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Orlando Dew Tour Blog
Oct 19 2006 / Orlando, FLToday was an amazing day in BMX Park Prelims. Mike Spinner, a local amateur rider, stole 1st place away from the pro's at his very first professional contest. He is the only rider in the world pulling off 720 tail whips in competition, and throws out myriad spin trick variations like nobody's business. He was the first rider to drop in, and when he got started nobody could catch up to him. Spinner scored an searing 92.75 that no one else could beat. And he's still got a few more tricks up his sleeves for tomorrow's Park Finals.
Being the man of the hour, Spinner was surrounded by friends, fans and other riders all wanting to congratulate him. But, as all great celebrities know, with popularity comes certain consequences. Creepy marriage proposals for example. At the end of the Prelims a particularly loud, older lady kept calling out to Spinner letting him know that she was available if he was interested. He smiled nervously and politely waved her off. Yikes!
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Ludacris Releases Group Therapy On Dew Tour Audience
Ludacris got busy on stage Friday the 13th and put the fear in the people of Orlando. And the crowds ate it up. The Atlanta-based rapper was the featured musician at this year’s Dew Tour grand finale along with fellow members of the Disturbing tha Peace crew Bobby Valentino and Shareefa.
Ludacris is promoting the release of his newest album Release Therapy, which is billed as revealing Luda’s more serious side. On his website Luda says, “Going into the studio to make Release Therapy, I felt like a wiser, more intelligent person. That was part of the vibe I wanted to bring across on the record, a more personal side that many have not seen. I know this is my fifth album, but I feel as though this is the first time I've ever exposed this much of myself.” Whoa! Easy there, cowboy!
Friday night’s show at the Dew Tour was supposed feature clean versions of the rapper’s songs for the sake of the children of the all-ages audience. At least, he tried to keep it clean, but the audience sort of filled in the blanks for him. Plus, there’s really no way to clean up “Move over / Get out the way bitch!” Read more about Ludacris>>
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Injured-Reserve
If your name is Jamie Bestwick, Scotty Cranmer, Luke Parslow, Bucky Lasek, Ryan Sheckler, or Nate Adams, then you’re probably tracking your Dew Tour points pretty closely right about now. A $75,000 carrot at the end of a stick has that effect.
But how seriously do the other Dew Tour competitors take the Dew Tour points system?
Why? Not showing up is good for nothing, but even a dead-last 20th place finish in the Prelims is worth 12 points under the Dew Tour system. It brings Haugen’s total to 180, and places him safely inside the top ten for the overall contest, which means bonus cash and extra glory: Haugen’s few seconds on the ramp last night probably earned him $5,000, and keeps him in the spotlight for the Dew Cup awards on Sunday.
The grand finale to the Dew Action Sports Tour is underway in Orlando. And all the big names are here walking the hallways. Ryan Sheckler, Jereme Rogers, Ryan Guettler, Jamie Bestwick, Nate Adams, Bucky Lasek, etc. etc. etc. I saw Bob Burnquist in the hallway of the TD Waterhouse Event Center earlier today with his girlfriend and fellow shredder Jen O'Brien. Jen showed up to support her lovin' man. Apparently it paid off 'cuz he qualified 1st in today's Skate Vert Prelims.
Jen said it was good to be in Florida for the Dew Tour since she grew up in the Daytona Beach area. She now lives in North County San Diego with Bob. Recently, she joined the newly formed Alva Girls Team along with Cara-Beth Burnside, Mimi Knoop, Amy Caron, Annie Sullivan, Vanessa Torres, Felicity Coral and Lauren Mollica. Basically, the best female skaters in the world. I asked her how it is riding for Alva and what's going on with the Action Sports Alliance, a women's advocacy group for action sports.
"It's cool to have someone like Alva behind us. I think it makes a pretty big statement. I mean the Action Sports Alliance is working on a lot of stuff right now. We're talking about getting more girls into more contests and stuff like that." Read the full interview with the Alva Girls Team here.
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Virtual Reality, Let Me Introduce You to the Real Deal
Action sports videogames have evolved to the point where your badass virtual self can now put together impossibly huge and complex tricks that you’re never likely to see in real life.
Then again, real-life progression has come a long way too: While you were at home on your PlayStation practicing “in-your-dreams” BMX tricks like bar-spin no-footed can-cans, front flip flairs, tailwhip 360 to tailwhip drop ins, and double flairs, your favorite riders were out here on the Dew Tour making them a reality.
It’s only appropriate, then, coming into Orlando for the PlayStation Pro – the final stop on the Dew Tour – that a real-live flesh-and-blood athlete will be awarded $10,000 on Sunday in the PlayStation Trick of the Year contest for outperforming even the most enterprising armchair thumb jockeys.
It’s also appropriate that the nominees in this year’s contest – Ryan Nyquist, Keith McElhinney, Scotty Cranmer, and Kevin Robinson – are all BMX riders. No affirmative action policy here: compared to the hyper-progression being fueled by BMX riders on the Dew Tour, the skaters and FMX guys have been slackers.
Click over to the Dew Tour site to check out the clips and vote for your favorite: We’re leaning towards our very own blogger Kevin Robinson, even though his double flair in San Jose was after the buzzer.
Orlando, Here We Come
I wasn’t sure what I’d gotten myself into when I first signed on to cover the Dew Tour: I shipped out for Louisville with a laptop, my board, and a helmet, figuring at the very least I’d get to skate the 24’ fullpipe at the Louisville Extreme Park.
I didn’t figure on having my mind blown, repeatedly, by the current state of competition in BMX, skateboarding, and FMX.
The rate of progression in each of these sports is so insane that even the one-month intervals between Dew Tour stops are long enough for individual riders to stuff new tricks up their sleeves to surprise all their friends with.
The interval is also short enough that the international crowd of riders has gelled into a collective crew, collaborating more than ever before to push each other and their sports into new realms. “Um, when did guys start throwing step-up frontflips and 720 tailwhips on the BMX course?” Welcome to the Dew Tour.
Now, as the cumulative series heads into Orlando for the final showdown, the stakes are at their highest. The Dew Cup and the big prizes are on the line, but more importantly we’ll get to see the culmination of a season-long celebration of progress, challenge, and healthy competition.
Who knows what action the PlayStation Pro contests in Orlando will bring? At the very least, I’m looking forward to drinking some fresh-squeezed Florida orange juice… and skating some fresh-squeezed Florida concrete.
