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Its been nearly five years since Australian motocross star Robbie Maddison took on freestyle courses at the X Games. But when he makes his return at X Games Aspen 2017 (Jan. 26-29), he wont be kicking up dirt -- hell be making tracks in the snow.Maddison will be one of 16 riders debuting Snow BikeCross, a motocross-style, closed-course competition featuring rollers, banked turns and jumps. The first rider to the finish wins. Its going to be a stacked field, says Maddison, a freestyle motocross champion famous for his groundbreaking stunts. Im excited to get back to racing, to how I started in motocross.Snow bike is, in fact, only the latest in a series of innovations by Maddison that have prolonged his career. At 35, an age when most freestyle riders have retired from competition or traded two wheels for four, he is as relevant as ever. One of the most creative action sports athletes, hes won freestyle titles, set Guinness world records for distance-jumping his dirt bike and executed some of the most audacious motorcycle stunts since Evel Knievel. He has jumped onto a replica of the Arc de Triomphe in Las Vegas, backflipped Londons Tower Bridge and launched across the Corinth Canal in Greece.But it was a life-altering crash four and a half years ago that led him to rethink the potential of his machine. In 2012, while practicing for Moto X Speed & Style at X Games Los Angeles, he crashed in the whoops section and broke several ribs, one of which collapsed a lung and pushed against his aorta. I almost died there on the dirt, Maddison says. The doctors said, Youll never ride a motorcycle again. You need to change your lifestyle. I spent a week in the hospital feeling totally demoralized and contemplating my future. After months of intense physical therapy, Maddison defied the doctors and got back onto his bike. But he decided competing in freestyle was no longer worth the risk. Instead, while at his home in Australia the following winter, he rekindled a thought hed had many times before while surfing and wakeboarding. Im fascinated by the way water moves around boats, Maddison says. My mind started wandering. I knew with the right speed and the right skis, water has enough surface tension that I should be able to ride my dirt bike on water.Enter Bill King, a former rocket scientist who as VP of 2Moto engineered one of the first snow conversion kits for dirt bikes. King flew from Boise to Maddisons home in California, looked at his sketches of a ski attached to the front and back wheels of his dirt bike and declared, This will work. After experimenting with various bike manufacturers and several design modifications, Maddison rode a KTM 300 XC two-stroke 7? miles across Californias Lake Elsinore. Once he proved it possible to ride a motorcycle on water for long distances, he set his sights on the seemingly impossible.After two years of endless trial and error, countless failures and dozens of sunk bikes, Maddison and DC Shoes released Pipe Dream in August 2015. The action sports video features him surfing his KTM on Tahitis Teahupoo, known as the heaviest wave in the world. The video has about 25 million YouTube views. That project solidified to me having the confidence to follow my passions, he says. It excites me to think about whats possible as human beings. What else am I capable of? Thats the question I wake up with most days.Pipe Dream reinvigorated Maddisons career. In the spring, he got a call from D.J. Caruso, the director of xXx: Return of Xander Cage, the Vin Diesel action movie due out in January. Caruso invited Maddison, who had previously doubled James Bond in Skyfall, to bring his moto surfer to the Dominican Republic. He wanted Maddison to re-create his water bike stunts for the film. One small problem: Maddison looks nothing like Vin Diesel. A bigger problem: No one else could maneuver the machine. So Maddison shaved his head and donned a muscle suit to double Diesel racing across waves on a dirt bike.Now Maddison is shooting Pipe Dream 2 on a second-generation version of his water bike, with plans to release the first footage around Christmas-before he shifts his attention from water to snow. Hes proved he can surf on a dirt bike; now hell see how he stacks up racing one on snow against some of the best motocross riders in the world.Im trying to ride every terrain possible, he says. Im returning to X Games with a lot on my shoulders. I havent been the most successful X Games athlete-I only have one medal. Ive had a lot of injuries. But I dont have the ability to give up in my DNA. 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Cheap Air Max Plus Wholesale . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents. Cheap Air Max Plus China . The next step is a better finish. Bae played bogey-free Friday on another gorgeous day at Riviera for a 5-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead over Aaron Baddeley and Robert Garrigus going into the weekend. INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- As the champion Cavaliers embarked on a new season, coach Tyronn Lue revealed he used a creative tactic to motivate them in the NBA Finals.Lue used money to inspire them.After the Cavs won Game 5 at Golden State to pull within 3-2 of the Warriors, Lue said Tuesday that he collected $100 from every player, coach, trainer, equipment manager, front office member and media relations persons he could find. In all, Lue gathered more than $5,000.They were like, `Where is the money going? Lue said. I was like, `Its going to me and Im going to wrap it up and put it in the ceiling in the coaches locker room and were going to come back, get our money and get our trophy for Game 7.And thats just what the Cavs did, winning Game 6 at home and then heading to California, where they completed the biggest comeback in finals history by winning at Oracle Arena to dethrone the Warriors and end Clevelands 52-year championship drought.Lue said he borrowed the trick from Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers, whom he coached under with Boston. In 2008, Rivers used the same ploy with the Celtics.We played the Lakers on Christmas Day in L.A. and I think we lost by 25 or 30 and he came into the locker room and collected $100 from everybody and put it in the ceiling in L.A., in the Staples Center, Lue said. He said: `Were coming back. Were going to beat these guys in the Finals. We lost Game 7, but the money was still there and we met the back in the Finals. Great story.Not as great as the Cavs tale, and as they began training camp, Lue and LeBron James spent a few moments following practice reflecting on their incredible 2016 journey.At this point a year ago, Lue was an assistant on David Blatts staff and James was being criticized for failing to deliver a championship in his first season back with Cleveland.Now, theyre on top together.James smiled when he was reminded of Lues money grab and remembered never being reimbursed.Im still looking for my money, he said. I didnt get mine back.Lue said not everyone got a refund, but there were no complaints after the Cavs became the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals.Some people got it back. Some people didnt, he said..ddddddddddddWe charged $100 for a championship for some guys and some guys we gave it back. We got it back to the right people. Some of it went toward my fine, too, so I had to keep players money.Lues money stash wasnt the only tool the Cavs used during their amazing postseason journey.Earlier in the season, veteran swingman James Jones came up with an idea that unified the Cavs. The team created a puzzle in the shape of Ohio and the Larry OBrien trophy that was divided into 16 pieces, one for each win needed to capture the title. When the Cavs won a postseason game, a piece was added.By the time they got to Game 7, there was one slice left -- for Lue and his assistants.James said its those little moments that make winning that much more special.It was great that in the last game it went to the head coach and we were able to finish off the puzzle the right way, the three-time champion said. Its definitely something when youre done with the game you can look back on, and obviously in the record books, it says were world champions in 2016, but you will remember stuff like that from that championship run.The Cavs practiced for the first time as champions at Cleveland Clinic Courts, where a spot on the wall above the practice court will soon be filled by a championship banner.Lue said he emphasized conditioning and defense during the teams initial workout.Before they took the floor, Lue said he didnt deliver any inspirational speech or demand anything special from his players.We watched an NBA concussion film, he said.He didnt ask for any money.Game notes The Cavs announced that Larry Drew has been promoted to associate head coach. He will run the offense with Lue. Damon Jones was elevated from shooting coach to assistant coach. Jim Boylan, Mike Longabardi, James Posey, Phil Handy and Vitaly Potapenko have been retained in their same roles. ... Lue said Iman Shumpert is taking free agent J.R. Smiths starting spot while the guard remains unsigned. The Cavs have made an offer to Smith, who made two huge 3-pointers early in the second half of Game 7. ' ' '