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August 18, 2008
Manny Mania Insania
Sunday August 17, 2008
The Red Bull Manny Mania underneath the Manhattan Bridge in New York City was clearly one of the best contests I have been to in years. I have never seen so many of my favorite skaters in one place ever. Some were pro some were friends, some were old some were young; everyone was there for one thing, skateboarding. OK, there was some other cool stuff; tons of Red Bull and talent oozing from the blood, sweat and tears of the skaters and fans alike. The legend count was off the Richter scale with the likes of Stevie Williams, Malcolm Watson, Jackson Curtin, Kenny Anderson, Chico Brenes, Danny Supa, Jason Dill, Gary Smith, Brandon
The man of the hour was Joey Brezinski, this contest was part of a dream he had and it must have been a good dream because he designed one of the sickest many courses and it showed. It showed in the form of a ten thousand dollar check that he won proving that he is truly a manny maniac. The music was amazing blending hip hop, rock and some good old heavy metal to keep the crowd and the skaters hyped up and the vibe around the contest upbeat and happy. The weather was a perfect New York City summers day and a good setting for reunions of skaters from across the country. In the end everybody was a winner of a truly good time. The podium consisted of Joey Brezinski, Brandon Beibel, and long time great Chico Brenes.
Jason Dill danced around the course with textbook style and grace. Dennis Busenitz blazed his usual fire trail with screeching grinds and powerful flip tricks. Malcolm Watson locked in to perfect manuals with no touch on almost every trick. One of my favorite skaters Gary Smith pulled off showing up and getting invited to skate as well as securing twelfth place with consistent manuals that kept the judged remembering him when the points were tallied. Speaking of the judges, there was no corner cut when they were chosen, Eric Koston, Steve Berra, Rodney Torres, and Dan Pensyl were the ones to impress and were excellent choices for judges in my book because they are some of the best street skaters in the world.
It was an honor and a pleasure to be part of this great event. It was awesome to see the talents of a lot of street skaters I have grown to respect over the years and I hope that there are more contests like this in the future. I just hope that they are all on beautiful Sundays in Manhattan.
Demian Callihan
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