Oklahoma City, Dallas
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!
