Here we are at the first annual ' Bangers for Bucks' at the Surf Expo - January 14th-16th, 2010 All the teams arrived a day early on Wednesday and right from the get-go we all knew that this was going to be great event! The Modern Skatepark team was on hand and ready to throw down!!2 of my favorite guys from the east coast! - its Nick Matlin with Westside Skateshop and T-Red from FTK Mag hanging out at the welcome riders partyThe Surf Expo really rolled out the red carpet fpr all the teams, their riders, and to all the team managers/shop owners that came out! At the welcome party we were all served a delicious dinner and drinks in the pool cabana of the beautiful condos that they put everybody up in!Marty Ramos from Kona Skatepark in Jacksonvile, Fl. is the brain-child behind the 'Bangers for Bucks' concept. It's a very unique team / individual contest format. On day one individuals compete for cash that goes towards the team total.These 'Bucks' are added up for the team's point total and the 2 teams with the lowest amount are eliminated from the contest on day 2. There were 10 teams total in Bangers for Bucks - 8 moved on to compete in the day 2 - head-to-head style jam format, single elimination. (Check the bracket-sheet)All of the riders seemed really hyped on this format. We all finished our delicious dinner and the Marty passed out custom Bangers for Bucks backpacks courtesy of Dakine, then we all got our badges for the show and we were off to our condo-palaces to go to bed and rest up for the next day!Here is the beautiful course designed by Marty and Team Payne! Super sick layout that was kind of like a track if you will - a starting zone that desended into this bump to bump that had this slappy-able rainbow rail - this was part 1 of the 'tech zone'The other part of the tech zone was this euro / step-up combo with this down-angled ledgeZone 2 was the 7 stair and this wicked up-ledge with round coping and the drop off wall was angled so you could ride down it after your trickHere is the headquarters for operating Bangers for Bucks - look at all the cords and stuff - glad I dont have to set it all up! - thats BC, Mrod, and Jalen on all the expensive equipmentJoe Dirt from Modern Skatepark shows us Zone 2 - its a 6' QP that goes to this set back, tranny to bank ramp that is about 10' tall! If you skate regular - you'd fly off the QP frontside onto the bank Joe takes his FSO to 50-50Always smilin is Willly Akers ridin for Exit Skateshop out of Philly. Large Ollie to Smith GrindUnknown soldier hittin a FSO to 5-0 on the banks lipHere's our head judge and super nice-guy - Tim Johnson - this dude is sooooo sick and to quote Marty 'one of the best skateboarders in the world' i seem to agree cuz if he was in the comp. - he would've come away with all the money Ollie from Bank Platty into QPTim is Goofy so he takes this FSA Alley-Oop on to the BankTomy Hyson skates for Endless Grind Skateshop - beautiful FS Tailgrab on the QP about 5'' out!Darkness gone FishinBig ole FS Noseboner from Tommy Evans who rides for Warp Skatepark out of IllinoisMike Peterson was incognito all week long with his father time beard on! Lien MelonAlly-Oop BSO to 50-50 on the Bank by Willy AkersMarty gets ready to hand out all of the 'Bucks' after the contest on day onePlenty of dough to pass out to all of the riders that made their tricksDarkness, Mrod, Marty, ??, & Joe get ready to handle biz...Here are your top 3 from day one (Thurs.) most Bucks earned - Dustin Blauevelt (1st), Mark Davenport (2nd), and Timmy Knuth (3rd)Dustin Blauvelt Modern Skate Shop MI $420.00Mark Devenport Modern Skate Shop MI $320.00Timmy Knuth Modern Skate Shop MI $310.00Mike Peterson Endless Grind Raleigh, NC $280.00Tommy Evans Warp Lake In the Hills, IL $280.00Yonnie Cruz Westside Skate Shop Tarpon Springs, FL $280.00Joey Pellegrino Progressive Canton, GA $260.00Curran Caples NJ Skateshop Sayerville, NJ $230.00Tommy Hyson Endless Grind Raleigh, NC $200.00Solomon Mosley Progressive Canton, GA $180.00Ant Verdi Westside Skate Shop Tarpon Springs, FL $160.00Joe Dirt Modern Skate Shop MI $140.00Willy Akers Exit Skate Shop Philadelphia, PA $140.00Spencer Lau NJ Skateshop Sayerville, NJ $130.00Mike Matzuka Warp Lake In the Hills, IL $100.00Fletcher Renegar Progressive Canton, GA $50.00Back to the action on Friday - Timmy Knuth pops in a FS NosegrindTomy Hyson skates for Endless Grind Skateshop and this dude rips! BS Smith on the big bank ramp and when i say big i mean about 10 feet tallJoe Dirt you are cleared for landing...So Andre Genovesi from Team Hurley shows up with 500 Bucks cash and Marty says its on!!20 Minute Jam in the stair zone and winner takes all! BS 5-0 to Fakie (and nearly a head to the end of the handrail if he wouldn't have grinded one inch farther)FS Noseblunt Slide - this dude killed it all week - wish I could remember his name... somebody email: mark@3rdlair.com with it!Of course Miles Canevello would find the largest gap on the course and go for it until he makes it - yep he Ollied over the rail FS and landed on the angled bank and just smashed into the bank and rolled away - nearly running over everybody after he made it500.00 cash - dont tell uncle sam!The hosts - Marty Ramos & Jeff King from Fuel TV's 'Built to Shred'Time for the Prize Ceremony to announce the team results - Team Progression pictured hereModern Team got 2nd PlaceProgressive won it!!NJ Skateshop got 3rd Check all the links below for team and individual results:
CLICK HERE FOR DAY ONE (THURSDAY) INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
CLICK HERE FOR DAY ONE (THURSDAY) TEAM RESULTS
CLICK HERE FOR DAY ONE (THURSDAY) HEAT SHEETS
CLICK HERE FOR DAY TWO (FRIDAY) BRACKET SHEET
CLICK HERE FOR DAY TWO (FRIDAY) JUDGES SCORE SHEETS