Red Bull Manny Mania ATL
Posted on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 by
Words by Ryan Clements
Photos and Captions by Rob Meronek
We got a last-minute invite a little over a month ago to head up to Atlanta to help out our pals at Red Bull with hosting Manny Mania. Having just been up there back in June, I was more than willing to make the trip to enjoy the cool skateboarding scene that our friends to the north have developed.
We arrived late Friday morning and met up with everyone at Embassy Suites in Downtown. You know how it is when you’re rolling deep with a crew of about 15…nothing ever happens quickly. After a long lunch at Manual’s Tavern, a very cool spot with $3 lunch specials, we headed over to Atlanta’s very own DIY spot, The Foundation.
You’ve probably seen footage or photos of this place before, but it’s literally a foundation of a long-gone building with some cement obstacles scattered around. Whoever got the ball rolling with this project definitely didn’t know how to pour/lay concrete, but really, that didn’t matter too much because the location and scene is just so damn cool there.
The session lasted for a few hours. At one point there were probably 30 or more people there and I commented, “This is probably more people than we have at Skatepark of Tampa at the moment!” We got to see locals like Dan Plunket and Grant Taylor and then the DGK crew rolled up with Marcus McBride and Rodrigo Lima…very interesting to say that least, but Grant was the ruler of the session. You’ve really just got to see it in person because it’s not the tricks, but the way he does it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…the skate scene in ATL is tight. I really like it up there.
As the evening crept up on us we headed back to the hotel to freshen up and head out to dinner. The final stop of the night was The Masquerade, a somewhat-legendary Atlanta nightclub, to see De La Soul. But by about 11:45pm I was completely over it, so I threw up a smoke bomb and exited.
Morning came quickly since we had to be on site at 8am, and after a complimentary breakfast at the Ruth’s Chris in Embassy, we were off to the site of the event, Atlanta Underground. Downtown was very quiet early on Saturday morning, with mostly bums/street people walking around the temporarily-desolate area. But as we approached Underground, there were easily 50 Red Bull employees causing all sorts of commotion by setting up tents, couches, and tables all around a perfectly constructed manny pad set-up, built by Jona and the Hazard County Construction crew.
Contests that begin at 11am usually don’t start on time due to late arrivals, but we got the first heat going just before 11:30am…and boy was it hot and humid. It was definitely comparable to summer weather in Tampa and that’s nothing to be too excited about skating in during the afternoon hours. There were eight heats of skaters that rode for 10 minutes each, with the top 10 overall advancing to the Semi-Finals. Then the top four from the Semis got taken to the final, four man, 20-minute jam. That means that those four skaters that made it all the way to the end rode for total of 40 contest minutes. That’s not an easy task and they were obviously exhausted at the end of the Finals. Here’s how it broke down:
Thanks to all of our friends at Red Bull…the hospitality was awesome and it was great hanging with you guys. Also, thanks to Clyde Singleton for helping out on the mic prior to getting his privileges revoked. Finally, thanks to all of the skaters of Atlanta for making us feels so at home in your great city. See you next time.
Ryan
Photos and Captions by Rob Meronek
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We arrived late Friday morning and met up with everyone at Embassy Suites in Downtown. You know how it is when you’re rolling deep with a crew of about 15…nothing ever happens quickly. After a long lunch at Manual’s Tavern, a very cool spot with $3 lunch specials, we headed over to Atlanta’s very own DIY spot, The Foundation.
You’ve probably seen footage or photos of this place before, but it’s literally a foundation of a long-gone building with some cement obstacles scattered around. Whoever got the ball rolling with this project definitely didn’t know how to pour/lay concrete, but really, that didn’t matter too much because the location and scene is just so damn cool there.
The session lasted for a few hours. At one point there were probably 30 or more people there and I commented, “This is probably more people than we have at Skatepark of Tampa at the moment!” We got to see locals like Dan Plunket and Grant Taylor and then the DGK crew rolled up with Marcus McBride and Rodrigo Lima…very interesting to say that least, but Grant was the ruler of the session. You’ve really just got to see it in person because it’s not the tricks, but the way he does it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…the skate scene in ATL is tight. I really like it up there.
As the evening crept up on us we headed back to the hotel to freshen up and head out to dinner. The final stop of the night was The Masquerade, a somewhat-legendary Atlanta nightclub, to see De La Soul. But by about 11:45pm I was completely over it, so I threw up a smoke bomb and exited.
Morning came quickly since we had to be on site at 8am, and after a complimentary breakfast at the Ruth’s Chris in Embassy, we were off to the site of the event, Atlanta Underground. Downtown was very quiet early on Saturday morning, with mostly bums/street people walking around the temporarily-desolate area. But as we approached Underground, there were easily 50 Red Bull employees causing all sorts of commotion by setting up tents, couches, and tables all around a perfectly constructed manny pad set-up, built by Jona and the Hazard County Construction crew.
Contests that begin at 11am usually don’t start on time due to late arrivals, but we got the first heat going just before 11:30am…and boy was it hot and humid. It was definitely comparable to summer weather in Tampa and that’s nothing to be too excited about skating in during the afternoon hours. There were eight heats of skaters that rode for 10 minutes each, with the top 10 overall advancing to the Semi-Finals. Then the top four from the Semis got taken to the final, four man, 20-minute jam. That means that those four skaters that made it all the way to the end rode for total of 40 contest minutes. That’s not an easy task and they were obviously exhausted at the end of the Finals. Here’s how it broke down:
- 10th – Dom Johnson – we haven’t seen him in a while, so it’s nice to have Dom back. If he had landed the kickflip bs lip fakie manny and kickflip fs blunt manny he would have placed much higher
- 9th – Adam Kowzun – this guy had a resemblance to Yoshi, but definitely skated much better
- 8th – Sturgill Horn – he looks like he’s probably more comfortable slashing a pool than doing a half cab manny to bs 180 fakie manny 180 out, but apparently Sturgill can do it all
- 7th – Chris Head – I’m sorry, but I can’t remember a single thing this guy from Ruin did, but that’s because I was announcing and not taking notes
- 6th – Travis Glover – always super-smooth, I personally liked the manny on the whoop-de-woo to backside lipslide
- 5th – Connor Champion – Fat Bob’s boy with a great attitude and personality, not to mention a solid crooks pop over to nose manny
- 4th – Anthony Williams – west coast, east coast…Anthony and his smooth style seem to spend time all over the place, just like we do
- 3rd – Dan Plunkett – originally from Pittsburgh, the ATL transplant and DTE-LOC representative may just be the best skateboarder in the area
- 2nd – Matt Fink – he’s just one of those guys that brings smiles and laughter to any session. When we were giving out the prizes he was yelling, “Skatepark of Tampa!”
- 1st – Keelan Dadd – switch hardflip manual on command and a nollie double heel nose manny got Keelan a 92.33 in the Qualifiers and a 95 in the Finals. There was no denying that he dominated
Thanks to all of our friends at Red Bull…the hospitality was awesome and it was great hanging with you guys. Also, thanks to Clyde Singleton for helping out on the mic prior to getting his privileges revoked. Finally, thanks to all of the skaters of Atlanta for making us feels so at home in your great city. See you next time.
Ryan
Chill Cam Footage
We spent the afternoon at the Foundation in Atlanta then went to the Masquerade to see De La Soul after which we danced. Yes, yet another dude dance party. It's okay, we don't live in this town. Bonus old man skate footage: Schaefer and Meronek first pole jam ever.Comments
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