Maloof Money Cup 2009
INGREDIENTS:
1 Mini mega ramp
1 Super legit street course
$450,000 in cash
3/4 of the world’s greatest skateboarders
DIRECTIONS:
1) Take the mini mega ramp, separate it with a 20ft gap, top it all off with a rainbow rail, and finish with a funnel into a beautifully conceived vert ramp.
2) Add one street course and generously sprinkle with obstacles, which are replicas of some of the very best street spots around the world.
3) Place together in a large mixing bowl called Orange County.
4) Toss in; huge tricks, gnarly slams, good music, $9 beers, Captain ‘n Casey, a rowdy crowd, and the competitive nature that enormous prize purses bring out in the best skateboarders of today.
5) Garnish with a surprise musical performance by Snoop Dogg, and an appearance by Kobe Bryant in the stands.
6) Bake at approximately 100 degrees for two days.
7) Remove from oven and you will have yourself the world’s greatest skateboard event to date!
When the prize purses are $25,000 for the ladies, $75,000 for vert and $100,000 for street in a skate contest, it brings out the best in the best. Held right here in Orange County, the Maloof Money Cup did just that. For the second year in a row the Maloof brothers put up a slew of money, and built the greatest venue for a skateboard contest the industry has ever seen.
At the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa, there was a complete concrete skate park put in specially for this competition. These clever obstacles were comprised not only of a variety of solid concrete stairs, gaps, real handrails, and marble ledges, but these are comparable to favorite street spots of the pros.
This year’s course included a ledge from pier 7 in San Francisco, brick banks from New York, a bump-to-picnic-table, just like the one at Pioneer School in Upland. There was a 6-stair handrail like the one at UC Irvine, a massive 10-stair rail, and four block, just like the one at Rincon Middle School. There was also a monster roof gap from somewhere in Los Angeles, and many other real skate spots. The vert was no mere vert ramp. Erected with its own mini mega ramp, the skaters began with airs as they were shot through a tunnel, over the gap, through an archway in the vert wall, and directly onto the other side of the vert ramp. The street course was not a temporary birch and skatelite concoction. With just the course alone, the arena created within it a vibe of impending greatness.
However, greatness didn’t come without a price, or pressure. The magnitude of the course, and the biggest prize purse in women’s skateboard history enticed the most aggressive ladies of skate to get even gnarlier with their tricks. As with great, or at least entertaining, competition, chaos and carnage ensued. It began early, during warm-ups, when Lauren Perkins lost her ACL to the four block.
Instead of competing, she still participated by assisting Duncan with the announcing. The same enormous 4-stair sent Rachel Reinhard to the hospital after she knocked her skull at the bottom. Luckily, she was pre qualified for the next round. Luckily, Reinhard was able to make it back from the hospital in time for the finals. During the finals, Alexis Sablone cased a planter gap and cracked her skull on the concrete. In an interview from 2002 Sablone is quoted saying, “Just never; never quit.
You can’t stop ’til you land a trick. So, true to her words and after taking a second to recover, still with blood pouring down the back of her neck she approached the same gap and pulled a switch kick flip, flawlessly clearing the whole thing. Not only inspiring, it was enough to earn her the destroyer award and a $2,000 check from Zumiez.
Seemingly fearlessly, the girls really went for it out there. Elissa Steamer hit the course with authority. She hucked front tail slides over the brick banks. Then, she pulled off a huge 50-50 from the deck gapping to the 6-stair hubba. Steamer maintained the pressure by repeatedly chucking herself off the monster roof gap, over her competitors, and into the brick banks below. Lacey Baker killed it with consistency and typical teck superiority. She started with a super smooth nose manual to nolie healflip out on the pier 7 ledge. She even continued, by switching heal and nolie heal on the big 3-block. Then Baker got the crowd roaring with a hard flip down the giant Rincon 4-stair. Not unnoticed, Leticia Bufoni answered back with big rail tricks like front boards, frontside 50-50s, and front smiths. Then she went on to match Lacey’s teck with plenty of her own flip tricks down the 4-block and the 10-stair.
It was a serious battle out there in the summer heat. In the end, Laticia took the title and the money, followed by Lacy in 2nd and Elissa in 3rd.
Nothing but Mad props can be given to all of the girls who skated so well on such a challenging course. The adversity the ladies have faced of even being recognized as professional skaters is a rough road alone. Thank you to these ladies for representing female skaters so admirably. As was demonstrated by the actions of all of the competitors, strive to keep taking your skills to that next level. Thank you so much to the Maloof family for your generous support of the women skaters, championing a prize purse comparable to those in men’s competitions, and for throwing one heck of a skate party.
LADIES STREET FINALS
1. Leticia Bufoni
2. Lacey Baker
3. Elissa Steamer
4. Amy Caron
5. Marisa Dal Santo
6. Alexis Sablone
7. Vanessa Torres
8. Rachel Reinhard
ZUMIEZ DESTROYER AWARD
Alexis Sablone
Popularity: 83% [?]
Street Contest
Saturday September 19th
12pm-5pm
Etnies Skatepark
Lake Forest, CA
$20 Registration Fee
Bowl Contest
Sunday September 20th
10am-4pm
Burger Bowl
Westminster, CA
$20 Registration Fee
Not the competetive type? Well there are also girls only clinics where you can come
learn some new tricks and ride with your friends.
1st one is Fri the 18th 10am-Noon at Etnies Skatepark
2nd one is Sat the 19th 9am-noon at the park as well.-Mandy Esch
