The legends of skateboarding dropped in for their contest runs today in front of a VIP viewing box packed with cheering pro skaters who were barely walking when they were busy dominating the skateboard scene.
Skateboard Park Legends contest, which ran solely as an exhibition jam session at X Games 14, became a medaled event this year. The chance for gold and glory stepped the excitement level up, with the old-school pros showing themselves to be every bit as competitive now that they’re over 40 as they were when they were under 20.
1980s vert dominator Christian Hosoi, who regularly used to compete against Tony Hawk, and Planet Earth founder Chris Miller shined in the finals today, one-upping each other with stylish old school and new school tricks. Hosoi took the title in the end, going huge on his transfers and getting almost upside down in the cradle, to the delight of his many longtime fans.
“I can’t tell you how good it feels to be here,” said Hosoi of his win. “I’m alive. I’m on my skateboard at the X Games. I feel like I’m 18 again.”
Lance Mountain skated his way into bronze, grinning while he pulled stalled-out inverted handplants in the deep-end pool section.
“We built this sport on concrete,” said Mountain, when asked about the concrete pool built for the X Games Park competitions. “When I was first asked to come and skate ramps here, I told them I would wait for concrete. And here it is. This park was amazing.”
1. Christian Hosoi Huntington Beach, Calif.
2. Chris Miller Del Mar, Calif.
3. Lance Mountain Alhambra, Calif.
4. Steve Caballero Campbell, Calif.
5. Tony Magnusson Del Mar, Calif.
6. Lester Kasai Anaheim, Calif.
7. Pat Ngoho Culver City, Calif.
8. Steve Steadham San Diego, Calif.
9. Steve Alba Badlands, Calif.
10. Duane Peters Costa Mesa, Calif.
I called it three days ago: Skate Park was the best of the skateboarding events all weekend. ESPN made huge strides from last year's course (which was really tight) with the use of cement. This year the park had it all.
Style: Rune's back Smiths over the cradle to powerslide over the bump looked so sick.
Tech: Australia's Chad Bartie was doing nollie heels in his park lines.
Drama: Omar Hassan drilled his ribs into the coping at Mach 10. And, unbeknownst to anyone watching, skated the park with a tear in his ACL.
Excitement: Not even Tony Trujillo knew what he was going to do next in his runs.
New Blood: Young bucks like Aaron Hamoke, Kevin Kowlaski and Steve Reeves all seem poised to dominate this event in years to come.
But as much fun as it was to see the guys flying around the course today, I still feel like it needs some work. And so as a big Bill Maher fan I have chosen to make some suggestions to the governing board with a segment I like to call NEW RULES:
No Pads: I'm not going to point fingers at any ONE individual but instead I'll make a blanket statement to all who participated in the Men's Park Event: NO PADS. If you want to wear pads you must skate in the Legends Division. It just doesn't seem fair that a top 3 spot and cash money is given away each year to someone wrapped in bubble wrap while guys like Hassan are skating with half a leg.
Extend the Time: I think the current length of heats is just fine, I was more thinking that if someone showed up late because he was stuck in Los Angeles traffic that the event folks and judges could extend him the courtesy of fitting him into a different heat. Especially if prelims has just started ("And that's going to be time for Alex Olson.").
Free Up Billboard space: I don't understand why none of the corporate sponsors chose to rent some of the enormous, gleaming billboard space on Aaron Hamoke's teeth. Seems like a waste of some prime real estate.
If pictures could talk this photo would tell you that Rune was hauling at about 40 mph through the whole park.
Riders Choice: Sometimes judges miss things. Sometimes they have hidden agendas. So each year there should be one guy that advances to the finals as chosen by his peers. A guy that skated hard, killed it and just didn't make the cut. This year I would've nominated Jimmy "The Greek" Marcus. I could watch him skate all day long.
ll Star Balloting: I think that since this is an event for the fans, like the NBA All-Star Game, the fans should decide who is invited to the contest, with a few spots left open to be determined by a panel of Team Managers. In Park I could see the skateboard community voting in Darren Navarrette and Mark 'Red' Scott before Pads.
Jim's Ramp Jam: Like the famous "Last Man Standing" miniramp contest held at Jim Thiebaud's old ramp, there should be a final round for all contestants that didn't make it to the park finals. $1,000 goes to the last guy still standing on his board. For added audience enjoyment the guys could be blindfolded and the coping could be set on fire.
More Money: As thanks for being the most exciting skate event of the weekend the park riders should be entitled to the most money. Or at least some lovely parting gifts. Turtle Wax?
A Snake Run Lead-In: It'd be pretty sick if there was a '70s-style cement snake run that led into the park so that guys could haul a** at super speed. Lead in will not be counted towards the 30-second run time.
No Biting: If someone frontside tailslides over the cradle the next rider is not allowed to frontside tailslide over the cradle and mimic the previous rider. Judging will be scored on creativity.
Don't think any of these NEW RULES are too outlandish and can be easily implemented for X Games 16 in 2010. I doubt that ESPN will see my suggestions as anything other than an improvement over the first two years format. But I will say again, the park event and course was greatly improved from last year and I'm sure it will only get better next year
