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March 21, 2010
Tampa Pro 2010 Recap
“Not a lot has changed in the Tampa Pro Contest, except the pants are a little tighter, the groupies are hotter and flannel still seems to be in.” – random dude
Tampa Pro is one of the longest run and most respected contests out there, which would explain why corporate giants Gatorade, Redbull and Nike SB jumped onto the event without hesitation. You could name any of your favorite pros and chances are they have competed in or been at the Tampa Pro contest within the last 16 years. Koston? Thomas? Reynolds? They were all there, when the skate park was nothing more then several uncoordinated ramps in a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, Tampa. Basically right off the highway, there is practically nothing in walking distance from the park, except fast food chains, several hotel/motels and a supermarket. This would account for our grand total of 18 fast food chain visits in a time period of 6 days.
The combination of non-stop fast food and going out every night, I had a newfound respect for the pros I saw loitering around Ybor city late at night and still shredding early in the morning. Sunday was a marathon of excitement, as the semi finals, finals, and best trick were all lined up back to back. As the finals rolled in, physical space became the scarce resource, as Rowe and I tried to reserve valuable camera space with our bags. My friends would trade off grabbing free PBR from the outside bar to reserve their spot on the stairs.
As I watched the finals, I couldn’t help but think about judging this thing. It seemed practically impossible, with every skater having his signature tricks and signature styles, there seemed no foolproof way to actually score a run. How does a switch crooked down a rail stack up against a switch nosegrind? Is there a difference? Does it even matter? Considering the stressful circumstances, fast moving pace and time restrictions, the judges seemed to be pretty on point. They didn’t have the luxury of re-watching and evaluating every trick like we do now. But even after the contest, I and many others felt that some of the placing order was funny. Here is the results:
1. Paul Rodriguez – $20,000
2. Nyjah Huston – $15,000
3. Keegan Sauder – $10,000
4. Peter Ramondetta – $5000
5. Ryan Sheckler – $4000
6. Torey Pudwill – $3000
7. Luan Oliveira – $2000
8. Danny Fuenzalida – $1500
9. Greg Lutzka – $1000
10. Chaz Ortiz – $1000
11. Dennis Busenitz – $1000
12. John Rattray – $1000
Firstly, Chaz Ortiz should have scored much higher then 10th place. He had great style, decent consistency and a really good bag of tricks. I think most people would agree with me on this one. Secondly, how did Ryan Sheckler get 5th? I’m not saying this because I’m a Sheckler hater, quite the opposite- he is a super friendly, good all around guy (ok and ♥hEaRtThrobb ♥ OBV). But with his runs, I was surprised he even made it to the semi finals, with terrible consistency, landing about only half of his tricks every run. Lastly, P.Rod beating out Nyjah became a heated debate in room 224 in the Howard Johnson Hotel. Both skaters had great runs, with perfect consistency and the standard high caliber tricks. They both skate in a slow, contest calculated style which makes them easier to judge, as opposed to comparing people like Busenitz and Ramondetta. For me and the people I talked to watching the competition, many sympathized with Nyjah, as not only was his run cleaner then P.Rods, but he had a better trick selection. Don’t take my word for it though, thanks to Youtube, we have all three final runs of both skaters. Take a look for yourself.
At the end of the day, you could argue the contest results for eternity but we can all agree on one thing; The Skatepark of Tampa has a huge fucking fan. This thing is like a helicopter propeller, practically hovering above the entire ceiling. Like the skateboarding that went down this weekend, to merely describe it wouldn’t do it justice. The vibration of the rail as behemoth Brian Anderson lipslid it, the solid smack of Paul Rodriguez’s switch flip down the set of stairs and the almost terrifying sound of Busenitz’s bearings as he attacked the ramp railings are the details that need to be witnessed in person. They are what you miss in the translation from real life, to a 360x240 Youtube video or a Fuel.TV stream. Once you realize that, you, like me, won’t be able to miss another Tampa Pro for a long, long time.
See you next year.
-Ian Michna
A big thanks to Ryan Clements, Brian Schaefer, Donnie Hamilton, Rob and the rest of the Spot crew for their hospitality and amazing event coordination
photos tom rowe
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