Editor's Note: We all know that the proper name of the below mentioned park is FDR, but being from the west we all call it PhillySide. No disrespect to any of our East Coast brethren - Philly is a fantastic city, FDR is a fantastic park. Thanks to all the people who make skateboarding the beautiful thing that it is.

I love skateboarding! Always have! So when ESPN came to me and said, "Jamieson, Jaymo, what do you think about doing color commentary with Chris Miller at the summer X Games park event?" Like a twelve year old boy getting Tony Hawk's autograph, I said yes before they were done asking the question.

Chris Miller happens to be one of my all time favorite skaters. The guy not only rips, but maintains a style of flow which few can follow. When you are listening to Chris Miller and myself yapping away during the Park Event at summer X, just remember and know, that:

A) Miller is a full blown ruler and pro with style that many wish they had.
B) I (me, Kris Jamieson, Jaymo) am quite possibly the world's first self proclaimed ultimate skateboard fan.

Chris Miller frontside air.

Chris Miller and I have worked together in the past so we were kinda stoked to be working together again, especially on an event like street park. As we were hanging watching some vert practice, Mike Frazier drops in and goes to town, unloading a barrage of highspeed vert paraphernalia. I said, "wow, Frazier is still killing it! Right on! Who is he skating for these days?" Miller quickly replied, "Santa Cruz". "No way" I thought, Santa Cruz is a perfect core company for a ruler like Frazier.

As the conversation moved on to a discussion of "core", we were educated on the whereabouts of a mighty fine "core " park. PHILLY SIDE. The real irony is that less than a mile from the X Games' super sanatized park event, was the nemisis of the super park itself - PHILLY SIDE.

Miller and I quickly got it together and beelined it straight on over to get some roll time. Like something out of a weird dream, the Phillyside cement grows from the dirt ground under the elevated interstate freeway. Cars rumble above as skaters flow through this line laiden jungle. Miller and I were stoked. Both of us agree that crazy home made terrain is the best. It tests a skater to the fullest. Rough cement and secret speed zones work in harmony to demand the very best from everyone who drops in.

Chris Miller comes through the shadows.

No wussies need apply. Wacky coping and grindable cement edges accessorize the place. Sweet bowls and vert wall rides built on the bridge support pillars make the place a haven for frontside "cess" slides. Lips of all sizes assist your tail clack to make your ollies that much higher. When you skate here, you have got to be very well rounded. It is street, vert, and pool, all in one. A no misser if you are in the Philly area.

Needless to say, Miller quickly started laying fronside grinds on the over vert pool coping. When he needed a change, he would drop into a foot of vert on a six foot tranny, power a carve around a bowl and then pop frontside ollies at high speed over this hip saturated with bmx'ers. I managed to make the pool coping bark a couple times, and I found some smooth buttery coping in a couple of the bowled pockets.

After a couple hours of non stop shredding, Miller and I packed up our stuff and headed to work, knowing that we were now justified to talk about the sanitized X Games park event. So the next time you are skating a buttery smooth custom skatepark thinking, "damn, I am getting good", go to Phillyside and test yourself against some of the best core skate terrain around. And one last thing, don't get me wrong, I love skating smooth stuff, and this year's X Games Park course is very sick, it is just important to know the whole world, not just one part.

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