Biography

Matt Ballard – Biography

Albert Lee, MN – Farming community All my relatives had something to do with farming.  My mom’s maiden name was Sorensen.  All farmers, her sister Claris Pence.  Lots of nice people in MN.  I had so much fun as a small child on my relatives farms with horses, cows, and pigs.  We also went fishing and ice-skating, snowmobiling, and other fun stuff.View our Photo Gallery

At one time in MN, I fell off a pier and was pulled out of the water by a lifeguard and almost drowned.
Here’s a small poem I wrote about MN.

Way up north
Feast your eyes
It’s called Minnesota
With it’s beautiful skies

This place is a wonder
With it’s lakes and streams
It’s like God made it
Out of pleasant dreams

Yes, I like Minnesota
And I’m going back there
It’s where people are nice
And show they care.

From it’s towns
To it’s land so green
It’s the most beautiful state
I’ve ever seen.

I started writing poems as a small child..  My dad was in the sign business, neon signs and electronic signs.  We moved to Gallop, NM where lots of stuff happened.  I was in 1st grade and started to ride bicycles and go mountain climbing with friends.  We watched movies in the outdoor movie theatre from up on the hill all the time.  We camped out with my brothers.  They had jeeps and motorcycles and they filmed “Blazing Saddles” when I lived there.  We also had lots of good Indian friends.

Then, we moved to Albuquerque, NM and a lot of stuff happened there.  One time I was on the playground and my Mom and my little sister got in a car accident.  I saw it happen because it was right next to the playground.  We caught a lot of frogs in ponds and that’s when the Beatle’s started becoming popular.

Then, we moved to Salina, Kansas.  That’s when I started to learn how to swim and my dad bought me my first bicycle.  I rode all over town and caught craw dad’s and sold them to bait stores.  I was always the new kid at school and I seemed to get in lots of fights on the playground.

I then started taking an interest in motorcycles and riding my bicycle to different bike shops all over town.  I learned about bikes, Harley Davidson and other neat stuff.

Then, we moved to Libertyville, IL when I was in the third grade.  I joined boys club football and my coach was Mr. Bach.  I also played baseball and Hockey at Butler Lake.  I told my dad that I wanted a Motorcycle and he said that when he was a kid, they had to build their own motorcycles.  So, I started getting the parts together and we built a motorcycle for me.  It was really amazing to ride.

I played some high school football but I was more interested in riding my motorcycle.  I started racing every weekend instead of going to football games.  I raced professional motocross races for manufacturers and various dealers such as Yamaha, Honda, KTM, Zundapp, Maco, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Cooper.  Below are some of the motorcycle tracks I raced at…

Byron, IL First track I ever raced at, raced there over 100 times
Astland, WI One of the nicest tracks in the world
Maplehurst, WI Raced with other professional riders
Lake Geneva, WI Raced at the old track and the supercross track
Sycamore, IL (flat track racing) BSA motorcycles
Waukegan Speedway MX First supercross track I raced
Pueblo, CO.  
Little Switzerland Raced for Zundapp, placed 1st
Bandemere Speedway Raced there and did some work for John & Dave Bandemere, excellent people
Horsetooth Reservoir, CO By Fort Collins, CO – lots of red dirt, hard to wash your bike!
Aztec, CO Track is sandy, my mother came to watch me
Castlerock, CO (road racing and motocross) I raced the last race ever raced at Castlerock, Mountain Road Racing Association
Aspen, CO (six hour road race) Had to have two score keepers, had to qualify for starting position, started at the back of the grid and within two laps I was in the front, it was covered by PM Magazine TV station
Steamboat Springs, Co Road race, mom came to watch me again
Lakewood, CO Raced at the old race track and at the new one, I also met all kinds of famous racers there such as Ralph Strickner (“Boo”), Mike Nup, and Arlo England, just to name a few.  I also met Jim Faultur a.k.a. “the Kim Chicken” and his kid is also good at motocross
Colorado Springs Int’l Speedway Had a bad accident, multiple concussions, blood everywhere, not pretty
Birthed, CO Run by a really cool guy named Felix, lots of fun
Albuquerque, NM Big race, friend flew out to watch me, 1st place
Gallop, NM Good race, good time
Cheyenne, WY Very windy, didn’t know what place I got until after the race, 1st place!
Tipton, IA Really challenging track
Farmington, NM Camped out at the Animus River, raced two weekends
Lake County Fairgrounds, IL. Really bad accident, landed so hard at the finish line, the handle bars smashed my face, there was paint from the handle bars inside my skull, roof of mouth tore off, broke my ankle, hospital ran out of thread stitching me back together, face was wired back together, you don’t come this handsome from the factory…I almost bled together but never fell off the motorcycle and finished in second place, unconscious.  Will be racing again soon!

I also went to college for diesel mechanics and welding.  I welded computer frames and painted heavy equipment.

I also have 3 kids, Peter, Katie, and Rose.  My wife passed away and my kids are all in college now.  I own an asphalt company and was burned in a work accident.

I was sent in “Flight for Flight” to Saint Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee.  I was on life support for a month.  Throughout my whole life, I’ve been writing poems.  When I was burned, I also continued to write which helped me get through it.

After a long time recovering, I decided to do something really smart and race motocross again.  At the Lake County Fairgrounds in 2005, I launched off a jump and landed so hard crossing the finish line in second place, all my suspension gave out.  This bent the frame and broke my ankle.  The handlebars smashed my face and the roof of my mouth was broke off and knocked all my teeth out.  My face, lip and cheek were cut severely.  I almost bled to death at the scene of the accident.

I was taken to the hospital and survived after multiple surgeries and procedures.  My face was wired back together.  But, I did get second place because I never fell off the motor cycle.  I still enjoy riding now and have combined my poetry with my riding.  I’m back to normal now and ride for fun, but not competition.

Every race track that I mentioned previously has many stories to tell about my races and adventures in motocross.

I like to snow ski and here’s some resorts that I’ve been to:

Aspen, CO Nice people, lots of nice ski lodges
Copper Mountain, CO Good back country skiiing
Vail, CO I like going up on the Gondola, skiing straight down the face of the mountain, taking my skis off, and getting back on the Gondola because I spend more time skiing instead of riding chair lifts
Winter Park, CO Nice place to ski
Breckenridge, CO Good place to take your friends, lots of places to go around town
Steamboat Springs, CO Also has a Gondola, great skiing
Lake Eldora, CO First place I ever went skiing, went to top of the mountain on the first day with 220 skis, bad accident

I also have been hiking and backpacking for over 12 years.
Below, are some places that I have traveled.

   
Gore Pass, Route National Forest  
Medicine Bowl National Forest, Wyoming  
Encampment River, Route National Forest  
Central City, CO area  

I also fished my whole life and some of my favorite places are listed below.

Convergence of the Blue River, Colorado River, and the Big Muddy River, right outside of Krimley, CO The best thing about this fishing spot is that when the Blue River and the Colorado meet, you can use live bait.  But before that, it’s fly fishing only on the Blue River.  Rainbow Trout, German Browns, Cut Throats & Whitefish
Encampment River, Route National Forest It’s a nice place to fish with nice surroundings, great Rainbow Trout
Dylan Reservoir Close to town, you meet lots of interesting people
Animus River, NM I met a guy there named Jovey Star, I camped out there while racing Motorcross in Farmington, Jovey Star was fishing and camping there, he had pictures of lots of famous actors posing with him such John Wayne, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin, and other people, if anyone knows anything about Jovey Star, send me an e-mail.

Radio and TV appearances

I have been featured on radio and TV stations for many of my poems and videos.

TV Commercial Featured my “Rhymes and Poems for Stepping Stones” video, aired on A&E & Ch. 38
WBBM Radio Interview by Nancy Hardy Broadcasted a few times on the radio, it was an interview about my Bears poem, she’s an excellent journalist and asked me about my sports poetry
Live Performance at Libertyville Civic Center It was a dinner benefit for elderly people, there was a live band and I recited my “Mother’s Poem”, it was a great time
Juz Jokkin Comedy Club Recited Sox and Bears poem, outstanding response from the crowd
Mancow Morning Radio Show Read my mothers day poem on Mother’s Day
Interviewed live by Jeremy Mottram with AOL Fanhouse It was a great interview, we discussed my Dare Bear video poem that is posted on You Tube, I had over 14,000 views and Jeremy helped me get some great publicity
Recited the Sox Poem live on SCORE AM 670 radio covering the Sox fest They liked it a lot and made some great comments about my rhyming skills
WGN TV Channel 9 “Dare Bear” video was also on the news
Channel 32, Fox News I was able to recite my American Idol poem live and Tamaron Hall said, “Matt Ballard, what’s your number?”  Now, my life’s complete.
WGN TV Channel 9,
Robin Baumgarten		 Morning news program, my “Bear Girls” video was featured as part of the Super Bowl Bear’s fan hysteria
White Sox girls performed live at Dover Straits The people really liked the poem and there was a live music band with background music
PM Magazine TV Show Road race at Aspen, CO, live coverage of six hour road race
Dare Spin Blog Coverage of Bear’s poems, super bowl coverage
Recited “Go Bears” poem on The SCORE radio station We also discussed deer hunting as well
WGN TV Cubs Poem that broke the goat curse, Cubs have been winning ever since!
SCORE Radio Call in guest discussing the White Sox recent losing streak

There are many more stories and adventures to tell, perhaps more
will be added soon.