2003 O.U.T. Championship Report -
The skate gods blessed us with a
beautiful day for our Josh Updike
Memorial / O U T Championship II
/ 7 Year Anniversary Party. All in all
everything just came together and the
mood / vibe around the park was
great. We had the BBQ rolling and
cooked up about 500 hamburgers,
vegi-burgers, and hot dogs for
everybody.
The first thing that to report on was
how well the Memorial and Benefit
went for Josh Updike. We had a ton
of people purchase raffle tickets and
walk away with some great prizes. I
thank everybody for their generosity
and I know Josh's family was deeply
touched. Thanks to all the companies
that donated product for this
especially Pete from Iota who brought
out a really nice package with tons of
decks, t-shirts, and stickers. Also
special thanks to: Giant, Girl, Etnies,
Split, and others I'm sure I'm
forgetting.
A lot of love was passed up to Josh
and I know he felt it. Before the
contest we had a moment of silence
for him and I thank everybody who
participated. The 3rd Lair will never
forget Josh Updike and when you
come here to skate take one extra run
for him. Josh's family presented us
with a beautiful picture frame that has
a picture of Josh skating and one of
his favorite hats with an inscription
that read: (I have to hold back my
tears here)
Josh Updike August 13, 1977 -
April 25, 2003
Mark and Steve Thanks for
Making 3rd Lair His Second Home
I cannot put into words how much this
meant to Steve and I. Its time like this
when I realize how lucky we are to be
doing what we're doing and have
such a significant emphasis on people
lives. Sometimes Steve and I work so
hard that we don't have time to take a
step back and realize what we have
created. This is by far the nicest
gesture I have ever seen in my seven
years at the skatepark. I would like to
thank Josh's family for giving that to
us, we will cherish it and Josh's
memory for the rest of our lives. Its
going up in our front entrance for
everybody too see.
The O U T Championship went nothing
like people expected. 64 people signed
up for it in advance and almost half of
them chickened out. Not to worry
because their spaces were
immediately taken up by others. So
after some erasing on the bracket
board we were ready to start. I would
first like to say that I love this format
for a contest. Its so black and white;
you either make the trick or don't.
There are no judges needed and no
scorekeeper needed, you don't have
to wait and see the results; they
happen immediately. To me it's just
more exciting.
The first match of the day was one of
the best Tom Beggs against Dom
Hess (more about Dom later). Their
match went on for quite a while and to
the surprise of everybody Tom won.
Some matches went really quick and
others went on for about 10 minutes.
Notable upsets were: Todd Brown
making it all the way to the semi -
finals, as well as Adam Bovee from
the Youth Shelter. Alex Shirlbaurer
beat Andy Paulson in the second
round. Jon Vang got beat in the 1st
round by unknown Dan Burkstein.
The greatest story about the whole
contest was the fact that Wes
'Gunner' Hickman won it!! Wes was
on fire, he is so consistent and just
dominated every match with his low
key, subtle approach. I don't think
anybody had him slated to win, but he
beat out some big hitters such as -
Dan Jansen, Mike Munzenrider,
and Dolo (Ryan Hanson) for the
Championship.
Much props goes out to Wes, I have
to admit I was rooting for him the whole
way not because he's one of our
employees, but because he's just
such a nice, humble guy. We are so
proud of Wes and he deserved his
win and the 320.00 bucks!
The O U T Contest ended just before it
got dark and everybody was treated
to Elijah Collard's video premiere of
'Roll One'. Which was a very
entertaining video that had a very
TREEZ personality to it. I hope that
Elijah continues his efforts in making
these local videos they're really fun to
watch. It should also be noted that
before the feature presentation Benji
Meyer put together some footage of
Josh Updike, which was really nice of
him. Elijah gave me a copy of the video
and I gave it to Josh's mom so she
could see the footage of her son
doing what he loved.
