in the NFL.

So it seems that all the pieces are now in place for the Philadelphia Soul. From a football-loving owner and well-known celebrity in Jon Bon Jovi, to a Super Bowl quarterback and analyst in team president Ron Jaworski, to a head coach who has already taken an expansion team and won the league championship in Michael Trigg. All they need now are some players.

Randy has been an avid football fan ever since he attended his first Lions-Packers game back in 1975. Over the years he has attended NFL, USFL, CFL, Arena, af2, NWFA, NIFL, college, high school and semi-pro football games. Randy spent 21 years in the Michigan Air National Guard, the last two as a public affairs specialist and was the editor of the base newspaper. Randy is married with four children and lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

[Miracle]

Is there anything that this man can't do? First, front one of the biggest bands in the world, juggle an acting career and an ever-growing family, own a football team and now a bike team? Did i miss anything?

Stephanie

[{_Warrior_}]

I´ll create a football team in the school, maybe Jon want to put some money in it.......