If ever a family deserved to celebrate, it was the Moore family last night. As mentioned earlier, Colten Moore (the good one) returned to the site of his brother’s fatal crash and won Winter X Games gold. Cheering him on in 8-degree weather were his parents, grandfather, girlfriend, and 60 or so of his closest aunts, uncles, cousins, and longtime family friends. They waved Texas flags and wore custom-made shirts featuring several of Colten’s trending hashtags: #RideforCaleb and #MooreGold. And most of them began to cry as Colten hit one incredible trick after another, then rode to the top of the tallest hill on the course, stopped, and pointed to the sky. The story was the lead of SportsCenter, and ESPN commentators called it the greatest moment in X Games history.
Well, afterward Colten gave dozens of quick interviews to reporters from publications all over the world. But there was only one reporter embedded with the family the last few days, and only one reporter at the family’s victory party in Colorado, in a cabin they rent every year for the X Games not far from Aspen. After a prayer thanking God and Caleb for the incredible night (the evening started with a prayer asking for Colten’s safety), the family cut loose. There was lots of beer and plenty of Coldcock Whiskey, one of Colten’s sponsors. There was a game of “musical shots,” which is pretty much what it sounds like, and after a few rounds, Colten took control of the music and turned the music off while I had the bottle at least three times. (I was not his only victim.)
Sometime around then, I realized that we should probably have a blog about Colten’s victory for the morning. (You could argue he won as soon as he showed up to compete.) So, I asked him, after all the interviews he gave, what he would say if he could write his own blog. This is what he told me:
“Tonight was possibly the best night of my life. I got to come back to X Games and represent my brother, ride for him, ride with him. That’s what we do. We grew up riding together, and he always wanted to push me. I always wanted to push him. I know he was there pushing me tonight. The fact that I got to pull gold for him—I’m stoked. It was for the rest of Texas. My whole family’s here. I’m so pumped. My family’s here supporting me, supporting Caleb. Caleb is still here, rocking it. I couldn’t be without him. We’re all gonna be supporting his name ‘til we die.”
