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We(Keith
and I..Kara)took RT95 straight down to Philly and passed Bert & Ernie(way
larger-than-life images painted on a huge water tank)on the way. We knew
we were close wen we saw the orange Monster.com blimp hovering in the
sky ahead of us. We turned onto the block that the xgames venue was on,
and immediately ran into traffic. We realized we should've gotten there
early in the morning. As we rounded the corner we saw the long-asp line
to get in. We quickly found a parking spot, grabbed our boards, walked
around the block and got on the end of the long line. Only thing kewl
about waiting in that line was this kewl Gorillaz sticker set thingy these
guys were handing out.(wich came in handy later on that night)
So after a good 45mins of waiting in line, we got in. We saw they had
a little crappy skatepark setup for spectators to use, but all the day's
time slots were filled.....'Come early tomorrow' was our plan of attack.
So we walked around a bit, checking out the different booths and event
areas. We made fun of Carrot-Top as he did his 1-800-collect thing. Then
at 4pm we went to go inside the arena(where the vert and dirt step-up
events were being held), but they sed the arena was filled to capacity
and they were not letting anyone in for another 2hrs. We saw people coming
up behind us, so we stayed hoping they wud change their minds. By about
5pm, scene was starting to build a bit of tension, so fearing some huge
riot, they let the first 50 of us in...yeahhhhh.
We got in and found some sweet seats by the vert. We watched Tony Hawk,
Bucky Lasik and all them practice on the vert for 2 hrs, while the BMX
step-up finals were goin on. So, now it was about 7:25pm, 5mins before
the vert finals and we were ready to see some sick-asp stuff go dwn in
the vert. But an arena worker came up to all of us in our section and
told us we had to leave. I think everyone was too stunned, wondering what
the deal was. She said we were in VIP seats and had to leave if we couldnt
show the proper credentials. Well of course the area wasnt marked as VIP
and of course they had to wait a mere 5mins before the 'big show' to inform
us. So, after a huge yelling match from us and the rest of the people
in the section, we all filed out.
We scrambled downstairs to find another place to sit, but every entrance-way
was blocked by a person sayin 'no seats left'. WE WERE LIVID. 2hrs in
great seats and now this. Well, we finally found an unblocked entrance.
I went in first and literally ran into ESPN goofy guy Robert Earl, in
his trademark suit and bandana. I shook his hand and sed "hey, its you...get
us a seat dude!" He laughed and then got mobbed by autograph mongers.
We had him sign our Gorillaz sticker sets, haa. While wedged in next to
him for what seemed wayy too long, i looked over and there was Tony Hawk,
setting up at the announcer area to help call the vert comp. We made our
way back out the entrance and found another. We hung out in the entrance
a while trying to decide where to go. We decided to try one more thing,
turned to go out and ran into Robert Earl again, coming in. Keith told
him we represented the snakeboard population and Earl said "oh those things
are way too complicated for me." What a wuss.
Anyway, we ended up in some crappy section behind the vert sitting way
up on some steps. The lights went down and then it was like a circus light
show. Aaaahh yes, thats right, this was ESPN. The vert was good tho. But
the judges sucked. Tas Pappas pulled a smooth 720 varial and i think all
the judges were watching the light show or something, because Tas' score
didnt reflect the quality of his riding. Tas flipped the judges off, it
was kewl.
So, we headed out and hit RT95 for the ride back home, waving as we past
Bert and Ernie again. The tempurature really dropped from when we had
driven dwn in the afternoon. Going 75mph on RT95 without doors on my jeep,
wearing t-shirts and shorts, with the dropped tempurature added up to
a huge BRRRRRRRRRRR factor. Day Two.....
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Click
each Pix for Larger View
Keith in fronta the XGames 'X'
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Carrot Top
doin his 1-800 thing |
Tony Hawk
eye'in up the vert |
Tony Hawk
bustin out a big 540 |
Tony Hawk
and Andy Mac. plannin' |
Tony readying
to call the tricks |
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