Reward for Any Information Re: the Break in of OP Skatepark

Last night, the OP Park was broken into, with everything on the shelves and in the cases stolen. Boards, trucks, everything else. If you have any information whatsoever, or see someone with suspicious gear, please contact me. It's very much appreciated.

Unrelated Vol. 3: Japan Has the Best Stuff.

Like Gou Miyagi, for instance:



Courtesy of SLAP

Bert Wootton is 'Bangin' over at the Berrics

You can check out Orlando homie Bert Wootton's Bangin over at the Berrics. Before you do that, check out Bert's trick tip for the nocomplunder, courtesy of Rip-N-Dip Clothing's website.

Nocomplunder trick tip with Bert Wootton from Grant Yansura on Vimeo.

Kona Skatepark Series

Crown Contest in OP, August 22nd

Click to Enlarge

Video Game Update: What Happened to Stevie?

Let it be known that Stevie Williams is one of my faves of all time. Remember that Chocolate commercial where he grabbed his nuts in the camera right at the end after he landed a trick? Classic. So anyway, I have to say 'what the hell' every time I see what they've done to him in the latest video game that he's in. Ever since I started writing video game reviews for EU Jacksonville, I've gotten press info on new games regularly, but for some reason I didn't get a whole lot for this new Tony Hawk: Ride game that is coming out this fall. So I had to look for info. I found stuff like this:



Whoa dude! Look at the amplitude on that air! Now I'm not trying to hate, I think it would be cool as hell to be in a video game myself. (Well, I did until I did that 'add your face to the game' thing in Tony hawk's underground, when I realized I look like mutant) However, something is slightly off about that picture of Stevie there, and it's not just that he has skin lighter than Michael Jackson's. I didn't watch much of the X-Games, was I missing out on his megaramp run? Does he still skate pools? Yeah, of course he skates pools. According to this image from Activision promoting the last Tony Hawk game that came out:



I gotta ask Clyde if he can do that, cuz thanks to the Times Union, I know he's got those Backside smiths in a pool on lock. Hang-ten nose grinds are the next logical step, right?

Anyway, I guess the whole reason I'm posting this is in regards to the new Tony Hawk game coming out with the controller that looks like a small skate deck. You can check that out here in this video:

I know that is kind of painful to watch. I don't blame you for thinking of Sega's Air Trix. What do you mean, you've never heard of it?

And Stevie, I still love you dude.

Local Skateboarder Dies after Sneaking Out to Skate

I'm not sure how I missed this, but regardless condolences go out to the family of Jordan Cochran. Jordan was struck by an SUV and died early in the morning sometime around July 10th. From the article on First Coast News:

"He brought this board in the bathroom, when he took a shower, he put it in the bed when he went to bed, he had the board with him no matter what," said Melissa Cochran, Jordan's mother. "It was strapped to his book bag when he went to school."

It appears that Jordan was staying with a friend when this happened. Just a reminder to everyone here that skateboarding isn't just a harmless activity, and if you aren't careful you can end up in a lot of trouble. According to various stories, I've found that the family had no life insurance, so if you would like to do something to help:

"a VyStar account was set up to help with funeral expenses. Anyone who wishes to donate should specify the account of Cindy Brown, account No. 702781400."

If you know Jordan, please share your thoughts in the comments section.

More Coverage from the Oregon Bi-fecta (Oregon Trifecta 2009)

Killwag over at the awesome Skate and Annoy has posted another great photo collection from the Oregon Trifecta/Bifecta. (What are we officially calling this thing now?) You can see the new stuff here. Head over there to check out your Jacksonville homies ripping, plus other rad dudes.

Photo: Cason Kirk, snapped by Kilwag. Click to enlarge.

Built to Shred: Storming Kona Skatepark - Now on Hulu!

If you are like me, you can never get to Fuel TV's website at the right time to catch the webcast you want to watch. Well, if you've been wondering how things went at Kona during the Built to Shred filming, and haven't been able to catch it on Fuel TV, worry no more. You can catch the whole episode now over at Hulu. It's a remarkably entertaining show to watch, and it's got me wanting to put some wheels on an old tire and ride down the snake. Hey, Martin-are we allowed to do that?

...and Congrats to Buck Smith for a First Place Finish at Tigard

Coming across coverage from the Oregon Trifecta in a timely manny can be difficult on the net, but again thanks to skateboard-rev.com/snowboard-rev. You can see the Masters coverage here, with lots of photos featuring Buck Smith's win. You can find more coverage from round one here. Looks like an injury kept Buck out of the second round, but congrats are in order nonetheless.

Photo: Skateboardrev.com. click to enlarge.

Find more videos like this on BFD.com

Congrats to Steven Pineiro, 2nd place @ Corn Cup

Congrats to Steven Pineiro for making 2nd place in the Corn Cup stop at the Oregon Trifecta. (Bifecta?) Steven also got 6th at the Crown Royal event. Other notable Florida riders at the event: Cason Kirk, Juan Pineiro, Tim Johnson, and Jimmy the Greek.

This photo, along with quite a few others, can be found on the Oregon Trifecta writeup at skateboard-rev.com, which is located here. (click photo to enlarge)

R.I.P. Andy Kessler

Sad news for the East Coast Skate scene, and the world in general - It's been reported that Andy Kessler, AKA the Grand Master of 108, has passed away. Best known for being part of the East coast version of the Dogtown crew, Kessler helped stoke the flames of skateboarding in it's early days on the east coast. There is an interesting article on him, the origins of Zoo York and why it isn't what it used to be, and his life in general over at New York Mag. You can also check out the Epicly Later'd photo gallery here. Rest in Peace, Andy Kessler.

Grandmaster of 108 from Dorottya Mathe on Vimeo.

Red Bull Manny Mania in Miami, 2009

I've finally recovered from my trip to Manny Mania, and it's taken me five days. What a weekend in Miami! Thanks to hotel arrangements courtesy of Red Bull, a slew of Jacksonville heads were able to make the trek down to Manny Mania in Miami this past Saturday. I have to say that the contest was a very unique experience, as was the rest of the weekend.

Me and Rachel Best headed down to Miami on the morning of the contest. As usual, we were running late, but with the help of Rachel's dad's Honda Pilot, we got to Miami just in time. The drive wasn't nearly as bad as I had remembered it being from last time I went. Here are some notables about the drive down:

South Florida has lots of Mountains along 1-95. They are made of trash. I must have taken photos of at least 3. I could see 2 from my hotel room!

The Runway to Ft Lauderdale/Hollywood airport is like 500 feet from the highway. Seriously! Look at it. I thought a big ass plane with Shamu on the side of it was going to land on me on the way down there.

Everyone is Beautiful in Miami. Except the tourists.

We got to the contest just as it was starting. The location was definitely unique - the contest was held inside a sound studio, with the Manny Mania obstacles in a gated off area in the middle of the room, surrounded by bright studio lights. The course was packed, and people seemed to be having a hard time getting tricks in during practice due to so many people skating. Inside the building, there were local chefs cooking everything from corn dogs to rice and kebabs. It smelled amazing, but I didn't really feel like shelling out 12 dollars for meals on a paper plate.




The course

Once the contest got underway, things cooled down a bit on the course. There were 8 heats, each with about 5 dudes skating. People were allowed about 5 minutes to practice before their heat, and then 5 minutes to skate during their heat. Between heats, mayhem would break out again until the next practice session started.

Most of the Jacksonville guys skated pretty well, although Trevor was riding with a messed up ankle. Ty Baby did some amazing stuff too, but I guess it wasn't good enough to take him to the finals. It was a shame, too. I think he deserved it.


Ty on some Flip-in, flip-out stuff

During the heats without Jacksonville guys, we escaped to the Rally's down the street for lunch. Or was it a Checkers? What's the difference anyway? The neighborhood was a little sketch, but that never matters when you are hungry, does it? Plus, you really can't fade those seasoned fries. Nuh, uh.

Before the finals got underway, Red Bull had a DJ and two rappers perform for everyone. I can't remember if they were breakdancing or not. Maybe I'm confusing them with people from the Summertime in The City galleries from JaxReax.


Miami style dictates that you must wear a white sports coat at all times.


Judges Judging


DJ DJing




Gio and Nick


Judges. I think Fuenzalida smells something real bad.


Ivan, who helped with Hotel arrangements, and Ryan King from Red Bull


Nick Blanco


Ty and Jason


Check out Lizard King hiding behind Jake back there




O-Town was at Manny Mania. They are pretty much all Winners. That's Bert Wootton on the Left, and Chris Blake with the Black 5Boro shirt.


Bert Wootton - Can YOU no-comply into a manual? - Photo: Red Bull/F. Galland

The finals ended with Aaron Collier in first, Bert Wootton in second (Bert also won Best Trick), and Cody Lucas in third. It was an awesome contest, and some really amazing tricks went down at the end. Everyone there seemed psyched about the contest, the presentation, and the good times. After everything was said and done at the contest, we were off to find our hotel.

...Which was located right across the street from the sketched out Checkers (Rallys?) we ate lunch at. It was amazing how quickly things went from looking sketch to looking fresh as hell. Red Bull had us put up in the Hilton, which is pretty much the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in. No blood stained sheets, no doors without doorknobs... none of that! We actually had to pay 38 dollars to valet our car, and not only did the valet park the vehicle, but he also carried our luggage to the room. Our room was really nice, too. Instead of a TV remote, there was a wireless keyboard. Not sure what the deal was with that, so I didn't mess with it.




Johnny, Chill Jill. Note the black eye-Johnny got mugged by 3 dudes with rifles in front of 13 Gypsies in Riverside on Friday night before heading down. Next time you see him, tell him you are glad that he is alive.


Nate Johnson and Bruce. (It's rare that I see Black Nate without 2 drinks in his hand)

Saturday night, I ended up hooking up with some Riverside heads and heading down to Bayside with them for some eating and drinking. It was a mile away, but we didn't realize that until the cab dropped us off. I think the dude went the long way, too. Rad! We were all late getting out, and unfortunately everything was closed except a latin music club which looked like an outdoor bumper car rink filled with dancers. We got drinks there, hung out on the sidewalk, and watched a crazy old man dancing with his small dog. Later, he put the dog in a Baby Bjorn and pedaled off in his bike. WTF? Also, skin-tight white pants are in full effect in Miami.

After that, we all walked back to our hotel to get a small amount of rest before our long trip back to Jacksonville. Thanks to Ryan King at Red Bull for an awesome trip! You've done awesome things for Jacksonville, and we can't thank you enough.

Manny Mania Coverage from Red Bull

Manny Mania: Results

Congrats to all of you guys who made it to Miami to participate in Manny Mania. Unfortunately, nobody from Jacksonville made the finals, but there were some pretty tough matchups given out. Here are the results, stay tuned for the full report!

1. Aaron Collier from Orlando (Mesh)
2. Burt Wootton from Orlando (Mesh) Burt also won Best Trick
   
3. Cody Lucas from Miami (MIA)