With Matt Berger coming to Tampa next weekend for the etnies Back to School Bash, I thought I should take this opportunity to clear the air a little bit so there’s no bad blood between him and any of us at SPoT. Because the truth is, I owe Matt Berger an apology, a big one, for personally spoiling his chance to potentially win the Barcelona Street League Pro Open. For that Matt, I am truly sorry. What follows is my story. Schaefer and I went to Barcelona back in May to work the webcast for the Street League Pro Open Qualifiers, and then I was tasked with the role of sideline reporter for the Semi-Finals and Finals while Schaefer worked on his tan and relaxed on the beach. So there I was with my microphone, walking around the edge of the course during the final tries of the heat one Semi-Finals when I came upon Bones Wheels TM / Filmer Jared Lucas in a very serious discussion with Matt Berger. I fired off a photo of them and “Grammed it.” From there everything kind of becomes a blur to me because it all happened so fast, but here’s how events unfolded as I remember them. -Berger is looking up at the scoreboard (He was second place at the time but since it was early in the Prelims there were a few heats to go. He needed to be in the top 8 at the end of the day to make the finals.) -Berger turns to me and asks what I think he should do for his final try in the Best Trick section (Just so you understand the significance, he had four scores on the board already, out of a possible four, so his last try would be like a bonus that he could use to throw out his lowest score and replace with a better one). -I ask him what his lowest score is. I’m thinking, “He’s sitting comfortably in second place right now, if he can do something to guarantee a better score he’ll be golden.” -I hear him say “6.” Here it should be noted that I think my hearing is going out on me. -I ask him what tricks he’s considering trying. -He answers, “Either Back 270 lip, or back 270 lip to fakie.” -I want input from the TM Jared Lucas, so I turn to confer with him only to discover he’s 100 yards away, heading through the crowd. I wonder to myself why he’d leave Berger in this time of need. -I panic. Without even thinking about it I suggest that a back 270 lipslide will get the job done (knowing it would score better than a 6) and that he’ll raise his overall score and breeze on through to the finals. And off he goes. -Moments later, Berger nails the 270 back lip, bolts, “Yes!” Good call Zitzer!” I’m congratulating myself. -The score is in, a 6.7. Not the absolute greatest score of all time, but better than a 6. Then I hear the PA announcer say something about it not being an improvement on any of his other scores. -“Come again?” Suddenly I’m wondering, “Did I hear him right when he said his lowest score was a 6?” ***

LATER THAT DAY:

-I bump in to Berger coming out of the Euro portable toilettes and I “guarantee” him that his scores will hold up to see him through to the Finals. Wishful thinking. -You can guess the rest of the story. Four heats later, Matt Berger is sitting in 8th place with an overall score of 30.2. Paul Rodriguez is down in 13th place; he’s the last skater of the last heat, and about to take his last Best Trick attempt. He needs a 6.9 to bump ahead of Berger and get into the finals. P-Rod being P-Rod, he rolls casually up to the hubba and tosses a switch front blunt down it and you don’t even need to wait for the score. In the words of SLS host and Tampa bro Andrew Cannon it’s, “Bye-bye Berger.” P-Rod is in the finals, Berger is out. This entire saga, friends, was my fault. I should have said go to fakie. It’s not like he wouldn’t have made it, he makes EVERYTHING. So Matt, I’m sorry I ruined the Pro Open for you. Oh, and Jared Lucas? It’s your turn. ***After re-watching Berger’s 270 lip on StreetLeague.com I learned that of the four scores he had on the board, the lowest was a 7.1, and that he in fact needed a 7.2 or better to add to his score. - Paul Zitzer