Tuesday, July 1
Boost Mobile Pro: Day Two
By Rob Brink
EXPN.com
Full Contest Results
Day One Recap
Judging by Friday's practice, it seemed this event might be just another contest. But by Saturday evening's Street competition, it was obvious that these pros were on a mission. Whether it was for the $40,000, the fun or the glory -- they were crushing it.
The format was similar to the Wildcard event. Four pros jam for three minutes, while the pros from other heats watch from the decks and vote on handheld devices. Two guys from each heat advance to the semifinals, then one rider from each of the semifinal heats moves into the finals. Here's what I saw ...
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| Caswell never missed this 180 nosegrind down the hubba. |
Andrew Reynolds skated incredibly -- frontside and backside flipping all over the place. He pulled hard tricks and stayed on, but lost to Eric Koston in the semifinals. If there was any pro who should have made it to the finals but didn't, it was Reynolds.
Somehow, Koston never disappoints. In two of his runs, he landed fakie 5-0 to fakie flip out on the bank to ledge.That's the trick that put him ahead of Reynolds, and it was easily the most difficult trick of the contest. Koston also pulled backside noseblunt slides on rails at will during his runs.
Heath's hair evolved from the dry, low-profile Mohawk, to the spiked, ten-inch-high, punk-rocker 'hawk. It must take a lot of gel to keep that 'do in place for six hours of skating. During his run, he launched what was probably the largest kickflip over the hip anyone had ever seen.
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| The 100-degree weather? The super-purse pressure? The free drinks at the casino? Trujillo made good use of the rail during the Street comp ... on and off his board. |
I can't pinpoint if it was nerves or the heat, maybe a combination of the two, but Austin Seaholm started his first run just fine, then skated to the top of the deck and began puking. When he was done, he skated to the small quarter pipe, flawlessly did a 360 flip nosepick, rode away, then stopped to puke some more. At which point he gave up and left the course. Austin's trend-setting influence in the industry was later cemented when Tony Trujillo began puking on the same deck during his run in the finals. Then he won $40,000.
John Cardiel was handed $7,500 and the Oakley "Over the Top" award, which went to the skater who everyone felt put his heart into the day just for the love of it -- not for the money.
Bastien Salabanzi didn't make it to the finals, but after his run he did a one-man demo and kickflip frontside boardslid the big rail. And it was a big rail. Only a handful of guys even stepped to it with basic tricks, never mind some flip-in jive. He also regularly landed kickflip backside lipslides and kickflip backside tailslides on the pyramid rail.
Colt Cannon did some very large frontside kickflips over hips and pyramids. He also nosegrinded across and down the hubba.
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| Jim Greco is out of rehab, has a freshly broken arm and is more popular than ever. |
While addressing the crowd, Mic-E Reyes said: "The purse for this contest is $250,000. That's half a million dollars! Oh, I mean a quarter million. Sorry, I didn't graduate high school."
Mark Appleyard carried himself with the smoothness we have come to expect from -- 360 flips over the pyramid, backside smith grinds and frontside feebles galore. When interviewed by Mike York about allegedly being seen at the Linkin Park show the night before, Applecakes replied, "Nah, I sold my tickets."
When Lindsey mentioned to Reynolds that he was one step closer to $40,000 after his first qualifying run, he said, "I don't care about the money." The crowd went wild.
When Lindsey Byrnes of Thrasher interviewed Bastien about his run, he replied, "The Street course is sh*t." When she followed up by asking if he was going to the complimentary Nelly show after the finals, he said, "F*!k that guy, he's so f*!king gay." The crowd went wild again.
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| Spanky and a friend taking advantage of some legal fireworks during the Street comp. |
Leo Romero and Spanky entertained themselves during the Finals by shooting Roman Candles over the Street course.
It wasn't uncommon for the pros to cover their faces while cameramen were trying to film them drinking beer or giving the finger.
When asked about the course, Eric Koston, in a biting, sarcastic tone, exclaimed, "Oh, it's probably the best course I've ever skated in my life."
When all was said and done, Chris Senn landed third, Koston second and Tony Trujillo was the man with the forty grand.
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