"Skateboarding is a beautiful thing." - Sal.
I can safely say that the Men's Vert Final which took place in Philadelphia's First Union Center was like no other skateboarding event I have ever been to. The arena used normally for Sixers and Flyers games felt right at home housing the incredible amount of people who showed up for the skateboarding action. What was different however, was that instead of a polished hardwood floor or Zamboni perfected surface being the focus of the crowd's attention; it was a magnificently crafted TeamPain vert ramp. A 56' wide 12'6" high tool for recreation with curved 2' extensions on either end of one side creating an escalator coping with that same curve corresponding to a transition radius effectively making the deck itself a mini ramp. This type of ramp was first built by Tim Payne for Powell's "The Search For Animal Chin," so it was fantastic to see all the new vert destroyers skating the OG Chin Mini. The ChiniMini. OK, enough construction nerd talk.
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| Bucky in the middle of one pretty kickflip indy. |
Watching this event was like the first time you got to Second Base. Fresh, exciting, amazingly fun and all brand new. The lights dimmed as Sal got on the Mic (surrounded by Austin Powers style shagging lights) and pumped up the crowd with his rock-concert style athlete introductions. Then the colored light show started, making the place feel like the biggest stop on the Motley Crue Dr. Feelgood tour. By this time the crowd was in a frenzy, holding up signs for their favorites. Even the guys in the third deck were cheering like they each had their own personal megaphone. The lights went back on and there's Chris Berman (From ESPN's Sports Center) just chillin' watching the big show. Like I said, this skateboarding contest was like no other.
Ok, what happened… Well, Rune the Nordic Viking went so damn high and skated with so much style that I almost lost control of my giggle muscles. He was stomping huge ass Madonnas on the extension, killing f/s heelflips all day, b/s tailsliding the lower coping like it wasn't 12'6" off the ground, and cleaning back-to-back McTwists like some kind of vert janitor. But Rune fell a couple of times, once trying this crazy double handed catching cab heelflip varial, so he just smiled big and did his signature stoke-the-crowd-and-throw-out-the-helmet finale. Andy was skating mega-consistent and making his yellow tee look good by putting together a line of varial 540s, heelflip varials, finger flip to tail and big clean airs. The crowd booed when he came in fourth.
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| This photo kind of speaks for itself. |
Tas's final run was incredibly amazing. He was going off with granite tough airs and then decided to put together a flabbergasting combo of a big ass kickflip 360 varial to an amazingly clean 720. The crowd went crazy and Tas ended his run, one fist up in the air for due celebration. But then the judges gave him a 3rd place standing and he went crazy because he thought he deserved more. He immediately started flipping off the judges down below and commenced talking to Don Bostick about his officiating choices.
"The judging is a complete joke." - Tas.
Bucky went absolutely crazy in his 2nd place run. So smooth, so confident, so great to watch. On every wall a sampling of vert ability, not to mention a line that included a switch f/s 540 rodeo, to a f/s gay twist, to a Miller flip. He fell on the next wall trying a switch McTwist, but it didn't matter at that point. It was the kind of skateboarding that you can pretty much only see once a year. When asked about the event it was nothing but positivity.
"That was skateboarding right there." - Bucky.
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| Bob actually doing a trick not in switch avenger mode. |
Now, what can I say? Bob, ohhh Bob. You make the act of vert skating one of the most beautiful performances of creative human expression I have ever seen. You went absolutely berserk on your final run and found the flow within that separates you from others, and truly deems you the best. Your style is magnificent and the way you read the ramp breathes new life into vert skating. Besides listening to The Clash on each run, you make your line of McTwist, to kickflip to fakie on the extension, to switch indy kickflip, to fakie to fakie 540, to switch kickflip to regular, to rewind revert, to half cab f/s blunt, to blunt kickflip to fakie, to switch f/s air, to anything you want because you're invincible, seem like pure magic. It is a joy to watch you skate. Thank you.
"Yeah, this is insane, I've never skated for such a crowd. This is amazing. The pressure, I mean I couldn't believe skateboarding actually… I mean this was a skateboarding event and people were here for vert skateboarding. I'm so happy for everyone and this is very exciting times." - Bob.
After scoring his contest winning 98.00, Tony Hawk came down to give Bob a big hug in front of the cameras. Brazilian flags were waving over the stadium handrails and the lights dimmed for the awards ceremony as the theme from Superman pumped out of the PAs. I ran into Tony and asked his opinion on Bob's run.
"I think these people came to see a show and they got to see way more than they ever expected. I think that Bob's run was the best vert run we've ever seen. It's insane I mean almost any trick he did, I'd say half his tricks, would be contenders for the Best Trick competition." - Tony.
An event like no other? Confirmed.
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