Credo 48. The Needle And The Damage Done.
January 10, 2008 @ 6:51 PM
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The Needle And The Damage Done.
Dear oh dear oh dear. Did you hear about the Game Of Skate farrago?
Last year’s winner was only allowed to compete in the amateur event this year (which he won, unsurprisingly since he beat all the entered pro’s last year.)
There is a bit of me which can’t believe I’m talking about a flatland competition which is freestyle by any other name, but with the prize money being thrown around and the spurious reasons given for the decision, it does raise some interesting questions.
In response to questions posed by skaters, one organiser replied that he wasn’t allowed to enter because he was an amateur. But so are Nyjah Huston and Mike Mo, who were invited to enter. Javier Sarmiento was allowed to enter, and he doesn’t even have a board sponsor, never mind a pro model. So…? Well, having found themselves in a hole and trying to dig their way out, the new reason was that apparently they ‘had good video parts’ and were ‘recognized names in America’. Which begs the obvious question: ‘So What?’: The Dude Beat Every Pro Who Entered Last Year.
Yes, there are issues surrounding the idea of what constitutes professional skateboarding today, but to create benchmarks out of thin air sucks. Bastien Salabanzi won the Copenhagen Pro this year and he has no official sponsors at all.
So to argue that ‘Ams aren’t supposed to make money’ when today almost every company pay their ams, (and Zoo York run a parallel ‘Am Getting Paid’ series)- is no excuse.
Bottom line, as defending champion he should have been given the chance to defend his title otherwise the winners’ is a hollow victory.
It shouldn’t matter if they are from Brazil, Australia or the moon. He was- is- defending champion.
What started off as a fun enterprise has ended up with egg on its face and on the face of professional skateboarding in 2007.
Alex Mizurov should be given a seed into next year’s competition if it wants to have any credibility.
Otherwise withdraw the prize money and make it open to all, for fun.
