Quick get together at the Volcom skate park in Costa Mesa. Johnny joined us as well as Alex W.

Nice afternoon, got to see a few pros like Fabrizio Santos and Ruben Najera. Ruben is the owner of Struggle Skateboards and is a pretty cool cat.

Unfortunately the “Mank Skateboarding University” decided to show up and take the floor out by placing rails and ramps of his own completely blocking the area most of the little ones like to skate in so we took off.

Stinks when guys like that have to interfere with a great time, especially when he is violating rules… and yet the good ones like Mandy are getting garbage from the city by running a clean respectable business teaching kids to skate with respect.

Here are some pics from the trip:

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Brothers Joe and Gavin Maloof brought you the 2^nd Annual Maloof Money Cup at the Orange County Fair last weekend. If you missed the event let me sum it up for you… great skateboarding wrapped up in an NBA package. All of the frills and thrills that typically sporting events posess brought to a sport that is so much more than fluff and spectacle.

Don’t get me wrong… if you look past the garbage and “fair folk” there for the beer and Monster you get a really great competition. Big draw names like Sheckler, P Rod, Eric Koston and Chris Cole always impress, but personally I really enjoyed watching guys like Pete Eldridge, Lizard King and Billy Marks tear up the impressive street course designed by Geoff Rowley. Guys that didn’t make the top ten seemed to put up more consistent effort even though they didn’t impress the judges.

I will hand it to Chris Cole… he certainly deserved to take it. This guy tore up that layout and put out as much or more effort than most of the guys out there and it showed. Tommy Sandoval really put out as well, dropping off the roof more times than I can count over the 3 days. That guy is going to have some serious knee issues at some point, but it gave a great show.

The biggest disappointment (and I will probably get grief for mentioning this) was the celebrities that took center stage during the event. Sure it is cool to see Kobe Bryant in public, but when it interferes with the skaters and blocks the skate surface I would rather they just stay home. Yes, I agree they should be able to enjoy a day like this but really someone must have pulled some strings. Again with the NBA fluff.

Will I do it again next year? Of course (granted they let me, we had issue with the staff and our access but that is a story for another day…). The thrill in watching the actual skateboarding and not the rest of the hype is well worth it, and watching my daughter get ideas from the pros will bring me back.

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My daughter got to meet Ryan at the end of Day one! Though she won’t admit anything, the smiles said it all.

Just a word about Ryan, I have heard a lot of rumors of him having a bad attitude… from my impression of him in person he is actually quite a nice guy. He spent plenty of time taking pics and signing autographs for a lot of the kids.

Thank you Ryan for making my daughter’s day!

More pics:

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