Sports

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) ― You can't talk snocross for very long without mentioning Blair Morgan's name.
  
The winningest rider in the sport's history has won the Duluth National Snocross event seven times and has celebrity status in Upper Midwestern and Canadian towns where snowmobile racing is popular.
  
But the annual event taking place at Spirit Mountain near Duluth this weekend will happen without Morgan, who was partially paralyzed after crashing his motorcycle during a practice session at the Montreal Supercross in September.
  
Morgan, 33, of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, has been going to rehab sessions in Saskatoon. But he severed his spinal cord in the crash and has paralysis from the middle of his back down. He hasn't been giving media interviews.
  
"The sport will never be the same," said Tucker Hibbert, a rider who plans to donate the money he earns in this weekend's event to Morgan. Hibbert, of Goodridge, is challenging other riders to do the same. "From his first race, he was winning, and even when he wasn't, everyone knew his name."
  
Morgan won the Pro 600 and Pro Open classes at the Duluth National Snocross in 1997, and has been a familiar face in the snocross scene since then. He brought a skill from motocross -- riding standing up instead of sitting down -- to snocross that is the predominant style used today. The technique helps riders absorb the shock of hard landings.
  
"There once was a time where everybody shot free throws underhanded, but you don't see anyone doing that anymore. That's what Blair Morgan did with snocross," said Terry Mattson, president of Visit Duluth and one of Duluth National's founders.
  
Mattson spent time with Morgan at the Winter X Games in Colorado after Morgan's first win at the Duluth event. On that trip, Morgan showed Mattson how to snowboard. "Blair was an incredible athlete and just a very accomplished snowboarder," Mattson said.
  
Mattson said this year's snocross event will be difficult.
  
"An injury like Blair suffered can happen on a skateboard, riding a bicycle, falling off a horse," he said. "There is an inherent risk in the extreme sports world. Everyone knows it and assumes that risk, but still, it doesn't make it any easier. ... It's going to be strange not having him around. Blair is a legend in the sport."
  
Hibbert said Morgan helped snocross become more popular by adding his own sense of style. As he crossed the finish line in televised races, Morgan would often separate himself from his sled, click his heels and fly like superman. Other times he would put his boots over the handlebars of his sled.
  
"Before, it was like the old farmer generation. Blair brought a style and flashiness that really wasn't there. He was going fast and trying to look cool. He started a whole new era of younger, flashier racers who helped us get where we are today," Hibbert said.
  
Morgan has suffered other injuries in recent years. He hasn't won the Duluth National since 2002, and he hasn't had any podium finishes since 2004.
  
Hermantown snocross rider Bobby LePage said Morgan's crash is yet another reminder of how dangerous the sport is. LePage nearly died from a snocross accident in 2005 but is now racing again. Since then, he's added precautions like buying the best padding, helmets and head restraints available. But there's still plenty of risk, LePage said.
  
"Sometimes the difference between walking away or winding up in a wheelchair comes down to luck," he said. "But you can't fault a guy for getting hurt doing something he loved. Blair was the man when I was coming up through the ranks. He's still a champion, and nobody can ever take that away from him."

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