5… Going to the industry parties is always a blast. This year they had Band Of Horses play (Guy Mariano song Lakai vid) a free show for everyone in the contest. The best part about it is that I watched them from the Red Bull vert ramp.

4 … Vern Laird works for Listen and was helping announce the contest. If you don’t know Vern he’s from the Philly area and loves to talk crap. I got off easy and was only called out for being short. My favorite quote from Vern was on Stefan Janowski. Stefan skates so effortless that he looks like he is sleeping, so when Vern told everyone he had a sleeping pill sponsor I almost lost it.

3… Sometimes people who are pro just disappear off the face of the Earth, so at first thought it seems like they quit skating. This is not the case for Matt Beach and Chad Fernandez. They both made it to the top 10 and destroyed the course. Even if they did stop skating for a while they never lost their talent. I was hyped to see both of them out there and will being more of them in the future. Congrats to Matt for getting on Skate Mental.

2… The pressure of judging the top 3 of this contest would have made my eyes bleed. With John Rattray’s skills of skating everything, Greg Lutzka flawless tech run, and Mike Peterson’s backside boneless from high to low quarterpipe, there’s no doubt why they ended up in the places they did. Mike Peterson smiling his whole run landed 3rd. John Rattray makes the chief Jamie Thomas happy by getting 2nd and Greg Lutzka taking home 20grand for first.

1… My favorite part of the weekend had nothing to do with tricks landed on a skateboard. Friday night there was an art show in Ybor city, which made my childhood dreams come true. Mark Gonzales, Neal Blender, and Lance Mountain held the show. Seeing photos and art pieces of boards I used to ride made me feel 12 again. Not to mention Mark Gonzales was there in the flesh. I tried hard not to fan out but it wasn’t easy. Rowe shot some great pics of the event, check back later for more photos of skateboardings finest faces who attened this awesome event!

Legends Jim Thiebaud, and Lance Mountain.

I could have easily have done a top 100 list for this contest but who wants to read a novel about my experiences at Tampa. 2009 Pro is now less than a year away so cut grass, work at Subway, or turn pro that way you can go to Tampa and make your own experiences happen. Oh yea if your wondering how I skated in the contest look around the 41st place, not bad for an old man huh.