I'm kind of stoked that X Games went with a full-on Vert Am contest this year, and I'm going to write about it now for one crucial reason: Ben Hatchell is a grom whose career I've been following ever since the young whippersnapper started showing me up in the kidney bowl at the old Vans Skatepark in Woodbridge, Virginia 5 or 6 years ago. He ripped today's contest, holding in for 2nd place through most of the contest behind Josh Stafford, and finally claiming the top spot with a score of 87.5 on his last run, which featured a blunt to fakie, a rodeo frontside 540, a McTwist, a frontside flip, a nollie frontside varial, and a big frontside varial with an odd double grab in the mix. Hatchell took second at the Tampa Am vert contest this year and in 2006 (photo above is from his SPoT profile), and I'm not the first to put him on "grom watch." He is also a hell of a pool skater, and holds his own in the streets too: He placed 4th in last year's Zoo York Am Getting Paid street contest, and has skated in the Tampa Am street contests. Remember this name: Ben Hatchell. The kid's got gumption. I don't even totally know what that means, but it seemed like a good old man thing to say since it makes me feel so old to see this kid out here throwing down at X Games.

I'm not even going to try to call all the tricks I just saw go down because the street contest was totally overwhelming to watch: The jam session meant a whole gang of truly excellent street skaters were practically on top of each other dropping the biggest tricks possible left and right.


This year's contest was so much better than last year's that I'm forced to take back some of what I said in my first X Games preview post: Finally, this thing feels a bit more relevant to what is actually happening in skateboarding. Chris Cole said it well, in an interview during the women's contest: "If it were individual runs again, I wouldn't be here. This is way more natural."


The evidence? Cole won again, even shorn of his trademark mane (I don't have good pictures from today yet, so I'm sticking a shot of last year's heshin' 'do up top instead). Dave Duncan, Danny Way, Christian Hosoi, and anybody ESPN let near a microphone -- including Lil' Jon -- said the same thing: The tricks going down in today's contest looked like video tricks, not contest tricks. The distinction? Contest tricks mean playing it safe, going big but staying within limits. Video tricks, where you get as many takes as you need to get it right, are about pushing limits and progressing skateboarding. This is what I'm taking about: Chris Cole's backside nollie heelflip 180, Greg Lutzka's frontside noseblunt slide on the double-set rail. The video is worth watching.


"It's a more organic feel," said Danny Way, watching his new Plan B recruit Jereme Rogers skate to third place in a jam format that suits his style. "Every year the contest gets more heated, and it's just gonna keep going. Skateboarding is the land of the infinite possibility." Cole was followed by Greg Lutzka and Rogers, at Silver and Bronze -- Lil' Jon presented the awards -- and I saw tremendous skating by everybody in the contest.


More evidence that this was the real deal: I have never, ever seen so many broken boards in a skateboarding contest. These guys were going hard. Good stuff, and another banner year for Zero Skateboards, taking the number one spots in both the men's and women's street contests for the second year in a row.


Here's the final results, if you're into that sort of thing:
1. Chris Cole
2. Greg Lutzka
3. Jereme Rogers
4. Ryan Sheckler
5. Tommy Sandoval
6. Paul Rodriguez
7. Mark Appleyard
8. Eric Koston
9. Andrew Reynolds
10. Nick Dompierre

This just in, via Christian Hosoi at the Men's street skating contest: Jake Brown, the guy who is all over the damned 'net and everything else today after nearly killing himself on a 47foot fall from the Megaramp last night, is... okay. He ruptured his liver, apparently, but doesn't appear to have broken any bones or done much more than rattle himself. Unbelievable.

Unrelated: Lil' John is sitting here in a t-shirt that says "Dirty South Punk Rock." My job is incredible.

Remember when it was a huge deal in the skateboarding community when core company Zero Skateboards signed Elissa Steamer? Today, the woman who has won the last three X Games was edged out by Zero's latest lady addition, taking second place to Marissa Del Santo, who also won this year's Rockstar Masa Pro in North Carolina, and the Etnies GvR contest last year. (I'll put some better photos in later; the one above is from her SPoT profile).


I'm still a bit bewildered by the concept of a "street" course inside a velodrome venue, but this year's skate plaza-style course is much better than last year's, and the jam format seems to be working well enough. The course references to great California skate spots are a nice touch, and Del Santos impressed me on every section of the course: a backlip on an a-frame rail like the one in Palo Alto, some nice tricks over an obstacle inspired by San Diego's chain bank, and an awesome crooked grind on a Hubba ledge inspired by the famous SF spot made it clear she was winning well before the official results were in.


Steamer was a ton of fun to watch too, hitting crooks on the a-frame rail and looking for all the world like she might be heading for four in a row at X Games before del Santo started nailing everything on the ledges. Amy Caron lead after the first zone jam session, and ended up taking the Bronze medal with tricks like a 50-50 to feeble on the Hubba. My favorite trick from the contest, after many attempts: Lacey Baker nailed a spectacular tre flip down the 4-set.


I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm a huge fan of women's skateboarding and I'm stoked to see so many ladies stepping up. I'll never understand why there are still haters, or why even guys like X Games MC Dave Duncan keep saying lame stuff like, "That's a man-sized ledge these girls are skating." Come on, people!


Today is Girl's Day at X Games, and after I check out the men's street contest, I'm going to head out to check out the women's vert contest and some of the different ladies' events going down from Element, The Alliance, Boarding for Breast Cancer, and other organizations at X Games.

This morning, I woke up, read over the list of people invited to skate at X Games 13, and picked Mark Appleyard at number one on my list of "Wow, he's skating at X Games?" guys. Mark Appleyard is one of my favorites, and he's the kind of guy you might not necessarily expect to see here. The fact that he is, and that there are others like him, is testament to something... The X Games must be doing something right, and the first thing I noticed is this: The street course looks like a ton of fun this year, much better than last year's. Appleyard is Transworld's 2007 Skater of the Year (see pic above), a distinction he also held in 2003, when he received the same big nod from Thrasher. The year before that, he also took Transworld's Rookie of the Year award. It's worth pointing out that these accolades come from pure street skating -- well documented on videos -- and not contest triumphs, so it was cool to see Appleyard taking charge and claiming first place in today's X Games Selection Session. By X Games tradition, last year's winner Chris Cole automatically qualifies in first place. Eric Koston, P-Rod, Greg Lutzka, Jereme Rogers, Ryan Sheckler, Tommy Sandoval, Nick Dompierre, and Andrew Reynolds round out the list, making it pretty much a dream-list of guys you'd love to see skating around Los Angeles together, and not just in the tidy little course in the Home Depot Center Velodrome venue. More later... this should be good, better than I was thinking it might be before today.