Monster Madness

Jan 19th - yeah I know it was ages ago ! - and it was Monster Jam Madness.  Last year we'd been to a Super Cross event, so we had an idea of what to expect but at the same time, Monster Trucks are a teenie bit bigger than your average motorbike.

The show started off with the usual fireworks display accompanied by a laser show during which each of the Monster Trucks participating in tonight's spectacular event entered the arena rev'ing the absolute cr*p out of their babies.  One guy (Max D) went the extra mile, spitting sparks from the sides of his truck as he did the intro lap.

It was obvious we were in for a show.  The night started with heats; two trucks racing around the course at any one time.  It was only when the last heat lined up that it became clear we had a very similar crowd to what you'd expect to see at WrestleMania.  One truck pulled up to the start line.  Where - oh where - could his opponent be?  Cue the DJ guy who proceeded to announce in a very somber voice that due to technical difficulties the Grave Digger (akin to The Undertaker in wrestling terms) MIGHT not make it to the start line in time.  As we had no doubt noticed, this was the reason the Undertaker .. er I mean Grave Digger .. didn't participate in the opening ceremony.  With only seconds to go before certain disqualification, who comes storming (not hobbling) into the arena? .... and did the crowd go wild? (and that's it for today in terms of rhetorical questions) .... and guess who won that heat (ok, so I couldn't resist just one more).

In the end the Monster drink Monster Truck (coincidence?) won the final ensuring that he was the only possible truck that could "double down" on the night.  "Double down"?, I hear you ask - what on earth could that mean?  Well if you didn't pick it up the first time round, you were given many many opportunities later on, as the phrase was repeated over and over again until it left a permanent scar in your brain tissue.  Double down is what we regular folk call "Double Up", i.e. the dude was the only one who could win two events that night - quite logical really seeing as there was only one winner of the first event, so that pretty much narrowed things down a lot.

The next event was the freestyle where basically the idea is to do mad sh*t in your truck and try to get points from the judges - all within a certain time frame that also allows for a maximum 60 second extension (who comes up with this stuff?).  My personal favourite was Max D.  He managed to go out of control, regain control, go out of control again, regain control again, flip completely over and then flip back.  The crowd went absolutely ballistic - and rightly so !  Much to our disappointment (based on the boo-ometer) the judges gave him a pretty average score, while some other muppet who basically drove Miss Daisy around the course got an above average score.  Life and Monster Trucks - so very cruel !

The Hot Wheels truck flying through the air.

Anyways much to everyone's surprise, the Grave Digger was the last to go ... surely not !  Could it be that the Grave Digger was scripted to win this event - spoiling the night at the very last moment for the Monster drink Monster Truck?!?!  If so, the God's dealt a cruel blow because he busted his back axel pretty early on into the routine rendering him paralyzed - much to the delight of Mr. Monster drink Monster Truck driver because he had just managed to "Double Down".  He didn't do himself any favours with the crowd though - ha actually forgot that he was in San Diego and NOT San Marcos, and these guys are pretty unforgiving I can tell you !