Don’t let the word am fool you, the kids at the Damn Am are the best of the un-professionals and no doubt you will get to know much more some of these rippers well in the near future. One hundred and eighty kids were whittled down to thirty six for the 2 18 man heats in the semi finals today, then down to 12 for the finals. So you could say David Loy had his work cut out for him, this was not just like 20 kids but 180 son…damn.
Volcom lent the use of their parking lot as they always do in October. The event was run by the good folks at the Skatepark of Tampa. Not only does SPOT run a good show but Brian Schafer, Ryan Clements and Vern are darn funny to listen to as the mc the event. This event is super fun to watch and with free food and beer it is no wonder that veterans like Ronnie Creager, Tosh Townend, Jay Adams and tons more heads come out to see the who the next big deal may be. The skaters came from all over too, all over the world. Holland, Brazil, California, Minnesota, Florida were just a few of the locales represented in the finals alone. There was more than bragging rights and money on the line too since the top 12 get to go the finals in Tampa on December 5th thru the 7th as well.
Winning the best run of three format basically took sticking a run with your best tricks or possibly a bail with a lot of hard tricks. The results match what happened pretty well. There surely were some skaters that choked and could have done better, maybe next year.
The best trick finals were super hectic, maybe too hectic as kids were pretty much landing on each other. Even Ryan Clements said “This is the most ridiculous best trick jam we have had yet” There were people in there with no business and clogged the system; making a trick was more from negotiating the traffic jam. Twenty minutes of madness, dozens of dudes and like 10 makes, too crazy.
If you missed it live or online, check it next year
P-Stone from Thrasher came down from San Francisco to film the ams; he even dressed for the occasion
A good portion of the course
Rob Maatman won the Amsterdam Am and came over from Holland. This gap to back smith was so sick!
Felipe Ortiz kickflips to crooked in practice, this kid did not even make finals and he can crack tricks like this
Colin Provost front feebs to front 180 out, it takes some intriguing body language to pull that trick. Colin is an all around ripper, seen ripping trannies at the Basic Bowl and beating Ryan Sheckler in a street contest
Kechaud Johnson with a giant kickflip into a top 5 finish
Nick Merlino pulls a switch heel down the double set in the semis
Kechaud Johnson nollie to front feebs
Kyle Walker kickflips the 12 foot gap
Go spread some Helloween terror this Friday night
Curren Caples is a good looking kid that rips, he kinda reminds me of a young Jay Adams, here is a gap to front lip
David Loy skated so much faster than anyone. He has been around and tricks like the transfer to back smith on the bank to wall helped him get the win
David Loy had at least one run in the finals with no bails. Here is a crazy transfer from the quarterpipe to nose grind on the bank to wall
Andrew Cannon, the oldest am in the world and dressed as wet Willy to boot
Abdias Rivera kickflip shifty
Felipe Gustavo nollie back one into 3rd place overall
Cody Davis was not as big and gnarly skate wise as say David Loy but his board control was spot on enough for 2nd place, frontside hurricane
Felipe Gustavo nollie back one into 3rd place overall
Louie Lopez did so well in the qualifiers that he got to skip the semi finals and move right into the finals
Tommy Fynn - back blunt
Kyle Walker – feeble
The SPOT crew and judges watch Rob Maatman do a tre flip
Timmy Knuth also got to skip semi finals by doing so well in qualifiers, he ended up in 4th place overall
best trick mess
in all the best trick craziness I failed to get this cat’s name, if you know it, let us know
Grant Muller switch Dolphin flips in the best trick contest
Damn Am Results
1 David Loy, Santa Ana, CA
2 Cody Davis, Ramsey, MN
3 Felipe Gustavo, Brasilia, Brazil
4 Timmy Knuth, Melbourne, FL
5 Kechaud Johnson, Dallas, TX
6 Louie Lopez, Hawthorne, CA
7 Shawn Hale, Joplin, MO
8 Rob Maatman, Holland
9 Kyle Walker, Moore, OK
10 Tommy Fynn
11 Will Marshall, Canada
12 Donvan Piscopo, Covina, CA
Best Trick
1 Daniel Espinoza, front blunt kickflip to fakie
2 Ryan Reyes, smith kickflip out
3 Moose, cab flip
4 Cody Davis, front board kickflip
5 Grant Muller, switch dolphin flip
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