Sitka Creations is a sponsor of the USA Luge team.
Date: March 29, 2024
Contact: Gordy Sheer (518) 637-1586
USA Luge celebrates 1998 Olympic honorary team captain Mojo Nixon
Mojo Balls added to annual Running of the Balls event
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – USA Luge, in conjunction with Mojo Nixon World Empire, will pay tribute to Mojo Nixon by adding “Mojo Balls” to its annual Running of the Balls (ROTB) event.
Nixon, who was named honorary team captain of the 1998 Olympic luge team, was an accomplished musician, actor, DJ, commentator, and possessor of the spirit of rock-n-roll. He also wrote, played, and sang on the Luge Team Song, along with members of the 1998 Olympic doubles team.
The song, recorded weeks before the 1998 Olympics, contained the lyric “The USA’s medal drought will soon be over now that Captain Mojo has done took over”. Nixon proved to be right, as the United States took silver and bronze in doubles at the Nagano Olympics, the first in the nation’s history.
Nixon passed away on February 7th. The previous night, he and his band the Toadliquors played a raucous set as a part of the Outlaw Country Cruise.
For the past nine years, ROTB has raised funds to help recruit, develop, train, and support athletes to represent the United States at luge competitions around the world, including the Olympic Games. Over 1,000 lacrosse balls are released from the top of the nearly one-mile luge track. USA Luge fans can “buy” balls to win cash, prizes and a trip to the 2025 FIL Luge World Championships in Whistlers, Canada. For Mojo Nixon fans, the pot just got sweeter.
A limited number of 120 Mojo Balls will be sold through the USA Luge website (www.usaluge.org). Winners will receive $250 plus a 10 CD and bonus DVD box set, courtesy of Mojo’s longtime manager Scott “Bullethead” Reilly
A 2023 documentary The Mojo Manifesto: The Life and Times of Mojo Nixon is available for streaming on major platforms, including Apple TV and Amazon.
“Mojo was a true American original,” said Gordy Sheer, USA Luge Marketing Director and 1998 silver medalist in doubles with Chris Thorpe. “He rooted loudly for the team. Mojo was as proud to be a part USA Luge as we were to have him as our captain. He remained a friend of the team for years. We would stay at his home when the team would conduct wind tunnel tests in San Diego. Mojo would have loved to be a part of the Running of the Balls and definitely would have appreciated the double entendre.”
Deadline to enter Running of the Balls is April 4.
For more information on the Fastest Sport on Ice®, log on to www.usaluge.org
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