OG Jam Series, 2013 Finale @ Vans
This contest brought the 2013 OG Jam series to close. It’s been a long road and we’ve had a lot of jams. 7 total, 5 contests and 2 nontests or Ghost Jams as we’ve called them. We held this Finale at Vans Skatepark in Orange CA. and they are fantastic hosts. Letting us use the Combi pool, giving us prizes and having a full on BBQ for our events is nothing short of stellar. The competition was great, for ripper and non rippers alike. Our skaters dazzled whether they were blasting big airs or tile carving for the first time.
The day started as an adventure for most as they rain was coming down hard in and around Los Angeles. We got off to a slow start, which is pretty common, but this gave everyone some extra time to practice. There’s so many people trying to get in some runs that it can get frustrating, but everyone handles it quite well.
By 1:30/2-ish we got things under way with the 30-39 division. Each rider got 3 runs to hammer out their best. Kris Reeves put on a Vans Pool Party worthy show with several awesome all around runs. Nick Daiello used a lot of difficult angles through the bowl and had some big air to grab 2nd place. Bennet Harada, last years winner, nabbed 3rd place with his stylish rasta flair. Brian Lynch and Steve Badillo battled it out for 4th and 5th respectively and also 1st and 2nd Overall with Badillo getting 1st Overall in the end.
50 years is a life milestone, reaching it seems to change people. Skaters appear to be a different bread once again. The guys entered into the bowl contest are still ‘children at heart’. Laughing, smiling, swapping war stories, aches and pains are the glue that get these geezers out of the house for some skate action. We had 10 guys enter this event. For the first time we have a new 1st place result. Eddie Hadvina has been holding it down for both seasons, he’s been unstoppable and today was no different. He still killed it! Kelly Belmar, on the other hand, really brought the heat. This time he rode his full performance stick instead of the old school Duane Peters board from the 80’s. He threw down a seriously solid line with big moves, my favorite was his andrecht that came out of nowhere. This division is inspiring for all of us. I keep thinking I should be done at 43, but these guys keep on going… ‘Skater for Life!’ is alive and still kicking. This division ended up with 4 runs, which nearly killed a few of them from 1st hand reports. I’d also like to give some kudos to Steve Wright our elder statesman at 57, he’s managed to enter all of them and place 5th Overall for 2013, the dude is down for life!
You would think the year was 1990 by the entrants in the 40-49 year old division. Most of these guys learned their skills 20 years ago and they still have a lot of them. A few guys are skating better then they ever have. We see you progressing at skateboarding in your 40’s. Who would have ever thought that was possible. I am proud to be skating with these guys. It has been a blast all year long. Mike Sanders only entered the combi event and he fought off Garret Naka for 1st and 2nd place. 15 riders in total. My favorite moment is Kevin Rucks invert then egg plant on a skinny ass old Logan Earth Ski board. I’m not sure how to judge it and I think our judges were also perpelxed. That was probably the hardest thing going on in our division. It was crazy, just look at the pics!
In closing we got a million thanks to give out and I will definitely not be able to recall them all. We really got to thank our judges who we thrust into this position at each event. Today we had Joe Contreras, Todd Williams, Joe, Ben Butler, Steve Badillo and Earl Okinaka helped out. Our MC Lucas Sanders is handling things on the mic like a pro! Many thanks to Ray Zimmerman (MRZ) for the killer images.
