Great place for a great deal on some trucks...

and on a completely unrelated note, here's some editorial.

Not that anyone asked me or anything but here's my pick for 2009 skater of the year.

Paul Rodriguez.

why you ask?
quite simply cause no one i've asked about this, even if they thought it should be someone else, could totally disagree that Paul deserves it. I feel like you could make an argument against the other front runners. Maybe Dennis isn't heavy enough on the radar, Cole already had it, Malto and Leo are young but I don't feel like there's a valid argument against Pablo.

he's got THE biggest sponsors... for any skater... ever.
ok, maybe that's not 100% for substantiated but he's gotta be up there with the birdman.
mountain dew, nike, etc..
so with those kind of sponsors and that amount of attention you're painting a big red target (shaun white collection) on yourself for extreme scrutiny.
but i've been asking around. here's my question?

"What's lame about Paul Rodriguez?"

I don't think I've had an answer to that question yet.
Style? Pretty damn clean. One of the cleanest.
Trick selection? Switch flip backlipping rails in a contest?
His image. Seems to let his skating and sponsors speak for him but also seems to have a hand in who he rides for and the way he's portrayed. That Ice Cube commercial was probably one of the biggest skate commercials ever created and he comes off cool, not corny.
Now think double pits to chesty.

Somehow I see Paul in a custom embroidered Nike/Dew New Era and I don't think "Wack." I think. "Cool."
I'd say the only thing that isn't working in Paul's favor is he's too clean and too classy so he doesn't get three pages of message boards hating on his milkstache.

Mostly i'm picking paul just cause he's my favorite out of the people who might get it. i like malto, i like leo. i think chris cole will probably win but as amazing as he is I personally prefer other styles and trick selections more. Don't get me wrong, I had the honor of seeing him land on some 360 flips down wallenberg at on of those contests and it was a thing of beauty. I'm just not a fan of switch frontside flips and 360's to lipside. total apples and oranges with what you're into. i repsect that he is probably one of the most magical skaters out there right now but I get way more stoked on a photo of Levi Brown doing an ollie than an interview of the hardest tricks I don't ever want to do. Maybe its the wristbands. I ain't hatin' though. Don't get me wrong. To each his own.

Over some bevies at Damn Am with some industry "heads" (Keith and Schaffer) I came up with several indisputable arguments for my 2010 SOTY pick and if I remember it the way I want to (thanks to the Patron) I pretty much nailed it. Only thing is I can't remember what those arguments were. blame it on the ah-ah ah-ah ah... alcohol.
Phew.

For now, here's what your 2010 SOTY pick says about you:

Buesnitz: "I'm a skater's skater. I like speed and style over keeping up with the Jonzes on the Wilshire rail... I'm sort of an elitist and I once helped Justin Strubing get video part of the year.
or
"Wow. He almost had Cole in a Berrics battle. He's really good at flatground."

Paul Rodriguez:
"I'm very handsome and thoughtful. I ride a skateboard very well and people respect my opinion."

Leo Romero:
"The man 50-50's up rails! If that isn't mind blowing progression then lets go ahead and make a bigger ski jump to quarterpipe."

Sean Malto:
"I appreciate cleanliness and a well positioned longshoreman beanie. I prefer my SOTY pick to have a pretty face and a pretty back noseblunt. Exposed hands disturb me."

Chris Cole:
"I saw him on the TV. He won."

My "sleeper" pick would have to be Antuan Dixon. Either you love him or hate him but its hard not to have an opinion. A Thrasher face tat might be worth looking into. Who gets the cover of Thrasher for their tattoos?

And hey, you got a valid argument against mine? Convince me otherwise by posting a comment on the Krux Myspace.

Change my mind and I'll send you a pair of trucks and a video as well as posting it up here. I'm listenin.

Can I just remind everyone that the current Skater of the Year is Silas Baxter Neal and he rides Krux trucks.

Let me give you a quick run down so you can stay with the game.

Trick of the season:
Big spin to something. Biggie front board is always a classic. Seemed like this year the frontside big spin to regular board was the hot one.

Fall 09 Style Guide:
I'd recommend a folded "longshoreman" type beanie. A competitor staple. This kid killed it.

Drooling to hit that rail.
Maybe not as far back on the dome as earlier this spring but you're gonna want to kick it back a tad. 2 out of 5 hungry ams kept a warm head in spite the so cal sun.

2009 Attitude:
I wish it was like this when I was in contests. Everyone is super nice and supportive of each other. Yeah they hungry, but it doesn't mean you don't give your competition a little pat on the back for a nollie flip well done.
Maybe its the 90's in me but I like to see a little ruthlessness. I mean, I didn't even here anyone called a T-Dog! ...or any hating for that matter. Shoot, we used to talk sh/t about each other's clothes and styles all day and into the night. No way you were cordially saying "What's up." to someone later that night at the Spaghetti Factory. Stick with a mad dog or just pretend you didn't seem them at all. Opposing cliques on opposite sides of the course. Hesh vs. fresh. Gershon vs. Sheffey on the flat bank.
You want to win at all costs right? Throw a fit when you get that 2nd place trophy, put it in the garbage and let 'em know you're better than everyone and deserved to win. C'mon kids, throw some jacks in the bowl or maybe get a lead pipe and go the Tanya Harding route. Sweep the leg, Johnny. Put him in a body bag.

OK, real bad advice. Don't listen to me. I'm just jealous. Good kids out there. You made me proud to be a skateboarder this weekend. For real.

Where was I? Oh yeah...

Krux had some sick shredders in the comp for sure. Tommy Werner got 3rd place. Yeah Tommy! Get to know the lad.


Ke'Chaud Johnson got 2nd in the high ollie contest and was killing it all weekend. Look for more coming from him soon cause he rips and we're stoked to have him on board... I mean trucks.


If you've never been to a Damn Am find out when one is going down and make it there. You'll see some serious ripping and witness true love for skating.
Great job once again from the folks over at the Skate Park at Tampa. Those dudes know how to run a contest.

oh snap! what you need?

everything under the rainbow is on sale at http://nhsfunfactory.com/brands/krux/

...or just click on that photo and styled out like Caswell here:

Pre-footy commercial disclaimer:
I like milk. Hell, I'll even admit that I'm a fan of Sheckler's skating at times. You can't argue with ripping and he's got a mean cab kickflip. I even think, after all is said and done, he's transitioned well into an industry skateboarder pretty nicely considering he grew up in the limelight, had a reality show and all the Dew/X hype.
That being said, I'm really not feeling his got milk campaign. The mag photo is hard to look at (insert inappropriate comparsion to the milk on his upper lip and an unnamed bodily fluid here) and the commercial before Silas' beautiful kicky back tail irked me enough to write this.
I don't even blame Ryan. I'm sure he know's better than anyone. At the end of the day he's the one that's gotta sit back and accept that there's still a pretty big gap between what a corporate sponsor wants to create and want actual skateboarders want to see. I'm sure the paycheck smooths some of that over but at least he's backin milk instead of some processed bagel bite (no offense Tone), Slim Jim, or some jacked energy drink.
Oh wait, he really backs Red Bull. Disclaim my disclaimer. I'm a hypocrite. F#ck it. I like milk and I like Red Bull. They both serve a purpose I guess. I put one in my cereal and the other in my Tanqueray. Yeah, that's my drink and its called the Electric Gentleman.
Thank god I'm not endorsing anything... oh wait.