2007 Right Guard Open - What You May Have Missed

May 06 2008 / Cleveland, OH

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The AST Dew Tour's 2007 Right Guard Open has come and gone, and just so you don't feel left out, here's a full recap of what you may have missed from Cleveland. 

STORMY WEATHER

First off, kudos to the city for putting on a nice face to the world -- unfortunately the weather didn't want to play nice and after rain played havoc on Thursday with several prelims, on Friday wind kicked up and pretty much ruined all the action for fans.  FMX had its finals canceled (after running a midnight prelim) and BMX Vert had its finals delayed into the night as well.  That's what's happen when you set up your event on Lake Erie.

PHOTO GALLERY 

shaun_white_clev07_300x200

2007 Right Guard Open in Pictures 

 
Get a look at all the highlights from the events in one gallery of photos.

While the action was intense, at the end of the day five out of the six champs were the same as they were in Baltimore's Panasonic Open.  That was the first time that many champs had repeated -- the previous high number was four.  The only champ to miss a repeat was the athlete with the most career Dew Tour wins.  Yes, Jamie "Automatic" Bestwick was the only champ to miss not only the top spot on the podium, but the podium altogether.  Due to the long delays for the BMX Vert finals an argument could be made that Bestwick was not at the top of his game -- but at least winner Simon Tabron is the only rider who has actually beaten Bestwick in a Dew Tour match.  Of course, Sunday night five other riders joined that list.

The FMX finals didn't happen, so the prelims ended up determining the winner.  At the top, Nate Adams wasn't necessarily a surprise, but the names following were much different than Baltimore, with Takayuki Higashino making his first podium appearance and "Twitch" Stenberg coming back to form in number three.

Even with the finals canceled, riders still made some basic jumps and put on a demo for the fans on hand.   NBC used the time to replay the previous events, including Skate Park, which was previously available only online. 

ryan_sheckler_cle07_200x300 SOUR GRAPES

And speaking of Skate Park, Ryan Sheckler was in fire once again, dominating a strong field that included Greg Lutzka (who missed the final jam), Rodolfo Ramos (2nd place), Austen Seaholm (5th place) and Carlos De Andrade (3rd place).  But while Sheckler was all smiles after the contest, Austen was not.  He was surprisingly candid in an interview after the contest.

"I really don't know," he said about his poor performance in the final jams. "I guess I'm not making the judges happy enough... I didn't know this was a best trick (contest)"

Seaholm also complained about the Park being shared by the BMX riders, leading everything being "super big."

CLOSE CALLS

There may have been other athletes grumpy about the judging but it wasn't often discussed even though four of the events were decided by less than one point, and one more by 1.25 pts.  Ryan Nyquist and Shaun White both won in their last run in dramatic fashion, though White was helped by Bucky Lasek falling almost instantaneously after dropping in.

White's win in Skate Vert does seem to cement his place in the sport and puts him in the driver's seat for the Dew Cup (as are all the other repeat winners).  One other thing about White -- he is no doubt the most emotional and excited of all the winning athletes, seemingly overcome with emotion after every win.  While other pros smiles, shake a hand or two, then pose for the cameras, White throws his hands up in the air and screams to the gods, wailing as he just conquered the mighty Persians a'la the "300."  But hey, there are worse qualities.

WHO MISSED THE CUT

Daniel Dhers shows no signs of letting up in BMX Park, but what's more surprising is not how well he's doing, but how badly Scotty Cranmer is.  The man who would be Dew Cup champ last year (until that terrible face plant) has missed the finals the first two comps.  The three-time Dew Tour winner may not have been that far out from a spot in the finals (less than 2 points each time) but out is out. 

Sandro Dias is another familiar face unable to make the finals.  The previous Dew Tour winner in Skate Vert has missed the cut badly each contest so far this season. 

In BMX Dirt, Anthony Napolitan has not been the same since separating his should in the prelims in the Panasonic Open.  He did make the finals in Cleveland, but the hometown hero was unable to deliver, coming up short in fifth place.  While Napolitan shows a glimmer of his excellence from last season, Ryan Nyquist isn't waiting.

ryan_nyquist_clev07_200x300 HONOR AMONG ATHLETES

If there was one defining moment in this year's Right Guard Open, it was actually not a moment -- it was the entire BMX Dirt competition on Friday night.  All the finalists wore "Stephen Murray - Stay Strong" shirts and there was a real feeling of camaraderie among all of the athletes.  Winner Nyquist didn't hesitate to honor Murray by donating his $15K prize money to the fund set up to help pay for his medical bills.

On that front, the <i>New York Times</i> got into the fray with an article being published Monday that goes into the issue of insurance on the Dew Tour, with respected skate vert rider Pierre-Luc Gagnon.

"NBC is trying to do good things to raise money to help him out, but it shouldn’t even be an issue at this point, because he should have been insured by the event,” he told the paper. "How are we putting our lives on the line at every stop like this and they can’t even have insurance for us in case something terrible like this happens? It’s garbage."

The other big contest, the X Games, provides supplemental insurance for the riders. 

An organization named Pro Riders (ProRiders.tv) hopes to organize athletes who compete in Skate, BMX and FMX and Murray was a member, but it hasn't taken off yet, though if this weekend's support of it is any indication it may have a future.  Many athletes sported patches or stickers of the ProRiders logo across all the contests.

WHAT'S NEXT

So what's next for the AST Dew Tour?  After two new cities with all events held outdoor (and therefore open to weather issues), the Dew Tour returns to Portland for the Van's Invitational.  The familiar location should mean fewer problems for FMX or the Vert contests, with all of them held inside the Rose Quarter downtown, but should be no less exciting.

As for the contests themselves, Jamie Bestwick is likely a lock to win, following his stunning defeat yesterday, but all of the double-winners look like they have no intention of slowing down.  BMX Dirt is the one contest where a shake-up is really possible, but Ryan Nyquist won't go easily.

Regardless of what happens, be sure to check in with Lat34 to get the latest.


2007 Right Guard Open (Cleveland, OH)




- Greg Baerg