Damn Am Minneapolis 2009
Posted on Saturday, May 30, 2009 by Rob
Words by Jorge Angel
Photos and Captions by Rob Meronek
The first stop of the Damn Am Series in Minneapolis, Minnesota flew by. I got in on Wednesday mid-afternoon and before I could collect my thoughts of what happened throughout the weekend, it was Monday morning and time to go. Sorry if this is not a minute by minute recollection of what went down, but I am going to try and give you some highlights. At least you get a great visual of this past weekend's events with Rob’s picture and captions. I should really try and write these stories while I’m there.
* 5th – Jackson Pilz – this kid has got some skills. I don’t think I have ever seen him skate before, but I was pretty impressed. He had a big bag tricks, both switch and regular, but by the time the Finals started he could not put a good enough run together to get him into the top three
* 4th – Timmy Knuth – an all-terrain killer, Timmy has the potential to win any contest he skates. He was throwing the usual crail grabs and back smiths with ease
* 3rd – Curren Caples – I had to convince him and his team rider, Louie Lopez, to skate in the Bowl Contest. Ever since Curren got half his tooth knocked out in the Bowl Jam two years ago, he gets a little weary when it comes to skating in these bowl jam contests. I wouldn’t blame him though because he is one of the smallest guys in there, but that didn’t stop him from blasting tweaked out frontside airs in the deep end higher than anyone in the Contest. Oh yeah…and he doesn’t need full pads like the rest of the kids his age
* 2nd Place – David Loy – Zumiez Destroyer of the Weekend Award for lipsliding the high vert wall, Loy can destroy anything he skates. He also has one of the best attitudes out there. I see a long and successful future in skateboarding for this young man
* 1st Place – Dalton Dern – The gnarliest slam I saw all weekend came from Dalton Dern. He clipped his back truck on the coping on a backside air in the deep end and took a fall that made everyone cringe. After the slam he went into the corner, disappointed at the fact that he fell in his run. Anyone that has seen Dalton skate in contests knows he doesn’t fall much. He came out in the Jam with a vengeance, landing kickflip backside disasters, kickflip meron grabs, and a handful of other tricks. Dalton takes contests seriously
TJ Sparks was the first to clear it and received 3rd place. Then it was then a battle of two countries, World Industries rider and California native George Moreno against Brazilian native, Guiri Reyes. We gave them three chances at 38 inches. Guiri went first. He was focused and going at a moderate pace and he easily cleared the bar, but as he was landing on his board Schaefer fiercely yelled, messing him up. Schaefer was routing for the American to win. It was hilarious and you just had to be there to understand how funny it was to have Schaefer purposely yell in order to mess up Guiri’s ollie. After both skaters used up their three attempts it went to sudden death, the first person to clear the bar wins. Even though Schaefer messed Guiri’s first ollie, it did not stop him from ollieing the 38 inch bar before George Moreno. Guiri took this year’s Ollie Pop High Ollie Contest.
* 3rd – $100 – TJ Sparks – 37”
* 2nd – $200 – George Moreno – 37”
* 1st – $300 – Guiri Reyes – 38”
* 5th Place – Dujuan Bell – I have seen him try the inward heel to tailslide on the gap-to-hubba for the past three years and he finally made one
* 4th Place – Ian Sherman – varial heelflip to 5-0 on the gap-to-hubba
* 3rd Place – TJ Sparks – fatty to flatty backside flip over the large bank-to-bank
* 2nd Place – Dylan Perry – he did his usual gap to backside noseblunt, but what got him 2nd this year was a perfect gap to front blunt on the bigger side
* 1st Place – Matt Miller – nollie half-cab switch 5-0 the hard way on the high part of the bench
After Saturday’s Qualifiers, Felipe Gustavo and CJ Tamborino got the Golden Tickets for getting 1st and 2nd place, respectively, advancing them straight into the Finals. The top 28 from Saturday’s Qualifiers then got two, one-minute runs, and the top 10 advanced to the Finals to meet Felipe and CJ.
12th Place – Travis Glover – oh my style, this guy rips. Making tricks like feeble grind backside 180 out look too easy
11th Place – Tommy Werner – this dude squeezed into the Finals. I think he was a wee bit nervous because right before his final run he sprayed the course with puke. I had to clean it up. No fun…
10th Place – Ian Sherman – big bag of tricks. He reminded me of a Peter Romendetta, full-sleeves and going for the gnar-gnar
9th Place – David Loy – couldn’t quite put it together, but did win Zumiez Destroyer of the Weekend Award for his monster lipslide on the vert wall
8th Place – Ben Gore – too good with so much style, it truly is a pleasure watching him skate. He has a long career ahead of him
7th Place – Jack Olsen – they call him Rusty and he is a soldier in the Trog Army. He was one of the many kids skating with a cast on, but it was not stopping him from flying around the course
6th Place – Jereme Knibbs – my little homie Knibbs killed it this weekend. My words of advice to him were drop-in, destroy, and don’t fall. He did just that
5th Place – Taylor Smith – all around good skater, he can kickflip into anything. I saw him kickflip into the following tricks, kickflip backside disaster on the bank-to-wall, kickflip backlip down the big round rail, and kickflip frontside lip across the box
4th Place – C.J. Tambornino – won the Baggiest Designer Jeans Contest. CJ has got switch tricks that you only dream about. The one that stood out in my mind was the switch bigspin flip over the hip
3rd Place – Timmy Knuth – I know for a fact that kids get bummed when they see Timmy Knuth at a contest because they know he has the potential to win every single one he enters. His consistency is not human…kickflip crooks every try on the big bump to bar was unreal
2nd Place – Felipe Gustavo – if he were to enter a Red Bull Manny Mania Contest, he would win. Kickflip nose manual nollie heelflip out every try, he truly is a technician when he is on his board. I wonder if it’s the music that he listens to in his iPod whenever he is skating that helps him skate so well
1st Place – Chris Mendes – well, I guess the music Chris Mendes had DJ Wade put on during his run helped him skate perfectly. It was really bad techno electronic crap, but if it helps him land kickflip backside noseblunts across the flatbar, more power to him. Next time bring headphones
As you all may know, the top 12 automatically qualify for the Tampa Am. So Tommy Werner, work on those nerves because if you puke on our street course Frosty just might feed you to the devil in his dungeon. Also, the top two go straight into the Semi-Finals. Will Felipe Gustavo be the first person to win Tampa Am twice? We will have to wait and see.
Thanks
This is my long list of “thanks” for the people that help make this event:
* The whole crew at DC for sponsoring our event and giving me an unlimited amount of drink tickets that almost brought me down to the level of a whale hunter. DC has a really good group of guys working in their skate department, so expect some good stuff coming out from them
* Rodney and the Billabong crew for coming out and supporting our events year in and year out. Not to mention they have one of the illest skate crews out with Jeffrey Marshall, Tyler Surrey, Evan Smith, Wes Cramer, and Marius Syvanen
* Thanks to Jamey Stone and Blair Alley from Transworld for coming out and supporting
* The crew at 3rd Lair Skatepark hooked it up this year by clearing the old banners off the course and painting over the stickers. The audio was horrible for the first two heats of the Qualifiers, but they got right on it and fixed the problem…not to mention their genuine hospitality they show towards us year in and year out
* Thank to the rest of our sponsors such as Dean Guitars for providing two kick ass guitars for 1st and 2nd place. Dakine for the endless amount of backpacks for our winners, Independent and Bones for their endless support at each of our events, and thanks to Vestal for the watches
* Of course I cannot forget to thank the skaters, parents, and those who come out to show love for our event
If I don’t get fired by then I will be sure to see everyone again next year.
Ride on.
Porpe
Photos and Captions by Rob Meronek
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Bowl Contest
By now you should know the format. Each skater gets two 45-second runs, the top 10 advances to the Finals, where they each get an intro, skate-until-you-fall run, and then they battle it out in a 15-minute jam. Out of the 20-something skaters, below are the top five.
* 5th – Jackson Pilz – this kid has got some skills. I don’t think I have ever seen him skate before, but I was pretty impressed. He had a big bag tricks, both switch and regular, but by the time the Finals started he could not put a good enough run together to get him into the top three
* 4th – Timmy Knuth – an all-terrain killer, Timmy has the potential to win any contest he skates. He was throwing the usual crail grabs and back smiths with ease
* 3rd – Curren Caples – I had to convince him and his team rider, Louie Lopez, to skate in the Bowl Contest. Ever since Curren got half his tooth knocked out in the Bowl Jam two years ago, he gets a little weary when it comes to skating in these bowl jam contests. I wouldn’t blame him though because he is one of the smallest guys in there, but that didn’t stop him from blasting tweaked out frontside airs in the deep end higher than anyone in the Contest. Oh yeah…and he doesn’t need full pads like the rest of the kids his age
* 2nd Place – David Loy – Zumiez Destroyer of the Weekend Award for lipsliding the high vert wall, Loy can destroy anything he skates. He also has one of the best attitudes out there. I see a long and successful future in skateboarding for this young man
* 1st Place – Dalton Dern – The gnarliest slam I saw all weekend came from Dalton Dern. He clipped his back truck on the coping on a backside air in the deep end and took a fall that made everyone cringe. After the slam he went into the corner, disappointed at the fact that he fell in his run. Anyone that has seen Dalton skate in contests knows he doesn’t fall much. He came out in the Jam with a vengeance, landing kickflip backside disasters, kickflip meron grabs, and a handful of other tricks. Dalton takes contests seriously
Ollie Pop High Ollie Contest
The Ollie Pop High Ollie Contest was immediately after the Qualifiers on Saturday. We gave all those entered one chance to clear 33 inches. Then we raised the bar one inch, giving each skater three tries to clear the bar at the new height. By the time it reached 37 inches there were only two people left. Since we had money to give out for top three courtesy of Ollie Pop Gum, we let the remaining skater who missed the 37 inch mark a few more chances.
TJ Sparks was the first to clear it and received 3rd place. Then it was then a battle of two countries, World Industries rider and California native George Moreno against Brazilian native, Guiri Reyes. We gave them three chances at 38 inches. Guiri went first. He was focused and going at a moderate pace and he easily cleared the bar, but as he was landing on his board Schaefer fiercely yelled, messing him up. Schaefer was routing for the American to win. It was hilarious and you just had to be there to understand how funny it was to have Schaefer purposely yell in order to mess up Guiri’s ollie. After both skaters used up their three attempts it went to sudden death, the first person to clear the bar wins. Even though Schaefer messed Guiri’s first ollie, it did not stop him from ollieing the 38 inch bar before George Moreno. Guiri took this year’s Ollie Pop High Ollie Contest.
* 3rd – $100 – TJ Sparks – 37”
* 2nd – $200 – George Moreno – 37”
* 1st – $300 – Guiri Reyes – 38”
Independent Best Trick
It was hard to decide which obstacle to have the Independent Best Trick Contest on. Last year it was on the center obstacles which consist of two bank-to-banks and a gap-to-hubba and we did not want to be repetitive, but there wasn’t another obstacle that would have made it challenging for the skaters. So we decided to do it again on the center obstacle, but this year the skaters had the option of a flat bar in the middle of the bank-to-bank and a bench with two different ledge heights. We gave the skaters a 30-minute jam on the whole center obstacle and it was on.
* 5th Place – Dujuan Bell – I have seen him try the inward heel to tailslide on the gap-to-hubba for the past three years and he finally made one
* 4th Place – Ian Sherman – varial heelflip to 5-0 on the gap-to-hubba
* 3rd Place – TJ Sparks – fatty to flatty backside flip over the large bank-to-bank
* 2nd Place – Dylan Perry – he did his usual gap to backside noseblunt, but what got him 2nd this year was a perfect gap to front blunt on the bigger side
* 1st Place – Matt Miller – nollie half-cab switch 5-0 the hard way on the high part of the bench
Semi-Finals and Finals
Unfortunately, this year there were no dunk tank antics, but it did make for a shorter day. We were in need of a short day due to the killer party DC threw honoring their staff photographer Mike Blabac. Don’t know who Mike Blabac is? Well, he is the guy that shot the recent Transworld cover of Nick Dompierre’s backside noseblunt slide on that monster ledge.
After Saturday’s Qualifiers, Felipe Gustavo and CJ Tamborino got the Golden Tickets for getting 1st and 2nd place, respectively, advancing them straight into the Finals. The top 28 from Saturday’s Qualifiers then got two, one-minute runs, and the top 10 advanced to the Finals to meet Felipe and CJ.
12th Place – Travis Glover – oh my style, this guy rips. Making tricks like feeble grind backside 180 out look too easy
11th Place – Tommy Werner – this dude squeezed into the Finals. I think he was a wee bit nervous because right before his final run he sprayed the course with puke. I had to clean it up. No fun…
10th Place – Ian Sherman – big bag of tricks. He reminded me of a Peter Romendetta, full-sleeves and going for the gnar-gnar
9th Place – David Loy – couldn’t quite put it together, but did win Zumiez Destroyer of the Weekend Award for his monster lipslide on the vert wall
8th Place – Ben Gore – too good with so much style, it truly is a pleasure watching him skate. He has a long career ahead of him
7th Place – Jack Olsen – they call him Rusty and he is a soldier in the Trog Army. He was one of the many kids skating with a cast on, but it was not stopping him from flying around the course
6th Place – Jereme Knibbs – my little homie Knibbs killed it this weekend. My words of advice to him were drop-in, destroy, and don’t fall. He did just that
5th Place – Taylor Smith – all around good skater, he can kickflip into anything. I saw him kickflip into the following tricks, kickflip backside disaster on the bank-to-wall, kickflip backlip down the big round rail, and kickflip frontside lip across the box
4th Place – C.J. Tambornino – won the Baggiest Designer Jeans Contest. CJ has got switch tricks that you only dream about. The one that stood out in my mind was the switch bigspin flip over the hip
3rd Place – Timmy Knuth – I know for a fact that kids get bummed when they see Timmy Knuth at a contest because they know he has the potential to win every single one he enters. His consistency is not human…kickflip crooks every try on the big bump to bar was unreal
2nd Place – Felipe Gustavo – if he were to enter a Red Bull Manny Mania Contest, he would win. Kickflip nose manual nollie heelflip out every try, he truly is a technician when he is on his board. I wonder if it’s the music that he listens to in his iPod whenever he is skating that helps him skate so well
1st Place – Chris Mendes – well, I guess the music Chris Mendes had DJ Wade put on during his run helped him skate perfectly. It was really bad techno electronic crap, but if it helps him land kickflip backside noseblunts across the flatbar, more power to him. Next time bring headphones
As you all may know, the top 12 automatically qualify for the Tampa Am. So Tommy Werner, work on those nerves because if you puke on our street course Frosty just might feed you to the devil in his dungeon. Also, the top two go straight into the Semi-Finals. Will Felipe Gustavo be the first person to win Tampa Am twice? We will have to wait and see.
Thanks
This is my long list of “thanks” for the people that help make this event:
* The whole crew at DC for sponsoring our event and giving me an unlimited amount of drink tickets that almost brought me down to the level of a whale hunter. DC has a really good group of guys working in their skate department, so expect some good stuff coming out from them
* Rodney and the Billabong crew for coming out and supporting our events year in and year out. Not to mention they have one of the illest skate crews out with Jeffrey Marshall, Tyler Surrey, Evan Smith, Wes Cramer, and Marius Syvanen
* Thanks to Jamey Stone and Blair Alley from Transworld for coming out and supporting
* The crew at 3rd Lair Skatepark hooked it up this year by clearing the old banners off the course and painting over the stickers. The audio was horrible for the first two heats of the Qualifiers, but they got right on it and fixed the problem…not to mention their genuine hospitality they show towards us year in and year out
* Thank to the rest of our sponsors such as Dean Guitars for providing two kick ass guitars for 1st and 2nd place. Dakine for the endless amount of backpacks for our winners, Independent and Bones for their endless support at each of our events, and thanks to Vestal for the watches
* Of course I cannot forget to thank the skaters, parents, and those who come out to show love for our event
If I don’t get fired by then I will be sure to see everyone again next year.
Ride on.
Porpe
Thanks For Nothing Awards
- 3rd Lair - Mrod, Mark, Staff for all the hard work and cleaning up the Park
- 3rd Lair - Trog Army for all the hard work
- Mike Sinclair - driving to and from solo, have a nice drive home
- DC - Brian G, Jeff Pang, Sean Rogers, Mike Blabac, Heavy
- Ryan Smith
- Nick Dompierre
- Transworld - Jamey Stone, Blair Alley
- Me!
- Rodney Johnson
- Enich Harris
- Graham Stapleberg
- Romey from Ollie Pop
- Jeff Pang - all the hard work
- Charlie Thomas - bringing the crew to every event
- Zumiez Destroyer Award - David Loy for killing it all weekend. Also, thanks for providing travel vouchers for the top three in Street and Best Trick
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