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Maloof Money Cup


Last Updated: 12/22/2009

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Gender: Female
Status: Single
Age: 28
Sign: Cancer

City: Orange County
State: California
Country: US
Signup Date: 7/20/2007

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Thursday, August 06, 2009 

Current mood:  nerdy

by Conor Dougherty, The Wall Street Journal

This often drizzly city may be the most skateboard-friendly town in America.
In Portland, skateboarding has been woven into parks and streets in the same manner as cycling or soccer. Skateboarding is illegal in downtowns across the country. Portland's downtown is marked with "skate routes" featuring signs with a skateboarding stick figure. In most cities, skaters consider it a big victory when a skatepark is built. Portland is building a network of 19 skateparks scattered throughout the city. Skaters even have one of their own in City Hall: Tom Miller, chief of staff to Portland Mayor Sam Adams, rode into politics through skateboard advocacy and has continued pushing for skateparks from the inside.


It's a transformation that began nearly two decades ago when a bunch of Portland skaters built an illegal skatepark in a trash-strewn area under a downtown bridge. By 2020, skaters in this city of about 600,000 people will have just about every kind of terrain they could want. Five parks have already been built. The Ed Benedict skatepark, which opened in February in Portland's southeast district, features built-in "street" obstacles such as ledges and stairs, where young skaters can be seen trying to flip their boards every which way. The ramp-oriented Pier Park opened in 2006 and has several concrete bowls, the deepest at 11 feet.

The centerpiece of the system will be a downtown skatepark, still in the proposal stage, that the city hopes will blur the lines between the typically cloistered skateboard park and an open urban plaza.
Portland's skatepark system is just the biggest example of how skateboarders are institutionalizing their sport. Seattle, San Antonio and other cities have embraced the idea of the multi-skatepark "system." Oceanside, Calif., just added two new skateparks, including a street-style park with rails and ledges and a ramp-heavy site that leads into a deep pool.
Portland's skatepark movement has not been without conflicts. The carefree skaters of 15 years ago are negotiating municipal responsibilities and power politics. BMX bikers —trick-oriented riders who often ride the same terrain as skateboarders — were aligned with skaters in fighting for skateparks but feel skate advocates shut them out of the parks as the skateboarders gained power. In 2006, a front-page story in the Oregonian newspaper raised conflict-of-interest questions about Miller's work in the City Commissioner's office while at the same time serving as chairman of his skateboarding non-profit. ("I voluntarily vetted everything I did with the city attorney and no concerns were raised," says Miller.)
 
It all started with an attempt to solve a typical dilemma in Portland: what to do in the rain. (It's wet about 150 days a year.) In the 1980s, Portland skaters built wooden ramps under freeways or in roadside gullies, but Portland native Kent Dahlgren says many of his early projects were stolen. Rain took care of the rest. So in 1990, a group of skaters including Mark "Red" Scott and Dahlgren began building concrete ramps under Portland's Burnside Bridge, then a trash-strewn area where the homeless camped out and addicts got high. Obstacle-by-obstacle, with concrete sometimes hand-mixed, they built a huge skatepark of flowing transitions that still eclipses most city-built skateparks in size and quality.

Hoping to engender goodwill, skaters picked up trash and swept stoops for nearby business owners. They shooed away homeless people and pot smokers. The message was clear: Don't mess with the park, says Dahlgren, who sports a large forearm tattoo.
In 1992, a local business owner organized a meeting between Scott, Dahlgren and a city commissioner, a meeting that would pave the way for an agreement that legalized the park. Still, Burnside was never made an official city park, and could be shut down at any time. "If we'd learned anything, it was the importance of good relations with the powers that be," says Dahlgren.
From 1993 to 2000, the number of U.S. skateboarders doubled to about 10 million, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. Scott made a business out it: He is now president of Dreamland Skateparks, a skatepark builder.

As skateboarding exploded, Portland's skaters began lobbying for more parks, and for a say in how they were built. One was Tom Miller, who had moved from Seattle to attend law school and later started a non-profit organization called Skaters for Portland Skateparks. The city later set up a skatepark committee that included Miller, Dahlgren and Dean Dickinson, a BMX bike rider. The panel pushed for concrete parks designed by skaters, rather than the plastic obstacles many cities were buying from playground equipment companies more familiar with swingsets than skateparks.
But the group also suggested something so bold Miller says he was almost embarrassed to propose it:
 
a citywide skatepark system. Miller's skatepark lobbying led to a volunteer position with the campaign of Sam Adams, who was running for city commissioner. Adams won the election, and Miller became an insider: He was offered a job as chief of staff. A few months later Portland's city council approved a plan to create the skatepark system.
Of course, beyond advocacy, the skatepark system owes a debt to Portland's activist political culture. Skateboarding isn't a hard sell in a place where everyone from cyclists to amateur farmers has lobbied the city. The system also coincided with the growth of skateboarding nationally. Adams, now Portland's mayor, says the power of his city's skate community comes mostly from the sport's growing numbers. "Portland's parks department was pumping out services that were based on antiquated views," he says.
Miller has gone far beyond his roots as a skateboard advocate whose first brush with the City Council came when he put on a suit and testified about skateparks. He rose to chief of staff in the mayor's office after Adams was elected last year. Miller emphasizes that "99.999%" of his job is dealing with higher-priority matters. Still, he has remained a pro-skateboarding voice in a difficult budget environment.

A year ago Miller got $50,000 from the city council for a feasibility study of the downtown skateboard park that aims to be the jewel of the skatepark system. He has also ruffled some feathers. Miller has publicly opposed letting BMX bikes into skateparks, citing the risk of biker/skater collisions. That move has drawn the ire of BMX bike riders. "It's almost like skaters are the cops now," says Dickinson, the BMXer.
 
Since the passage of the skatepark system plan Portland has built five skateparks in the past four years. Most are woven into existing city parks, and are among the most popular attractions there. On a recent afternoon the Gabriel skatepark was filled up with skaters ranging in age from grade school to late 30s, while nearby volleyball courts sat empty.

Of course, some skateboarders will always seek out the new and the illegal. On a recent afternoon 14-year-old Daniel Ciochina and some friends left the concrete ramps at Portland's Holly Farm skatepark, rolling past a "No Skateboarding" sign into the parking lot of a library across the street. Ciochina used his board to jump across a gap between one library parking lot and another. A library staffer came out but before she could shoo them the kids were already riding away — back to the safety of their skatepark.
3:29 PM 
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Wednesday, August 05, 2009 

Current mood:  adventurous
If you're around here's where they'll be:

August 8th, 3pm, Hailey Skatepark, Hailey, ID
August 11th, 3pm, Mobash Skatepark, Mobash, MT
Glenhaven Skatepark, 3pm, Portland, OR


Here are clips from last year.....

8:16 PM 
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Tuesday, August 04, 2009 

Current mood:  optimistic

    introduction

    When most people think of all-American sports, they typically think of baseball, basketball and football. Few people immediately thing of skateboarding, although that fact may change in the coming decades. The truth is that skateboarding is one of the fastest growing sports not only in America but worldwide. Since the invention of the sport in the 1960s, participants in the sport have been growing exponentially, already surpassing the popularity of several more traditional sports.

    Skateboarding vs. Traditional Sports

    Based on a 2004 sports participation study performed by SGMA International, there are approximately 11.6 million skateboarders in America. This figure is enough to make skateboarding the third most popular sport for American teenagers. Football currently ranks first, and basketball ranks second. The figures reported by the SGMA indicate that skateboarding is more popular than baseball, hockey, tennis and virtually every other traditional sport in the United States. For a sport that initially began as a diversion for California surfers during the cold seasons of the 1960s, that's a pretty impressive fact. In fact, up until quite recently, people were still debating whether or not skateboarding should officially be called a hobby or a sport. The introduction of annual skateboarding competitions such as the X-Games helped legitimize the sport as well as introduce it to a mass audience.

    Skateboarding vs. Other Extreme Sports

    In relation to other extreme sports, skateboarding ranks second in American participants (including children, teenagers and adults) only to inline skating (with a reported participation of 17.3 million individuals). Paintball ranks third with 9.6 million participants and artificial wall climbing ranks fourth with 7.6 million participants. Skateboarding's arctic cousin, snowboarding, ranks fifth with 7.1 million participants.

    Skateboarding's Rise in Popularity

    One of the reasons skateboarding has become so popular is that it has such a universal and open appeal. Armed with a skateboard, kids and adults can practice the sport virtually anywhere, including their driveways, empty parking lots or one of the 1,000-plus public skateparks in the United States. This is in contrast to traditional sports, which are restricted by the need for a playing field. Other typical restrictions, such as a season of play and need for additional team members, are also a nonissue for the sport of skateboarding.
    The vast bag of tricks available to skateboarders is another reason it may have grown in popularity. Skateboard tricks range from very easy to incredibly complex. This allows skateboarders of all abilities to find continued success and challenges within the sport. A lack of strict rules and boundaries also allows individual skaters to express their unique creativity. This is opposed to team sports, where individuals often feel constrained by a team mentality and the pressures of winning.

By Jeff Wysaski
4:27 PM 
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009 

Current mood:  annoyed

By Steve Cave, About.com

Unfortunately, skateboarders tend to have a lot of run-ins with cops. Something about the skate punk culture, something about how dangerous skateboarding is, and something about how a lot of cops are drunk with power ... it all combines to many skaters having sad cop stories to tell.  but bad police experiences with skateboarders still happen. It's just the world we live in. Share your story here, and read about what other skaters have had happen to them.

burned hands at 12
A group of us were skating around town mid-summer in the san fernando valley (read - HOT) when the cops stopped us. We were 12. They ordered us to place our hands on the hood and "spread em." We complied. The hood must have been at least 120 degrees. I put my hands down and immediately brought them up a few inches so I didn't get burned. The cop screamed at me, "Get you F-in Hands on the hood NOW." I explained it was really hot. "I don't give a S-it, get em on there." I did, for about two minutes. When they had their way with us (which included a rather blatent swipe of my privates) my hands had blistered from the heat. I guess I understand, 12 year olds really are scary to a beefed out, steroid filled cop. I mean, we might have bitten his ankles or something. And he clearly had to search us, who knows where we were hiding our skateboards. It was a wonderful lesson in who to trust, and the cops clearly are not one of them.
—Guest t-rad

happy and sad

i was jumping a fence to get to a skate spot and a cop happened to be passing so i stopped when he told me to. i was being respectful and everything but he was pissed so he took my board and busted it. then i got really mad and cursed at him. nothing happened to me. i called and reported him the next day and they fired him so i was happy about that.
—Guest alex g

Stupid school cops

I was in 10th grade going out to go skate during lunch with a friend. I just got the board for my birthday and I was psyched to have a fun session before my next class. I got my board taken by a security guard a week before, though I got it back after school, but I was accused of running over a teacher. I never knew of a goody-two-shoe skateboarder with 5 years of experience could do such a thing. Well, as we were going outside, the SAME EXACT security guard was near the door and came up to me. At this point I wanted to urinate in my pants and told him we were going OFF of school grounds. He didn't care, and grabbed my board. I didn't let go, and then a minute into the "tug-of-war", he said to me, "You wanna get hurt?!" I told him to hurt me so that I could attempt to beat him up. Then I eventually gave him the board, went to the office, and reported him. He lied, saying he didn't want me to get hurt. I believe that as much as I believe I have HIV. 3 years later, I STILL hate him. S4L!
—Guest P.Well

We CAN all just get along!

As usual, Steve gives excellent and level-headed advice. I would like to add an observation about what police harrasment is: First, the attitude that the cops approach you with will probably seem un-called for as much as half the time, but it is understandable because experience with skaters that DO act like punks is probably in their history by the time you meet up with them. It's not harrassment if you are skating on private property and they ask you to leave. New pavement and curbing is something we all lust after, but someone with some political clout just paid an arm and a leg to lay it down, and they sure don't want to see it marked-up and chipped away at before it even cures. An axle-grind or power-slide on two-or three day old concrete can do damage. It takes months to cure to it's hardest. My solution is to be really careful to skate in public designated venues. If your town has none, call the City Manager's office and request it. Follow-up!
—SirBailsAlot

Skate Hating Cop

Me and my friend were out skating some of our regular spots when all of a sudden a cop showed up telling us we could not skate here anymore, we took our boards and walked away about 200 meters up the street to my friends parking lot. We both learned to skate there so we liked the place alot... And what do you know the same cop appears and tells us not to skate here either, we were really mad now and told him that we had skated here for years, he bacame mad at us and... you figure out the rest.
—Guest Virre

Took my board!

So I was skating at night in this big parking lot. It was new, so it was nice and flat and there weren't many rocks or anything. I was cruising around, doing stuff, and a cop came by and took my board! He said it was private property. I had to go to the police station to get it back, but then they did give it back.
—Guest Joey

8:50 PM 
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Tuesday, July 28, 2009 

Current mood:  accomplished
Grip your Skateboard Deck with a custom graphic
Tips:
- Make sure your image is mirrored otherwise it will turn out backwards on the
final grip job
- Use new sharp razors for a clean cut
- Try to avoid air bubbles when laying and pressing grip down onto deck
- Use extra grip to sand around edges for a secure bond




How to Grip a Skateboard Deck from Betty Life on Vimeo.

6:15 PM 
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Thursday, July 23, 2009 

Current mood:  eccentric
Category: Dreams and the Supernatural

Armourdillo Welcomes Greg Lutzka

A personalized car, shoes, glasses and now his own line of wallets and belts. Greg Lutzka has signed to Oz’s Armourdillo brand for a forthcoming line of signature accessories. Greg will be joining Corey Duffel and vert veteran Kevin Staab on the team.


 
http://armourdillobrand.com/

3:46 PM 
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Sunday, July 05, 2009 

Current mood:  stoked
Category: Games

 
Maloof Money Cup Makes its Videogame Debut in the Critically Acclaimed Skate 2

Jun 30, 2009
EA announced today that starting July 9 gamers can download and compete in Skate 2's Maloof Money Cup Pack, based on the largest pursed event in the history of professional skateboarding. The pack will be available in the PLAYSTATION® Store for $3.00 and on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for 240 points in North America.
"Skate 2 has been embraced by the gaming and skateboarding community across the globe, making it the perfect stage for the Maloof Money Cup's videogame debut," said Joe Maloof, President of Maloof Companies. "Now players everywhere can experience the world's greatest skateboarding championship and revel in the high-stakes excitement of the competition for themselves."

Skate 2's Maloof Money Cup Pack will feature separate gameplay events both online and offline - freeskate, single player vert and street contests that put gamers against world class pros, and an online mode in which gamers will be able to compete against their friends in new activities and challenges for bragging rights. Xbox 360 gamers get an added bonus as there are 250 achievement points up for grabs.
The Maloof Money Cup presented by etnies and Monster Energy boasts the largest purse in the history of professional skateboarding with nearly $450,000 in cash and prizes. The three-day competition and festival takes place July 10-12, 2009 at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, Calif., during the opening weekend of the OC Fair. All attendees can ride the virtual course for themselves in the Skate 2 booth, located near the front of the festival, where the Maloof Money Cup Pack will be available for playing.

Skate 2 ups the ante in delivering all the grit, creativity, and culture of skateboarding with all-new tricks that allow players to skate it their way - both on and off the board. Gamers can create their own epic skate spots which can then be shared and experienced by others around the world. The game also features a revamped Thrasher Hall of Meat mode that will have players spending countless hours pulling off bone-crushing wipeouts and bails.

Skate 2 is developed by Black Box, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio in Burnaby, British Columbia. The game is rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB and 16+ by PEGI.

Screen shots below
 

 


 

 


 



 


7:22 AM 
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Friday, June 26, 2009 

Current mood:  excited
Category: Sports


 
Maloof Money Cup Unveils 2009 Street Course Design
The Maloof Money Cup, presented by etnies and Monster Energy, today unveils its much anticipated 2009 Street Course.

The course was designed by Geoff Rowley and Joe Ciaglia with design assistance from Colby Carter, Mark Waters and Pro Skaters Lance Mountain, Braydon Szafranski and Erik Ellington. It was inspired by real street spots, including the Sunset up-down corner ledge on Sunset Boulevard, the Barcelona Ledge and the Big Fours and 12-stair from Rincon in San Diego. In addition, there are near replicas of Pier 7 and the Mission “3-up-3 down” in San Francisco, as well as UC Irvine’s 6-stair hubba and rails.

 

The new bump-to-picnic feature was chosen by the Transworld Skateboarding staff from thousands of entries and suggestions submitted to Transworld’s web site. The winning feature was designed by Chris C. of Manalapan, New Jersey.

 

“What makes this contest so special is that the Maloofs are real people, they are genuine and they truly want to make the best skate environment possible,” said MMC GM Tim McFerran. “They listen to the skaters and ask them what they want to skate in a street course. Because of that, last year we saw a higher caliber of skaters and tricks that you just don’t see at contests. This year, we had an overwhelming response from guys wanting to compete. All of the biggest names in the skate world, like Paul Rodriguez and Ryan Sheckler, and guys like Marc Johnson, Mike Carroll, Bryan Herman and Silas Baxter Neal who rarely skate contests, are competing this year.”

 

“It’s an awesome course,” said last year’s Street champ Paul Rodriguez. “I’m really looking forward to skating it this year and just competing with all the amazing skaters that are in the contest. Some of these guys haven’t competed in contests in years, so it’s going to be really cool.”

Click here for full size image

6:58 PM 
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Friday, June 26, 2009 

Current mood:  stoked
Category: Sports
check the design out here

Maloof Money Cup Presented By Etnies And Monster Energy Announces Top 22 Vert Skaters And All New Vert Ramp Design

2009 Carl’s Jr. Vert Ramp Design
View gallery

Come Watch as Jake Brown, Bob Burnquist and Darren Navarrette Challenge Last Year’s Vert Champ PLG for the $75,000 Prize -- Witness the First Ever Vert Contest to Feature Mini Mega Ramp and Rainbow Rail Interconnected with Vertical Halfpipe

The Maloof Money Cup, presented by etnies and Monster Energy, releases 2009 Vert Course design and announces the Top 22 Vert skaters who will compete in the world’s greatest skateboarding event July 10-12 at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, Calif., during opening weekend of the OC Fair.

TOP 22 VERT SKATERS
Pierre Luc Gagnon
Shaun White
Bucky Lasek
Danny Mayer
Sandro Dias
Andy Macdonald
Bob Burnquist
Lincoln Ueda
Omar Hassan
Buster Halterman
Rune Glifberg
Darren Navarrette
Rodrigo Menezes
Rob Lorifice
Jake Brown
Adam Taylor
Marcelo Bastos
Danny Way
Colin McKay
Renton Millar
Juergen Horwath
Alex Perelson

2009 Carl’s Jr. Vert Ramp Design

In genuine Maloof style the new Carl’s Jr. Vert Ramp incorporates the first ever mini mega ramp with a 20-ft gap into a unique vert ramp. The focus on this section is the technical ability of skating the rainbow rail. Conceived by Bob Burnquist, Jake Brown and last year’s vert champ Pierre Luc Gagnon (PLG), it is divided into sections for the competition format. The corners of the ramp have been improved to allow for a showcase of technical skill.
“This is a huge step for MMC and the next level for the future of vert contests,” said Tim McFerran, GM for MMC. “This is the most creative design ever seen in a contest, serving our mission to continue the progression of skateboarding and make for the most exciting vert contest ever seen.”
“The focus is on landing as many unique tricks as possible on the ramp to bank, or whatever suits the skateboarder creatively on that section,” said Burnquist. “The eight ball format is also coming back from last year for the combination of back-to-back skill and whole ramp usage and flow. All this combined makes for a vertical skateboarding competition like no one has seen before.”
2:34 AM 
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Thursday, May 14, 2009 

Category: Sports

MALOOF MONEY CUP PRESENTED BY ETNIES AND MONSTER ENERGY -- NEWS UPDATE  -- WILD CARD CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED!


The votes are in and we have the names of the winners of the 2009 Maloof Money Cup Wild Card Contest.  The public voted for their favorite skaters online for two weeks with the top 13 vote getters earning a spot in the 2009 competition. In addition, four alternates were also selected. 

For those following us on Twitter, you got advanced notice of three of this year’s wild card picks. 


Kurtis Colamonico
Adam Dyet
David Gonzales
Lizard King
Kevin “Spanky” Long
Billy Marks
Mikey Taylor
Tony Trujillo
Rodrigo TX
Mike Vallely
Brandon Westgate
Stevie Williams
Bobby Worrest


Alternates
Pete Eldridge
Danny Cerezini
Sierra Fellers
Nick Trapasso

Folow us on twitter to stay up to date: www.twitter.com/maloofmoneycup

8:51 PM 
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