Back in the day, the story that usually got written following a hot afternoon spent at a Carl’s Jr. sponsored blow-out skateboarding event in the heart of Orange County, California would have been filled with whining and complaining–loads of it.
There would have been whining about not having access to the proper locations, or about how far away media parking was, or that the event wasn’t treating the skaters or the endemic media right. Those stories were reckless fun to write, but they really can’t be written anymore because those days are over. This was especially true at the Maloof Money Cup Presented by etnies and Monster.
We rolled in skeptical. Anything this slickly produced can’t be good, right? We watched the seemingly flawless Fuel HD live webcast on Saturday night and thought that it all might just be some kind of TV hoax. But when we arrived at the Orange County Fair Grounds on Sunday afternoon July 12, 2009 we discovered that it really was as good as it looked online.
The Money Cup was set up perfectly from the parking, to the media access, to the grand stands for the civilians, all the way to the vert ramp/mini mega and the street set up that California Skateparks built. Media got front row seats to the entire street course, and great spots at either end of the vert ramp. The fans had elevated grandstands that offered a great view on the entire event. There was even shaded VIP seating up top for the super VIPs (we got shut trying to get up there, but then so did Pierre Andre (click the watch the video) so we didn’t feel so bad).
The only problem was that the skate action was so rapid fire that it was really difficult to keep up with what was going on. It was almost easier to follow on the webcast because at least then someone was eliminating the options and forcing us to focus on one thing at a time.
When faced with P-Rod, Chris Cole, Sean Malto, Peter Ramondetta, Nyjah Huston (pictured left), and Torey Pudwill in a jam format heat skating on different parts of the section it got kind of crazy. We found that they only way to follow along was to sit with three or four friends who we could turn to when we heard the crowd erupt and say, “What was that?” The amount of quality skating being thrown down literally required eight eyes to take it all in.
So, rather than try to get any of it down here, we’re going to suggest that everyone do what we’re going to do as soon as we post this: point the browser over to Fuel.TV and watch the vert and street finals again so we can figure out exactly what we saw. Either way we know one thing: we’re already looking forward to seeing it again next year.
In the meantime, click here to check out our Maloof Money Cup photo gallery, or follow the jump for the complete results.
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