Went to checkout the Vans Downtown Showdown on Saturday and almost immediately ran into my good friends Mike and Lance (below) from Ashbury. Lance also brought his good friend Canon Rebel.
The showdown was broken into four sections that were each judged separately by a legit panel of judges including Kenny Hughes, John Cardiel, and most importantly (for me at least) Ray Barbee.
First up was the Girl set-up dubbed the "Three Pump Dump". More than a few guys were having trouble putting a solid line together, because the jam format was a step below chaos. The first pump was getting destroyed though. Andrew Langi's tre-flips and Billy Marks' Cab-flips were my favorite.
The second stop was the Black Label "Dive Bar", which I couldn't get a good spot to take photos from. So you get nothing.......
The third section was Creature's "Five Points Of Pure Evil" (personally, I would've called it "The Deathstar" because of all the close calls that went down on it.
I also got to see Mike Vallely smack some guy in the face, then later he almost got into it with another guy. I would've taken photos or video, but I didn't want to incite Mike V's wrath upon myself. It was around this time that it got so cold my buttcheeks were shivering (I should've brought a sweatshirt) and I couldn't stand it anymore so we left.
For more photos (of better quality), go check some other website.
-Dan
