Damn Am 2004
Costa Mesa, California
-Part 1-
So we flew in yesterday to beautiful Costa Mesa, California, the day after they finished being pounded by a long streak of heavy rain. We have some great timing. The 4-hour flight was packed and had a ton of really young kids (young kids and sitting still for extended periods of time do not mix well) so it kind of sucked. It was, however, a small price to pay to escape the dreary weather we have been experiencing at home as of late. From the airport we took our rental car to the Ramada Inn to drop off our gear and continued on to the Volcom warehouse to check out the vibe. There were a ton of rippers out practicing and the Tampa crew was in full contest mode. The course looked pretty good for being mobile. They had spent the past 2 days building it in the rain on the parking lot. They also have a mini bowl and super gnarly vert bowl in their warehouse. Being we just got in we had to skate so we grabbed our boards and sessioned the mini bowl where a crazy session was going down. Gareri and Mulla held it down for a couple of washed up old men; I was thoroughly impressed. I skated a bit too but the session was seriously over my head. Some of these guys were just ridiculous. From there we got some grub and Mulla wussed out early. Steve and I on the other hand found a happening pub to toss a few back where Steve showed the local foosball heads why they call him Pushy. He put these league players to shame; it was rad. Friday morning we rose bright and early; way earlier than I would have preferred but after a shower and a Rock Star energy drink I was ready go. The plan was to get some grub and hit up the park for the first day of the comp. We got some breakfast at this chili joint which was pretty good and decided to eat outside where the birds were not afraid to jack your food right from your plate. Luckily Pushy threatened to kick them in the shins so they didn’t dare mess with us. Now that we had full bellies it was time to hit the park and have round 2-shred session in the mini bowl. Again the session was goin off. After skating we settled in to check out the contest, which was in full effect. Some of these kids are so good it is mind blowing. Mike Guy’s roommate Jeff was out representing for Northern Athletik and the Midwest scene, but we unfortunately missed his runs. He did not make the cut but I am sure he killed it. Now it is naptime so we can recharge the batteries for tonight. Pushy will report back tomorrow with part 2 of Damn Am 2004 in Costa Mesa, CA. It should be jam packed with excitement that has yet to come so check back.-MROD
Damn Am 2004
Costa Mesa, California
-Part 2-
It’s Saturday evening and we just returned from a great day of skateboarding. I must back up though to our Friday evening festivities. We ended up at The House of blues for the premier of the new Toy Machine video Good and Evil. The video is great, and the VIP list was filled with the who’s who in skateboarding. One thing for sure, Dustin Dollin loves ribs. Today we drove to Lake Forrest Etnies Skatepark. We had a great time. The vibe was pure the locals were great. Mulla and Mrod skated hard and I even put down a few lines. I was bummed when we got there because helmets are required and I forgot mine in Mpls. The park had no rentals. So I went to Relic skateshop across from the park and the crew there loaned me a helmet. They made my day for sure. I think the helmet ordeal is because of all the times I’ve had to be a bad cop at 3rd Lair and enforce our helmet rule. Karma’s a bummer. We then ended up at the Damn Am just in time for the vert bowl contest. Mike Owen who is from Chicago skated big, and Chaz Pinada from Huston Texas skated that bowl like a man. I think there were 21 skaters who entered vert bowl. It’s so great to see such a high level of skateboarding on vert. The average age of these kids was around 14. Make sure you check out damnam.com for coverage of the contest. Finally it’s 7:30 and time to go out for some fun. Stay tuned for more updates.
-Steve “Pushy” Gareri
