I Love it when you call me Big Poppa: Grind king presents the paulo diaz switch ollie challenge - skateboarding contest - Brief Article

Thrasher Magazine, May, 2002 by Eben Sterling

I'M SO WASHED.

I MISSED EVERY COOL PARTY AT THE RECENT ASR TRADESHOW IN Long Beach, CA. I missed Duane Peters' band, The Hunns, at the Black Label bash. I wasn't even informed of (let alone invited to) Blitz distribution's Tony Hawk 20-Year Anniversary party. Tradeshows are like a who's who ass-lick festival and I'm a nobody. What can I say? The highlight for me would have been charging an expensive dinner on the company credit card if it weren't for the Grind King/Paulo Diaz switch ollie challenge. Since this was an event that any tradeshow desk-driving doughboy could attend, I was there!

Brian Schaefer and Ryan Clements of the Skate Park of Tampa (who were excellent choices) hosted the contest. These guys are hilarious. If you were sitting in the wrong place or acting too cool, you got capped on. That was some raw dog shit. And contrary to how it might sound, it brought the crowd together and made the mood more festive and exciting. The ASR security was spotty at best, so even losers like me were able to flop over the fence and find a seat in the inner circle. I still dress like a skater and have tattoos so I can blend in.

The contest itself was off the hook. The ironic thing was that some bonehead-or patriotic American, depending on how you look at it-decided it would be a good idea to show the Super Bowl on a huge screen for anyone stupid enough to pay attention. The ollie contest was the real Super Bowl, so fuck the NFL! Weeeeeeak! During the warm up I actually had some doubts, because the measuring bar looked like it was stolen from the set of the Chocolate Tour demo where York feigns a broken limb. But it turned out to be only a practice bar, so when the real contest started they hooked it up legit. Serve to say it was no Paul Schmitt protractor engineering, but it got the job done. If you check the final height, 40 1/8 inches, you'll notice an odd fraction of an inch. This was caused by the stoner construction, which did not allow standard height adjustments. But what the hick? You can't switch ollie it and neither could the runner up.

Surprisingly, half of the entrants couldn't even ollie the lowest height, so things got exciting real quick. Paulo himself only cleared it on his last attempt. An impromptu panel of judges led by Kareem Campbell was quickly assembled to deal with any booty foot-drag pseudo-makes. As any S-K-A-T-E aficionado knows. foot drags earn a letter.

So once the perps were weeded out, the contest went like this: Alex Bland took it. This guy is way underground. He rides for Lib Tech, a composite board company, and could have taken the cash on smoothness alone. He got $8,000 big ones. Andre Genovesi (Arcade) took home $1,300 for 2nd place, and is a true sportsman. First he got rattled when he missed an attempt due to a foot drag. He was flipping off Schaefer to his face. I was there. It was a foot drag. It was not a make. There is a definite (albeit subtle) line between a make and a miss, but to the experienced competitor it's as clear as day. For any doubters, check the replay on video. Andre calmed himself and came back and made it. Then, as if the pressure wasn't already too much, Oscar Jordan gets on the mike and tries to mind hick the guy by saying he can't make the next height while chanting "Alex Bland, Alex Bland." Thankfully, in an instance of prairie justice, Andre cleared the bar and OJ evaporated. The other notable in this contest was Paulo Dia z. After nearly flubbing on the first height he came back and cleared the next four or so on first attempts. I was a little skeptical about the hand drags, but Kareem and crew must have decided it was just Paulo with his drunken-monkey style, so it was all good. Paulo is a classic, a gracious host, and a true contender. All in all this was an A event, so kudos to Donald at Grind King and the rest of the sponsors for livening up what would have otherwise been just another boring tradeshow!