Blind Team Wins Vans Downtown Showdown

Some of the world’s top street skaters faced off against one another in the annual Vans Downtown Showdown on Saturday and when the dust settled, the Blind team, led by
Jani Laitiala, took the title.

The participating teams competed on four seperate obstacles that were designed by the teams themselves: Girl’s 3 Pump Dump, Creature’s Five Points of Pure Evil (AKA The Darkest Helmet ), Black Label’s Dive Bar and Foundation’s Lunar Eclipsey Hubba.

Keep reading for the official results and all the payouts from this pretty rich event.

The Black Label Dive Bar obstacle

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Epicly Later’d – Gino Iannucci: The Final Episode

I understand why certain athletes retire before time is up. I guess that most of them want to leave the game while they’re on top. But it does kind of suck because you know that there is so much more they are capable of and you begin to think what could have been and what more they could have accomplished. Another championship perhaps? Quite possibly a scoring award. Or how about a couple more illegitimate children. Who knows.

I’m a big tennis fan and one player who I thought embodied cool was Bjorn Borg, the Swede. I think he was so ahead of his time especially with his style. If he is now who he was back in the 70’s, all the Silverlake hipsters would be swinging around a racket instead of biking the streets of Los Angeles. Retiring at only 26 years of age, probably due to too many drugs and boning too many women, he won 11 Grand Slams. Crazy!

Another obvious early retirement was that of MJ. Michael Jordon retired after winning the 1998 NBA Championships and his 6th title. The guy was really on top of the sports world and nobody even came close to his greatness. But he did leave and that left him more time to play golf and do Hanes commercials.

The last one I will mention is Gino. He has no responsibility beyond himself to skate how he wants to skate but he really leaves most spectators wanting more. His retirement is a little ambiguous because he still skates around but it’s uncertain if he will film another part, and if he does, the length is in question as well.

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Paul Rodriguez Incase Luggage Collection

Skateboarders have really come a long way since the days when getting free stickers and granola bars from their sponsors was the bomb. We slowly saw the evolution of what today’s renaissance skater has become and I think we can trace back to when it started with notable members of the skateboard community. Tony Hawk for his multiple participations with corporate America like “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater” and Willy Manoloto Santos for his film debut in “The Skateboard Kid II”.

Now lets see which skaters have the coolest endorsement deals:

1. Ryan Sheckler – Proactive
2. Shaun White – Target (heard there’s an underwear deal in the works)
3. Tony Hawk – Hepatitis B Awareness Charity

Now adding to this amazing list of endorsements is of course Paul Rodriguez. Not for the remake of his dad’s cult classic “Million To Juan”, but for his own line of luggage and backpacks from INCASE. I’m not sure if most of you out there can afford these but they are nice and just like some of the innovative skate shoes that came out in the 90’s, these bags have all sorts of hidden compartments and surprises.

Imagine being on a long vacation and not having your fresh new shirts smelling like your feet the day you walked all over Shanghai for 12 hours. Check out the video below. P-Rod explains it all. Plus check out the treflip to crooks. It’s nasty!

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Have Pizza With Morning Ride BMX Shop

We just reported yesterday that Chipotle Mexican Restaurants will be promoting Roll Anything Day by giving away free burritos to those who show up on an environmentally friendly vehicle.  I know you pigs love free food so here’s another one for you.  If you’re in the Lake Forest area or you’re just desperate for some free chow (pizza), then take the trip out there tomorrow October 11th and enjoy a day full of greasy, fatty, food and some BMX Fun.

The fun goes down at the Lake Forest Morning Ride BMX shop from 4PM – 7PM and the admission is free.  There will be a best trick contest and plenty of prizes.  Oh yeah and free pizza.

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FEAST: A Flip Southwest Tour

The name pretty much explains it and pretty much explains my disappointment because Flip is definitely one of my favorite skate teams.  Why do they have to go through the Southwest?  Maybe at least they can skip Texas and come to California instead.  I doubt anyone there can understand most of their accents anyway.  Oh well, it doesn’t matter because I never go to these things anyway.  But if you’re in the area, you should check it out because these guys are sick.  Read the press below.

THAT’S RIGHT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE ILLUSTRIOUS FLIP TEAM IS HEADING TO THE DESERT SOUTHWEST AND MOUNTAIN COUNTRY, THE PERFECT WAY TO START THE HOLIDAYS, FORGET YOUR TURKEYS AND FAMILY FEASTS GET YOURSELF OFF TO THE NEAREST SKATEPARK LOCATION ON THE SCHEDULE AND FEAST ON THE FINE SKATEBOARDING OF GEOFF ROWLEY, MARK APPLEYARD, DAVID GONZALEZ, RUNE GLIFBERG, LANCE MOUNTAIN, LUAN DE OLIVEIRA, CURREN CAPLES AND THE GANGSTA STYLE OF LOUIE LOPEZ. WE ALL LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THERE. HAPPY TRAVELS.

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$10,000 Surf Kickflip Challenge Continues…

 As time goes by, we all must learn that the more we learn, the less we know about the world around us.  Who would have ever thought that a man would walk on the moon?  Or at least a Hollywood set to look like the moon?  Or who would have thought that an idiot with the I.Q. of a Chihuahua would ever become president of the United States?  After experiencing that, I know anything is possible.

Except for one thing.  I don’t even know if this will ever be pulled off but anyone who can land a kickflip on a surfboard while riding a wave will be a hero.  Not to me though, my only hero is Criss Angel.   I guess many have attempted and only a few have gotten close.

Volcom is offering $10,000 to the first person that can land a “proper” kickflip while surfing By proper they mean an “above the lip” kickflip where first you launch an air, use your front foot to flip the board, and then land on it and ride out cleanly. No backwash, no fingerflips, no grabs, no laybacks. Just a proper kickflip.

I suggest somebody talk to Simon Woodstock.

Official Rules And Regulations For Volcom Stone’s $10,000 Kickflip-Off Contest! Read Carefully!

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Roll Anything Day 2008

There are a few days out of the year that if you’re a street kid, bum, or just suffering from today’s economic woes, you are treated like a commoner because these specific establishments open their doors to the public for a gathering of free food.  I’m not talking about Thanksgiving or Christmas either.  Not even Ramadan.  So these days come unexpected. 

My favorite convenient store 7-11 gives away free Slurpees on 7-11.  Just a few weeks ago, Baskin Robins was giving away free ice cream to celebrate their birthday.  And now we have Chipotle, one of the yummiest fairly new burrito franchises around.  Have you eaten there?  They’re excellent.  Better than 7-11 frozen burritos for sure.  All you have to do is roll up in a non-automobile to celebrate “Roll Anything Day”. 

I will be availing of such an awesome day by gearing up with every non gas guzzling vehicle I own.  My skateboard, bike, snakeboard, unicycle, rollerblades, segway, rollershoes, and my Soaps.  Read the press release below for more info. 

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Beauty And The Beast Premiere

I’m sure by now you’ve heard of the Beauty And The Beast Tour of the Northwest of the United States.  And if not, I’m sure you’re probably singing THIS in your head by now.  But the Beauty And The Beast tour takes essentially two of the most polar opposite teams, Girl X Antihero, and documents the whole thing on the road. I’m sure they will ultimately learn that they are all same.  So heart warming. 

Well Patrick O’Dell from Epicly Later’d documented the Cinema Paradiso inspired premiere party with his photo camera and shared the pics on an Epicly Later’d site.  From the looks of things, the movie was a success.  Not to mention Patrick’s photos.

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DVS Snowboard Team Signing

No not the DVS skate team. It’s the DVS Snowboarding Team’s chance to get in there and do their share of PR work. Come hang out with the team, talk snow! Get autographs and receive tons of free product this weekend.

On October 11th at 1:00 PM, Marc Frank Montoya, Mikey LeBlanc, Jussi Okansen, and Jamie Anderson will be at Identity Boardshop in Buena Park.

Then on October 12th at 3:00 PM, Mikey Leblanc, Jussi Okansen, and Jamie Anderson will be at Sun Diego in Escondido CA. Here’s your chance for you guys down south to meet some of your snowboarding heroes.

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Red Bull’s Metallicross Seeks New Home

Less than a month before it was scheduled to hit Atlanta, Red Bull’s Metallicross has been canceled.  Red Bull didn’t have any explanation for the move, but did indicate that the unique competition would be rescheduled for the future.

“Red Bull strongly believes in this innovative and exciting motocross event concept and will pursue other options to make Red Bull Metallicross a reality in the future,” Red Bull’s statement read.  “All registered competitors will be refunded in full and will be notified when a new date and location are determined.”

The contest, which was sanctioned by the American Motocross Association, was termed a “hybrid” competition combining traditional dirt MX racing with endurocross and arenacross. It was scheduled to take place at the abandoned Pullman Train Depot in Atlanta on Nov. 1.

The official site is still up at RedBullMetallicross.com and we’ll let you know when the event comes back around.

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