Yup, it’s that time of the year again and the top dawg at Thrasher, Jake Phelps, is going to be announcing this year’s winner in about a week from now. So get on over to the Thrasher website and throw in your votes. Last year the crown went to the 3 song part for Mr. Marc Johnson himself, which was almost a no-brainer and the dude basically earned it by a landslide. The previous year to that, Daewon Song took it. This year its anybody’s game, really! I don’t really feel there has been one single individual that has outdone everyone else. There have been so many gnarly skateboarders that it’s pretty hard to tell who will be this year’s winner. If you are deeply having trouble deciding who to choose here are a few names I would recommend in no particular order.

Chris Cole: the guy had the ender part in the latest Fallen video. His tech trickery was unbelievable and I saw a lot of firsts in his part. Chris Cole could basically throw a one man demo with himself. He is just that good.

Greg Lutzka: please tell me you saw this guys United by Fate part? If you did there is no question why this guy could win SOTY. Plus he is everywhere right now. You would be surprised where you see Greg Lutzka being advertised in. Always keeping it true to skateboarding though. The guy is going big.

P-Rod and Sheckler: Both are good candidates for obvious reasons. They have both had outstanding years. Not to mention the cash they stocked up this past year from contests and shows. Either one could totally win the SOTY easily although I think it would be nice to see someone else win it. Got to share the wealth fellas.

Steve Berra: Berra would be an awesome candidate for the SOTY this year. The dude made the BERRICS! How dope is that. On top of that you know he has an epic part to unleash any day now.

Other good options would be Chris Haslam because the guy is way overdue for a SOTY award. Cody McEntire for the first part in a long time that made my jaw drop. (Smoke & Mirrors) watch it! Danny Way is a maniac and has every right in the world to win a SOTY again. And the list goes on. There are just too many people that could take it. Who you choose is your choice but choose wisely. Your choice will forever impact skateboarding.

Just kidding. You will find out the winner next Friday, November 21 at 9am PT.

Goofy or Regular? The debate between the right and left continues with etnies’ fifth annual GvR skateboarding contest taking place October 2-5, 2008 at the etnies Skatepark in Lake Forest, Calif. Started in 2004, GvR is the first and only team-oriented skateboarding contest in which Goofy-footed and Regular-footed skaters compete in an action-packed weekend of non-stop skating.

This year, many of the world’s best skateboarders, including Ryan Sheckler, Jereme Rogers and Chris Cole, will compete in the tie-breaking forum before a crowd of more than 15,000. Past competitors include Andrew Reynolds, Billy Marks, Nyjah Huston, Rick McCrank and Sean Malto. The event will be held at etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest, a 40,000 square foot concrete haven boasting a street section, pools, music and free admission.

Each team captain will pre-qualify five skaters who will go straight to the final GvR competition. Saturday’s events will consist of qualifying rounds for the rest of the skaters from each team while Sunday will feature the final conflict of the stances after which the winning team will be announced settling the score once and for all…or at least until next year’s competition.

Team Captain SLAP Magazine’s Mark Whiteley put together the following crew of heavy hitters for the Regular Team’s starting five:

Ryan Sheckler
Andrew Reynolds
Chris Cole
Rick McCrank
Sean Malto

Goofy Team Captain and Skateboard Mag Editor-in-Chief Dave Swift is being elusive about his selection for his starting five skateboarders. Will Swift’s strategy of keeping his team roster secret as long as possible pay off with a win for Team Goofy?

Admission to GvR is free of charge and in addition to all-day skating, this year’s festivities include legendary punk rock band Bad Religion taking the stage with a special performance Saturday, October 4, 2008 at 8:00pm. Tickets to the Bad Religion concert are available at select etnies retailers throughout Southern California and while the performance is free, tickets are required for all admissions.

Everyone who attends GvR can also enjoy the Festival Village area which is open for the duration of the competition, and has something to do for everyone. Fans can enjoy food, activities and exhibits from sponsors including Grind for Life, Oakley, Keep-A-Breast, FUEL TV and more.

For the first time ever, gamers can compete in etnies’ GvR competition in Skate 2, being released for the PlayStation® 3 system and the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system in 2009. Developed by Black Box, a studio of Electronic Arts (EA), Skate 2 delivers all the grit, creativity and culture of skateboarding. EA Skate 2 doubles the bag of tricks and allows gamers to get off their board and move objects to create and share their ultimate skate spots.

For complete event details, ticket information, schedule, directions and the latest updates, check out: gvr.etniesskate.com

About etnies:
Established in 1986, etnies is the first skateboarder-owned and operated global action sports footwear and apparel company. etnies not only pushed the envelope by creating the first pro model skate shoe, but it pioneered technological advances and changed the face of skateboard footwear forever. Today etnies’ vision is to remain the leading action sports company committed to creating functional products that provide the most style, comfort, durability and protection possible. etnies stays true to its roots by sponsoring a world class team of skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, moto x and BMX athletes and continues its dedication by giving back to each of these communities. For additional information, visit www.etnies.com.

Alright, I know this is old news by now but Ryan Sheckler took first place in Thrasher’s “Bust or Bail” contest recently. It all went down at the infamous Paul Revere 16 stair in San Fransisco, CA. You know, the one that Andrew Reynolds frontside flips for his last trick in “This is Skateboarding.” Well, those gnarly stairs got torn up during this contest by just about every contestant that was there.

Tons of “Never been dones” were thrown down. The 16 step was annihilated by an assault of huge rail tricks and gnarly hammers off the set. Ryan Sheckler threw down what is probably a record setting 360 flip and hard flip off a set of stairs to date. I remember Bryan Herman throwing a tre flip down a fifteen stair for his ender in Baker 3. Now this dude’s throwing a tre flip down a 16 in a contest? Talk about one upping one another. He also backside flipped the 16 without a problem which leaves little room for doubt on his El Toro backside flip rumor.

Andrew Reynolds also found himself one upping the bar taking down his prior frontside flip by doing it over the rail this time. And If I’m not mistaken, he heelflip varialed the stairs as well, which would be another first for the skateboarding world.

The bars was raised at this contest for sure. I almost felt as if this entire event went under the radar a bit. It was so insane and yet it didn’t get as much publicity as many of the other contests. This was real street skateboarding at its finest. No polished handrails, no miniature sized stair sets, no perfectly smooth landing spaces, just a real raw 100% legit spot. Everybody threw down their fair share of tricks but “Shecks” took the gold. We all know how many people hate on him. But whether you hate on Sheckler or not, you have to admit the dude is one hell of a skateboarder.

Here is a video recap of the event.

I’m pretty sure all of you have been keeping up with what’s going down at X-Games 14 this year. PLG took first place in Vert and basically another monster win aside from his recent Maloof Money Cup victory. Ryan Sheckler took 1st in the street competition and Bob Burnquist took 1st place in the Big Air or “suicide ramp” as I like to call it. And of course, Rune Glifberg super park 1st place victory, in what was is his first X-Games gold medal ever! Super stoked for him and big ups to all the X-Games competitors.

One image sticks out in my head of all the X-Game highlights you could possibly gather. Danny Way and his epic flip slam during his run in the big air competition. Holy sh*t! Seriously watch his slam in the video below if you haven’t seen it, you’ll know why I call the Big Air ramp the “suicide ramp.” The dude cheated becoming a vegetable by like a few inches, no joke. He hits his shin on the ramp and somehow propels and does a full flip to the bottom. I thought he was out for sure and then he comes back and blows our minds just moments later. I have said it once and ill say it again, Danny Way is a maniac on wheels, the dude comes right back and pulls off a gnarly line.

Jake Brown, despite last year’s painful near death experience, comes back like nothing happened. The whole contest was epic. The level of skateboarding at this year’s X-Games was turned up a huge notch. I do have to admit though aside from the big air competition the crowds at the games seemed a lot mellower viewing the skateboarding events than in past X-Games events.