Zaturdays: Proof that Turning Pro Begins with Tampa Am [or not] By Paul Zitzer

On the long and winding road to becoming a superstar celebrity pro, or burned out failed amateur, taking at least one crack at Tampa Am is basically a given. Some of the stories we’ve heard a million times, like the one about Felipe Gustavo’s dad selling the family car to pay for the trip, but while that one’s the most dramatic, there are a million others, some good, some not so good. Over the course of a solid 10 years I spent interviewing pros for The Skateboard Mag, the subject of Tampa Am would come up time and again when drilling down to the origins of their careers. So in an effort to shine a little light on some of them, I went to the furthest corners of my hard drive and pulled some of the best Tampa Am quotes I could find. After you win Tampa Am this year I’ll add your quote to the list in 2016. “I skated Tampa Am a long time ago. 2009. I did horrible. I got like 37th or something, but I learned to try to do shit you know you can land, and stay on your board somehow.” “Oakley took me to my first Tampa Am and I got 82nd or something in qualifiers, but big Drew Allen came through again and somehow finagled a spot on C1rca flow for me. I couldn’t believe I was going to get free shoes and I was watching a bunch of kids run through a shitty ass Tampa moat for one free pair.” “Tampa Am [was the first contest I skated], the year Sierra Fellers won. I fucking fucked up both my runs and hit my head.” “My first trip to the US was for the Tampa Am. I was blown away, everything looked like a movie, with the big trucks, and everything, the pizza, the liquor stores, the steam out of the fucking ground. I was super hyped. I didn’t do so good in the contest but it was a super good experience.” “Tampa Am was my first contest. Probably in 2000. I think I only landed two tricks. I didn’t do good. I think that was the one I took my shoes off and shit.” “When I was 17 I won Tampa Am, which turned me am for C1rca and Mystery. It was a dream come true. I started touring all over the world and was having the time of my life.” “At Tampa Am 2005 I won Best Slam. I tried to nollie boardslide the rail, it was the last trick in my run and I was so tired I just couldn’t get up there. I hit my hip on the rail and flipped over and fell on my face. I couldn’t tell if I was hurt or not because everything went numb. I won an MP3 player.” “I exploded my heel about five days before going to my first Tampa Am trying to skate the Manhattan Beach 18 stair. But I went anyway because I wanted to go so badly. I just kind of danced around the whole contest on a heel bruise and ended up getting 70th place or something. But I was like, ‘I think I could do good in this contest, maybe I’ll come back next year without an injury.’ The next year I ended up winning, and I was fired up after that. I went to Phoenix am and won that too because I was like, ‘If I can win one maybe I can do the same tricks and win the other.’” [Winning] was pure luck. I didn’t even think I was going to make it finals and then all of a sudden I did and I’m like, ‘What?’ And I wasn’t really landing anything in practice and then all of a sudden I just did it. “They used to give free tattoos at Tampa Am, so I got a tattoo of a skateboard on my arm with a ribbon going through it that says ‘Reason for Living.’” “In January of 1998 I entered Tampa Am and got fifth. From there 5 Boro started hooking me up and that’s how I met Steve Rodriguez. Then in 1999 I went back to Tampa Am and won. I still didn’t know anything about skateboarding besides riding one really. Skateboarding was a hobby to me because I had to work to live. But after that I started getting all these phone calls from people saying, ‘What are you still doing working?’” “I went to one Tampa Am and I walked up and said, ‘This is fucking ridiculous. Do you see what’s going on out there?’ And I walked away.” “I went to Tampa Am in 2000 or something, the year Kyle Berard won, and I got on Birdhouse that day.” “I got arrested for some ridiculousness in Tampa. I passed out in the hotel and the cops just barged in because everyone had been blazing out in my room and shit. Of course I had some weed and I was the only one in the room, and pretty much just fuckin’ bullshit. I went to jail for the night and it sucked.” “I used to always go to Tampa am and then I started going to Tampa Pro. Skating in the Am is kind of crazy because everybody is trying to put their name out. They go all out you know what I mean? The pros are more laid back, everyone is skating good but, I don’t know, the ams are more hungry.” “I had been skating contests for a few years and ended up winning the Tampa Am [in 2000]. Then things started happening, well not really. I was in tenth grade and had to finish up high school in order to prepare for whatever was coming up. Then in 11th grade I won Tampa Pro. I was dubbed a contest skater. But honestly I was hyped. My thoughts were, ‘Well, where else am I going to skate with Koston?’” “My first Tampa Am was 2006, the year Cody McEntire won. I did terrible. I was so nervous I fell pushing.” “Maldonado was riding for Toy Machine so we took a trip to Cali and stayed at Ed Templeton’s house. Ed was one of my favorite skaters. He liked my skating and put me on Toy Machine too. On the way home, after just getting sponsored, we drove to Tampa for the contest. We went to the water gap because we were filming for the Toy Machine video. Me and Maldonado both ollied it, then Mike tried to backside 180 it and cracked his head on the ground and drove his truck right through his board. I tried to frontside 180 it and broke my ankle. I had surgery down there then flew home two days later. I was laid up for almost a year.” “I don’t know what year my first Tampa Am was, but Caswell Berry won it [2002]. I did horrible. The next time I went I did even worse. I haven’t been back to Tampa since.” “I started filming for a new video, but it wasn't until I saw Sean Mullendore and Jake Rupp skate Tampa Am in 1998 that the concept began taking shape. After two years of filming up and down the east coast, Static premiered in downtown Tampa.” “I think my first Tampa Am was 2003 or 2004. It was really awesome, I thought I skated a pretty good run and I remember Strubing being one of the judges and he was like, ‘Yeah man, I think you made it to semis.’ And I didn’t. And that was pretty much it. I progressively got worse and worse after that.” “I was in Tampa Am in like ’98 and I had to go first out of everybody in the whole contest. They had a bump to ledge with a drop at the end and I was doing nose manual nollie flips on it. Then Schaefer called my name to take my run and I ollied wrong and my foot was set up for a nollie heel and that was the very first nose manual nollie heelflip I ever did.” “I met Jamie Thomas at Tampa Am when I ollied off the vert ramp. I think it was 2000. He was filming me from the top of the ramp. I did it once and then on the second one he got real close, like six inches away from my board. It made me real nervous. Then he came up and we talked and he hooked me up with a box of boards.” “I was on kind of like a flow deal through Rodney Mullen with World Industries. I couldn’t really film at the time, well I could, I just couldn’t come up with footage or something. I’d get boards and then he wanted me to send him some footage, but it was taking a while, so I wouldn’t call for boards because I didn’t have footage. Then I went to a Tampa Am and I did pretty good, and then Andrew wanted to get me on Birdhouse. Then Rodney Mullen talked to me and said ‘What’s up? What are you going to do?’ And I said, ‘I might ride for these guys.’ And that was about it.” “I skated my first Tampa Am in 2006. I think I got like 90th, so I feel like I was pretty good (laughing). I was terrified, that was probably the most horrific experience of skateboarding for me, skating in front of all of these good kids and trying to hang.” “The second year I went to Tampa I got third place. Al Partanen recognized me from Milwaukee and said, ‘I do this company Illenium, you should come on this trip with us and hang out.’ And that’s what I did. It was super fun. I ended up riding for them and Al took me everywhere and got me hooked up. It was a domino effect from there.” “We went to Tampa Am, and I think everyone at Deluxe expected me to do really good, but they always told me, ‘Just have fun.’ When it came to my line I didn’t land a couple tricks and I didn’t qualify. That night everybody got drunk, and Jason Phares was the Real TM at the time and he was hammered, and he was kind of hitting me, joking around. But then he slapped me and was like, ‘That’s for not qualifying.’ Then he pinned me to the ground and put his knee on my neck. The last thing I remember was Anthony Shetler coming up to him like, ‘Whoa whoa, he’s choking,’ and Jason turned around and bitch slapped him. I woke up to Jason shaking me in mid air. Like, ‘Wake up, wake up.’ The next day on the plane ride home I felt so shitty. That was my first Tampa Am.” “In 1996 I saw Donny Barley at the Tampa Am. Donny was skating for Toy Machine, and he told me to call Chad Muska. So I called and talked to him, and then Jamie Thomas called me and said, ‘Alright, we’re putting you on the team.’ I was like, ‘Just like that? I don’t have to do anything? That’s sick!’” “I skated it one time. I did a beer bong during my run. Then Schaefer grabbed my head and thrust it into a woman’s cleavage that he happened to have with him, then my [ex] girlfriend saw it and that wasn’t good.” “When I was 14 I got 20th at Tampa Am. Mic-E Reyes heard I was going to SF and he gave me his card. I was with three other friends and they flaked on me and I was like, ‘fuck.’ So I decided to go by myself. Mic-E fuckin’ hooked me up in this hotel above a bar. I was pool sharkin’ people at 14 and they were like, ‘this kid’s not supposed to be in here!’ He showed me an awesome time and flowed me like no other. He took me to Deluxe and told me, ‘it’s Christmas every day here!’” “The first time I went I didn’t skate the street contest, I skated the vert. I think it was 2006. Chris Gregson won, I got tenth or something. I made it into the Tampa newspaper walking up the stairs.” “I entered Tampa Am a couple of times and that pretty much made me never want to skate a contest ever again. The first one I went to I was the first person to have to skate out of 220 people. It was terrible.” “I’ve never won a contest. The best I ever did was the first time I went to Tampa Am. I got second place in best trick for a bigspin front blunt on the rail.” “My first skate trip I drove down to Tampa Am with Alliance Skateboards. The trip was awful—sorry dudes but you know it was. Brian Mace was the best, RIP.” “My first Tampa Am was 2003, or 2004. Before that, I was at the switch ollie contest at the trade show, and I was sitting on the quarterpipe that they were using to turn around on, and I’d just gotten on Emerica and nobody knew who I was or anything. Somebody sat next to me and dropped a beer down the whole fucking ramp. And Schaefer came up, on the microphone in front of god knows how many people, and he was like, ‘Who the fuck are you? You dumb piece of shit why don’t you clean up your beer?’ Just the most horrific shit ever, in front of everybody. Instead of arguing back I was like, ‘Fuck you.’ And stuck my [middle] finger in his face. And he just lost it. I’ll never forget Ian Deacon walks up and starts sweating me too. Then Karl Watson walks up and is like, ‘You should leave.’ And I put my hand down and I walked away and left. I remember thinking, ‘Karl Watson is the nicest guy ever, I must have been really fucking up.’” “My first Tampa Am was probably one of the weirdest experiences ever. First and only I hope. Hungry hungry kids. I think I came like 249th out of 250 kids (laughing). I did terrible. I fell over rolling across the street course and slid like five feet. It was just a mess.” “I’ve never skated a pro contest. I went to Tampa Am once and I think I tried to kickflip the pyramid like three times and then my time was up. I haven’t skated a contest since.” “I skated in so many Tampa Ams, I swear like ten of them.” “I went to two Tampa ams, one in ‘98 and the next in ‘99. I had a blast both times and met some of my best long-term skate friends on those trips. Everything started coming together after going to Tampa. I met Jeremy Fox from Flip, and Sasha Steinhorst was running the program at Etnies. Paul Machnau showed up in ‘99 and we've been riding together ever since. This is really the most important stepping-stone for my skateboard life. All the people I met at these contests played a major part in my choice to be a skateboarder for the rest of my life.” “I never really won a contest. I did all right in Tampa once. It was either ’99 or 2000.Third place, and I won best trick. That was the best I felt at a contest. I was really pumped and the energy was amazing. I just remember trying [the gap to back tail for best trick], and it was over time. They gave me one more shot and that was it. I came through so that was pretty cool.” “I never skated it.” - Paul Zitzer