X Games Minneapolis

[Coastal Redneck]

Excellent day, enjoyed some BBQ and a nice cruise through the neighborhood aboard the FrankenBike, then started watching the X Games... amazing riders in these X Games, not just the BMX & Moto X guys but even the young gals in Women's Skateboard Park, they were pretty impressive. When I was young and wholly committed to vertical skating, there were no girls on the scene, just young male pioneers pushing the limits on terrain nobody had ever ridden before. I'm talking about the early-to-mid-70s, when vertical was the new frontier... now these young girls make it look easy, stylin' it while pulling off rad tricks and maneuvers unheard of back in the day. That Brighton Zeuner gal took the gold medal today, the youngest winner in X Games history... she just turned 13, and her first run was absolutely flawless, with fluid style and total control of her board. That young lady has a future in skateboarding, no doubt about it, and more power to her, she earned the win today.

It blows my mind, just how far skateboarding has come over the decades... but at least I can honestly say that my friends & I were among the pioneers, riding gnarly backyard pools, big ol' wooden ramps with heaps of vertical, bomb concrete ditches with hardcore transition, cement full pipes which were absolutely unforgiving, you name it. Those guys in DogTown weren't the only ones riding serious vertical back in the day... unsung heroes like us paid our dues and occasionally pulled off radical tricks, carving and grinding and tail-tapping and even catching a little air, though the airs were generally unintentional at that time and led more often to disaster than success, LOL. I lost some good poolriding pics over the years, and now I only have two skating photos left: one is on the overhang of a full pipe, my feet firmly placed on the board, while the other shows me carving "over the light" in the VertiBowl, an 8' pool with 4' of pure vertical. Minutes after that carving shot was taken by a friend, I pulled the first double grind ever ripped in that bowl... something NOBODY can ever take away from me.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's X Games coverage, should be pretty cool to watch. I'm hoping the guys will ride vert manana, maybe do the Big Air events... I saw some BMX Vert today which was great, brought back memories of riding our tricked-out bikes in parks and pools way back when, and just riding BMX on earlier dirt tracks we built ourselves, with some pretty gnarly berms & jumps involved. The good news about crashing on dirt was that it generally hurt less than eating $h!t on concrete or gunite, LOL. No pads or helmets back then, those were for kooks... gloves were acceptable, of course, especially those Rector Palm Pad gloves that showed up a bit later in the evolution of skateboarding, those were nice gloves and they definitely padded some of the harder impacts in backyard pools, LOL. Damn, just thinking about those hard falls makes me cringe now, if I took one today it'd probably finish me off... hell, my knee still hurts after nine weeks of rehab following that nasty little pit bike spill on Rim Road 300, and I guess I'll keep the scar for the rest of my life, it ain't going away, LOL.

ANYWAY, ENOUGH REMINISCING, I'M GONNA CALL IT AN EARLY NIGHT... Y'ALL GET A CHANCE TO WATCH THE X GAMES TOMORROW, DO IT, EVEN IF IT'S ONLY FOR A FEW MINUTES. CHEERS!!!

 

[Coastal Redneck]

Awesome riding today in all venues... I've actually been painting trim for 4 hours, but I've checked out the best runs as heard on TV, LOL. How about that INSANE F#%G TRICK thrown by Kyle Baldock in honor of Dave Mirra, that was just plain radical. What was it again, a triple-tailwhip while sending a 720??? I don't even remember, I suffer from CRS, but I've been enjoying the hell outta the vert footage, and that trick went down in the "DAVE MIRRA BEST BMX PARK TRICK"---a nice tribute to Mirra, I still don't understand why he died the way he did, seemed like he had the whole world in his hands, ya know? Maybe gettin' a little older, but still one heckuva BMX rider... no tellin' why or how things unfolded as they did. Now I'm watching these Moto X riders go for the Best QuarterPipe High Air, and I LIKE this event, the boyz are going all out with bad@$$ jumps reminiscent of vertical skateboarding. I gotta tell y'all, these extreme sports competitions are f#%g awesome, it's like watching my childhood dreams come true, only with more tricks and variations, LOL. Meh, no worries, these kids might be rippin', but my friends & I were shreddin' vertical and catchin' air long before these X Games heroes were even BORN, so p!$$ on 'em, LOL. Damn, I'm starting to sound like the bitter (and f#%g unpaid) old man that I am, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! But those punks will NEVER be able to get past that fact, LOL... and I shouldn't call 'em PUNKS, they're out there taking the same beatings my friends & I took back in the day, only these heroes are wearing pads & helmets, LOL. Alright, time for this MFing PIONEER to grab another cold one, might hafta finish the goddam trim painting tomorrow, though I had planned to ride the Rim Road manana... pffffft, now the Harley sponsors are touting their "Street Rod" bike, I'd like to see that thing pull the Best Quarterpipe High Air, LOL. Something tells me I ain't gonna see it happen... but I could be mistaken.

 

[Coastal Redneck]

Man, I'm looking at this wasteland known as the weekly TV guide, and I can't wait for football season to begin... the action sports programs are cool, but they need more of 'em. Guess I'll be breaking out the "Crusty Demons" videos this evening, maybe the "Masters of Stone" videos, SOMETHING besides this cr@ppy programming, 10-4? Nothing wrong with old school riding and climbing videos... what do we have, another six weeks before football season begins? AAAAAAAAARRRGGHH!!!

 

[bruces]

You need an android box

 

[Coastal Redneck]

Some so-called "tech expert" was supposed to rig a box like that on my TV, and I even fronted him the money, but two months elapsed with no box in sight, so I told him to return my money. He squawked about having done some "work" on the box, so I told him to return my money less whatever he thought he had "earned." I got burned for a small amount, but I deemed it insufficient for me to get on cop radar, so I just blew it off... no big deal, I had mentally reserved a larger amount before I even encountered this douche, knowing that at some point in this relocation I would run across some scumbag like this, LOL. Bottom line is: I gave him money to perform a task and the task never got done, while the kook kept some of the money for so-called "work" on the box, which in my world places the douche squarely in the "Rip-Off Wank" category. No worries, I got enough of my money back for me to simply chalk it up to learning who is or isn't reliable or trustworthy in this area... I'll never do business with this scumbag again, and should the question ever arise with regard to electronic work, I'll be sure to tell whoever's asking to avoid this douche like the rip-off p.o.s. that he is. Bad bargain for the douche, since I moved here for good and I'm the kinda guy who talks to a wide range of people, aye? In the old days, I would've slapped the douche around or exacted retribution in some other way, but like I said, the amount wasn't worth getting on cop radar, and it was the easiest thing for me to simply blow it off... karma will catch up to the punk sooner or later, probably when he burns someone else for a greater amount, LOL. Kook will wind up face-down in the forest, bullet to the head, and I'll read about it in the White Mountain Independent, 10-4? I suppose the moral of the story is: do your own work and ya won't get burned, LOL. And I normally do, but along with many others in my generation I have a hard time keeping up with technology, so I went out on a limb to see if this douche could set up the box. Meh, no worries, when I'm done with the home rehab I'll look into it again, I just have too much going on right now to deal with the problem, I'd rather carp about it instead, LOL. Which reminds me of a classic joke I heard over the CB while on the road:

Q: How many truck drivers does it take to change a light bulb?

A: None... they'd all rather sit in the dark and b!tch about it, LOL.

GOTTA GO GET CLEANED UP AND TACKLE SOME HOME REHAB... X GAMES MINNEAPOLIS WILL AIR AGAIN TODAY AS FOUR HOURS OF TAPED MATERIAL.

 

[Coastal Redneck]

Well, Boyz, I have a confession to make... y'all remember that I put together a phat poolriding stick in order to ride the board at the local skatepark? It was an effort to recapture some of my youth, and it worked: I pulled a few frontside grinders at the park, while I also slammed my shoulder and picked up a nasty hipper. Definitely reliving some of my youth there, LOL... and then I foolishly spiked my knee while riding the pit bike on Rim Road 300, when I could've been wearing the pads I actually had at the house. Well, that knee injury took forever to heal (it's still a bit stiff at times), and I got to thinking about that hard and unforgiving concrete at the skatepark. Comes a time in a man's life when he has to step back, weigh the consequences, and gracefully surrender the things of youth... otherwise he takes a beating, LOL. The flip side of the equation? WTF, I'm double-nickel, age-wise, and I pulled a few stylish frontside grinders at the park, though my earlier days of shredding concrete were clearly over, 10-4? Ya gets older, ya lose some of that fluid style ya had as a youngster...

I went to the swap meet yesterday as a vendor, in order to unload some cr@p I didn't really need. In a nearby stall, a family was selling homemade baked goods and assorted junk; the baked goods were neatly-packaged and quite tasty (as I later discovered), but the family was clearly strapped in financial terms. I reckon it ain't easy raising kids on swap meet proceeds, yeah? And whatever job either parent might have held... no telling, since they were from the town of Taylor, which is not as big as Show Low. Anyway, they had a couple youngsters with 'em, ranging in age from around 5 to 7 or 8, and once that older kid saw the skateboard I had brought on a whim, well, he just wanted that board like nothing else he'd ever had in his entire life. His family didn't have the money to buy it, not for the price I was asking, so the kid asked if there were some way he could earn it... I ain't no stinking perv, so I had no real answer for that one. Kid started sweeping nearby stalls and picking up trash to earn a bit of money, as he desperately wanted that skateboard of mine.

After awhile, that kid came over and dumped a few dollars and chump change on my table, telling me, "I got some money to start buyin' that skateboard!" Well, Boyz, I ain't exactly heartless, and I hail from a military family which was torn apart by bitter divorce and financially strapped, so I picked up that money, gave it back to the kid, and told him he could HAVE the skate, AYE??? His reaction may have been worth the nearly $200 I put into that board: a Powell-Peralta "Ripper" deck, Gullwing Pro 3 trucks with spacers underneath, Bones Cubic wheels with bad@$$ bearings, good grip tape, nose guard, grabrails, tail-tap pad, etc., all color-coordinated as ya can see from pics I posted somewhere on this website. A board I would've LOVED to ride back in the day, and a board carefully set up for speed and performance in park terrain. A board this kid can use to shred, once he fully learns how to ride it. I'm talking a bulletproof board that can withstand YEARS of hard abuse, 10-4??? All my skateboarding wisdom & knowledge went into the creation of that board, and I've put together a few good poolriding sticks in my time.

Y'all may think I'm a damned fool for doing this, when I only bought the board earlier this year, but something tells me I did the right thing... ya should've seen that kid and his younger brother having fun, the younger kid riding some cr@ppy old Walmart skate that used to belong to the older kid. I gave the kids the standard safety lecture, since the board I donated is incredibly fast: the Bones Cubic wheels have a durometer (or hardness) of 95A, yet they're still sticky for traction, while the trucks can be adjusted until they're just right for either kid. I'm dead serious too, those wheels are FAST, and the custom bearings ain't slowing 'em down any, if ya know what I mean. I set up that board to be quick, and it is, so I reminded both kids & parents to wear safety gear, especially in the park up in Taylor... pads, helmet, the works. The parents were so grateful to me for giving their son the board, they offered some of their baked goods and I accepted some homemade banana nut bread and some peanut butter cookies... not exactly the best bargain for a board that cost around $200, but I don't even give a damn.

IF EITHER KID GROWS UP WITH A LOVE OF SKATEBOARDING IN HIS HEART, I RECKON I'LL HAVE DONE MY PART TO SPREAD A LITTLE GOOD WILL IN THIS F#*%D-UP WORLD...

 

[Coastal Redneck]

Wow, I just watched the Street League Skateboard World Championship (or some such grandiose title), a contest for women who were absolutely tearin' it up... these gals were doing technical tricks that blew my mind, even the gals who ate $h!t and finished last (or near last) pulled some tricks unheard of back in the day. And the trick that won the contest for Lacey Baker? A nose manual (what we used to call a nose wheelie) the length of a ledge, then a "nollie kickflip" off the ledge, and I think there might have been a 180 or a fakie landing in there, I can't keep up with the $h!t, LOL. That nollie kickflip business, that's flipping your board off the ledge while in the middle of that nose wheelie, and I'm pretty sure the gal flipped the board lengthwise as well, not just a standard kickflip where the board spins around its long axis... DO YOU HAVE ANY F#%G IDEA HOW TECHNICALLY DIFFICULT THAT TRICK IS??? And the gal pulled it with STYLE too... the nearest thing I can think of in terms of technical difficulty would be some sort of ice skating maneuver, yet those triple or quadruple axels in ice skating are one-dimensional compared to what these skateboarding gals are doing.

Most of these competitive skaters were in their teens or 20s, but a couple of 'em were 31 years of age, go figure. They didn't fare as well as the younger gals, but they still pulled off some gnarly tricks (when they weren't falling and slamming on deck, LOL). And the younger gals? Jeez, we never had gals skating like this when we were young, and I say this in all honesty... the level of proficiency has risen so dramatically that old skaters (like moi) are just friggin' dinosaurs, 10-4? There was a hot young Asian gal skating in this contest, I think her name was Aori Nishimura (don't quote me here, I suffer from CRS), and her successful tricks were so technical and SO F#%G STYLISH, they just blew me away. Granted, these gals all started young and kept at it day after day, year after year... the same way today's great motocross riders started out, ya know? And most had supportive parents, a BIG factor in success, but I don't hold that against them, it still takes phenomenal talent to stay on top nowadays with the technical bar raised so high. Had anyone told me in the '70s that young women would be pulling the tricks they're pulling today in the skateboarding world, well, I would've thought that person was high on crack... oh, wait, I don't think crack was even invented back then, LOL.

DAMN, I CAN'T EVEN "CRACK" A JOKE WITHOUT FEELING LIKE AN OLD ROGUE DINOSAUR... AND LORD KNOWS WE DID ENOUGH OF THE PERUVIAN & COLOMBIAN FLAKE BACK IN THE DAY, LOL. MEH, ALL PART OF GROWING OLD, I RECKON.

Y'ALL HANG LOOSE, I WON'T BE A COMPLETE STRANGER, ESPECIALLY IF THINGS TURN AROUND FOR ME HERE... AS I HOPE THEY SOON WILL.

 

[Coastal Redneck]

Forgot to mention the cool Nike SB (?) ads during the show, the one ad showing Grant Taylor of Argentina pulling the canyon jump or pipe transfer between what looked like metal full pipe sections was F#%G RADICAL, totally old school... some guys pulled those pipe transfers way back in the day in HUGE concrete pipes, you understand. I wasn't one of 'em, though I did ride the overhang in several full pipes, but I could (and still can) appreciate the difficulty involved in such a maneuver. Ya might be able to Google "Nike SB ad Grant Taylor Argentina" and see the actual maneuver... reckon I should've tried that first before posting this message, LOL.

 

[Coastal Redneck]

Okay, I don't think Grant Taylor is from Argentina, LOL... I guess that video clip or part was filmed in Argentina. Dude f#%g rips, I'll give him that much, awesome skate videos available just by Googling his name, yeah? I reckon he doesn't do contests, just rakes money from video parts and sponsorship... otherwise, I think I would've heard of him before, since I watch extreme sports whenever possible. Meh, I'm an old rogue dinosaur, these younger hands are operating at a whole new level... the gals too, 10-4? Amazing videos by that Grant Taylor, check out one or two when ya get the chance, the poolriding shots are totally old school with a new twist, LOL.