X This - Lat34's X Games 13 Blog

Aug 04 2007 / Los Angeles, CA

August 2, 2007

Skate Street Selection - Thoughts and Observations
Published: 5:40 p.m. PT by Greg

Today is a tough day because there are some events down at the Home Depot Center and then back up to Staples for Big Air and Moto X Best Trick.

I hit the HDC earlier to watch the Skate Street Selection and wasn't disappointed by the action -- pretty great stuff.  For the first hour or so I watched the practice and then the event started, with three groups of skaters each taking turns on one of three zones, with their final score coming from the average of the three scores.  The top nine scored would join Chris Cole in tomorrow's final (Cole through because of his 2006 win).

Nyjah Huston was definitely a favorite to make the finals but he had a tough first section, scoring only a 75.50 and having to battle back to try and make it through (he didn't, unfortunately).  Ryan Sheckler killed it in his first set but had a tough final set -- he appeared to hurt his finger (scratch that -- did hurt) and it may be broken.  That happened on the second set but he was already cruising into the finals.

Mark Appleyard was on fire, especially in the final set, blowing past everyone to lock down first place.  Other strong finishers included Nick Dompierre and Andrew Reynolds (who edged Huston out for the last spot).

One side note  -- Tommy Sandoval was on fire in the third set and was a solid #7 out of 9 to make the finals, But he definitely tweaked his ankle and had it wrapped after finishing his final set.  I caught up with him and he told me that it hurt but he thought he would be okay for tomorrow.

Of those who didn't make the cut (besides Huston), little David Gonzales was fun to watch but needed to land a few more tricks.  Element's Tony Tave never quite found his groove and Ronnie Creager had a bad third set after cutting it short and finished last, though his first two runs we okay.

My favorite thing of the night -- seeing Jereme Rogers name on the big electronic billboard and still having "Girl Skateboards" listed as his sponsor.  On site they didn't screw up and duly noted Plan B is his new sponsor.  Let's hope they get that fixed by tomorrow's finals.

We have TONS of photos -- those are coming tonight.

 

Handicapping the Skate Contest
Published: 12:45 a.m. PT by Greg

Jonny Burns (we have a pic of him, so we're gonna use it) is laying odds on who will win the major skate contests on his blog South of the North. Among the notable picks: Bob Burnquist to take Vert (he places Shaun White in fifth), Sheckler or Rogers to take Street and Burnquist again or Skate Big Air.

We're big fans of Burns - he is a former Exec. Producer of Lat34 and is a pretty smart guy when it comes to skateboarding.  So we tend to listen to what he says.  

The White pick is based on the ramp construction and after seeing him tear it up in practice today, it doesn't seem like he'll have too many problems, but sometimes being on the big stage can throw people off. After all, the only time Sheckler has been able to win was his first year when he was a true phenom. Sheckler should have a good time on the course -- not sure if Rogers will even be in the mix given how he's been so far this season. There's more practice later today so we should be able to tell who's doing well on the course.

UPDATE:  Burns will be doing some live blogging on his site for X -- check it out.  We'll try and get a peek into it, too...

Read more at his blog.

August 1, 2007

Chad Kagy Breaks Collarbone, Out of X Games; Legend Hoffman to Compete?
Published: 7:30 p.m. PT by Greg

BMX Vert star Chad Kagy, who won the gold medal in BMX Vert last year at X Games and just finished first last weekend at the Soul Bowl contest, broke his collarbone Tuesday in BMX Big Air practice and will miss the X Games, according to friend and fellow rider Kevin Robinson.

"Yesterday he sustained an injury and broke his collarbone in two places and suffered a concussion so he's out," Robinson told Lat34 today. "He;ll be out for the next six weeks or so."

Kagy's absence will be felt most in the Vert contest, where Jamie Bestwick and Simon Tabron now face little competition.

In Big Air, the other event which Kagy was taking part in, Robinson remains the favorite after his win in the inaugural showing last year. He brought up a couple of ideas about who, other than Kagy, will be the man to beat.

"Everyone who is up on that ramp deserves to be there," Robinson said. "They all can throw down... Morgan Wade can get the job done and Mat Hoffman, too. I think Mat's going to end up riding the event. Who knows what Mat will pull."

The BMX Big Air finals are scheduled to take place Friday night at 5 p.m. PT. BMX Vert finals take place Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

X Games Updates - Music, Webcasts, Charity and More
Published: 1:16 a.m. PT by Greg

You can expect to hear a lot about X Games this week, so here are a few of the latest updates:

• Some musical acts have been announced for X Games at The Home Depot Center from Aug. 2-5. Bands will include local faves The Shys, The Donnas and Death by Stereo. For full lineup info, check out this release.
• For the first time ever, ESPN is planning a global simulcast of the opening of an X Games. Starting on Thursday (August 2) at 9 p.m. ET, the first five minutes of the games will air live simultaneously on ESPN in the U.S. and 18 ESPN International networks around the globe. The possible reach? How about 267 million viewers in 145 countries? Dang. Read more.
• Can't make it to the X Games? Here's the TV Schedule so you can watch it from home.
• Don't have a TV? Think they're an instrument of Satan? Well, you can also check out X Games coverage online, via iTunes, on satellite and mobile, too. Here are all the details.
• Finally, there's also a great charity auction and benefit going on this week. Here's some information.
• And as we've been telling you, there are lots of profiles coming out now that X Games are close. The latest is of Bob Burnquist by the LA Times about how he has a pretty good advantage in the Big Air Competition because he happens to have a Megaramp in his yard. Oh, and because Danny Way is out... Yeah, good reasons.

Red Bull Knows How to Throw a Good Party
Published: 12:44 a.m. PT by Greg

Leave it to Red Bull to kick off the X Games with a great party. On Tuesday night, hundreds of people packed the Mayan Theater in downtown LA to celebrate the coming of X Games with a night of "Lucha VaVoom" to entertain... What is "Lucha VaVoom" you ask? Well, it's Mexican wrestling with a little bit of twist -- ladies, strippers, midgets and whatever else you can think of.

On hand to watch the action was a true who's who of action sports, including both Red Bull and non-Red Bull athletes. Studly Shaun White, reality show star Rob Dyrdek, BMXers Kevin Robinson and Anthony Napolitan, surfers Bruce Irons and Keala Kennelly, announcer Jamie Little, skier Kristi Leskinen, Steve Astephen from Wasserman Media and BMX Park king Daniel Dhers were just a sample of those on hand, with White showing up early to hang out on the dance floor while the place was still filling up.

Most athletes got to hang out in a special VIP area next to the wrestling ring that was set up in the middle of the theater. This was great for watching the action, especially as one wrestler was thrown out of the ring, crashing into the crowd and literally knocking a number of those VIPS on their asses. The result was some really pissed off people and security had to come in to keep things calm.  I guess even fake wrestling can hurt...

It was definitely the highlight of the night.

Tomorrow (Okay, I guess technically today) things really get underway with press day, practice and more. We'll be there.

July 31, 2007

Megaramp Blog
Published: 1:33 a.m. PT by Greg

The Megaramp being built inside the Staples Center for X Games 13 has its own blog -- you can see photos of the build and read about the prgress right here. A more comprehensive site is promised soon, but it's still worth a look...

Skate Big Air kicks off the X Games on Thursday at 5 p.m. PT while BMX Big Air takes place on Friday at 5 p.m. PT. After that, the big ramp will come down...

July 30, 2007

Getting Ready For X Games
Published: 8:34 p.m. PT by Greg

So it's Monday on X Games week. Today the first set of practice started taking place at the Staples Center and Home Depot Center. It wasn't really open to the press, though you could go if you really wanted to. There will be plenty of practice in the coming days.

Tomorrow night is the Red Bull Party -- that should be pretty cool. There's also a lot of new coming out from ESPN about coverage that we'll be posting, as well as random musings about the beauty of Carson, which is the real home of X Games 13. But I guess X Games 13 in Carson just doesn't have the same right to it...

More to come...