3rd Lair SkatePark & SkateShop

Contest Report

3rd Lair Damn Am 2004 - June 3rd - 6th

by Mulla

Damn Am again? -

didn't we just have

that? Well, yes we did

last September. Wasn't

the 8 months of

recovery time enough

for you? I asked

myself. Barely because

I can barely type at this

point and its

Wednesday.

About a week ago the

Tampa crew started

getting into town.

Schaefer and Derek

were the first to arrive.

For those who don't

know - Brian Schafer is

one of the owners of

the Skatepark of Tampa

and Derek St. Pierre is

one of their managers I

believe. 2 of the nicest

guys you'll ever get to

meet in this industry.

Brian runs the S.P.O.T.

and also the Damn Am

series - quite a

workload considering

he also does other side

events like the A.S.R.,

other contests, and the

annual Tampa Pro. It is

nice to work with

somebody who has so

much experience in a

skateboard event. The

other owners Rob and

Ryan showed up soon

after.

We all had a BBQ over

at my house on

Thursday night and

talked about the game

plan for the weekend.

Check out the photos

on damnam.com.

Friday was practice,

riders orientation and

bowl contest. The

heads were starting to

come in. I was

surprised to see a grip

of pros like Brian

Sumner and Kenny

Reed.

The bowl competition

was cool a run, jam,

run format. It worked

good although the

bowl jam was a

complete snake

session that I think

some locals were not

used too.

You had to get in their

and out skate a couple

of guys to get it to

yourself. Very fun to

watch with 2 - 3 guys

going at a time!, but

very dangerous for the

riders.

For some reason the

judges thought that the

person who got the

most runs deserved 1st

place - so this Chris

Lehman kid from the

S.P.O.T. won it! I hope

this taught our locals a

good lesson - you need

to be ready for

everything in this

skateboard world.

I met this super rad

bowl rider - Mike Owen

at our last TOP SHOP.

He is complete insane

because he skates so

fast it looks like you're

watching a skate video

on fast-forward. I was

so impressed by him

that I said you have to

come up for Damn Am

and he did! He

probably would have

won if he landed this

540.

Notables and some of

my favorites were:

Abdias Riveria, a

Floridian with fluent

style - could work the

entire course and all of

his runs were different.

This young kid Grant

Taylor was a complete

ripper, he was 13 but

looked a lot younger

because he was small.

He had absolutely

flawless runs all

weekend but the

judges wouldn't give

him first place because

they probably thought

he lacked power.

Joe Siemianowski was

another cool kid from

Michigan, I'm not sure

how old he is but I'd

guess 13. Remember

this kids name because

I will not be surprised if

he goes pro some day.

He told me his

nickname was Joe Dirt.

Anthony Schultz is

originally from Mn. And

he's been stepping it

up. He's turned into a

big boy and has

increased his bag of

tricks considerably.

Danny Cerezini has this

killer laid-back style -

I'm not trying but I just

rip kind of skating.

Hands down by his

sides and effortless

pop.

Jason Barr is ripping!

I'm literally begging to

get this kid to move to

the cities - put he said

he had to finish high

school first.

Evan Mirchell is a 12

year old that almost

reminds me of a young

Brian Anderson. He

goes fast and hard on

all his tricks - just wait

until he grows up a

little bit, he'll be

unstoppable.

Jr. Mint was on his

game and could have

won it. The judges

were feeling him all

weekend because he

tried the hardest tricks

in all his runs.

I'm very to happy to say

that 3rd Lair team

riders Tom Roar and

Dan Norlach did

exceptionally well in

this contest. These

guys did way better

than I think either of

them expected. It's

great to see two young

guys overachieve in an

event of this

magnitude. I seriously

think that both these

guys deserve to be in

the upcoming Tampa

Am - I could easily see

them placing as high in

that contest. I hope that

these 2 guys never quit

skateboarding because

on this rate they will

move on to stardom.

Great job guys -

checks' in the mail.

Saturday was qualifiers

and I could not believe

how many people were

at the park. The place

was packed, it was a

beautiful day, and I

truly believe things

were just perfect. The

Tampa crew was in

their groove - running

the contest, the dunk

tank, and even giving

free hair cuts for

product. The 2 first

ladies of the 3rd Lair -

my wife Carrie and

M-Rods girl Cristina

were manning the grill,

no pun intended.

Sunday was finals and

it was packed with

spectators. Nobody

wanted to miss any of

the runs - as all the top

riders were about to

perform.

In order to make the

cut, which allowed 30 -

you had to have a near

perfect run. Some

missed 1 trick but

completely made up for

it in order to get in

there. From 100 riders

to 30 was phenomenal

feat and the cream of

the crop was left.

Notables that didn't

make the cut were:

Last years winner - Jon

Goeman

Adam Dahlen just

missed 1 too many

tricks or he would have

been in there,

3rd Lair rider Brian

Godfrey who had the

best contest run of his

life

Dan Nepsha - he won

last years best trick

and other 3rd Lair team

rider Neal Shipe, Cody

Davis, Tom Beggs

placed 42 - 44

respectively. On a

positive note - Mike

Guy did not finish in

last place. - J/K!

The contest ended and

when the dust settled

and the judges came

out of the parents

lounge the winner was

this super nice guy -

Andrew Cannon. I

chatted with him briefly

during the weekend

and he just has a great

attitude, you could also

see it in his

skateboarding. He

barely missed a trick in

any of his contest runs,

utilized the entire

course, and combined

power with technicality

to achieve the winning

run. I hope that Andrew

is still feeling good

because he completely

deserved to win this

contest.

You can count on

Damn Am coming back

for next and many

years after that. The

weekend went off

without a glitch thanks

to Brian and his crew,

the 3rd Lair staff

members who

performed at optimum

peak, all the riders, and

spectators and

especially the sponsors

who support Damn Am

and the 3rd Lair.

As they like to say:

Thanks for Nothing!