The City of Philadelphia permitted the first true street contest to be
held at City Hall on Saturday, but not without some resistance from the police and weather.
One day the Philadelphia Police Department were issuing tickets to skaters
sessioning City Hall. The next day the street ramp crew was drilling
into the floor to install a handrail, to be used in the first true Street
competition in the history of the X Games.
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| Kerry Getz flipping onto the Golden Rail. |
As the ramp crew was preparing to drill, the police stepped in, refusing to believe
that their beat was being taken over by the people who are the major
nuisance to their patrol. Police summoned the bigwigs at City Hall. Soon
cops and suits surrounded the location where the handrail would be. They looked
on in disbelief when a permit emerged, allowing the alteration of City Hall.
The obstacle was named the "Golden Rail".
With most of the obstacles hurtled on the path to the first true street
competition, the greatest still remained. Mother Nature would not let up
without a fight. On the morning on the competition, humidity and
showers prevailed, well into the scheduled practice time. Although it rained for
three hours the spectators continued to flood the venue, sticking it out through the wet conditions.
Street practice finally began around 1 p.m., allowing the competitors about 60
minutes of practice. Just enough time for the skaters to get comfortable
with the new terrain.
The additions to City Hall included:
1. A handrail going down the center steps facing Love Park ("Golden Rail").
2. A 45 degree 2 ft. high wedge ramp, for wall rides.
3. Two plastic Jersey barriers going down both sets of stairs at the top of
City Hall.
4. Various flat bars, round and square, throughout the course.
5. Plywood placed over a set of stairs making a makeshift step up obstacle
to flat bar.
6. The Booter transfer. A 1.5 ft high wedge ramp on the upper side of
City Hall pushed up to a flat bench, then wall gap. The other side was a
five-foot high wedge bank going into the City Hall plaza. On the same side
as the 1.5 ft ramp was a freestanding Hubba ledge angled towards the
transfers going from low to high. This was probably the most original
obstacle in the history of the X Games.
Due to protest, injuries, and no shows there was a slight change in the
roster:
Kevin Taylor
Kareem Campbell
Chris Senn
Kyle Berard
Ricky Oyola
Kerry Getz
Josh Kalis
Eric Koston
Rick McCrank
The crowd was very anxious to see some skating after the long rain delay.
They began to roar the second it began. Practice was a frenzy on the course.
Some people like Kyle Berard were working to get their lines down while others
like Josh Kalis pulled out some of the best tricks of the day. He unleashed a
nollie flip transfer from low to high over the booter, and nollie crooked grinds down the "Golden Rail". McCrank effortlessly flowed through the course, popping front side flip transfers across the booter, and front side 270's to back lip on the "Golden Rail". Kerry Getz put on a demo, while strategically laying out his line. Chris Senn saw the course like no other competitor, he was the only one utilizing the freestanding Hubba ledge. Ricky Oyola displayed his experience at City Hall with
high-speed 50/50's down the "Golden Rail", then cracking up the stairs just
feet from the landing. Kevin Taylor laid out backside smith grinds on the
"Golden Rail". Kareem attacked the course in true street fashion. Eric
Koston was a latecomer to practice, after being stuck in North Carolina
airport all night, getting only three hours of sleep.
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| Chris Senn f/s bluntsliding the waxy bench with style. |
9th Place - $1,350: Kevin Taylor, having difficulty staying on his board
during his runs. He managed to make his graceful backside smith grinds down
the "Golden Rail" every run.
8th Place - 70 - $1,500: Josh Kalis, although he did the best trick out of all the competitors during his run (a nose blunt slide down the Jersey barrier),
he couldn't pull it all together to get on the podium.
7th Place - 74.3 - $1,750: Kareem Campbell, not so consistent in his runs. Kareem still blew the crowds minds with his huge backside 180 transfers over
the booter.
6th Place - 83.3 - $2,000: Rick McCrank, the machine keeps on cranking. The level of his skating on all terrain is always a step above the rest. A kick
flip front board down the "Golden Rail" and a nollie hard flip over the Booter without even trying it in practice, demonstrates the man's amazing
ability. Not so consistent in his runs, his bangers pulled him into 6th
place.
5th Place - 83.6 - $2,500: Kyle Berard, the young Virginia Beach local has been placing in almost every contest he enters. It's obvious that this kid has a
bright future ahead of him. Solid and consistent in all of his runs, he
flipped the Booter gap every time. His lines were trick behind trick,
making the huge kick flip, then board slide on the flat bar on this step up,
then front side 5.0's 180 out, front side tail slide to fackie, and a back
side lip slide down the "Golden Rail".
4th Place - 84.6 - $3,000: Ricky Oyola, the Philadelphia Street legend came through for all of his screaming fans. Surrounded by his childhood friends
and family Ricky skated fast and fierce. His lines were solid and powerful,
starting out with a feeble grinds on the flat bar, then ollieing the booter, front side board sliding the flat bar on the step up, 360 flipping (on flat), 50/50ing the "Golden Rail", then quickly ollieing up the steps, front side board slide on the round flat bar once again, ollieing over the police barrier down the steps, and finishing off with a back side tail slide on one of the many flat benches. Ricky fought a hard battle for better placement, but the judges proved different.
3rd Place - 85.3 - $3,500: Chris Senn's contest experience shows through as he approaches the course like no other. By ollieing the Hubba ledge and
transferring to one of the original City Hall handrails. His unique attack
of the street course earned him a well deserved placement.
2nd Place - 87.3 - $7,400: Eric Koston, although he was not well rested, his skating somehow pulled him into second place. His backside tail slide down
the Jersey barrier was unattempted before his run. A nose bonk on the wall
between the Booter, Koston was playfully hitting up all parts of the
course. His ollie front side 180-switch/crooks/fakie all came together to
slide him into second place.
1st Place - 92.6 - $10,000: Kerry Getz, his dissection of the street course allowed him to get the most tricks in. Utilizing every part of the course by
flipping the booter, front board sliding the flat bar on the step up,
manualing the curved bench, nollie heel flip (on flat), nose manual the
second curved bench, nollie flip (on flat), lip sliding the Rail, front side
180 ollieing the police barrier down the steps, then finishing it off with a
half-cab nose slide, and tray flip. He kick flip front-boarded the "Golden
Rail" unpracticed, just in case you're wondering why he came in first. The
Philly resident was the unanimous champion.
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| Ricky Oyola transfering the Booter. |
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