What You May Have Missed - 2007 PlayStation Pro
Oct 22 2007 / Orlando, FL
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The AST Dew Tour has wrapped up in Orlando with the PlayStation Pro -- there were some big slams, great performances and a few surprises... what else would you expect from a tour featuring some of the top talent in skateboarding, BMX and FMX?NO DEW CUP SURPRISES
There were still three Dew Cups up for grabs going into the PlayStation Pro, The Dew Cup, for those of you who do not know, is awarded to the athlete who scores the most points within a single sport over the entire tour. It's more than an honorary title -- it also pays $75K -- a nice paycheck considering the top honor at any single tour stop is $15K. So if you win all five events and take home the Dew Cup that's $150K. Not bad. But, as we've noted, no one has ever won five events. This year Nate Adams took four out of five -- while Ryan Sheckler, Jamie Bestwick, Daniel Dhers and Shaun White all took three out of five.
Bestwick officially secured the Dew Cup on Friday after his second-place finish, leaving only BMX Dirt and BMX Park up in the air. Daniel Dhers actually had a pretty strong hold on the title (and won last year) so his victory was not that surprising. That Leaves...
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DIRTY DIRT FINALSThe X Games decided to remove BMX Dirt from its event this year -- something every BMX rider in the world thinks is a huge mistake. The AST Dew Tour realizes that few sports can be as exciting in 15 seconds as BMX Dirt is and this tour stop was no exception. Unfortunately, few sports are as dangerous as well, something that was also in full view at the PlayStation Pro.
Going into the event Ryan Nyquist was in the lead for the overall Dew Cup thanks to a strong start with two wins to start the tour. But Nyquist had looked downright average since, with Ryan Guettler, Dennis Enarson, Cameron White and others flipping and whipping circles around him.
Nyquist appeared to play it safe with three strong but easier runs (the average of the best two make up the final score) while Cameron White, his closest competitor in the Dew Cup race, was the one who had to win to make a difference. And you don't win unless you take chances -- something White did in two of his runs with poor results (he couldn't complete them). That left Nyquist in the clear for the Dew Cup, while a crazy battle took place for the PlayStation Pro Title.
Ryan Guettler was pimped on the TV broadcast as being ready to deliver the highest-scoring run in BMX Dirt ever. Given his landing the first-ever 1080 on Dirt during the prelims, it seemed he could deliver. However, in his second run Guettler crashed while attempting a double-backflip -- a move that immediately brought back memories of Stephen Murray's fateful crash in Baltimore at the first Dew Tour stop. But thankfully while Guettler was knocked out, he regained consciousness and wasn't even taken to a hospital. He was even walking around by the time his third run would have taken place, though he was not allowed by medics to participate (and he ended up missing the BMX Park prelims later in the day).
Guettler wasn't the only major injury -- TJ Lavin, who also provided commentary for NBC, had a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula in his left leg after crashing in the prelims -- unlike Guettler, Lavin was not knocked out and his screams could be heard as the medical staff worked on his for nearly 15 minutes before being taken to a local hospital.
Oh, and Luke Parslow ended up winning the event -- his first Dew Tour win.
STEPHEN MURRAY
Overshadowing everything was a great video put together by NBC honoring Stephen Murray featuring an interview with the fallen BMX rider. TV viewers got to see the video at the conclusion of the finals and now everyone can see it online at the Dew Tour site. Do yourself a favor -- watch it now.
WEATHER OR NOT
One thing that was not too pleasant this Dew Tour was the issue with the weather. Four out of five stops had some issue with wind or rain, and in Orlando the culprit was rain. The Skate Park finals were postponed and practices shuffled thanks to gobs of the stuff falling. And the Dew Cup Awards presentation was moved from the soggy House of Dew to inside the Amway Arena after all the events were done. After last year's perfect weather at all stops, this year's issues were not welcome. And is it any coincidence that there were some weather issues in each of the new tour stops?
THE RETURN OF BUCKY... FOR REAL THIS TIMESince Bucky's meltdown at the Van's Invitational there's been some thought that perhaps his time has come and gone. After all, the guy is almost 35-years-old and could be Shaun White's very-young dad, for God's sake. Well, Lasek's performance at the PlayStation Pro showed he is not going anywhere anytime soon. He scored an incredible 95.50 to take the contest over Pierre-Luc Gagnon's 94.00.
Yes, Shaun White was injured and only had one run (a third-place worthy 91.00), but here's a little snapshot for you: Bucky's 95.50 is the highest-score ever recorded in any Skate Vert final in the Dew Tour.-- ever. That's more than Shaun White's 94.25 in the Panasonic Open earlier this year, higher than PLG's 94.00 in the '05 PlayStation. Highest. Score. Ever.
Do you think Bucky realized that?
"I’m stoked, I'm 100 percent right now," Lasek said. "I'm skating better than I ever have and there will be no torch passing."
No torch passing? Nice. At least he didn't say, "No offense to Shaun..."
Next June can't come fast enough for me.
ATHLETE OF THE YEARCongrats to Nate Adams on dominating the Dew Tour this season. Yes, he did win the Dew Cup last year but that was more thanks to Travis Pastrana deciding to leave the tour to pursue other.... pursuits? There's no question that Adams is a talented rider but he proved it without a doubt by taking four of five stops and being crowned Athlete of the Year (and taking home an extra $25K for his effort). Adding to the his accomplishment was the fact that no one else was consistent at all -- no rider managed to finish in second more than once and even Adam Jones, who won the Vans Invitational, couldn't manage better than fourth otherwise.
Forget White, Sheckler and even Bestwick -- Nate Adams is the guy who could win all five events next year.
ATHLETE OF THE DAY
Congrats to Chaz Ortiz, the 14-year old amateur who won the Free Flow Tour's Skate Park competition to open the Dew Tour. After taking that, he was given a wild card to the Skate Park prelims where he finished sixth to advance to the finals. There, he made it to the the jam session and an overall sixth-place finish. While most of the focus may be on Ryan Sheckler and Greg Lutzka, this kid showed what's exciting about the sport. Like last year's FFT winner David Loy, Ortiz may turn out to be the real thing.
ATHLETE OF THE DAY PT. 2Speaking of Free Flow Tour winners, one can't forget Mike Spinner, who won the BMX title last year and went on to make a splash at Orlando. This year, he was in the running all year for the Dew Cup (winning one event) and he took home the PlayStation Trick of the Year award for landing the 1080 -- the first time it was done in competition -- at the Vans Invitational. The $10,000 check must be nice, but it's even better to know that this 19-year old will be wowing audiences for years to come.
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR
It appears to have been the best year yet for the AST Dew Tour, thanks to huge crowds and crazy ticks and close races. Next year should be even better and a winter contest will follow the summer tour. Oh well, at least "Life of Ryan" comes back in January.
- Greg Baerg
