Zaturdays: Crazier Things Have Happened Article at Skatepark of Tampa

Zaturdays: Crazier Things Have Happened

Posted on Tuesday, November 3, 2015 by Paul

So with 200 + skaters already registered to skate Tampa Am next weekend it’s stupid to think you’d be able to predict what might happen. But I’m not you, and I CAN predict what’s going to happen. I’m completely joking of course. But based on what I know about these dudes from the last couple years here’s my top 10 list of things that are more likely to happen than a lot of other things.

1. Brodie Penrod wins a Golden Ticket from Qualifiers straight to the Finals. He’s done it just about every other year. If only he could make that run AGAIN in the Finals he’d be your 2015 Champ, but if history is any guide to future performance…

2. Someone nobody has ever heard of shows up from a place like Montana, or Brazil probably, blows everyone’s mind, gets sponsored, and turns pro by 2017.

3. A bunch of kids from Japan make the finals.

4. Jake Ilardi wins the Converse Concrete Jam. You seen him skate out there yet? Maniac.

5. Your favorite am, that you want to see skate more than anyone in the world, is a no show. Why does that always seem to happen? Personally, Cole Wilson is who I’m hyped to see skate.

6. The same kid who wins practice and looks like the favorite ends up totally blowing it and gets 140th place.

7. Tony Christopher enters everything. We met him last year at Damn Am Atlanta and started calling him Side Project because he didn’t actually enter the Damn Am but killed it in the Bowl Jam and the Best Trick contest. My guess is he runs the Moat Race, enters the Bowl Jam Thursday night, skates Best Trick Saturday afternoon, does the Converse Concrete Jam Saturday night, and maybe even takes a crack at my Z-TAC Challenge from last week’s Zaturdays. Will he actually skate the contest itself? We’ll see. Interesting fact: While doing the “research” for this article I discovered that Side Project has actually ALREADY entered a Moat Race. What a legend!!!

8. Skaters from New York City get last pace both days of Qualifiers. Don’t get me wrong, I love NY, and I love NY skateboarders, but a lot of the rawest East Coast street types don’t necessarily fare too well on slippery street courses (with quarterpipes) in contest environments.

9. Micky Papa gets second at Tampa Am. I sound like a hater, but I’m strictly basing this on historical evidence. He’s had more second place finishes than anyone ever. Micky was dead set on winning Damn Am of the Year and getting the spot in next year’s SLS Pro Open but he was just edged out of it in the bitter end. With the winner of Tampa Am going to the Pro Open too, Micky barely misses it again. Sorry Micky.

10. Yoshi Tanenbaum wins. He’s been working his way up each year: 18th in Saturday Qualifiers in 2012, 13th in the Semi-Finals in 2013. 11th place in the Finals last year, and this year he won three out of the four Damn Am stops he entered. And those video parts he’s put out? Ferrrgetaboudit. Oh, but since Yoshi already claimed his spot in the 2016 Pro Open by winning Damn Am of the Year, we’d be sending the next person in line from Tampa, which would mean Micky gets to fulfill that dream after all. Yeah Micky!
Photo: Rodent

- Paul Zitzer

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