Tonight the Men's Vert Doubles competition got a sigh of relief when it was announced
that Bob Burnquist and girlfriend Jen O'Brien would not compete in the big friend focused
show.
"I just think it's really sad that some of these guys, I mean most of the guy
skateboarders don't really care they're all my friends and we all skate together. I
thought everybody was down. I don't really think we're like a threat to anybody but
there were a couple of guys that had a problem with it and I don't know what they're so
afraid of but, the witch burning days are over and the goddesses are coming back." - Jen
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| Why does Tony look surprised that he's got Gold around his neck? |
Bob and Jen did however take a demo run before the actual event to show off their "Team
Baby Maker" skill set. Bob flew high with pride over the head of his most beloved, and
when the first ever co-ed demo came to a close he leaned over and gave her a big ol'
kiss. Ahhh, true love.
The playful and laid-back vibe of the demo set the tone for the rest of the proceedings.
As Bob and Jen got barraged by Jason Ellis and the TV cameras, Sal took the Mic and the
lights dimmed… "Ba-ba-ba-ba-buummm, Ba-ba-ba-ba-buummm…" The Rocky theme song started
pumping out of the PAs and the teams were introduced with a prizefighter cadence. You
could tell that the teams were feeling mellow by the smiles on their faces and jokester
style bows and dances. The event had nothing close to the level of competition seen last
night in Men's Vert, which was the whole point. The crowd favorites were clearly Buck
Lasek/Matt Dove and, of course, Tony Hawk/Andy Macdonald. But Mike Frazier did manage to
heat up the arena by doing a mock shadow boxing performance that the Italian Stallion
would have cried "Adriaaan!" over.
The whimsical introductions ended and the lights went back up to begin the show. First
to drop in was the Sandro Diaz/Max Dunfor team and then it was on. Sandro was pulling
down alley-oop 540s 12' across the ramp as he flew over his partner. They then set the
tone for "Ye Olde Board Switcheroo," as Max stood on the coping and held out his board
while Sandro tried to grab it mid f/s air - and come back in. Some truly unique teamwork
started to emerge and the crowd then saw what was possible with two men (not one man and
one woman, dammit!) on the ramp.
Some other highlights of the friend filled night of fun included:
Tas actually smiling and laughing on the ramp after flipping off the judges last
night.
Mike Frazier pulling off the "board switcharoo" and then getting nearly de-pantsed by
Neal Hendrix on a hand plant.
Chris Gentry's f/s rodeo 540 over the head of Mike Crum.
Gentry trying to front flip from his board to the awaiting Frazier - who held his
board out like a landing pad in the middle of the ChiniMini.
The "Baltimorons" - Bucky and Matt wearing their helmets backwards and after missing
a trick Bucky goofing off like a stinky awkward monkey on the ChiniMini.
Sandro's big ass 360 varial over Max.
Tas' fakie to fakie 540.
Buster Halterman f/s nose grinding under Paul Zitzer's 10' cross-coping air.
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| Tony looks on after Ye Olde Board Switcharoo. |
And then (to the low end bump of DMX) you have the reigning 4 time champions and
undefeated crowd favorite Tony Hawk/Andy Macdonald team undoubtedly doing the most
advanced and doubles oriented runs. They skated much closer together than any other team
and pulled off amazing follow-me runs with synchronized "right behind ya" airs. Some of
their big moments were when Tony stood on deck and finger flipped his board to an
airborne Andy, and then pulled it. Tony then threw a huge b/s ollie over the head of a
grinding Andy. Next Andy held his board on the coping in a b/s 5-0 grind position, and
Tony nailed it. And we all knew the big crowd favorite that was bound to show at some
point. Tony stood on deck and prepared himself as the crowd began to roar. Everybody
knew it was coming, the question was whether or not he would land the 900. Tony dropped
in, got his focus, then it was Andy's turn to drop and everybody in the place was holding
their breath.
Tony spins, looks like he's got it, then washes out on the flats. He raised his hands in
an "I gave it my best" salute and the crowd responded with a warm and heart felt applause
to his tremendous effort - much props Tony. From there the night winded down with podium
presentations, high fives and a general feel good low-stress vibe for all. A fun comp
for a great group of friends, but the real question is - will we see Jen next year?
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