Posted on Jul 14, 2008
The éS Game of SKATE, presented by Boost Mobile, has officially come to a close and what a finale it was!
In the am competition, 18-year-old Carlos Lastra from Hollywood, CA reigned victorious thanks to his technical wizardry. There were more than 13,000 skaters competing in 60 cities in the United States and 50 cities in more than 25 countries around the world. In the end, it all concluded with Carlos throwing down a pop shove-it late flip, snagging himself the title of éS Game of SKATE Amateur World Champion, a Nixon watch and Boost Mobile phone with a free year of service.
Immediately following the Amateur World Finals, it was the pro’s time to shine in the éS Game of SKATE Pro Finals. With $20,000 on the line, the final four skaters were Eric Koston, Chris Cole, Billy Marks and Alex Mizurov. It didn’t take long before Koston and Chris Cole were battling it out, culminating with Cole taking down Koston with a nollie backside 360 heelflip and winning the éS Game of Skate Pro Finals for a second year in a row and taking home $15,000.
Thanks to everyone who competed and supported the éS Game of Skate all year long and we can't wait to see y'all next year!
Pros:
1. Chris Cole - $20,000
2. Eric Koston- $2,500
3. Alex Mizurov - $1,500
4. Billy Marks - $1000
Ams:
1. Carlos Lastra
2. Chris Mendes
3. Brent Sowinski
Posted on Jul 12, 2008
On the last stop of the éS Game of SKATE tour, Brea’s Liberty Boardshop hosted 178 skaters, all looking for that last shot at a spot in the Amateur World Championships being held the following weekend in Costa Mesa. Locals Brad Herrera, Doug Mares, and Edgar Torres all skated hard but fell in semi final games to Alvaro Delval, Paljum Tschering and Boo Johnson. Paljum Tschering, not afraid to show he came to win, fired warning shots early with tricks that are designed to get skaters out quickly. His tricks, like kickflip body varials, shove-it reverts, nollie norths and ollie souths, just to name a few, got a lot of crowd reactions and plenty of looks from the other skaters but in the end, he proved that he came to win and wasn’t going home empty handed after entering his 5th Game of SKATE this summer. In the end it was clear he could hold it down with solid skating and consistency and he was going to the finals, deservedly so.
Posted on Jul 12, 2008
As the final games of the first round of SKATE were winding down, a lone skater signed in and became the 123rd competitor at the Los Altos Skatepark, hosted by The Beach Zone in Albuquerque. Being the 123rd skater meant he would be playing in 3-way games of SKATE all day long. This would be no easy task in blistering heat against 122 hungry skaters - but the heat, in the air and on the ground, did not faze John Thomson. Defending champ Paul Hockett and newcomers Brian Jackson and Andrew Torralvo could not hold off John Thomson as he battled his way through his 6th round of multi-skater games to win it all and take home that Boost Mobile i425 phone, an éS Game of SKATE Gold Medal and the all-expenses-paid trip to the finals in July, during the Maloof Money Cup, being held at the Orange County Fairgrounds.
Posted on Jul 12, 2008
Normally, July 3rd at Venice Beach is no more extraordinary than any other day of the year. With the Independence Day holiday looming on the horizon, fireworks were the last things on the minds of 144 hungry skaters that gathered on the basketball courts at Venice Beach for the Active Boardshop éS Game of SKATE, presented by Boost Mobile. With the normal offering of acrobats, jugglers, clowns and beggars, Venice provided an interesting backdrop for skaters like Prince Gilchrist, Joe Varella, Matt Lemond and others to showcase their flatground skills. Paljum Tschering, an early favorite from Tibet, lost in a heated semi final game to Carlos Lastra but this wouldn’t be the last we heard from Paljum. As we approached the home stretch, SoCal locals Joe Varella, Chris Angeles, Alex Lopez and Carlos Lastra were our final four skaters standing. Arizona transplant Carlos Lastra held off Alex Lopez and showed the crowd his frontside pop shove-it late flip to give Alex an “E” and take home the top spot.
Posted on Jul 12, 2008
Collective Boardshop hosted our first trip to the Dallas, Texas, area in three years, and despite the stifling heat and shade-less parking lot, we had 128 skaters come out, all hoping to take home that Gold Medal, Boost Mobile phone and the ticket to California for the Finals. Chris and the guys at Collective made sure the éS crew, competitors and spectators had plenty of water and shade all day long—truly kind hosts in the southern tradition. While the Collective crew provided hospitality Texas style, out on the 110-degree asphalt, 15-year-old Drake Flores got to work handling the field of skaters in front of him. When it was all said and done, Drake held off fierce competition from Ryan Bernal, Chris Wooley and Carsten Boyer to claim that golden ticket and advance to the Finals in Orange County, CA.
Posted on Jul 12, 2008
The éS Game of SKATE returned to the City of Brotherly Love and joined forces with Nocturnal Skateshop to prove once again that the east coast is a breeding ground for technical skateboarding. The spot was Rizzo’s Rink under I-95, and the permit fee was an unusual twist: the crew had to paint over the graffiti on the wall of the building overlooking the contest! Once the new canvas was complete, all the familiar faces began to show up as the Game of SKATE crew took over the roller-hockey rink. Philly’s always an interesting stop on tour -- to see who can handle the heat and battle their way to the top for that trip to California and a Boost Mobile Phone.
Spencer Brown, Allen Beers and Dante Benjamin battled hard all day to make it to the finals where Spencer Brown once again proved his SKATE mastery by winning his third trip to the Finals.
Posted on Jul 12, 2008
After three quick round trips out of Orange County and back, rushing through airports, battling OC/LA traffic and getting rained on, the drive to San Francisco was our longest and most anticipated trip of 2008. It not only kicked off the first stop of many on the éS Game of SKATE summer tour, meaning that we would not be returning home for several long weeks, but here we were on our way to one of our favorite cities on the entire tour. Good friend to the GOS crew and veteran of the SF skate scene Shrewgy greeted us upon our arrival and gave us the inside scoop on one of his favorite Indian Restaurants. We filed that for later and headed over to FTC, our hosts in San Francisco for the Game of SKATE. FTC always gets it right, and Main man Error! Contact not defined. had been working through the difficult San Francisco permit process for the éS Game of SKATE to set up in the famous Waller Street closure. June 1st proved to be a typical late spring day in the Bay area: sunny skies, cool temps and a stiff wind, fresh off the water, blasting in to Golden Gate Park. When you’re set up in a wide-open parking lot, directly in the path of these chilly Pacific gusts, this makes for a challenging Game of SKATE set up and almost always affects the skaters’ ability to perform without interference from the wind. That wouldn’t be the case for NorCal local and flip-trick master, Mark Suciu, who barely broke a sweat on his way to winning his third consecutive éS Game of SKATE, presented by Boost Mobile title. Fellow rippers Adam Emery, KC Docherty, Kenny Tanaka and Paljum Tschering, a top seed from the Seattle and Portland area feeder events, would all join Mark in the top 5 but fall short of overcoming the harsh winds and Mark’s non-stop assault of flip tricks in every direction, regular and switch. Don’t believe us, check him out on YouTube…
Special thanks to Shrewgy for hooking it up on the best kept secret in SF – the homestyle Indian food of New Ganges!. Aftab, owner of the New Ganges Restaurant, styled us out with the VIP treatment and treated us like royalty, good times were had by all. He’s down for skateboarding, and local skaters who dine there frequently call him “half-cab.” Check out the awesome “Reserved: éS Game of SKATE Crew” table they set up for us!
Posted on Jul 12, 2008
On our maiden voyage to the oldest skateshop in the world, an unwelcome guest made her presence known. Mother Nature and all her wrath was in the house at Val Surf in North Hollywood forcing us to take shelter and make plans for what we call a “do over” in the éS Game of SKATE. With just a few games under way when the skies opened up, the decision was made to start fresh one week later and hopefully have all of the rain-soaked kids return to claim their spot in the lineup.
A week later under a more typical California sky all the hungry skaters from the rain-out showed up and a few new faces made it into the line up. One of those new faces, Chris Mendes, would prove to be a force greater than Mother Nature when it came to sending kids home early. The legendary Max Knee showed up with a posse of support, local favorites Chris Angeles, Matt Lemond and Adam Swanson were all in the brackets but it was Chris Mendes, that made his way to the top spot in the finals, taking home the éS/Boost Mobile Game of SKATE Gold Medal and that coveted ticket to the Amateur World Championships being held in Costa Mesa July 11th-13th.
The finals at Val Surf were so amazing that Brandon Richards, one of the owners of Val Surf, passed on courtside seats at the Lakers play-off game, just so he wouldn’t miss a thing!
Posted on Jul 12, 2008
For the third time during the 2008 éS Game of SKATE tour, Mother Nature reared her head and let loose with some 50 MPH winds. Not to be thwarted by a little wind, the GOS crew, along with local hosts Arockalypse, battened down the hatches and took shelter from the wind in the bottoms of the bowls at Edmond Skatepark. One hundred twenty-four skaters took to the lanes and in the end, locals Rocky Shaeffer and Mike Davis battled Japanese skater Kazahiro Araki for the title. Araki was offered a spot in the semi finals as one of the Regional finalists from the International Games of SKATE held in Japan but refused to play in a Game of SKATE without battling his way through the 124-skater field, like everyone else. He claimed victory with a pink slip win in the finals and showed a tremendous amount of integrity by not accepting the easy spot in the semi-finals. That’s the kind of thing we like on the Game of SKATE tour—skaters, take note for next year!
Posted on Jul 11, 2008
With a whirlwind week of travel to Hawaii and a rained out éS Game of SKATE behind us, we all looked forward to the trip out to Cowtown Skateboards in Phoenix for what was guaranteed to be a hot Game of SKATE. Cowtown always turns it up full blast and the locals in Phoenix always bring the talent. Hmmmm, do you think this might have something to do with a plethora of killer skateparks and great street spots to refine their skills on? This year’s éS Game of SKATE at Pecos Skatepark held true to everything we had learned to expect when we roll into town: hot temps, hundreds of eager kids ready to play SKATE, great hosts in Cowtown and a beautiful sunset during the finals. Locals Ryan Dent, Andrew Cannon, Simon Lambey, John Moore and Britt Rutan all battled their way into the top 10 with Britt Rutan and John Moore advancing to the finals to battle brothers Ruben and Diego Najera for that top spot. Only 13 years old, Diego Najera from El Centro, California, showed no mercy, not even for his own brother, and proved it was no fluke that he made it into the finals. Rumor has it he begged his Dad to drive him to Phoenix from El Centro and his Dad only reluctantly agreed when Diego bravely declared, “If you get me there, I will win.” We predict you’ll be seeing a lot more of this kid in the near future!