VERT COVERAGE
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FIRST GROUP - FIRST RUNS

There are a few more people here than yesterday nite when the dirt mongers were looking a little bit bored.  The platform is full of vert riders and we are about to get underway with the vert riders.  As this is back-to-back-to-back stuff it is very hard for me to keep up with the action.  Please forgive all (lots) of typing errors.

A few setup airs by Saito and a nice no-hander.  He looks like he's about 7-8 feet out and after a nice x-up he goes for a barspin gone wrong and hits the bottom of the ramp...  injured?  Whoa!  Not the best start for sure.  He is down for about 2 minutes and his leg is bummed it looks like.  Hopefully he is alright.  He is helped off the floor to a round of applause, but he did go down really hard.  I would expect him out for the rest of the event.

Jim Burgess is up next.  He drops and immediately is about 7 feet out and going higher.  Nice One hader one footer a big peg grab and  a superman follow up.  He isn't working the ramp that much from side to side but he hit a nice 540 before going into some lip tricks.  Big nosepick, really solid.  He shoots back down and hits a couple of setup airs before slamming on a tailwhip gone wrong.  Not injured though.  An 81.80 is good, but may not do it here.

Chad Kagy is up next and the crowd sounds pretty good out here.  A LOT more people here then yesterday definitely.  I imagine they will hang around for the dirt finals tonite as well.  He drops and starts with a good invert and then an x-up.  50-50 grind on the other side and some nice inverts.  A one-handed x-up then a double barspin... barspin to barspin?  He pumps for some air and does an x-up then hits a perfect tailwhip before calling it a run.  The first rider not to go down easily moves into first place with an 84.20.  With the rest of the field to go through it's not exactly a done deal for Chad and he has a long wait with a lot of good riders ahead of him.

Eduardo Terreros is blasting his usual 10 foot airs but he is now throwing some really big tricks  up there as well.  A big barspin and a no footed can-can seat grab at about eleven feet...  Gone wrong.  He goes down which is about as normal as it gets for Eduardo.  The fall puts him out early though and his score reflects it with only a 74.20.

Josh is up next and starts off big with tricks back to back.  A huge double barspin and some x-ups are really nice.  The superman seatgrab that Eduardo bailed on Josh hit perfectly.  Josh is also all over the ramp he hits a perfeect tailwhip and a great tailtap.  He flies out onto the coping and then drops back in for  a final trick...  Then calls it a run.  Judges should like that run and they do - 81.00.  Second place with no falls is good news in a vert world gone bad...

No Jamie Bestwick...

Injured

No Koji Kraft

Injured

But we have Zack Shaw up and he is going high.  A old school no-hander and a corkscrew flair to make the crowd go nuts.  Then a SERIOUS back wheel hang and he goes down hard.  He looks like he may be okay but the medics are out there immediately.  He went down super hard though.  This is getting scary to watch with how many riders are going down hard.  A minute later Zack is up and walking away clean.  Good to see.  He scores a respectable 77.40 and his back to back stuff was really nice.  His extension on the no-footer is really big.

Dennis McCoy is back for another round of domination.  The oldest rider here?  35 years old he has taken some abuse and he doesn't sshow it.  A big can-can starts things off.  He flows a nice lookback and a barspin to barspin.  A few setup airs and a barspin to x-up.  A big 540 nice and smooth.  Dennis has learned TRUE flairs and he throws one down with style.  He is now heading into the slip tricks.  He comes super close to a barspin 540 tailtap as the buzzer sounds.  That was a huge run from Dennis with no major flaws... but maybe not enough height.  84.00 puts him into 2nd... barely.

I get a second to breathe here after the first seven riders have gone through their stuff.  With the big guns still to come, like Jay, Dave, and Matt (?) yep.

Jimmy Walker drops and starts with a 10 foot invert.  A nice one hander one footer and a suiciked no hander follow up.  540 - big - 8 feet out probably.  He works it down to the coping and does a couple of grinds before going back up and hitting a perfect flair.  It's as if they are the new 540.  You have to do it, but if you don't put something else in it won't amount to much.  After a few seconds on the deck he drops back in and does an OPPOSITE flair!  Whoa - first place with 87.40.  Good work.

Up next we have Jay Miron.  Weird, they aren't running last years medalists back-to-back like they did last nite.  Jay is second oldest up there I think at 31 years old.  He had a questionable 2nd place finish last year and is definitely out for the gold this year.  He drops and goes straight to aone footer.  One footer one hander and then a no footer.  A quick 50-50 grind and a backwards 50-50 grind.  All the way across the ramp.  He really works the whole ramp.  Jay hits a big 540 then a tailwhip straight out of it.  It looks like he may be taking it easy.  But he sets back up on the ramp and busts out a decade air to finish things off.  The beast is back and doing it up.  I would expect that to amount to first place for him with how many tricks he does and how high he does them.  85.80...  only 2nd... weird.

If you aren't doing backflips I guess it's not really a 'tough' trick - whatever.

Simon Tabron is over from England and he will probably be showing us the correct way to do a 900...  He goes super high with a tobaggan and then a nice no-hander.  He sets up and does a onehander one footer.  A big can-can lookback.  A few setups and its' a no-handed 540.  Perfect is the only way to ride.  He does a 7 foot turndwond 540 and then a half decade/whip to finish things off.  No loops though, I'm sure that BIG run isn't good enough for first.  But, I guess I'm wrong... 89.60 - well deserved.

Lose my internet connection for a second now it's back up and updates are happenning again.  Why is it we have broadband everywhere else but at a major arena?  Whatever.  I will make the most of it.

FIRST HEAT - SECOND RUNS

They have gone through the first ten and they will go into the second run through the first ten by bringing Jim Burgess out again.  Jim drops and does some setup airs.. the flies out.  It looks like he is hurt and is calling it a run.  He must be hurt.  That's to bad... his X-Games are over for the year.  His second run score will be dropped for sure - 68.60, yep.

Kagy drops and does a barspin off the first drop.  He does a nice invert and some setup airs to a big corkscrew.  Some more setups and some coping work with 50-50 grinds then some more airs to a perfect tailwhip.  A quick icepick grind and he calls it a run.  That tailwhip was a good 6 feet out and his flair was about 3 feet out.  The judges though...  Yep, better - 86.00

Eduardo is back on the ramp in good shape and he is gong high.  A barspin at 10 another arspin to one hadner.  A barspin to onehander to barspin back, it's amazing what you can do with that much air.  He comes down a little sideways and slides down.  Back on top he drops and carves most of the ramp.  Spped demon.  A falir higher then about anyone I have seen - maybe 9 feet out.  That was big...  but he slid out on the landing and he probably didn't make the cut due to wreckage.  A 78.20 only moves him up one spot so he is not going to make the cut unless Matt and Mirra have heart attacks before their runs.

Josh Harrington, only 18 years old, is ready to drop again.  He comes in and dos an immedate barspin to one-hander.  He works both direction and dose a big barspin to oneh-handed xup.  A couple of setup airs and a tailwhip about 5 feet out.  He is working the ramp well.  A ice pick grind about 8 feet acrosss the coping.  X-up, no-footed can-can and the end of his run.  Josh wins the award for most improved run right now.  81.20 - man, judges here suck once again.  They need to try doing airs the opposite direction as high as he was doing them.

Zack Shaw went down, but he's not out.  A big hangup air on the first trick and a flair on the other side.  A quick can-can and a little off 540.  But he's not down...  50-509 frind and a one-footer to wheel tap on the way in.  He flies out for a second but then calls it a run.  This will help his score, but I wouldn't expect it to help him make it to the finals.  He moves up to the #6 position but I wouldn't bet on that holding up long enough to make the finals.

DMC is ready to go again and improve on fifth.  He sets up some airs at 8 feet and does a high invert.  A lookback 540 and a dowondsided no-footed can can.  Barspin to barspin back and another big flair attempt as he washes out on the landing.  Dennis looks beat down for the day and will be calling it a run.  Gotta be a bummer for him.  His score of 79.80 isn't as good as his first run so he'll dump this score and stick around in 5th place...  maybe enough.  Maybe not.

Jimmy drops in and immediately does a barspin.  Then a one-footer.  A quick 505-50 grind the opposite way and a big 540.  A coule of setup airs to a one-ander one-footer.  A flair that was WAY off of coping - he landed nearly flat bottom, but pulled it clean... somehow.  He flies out for a second then calls it a run.  Short runs this year for sure.  No time to rest in your run, but just enough time to really wear the guys out.  His score goes down from run 1 so he stays in 2nd with his first run score.

Two riders left and it should be an improvement for Jay...  He drops and blasts 8 feet out right off.  A 540 way out anad then a one footer.  He sets up and does a turndown.  He tries a alley oop ice pick grind and misses the coping.  Down at the bottom, his run won't be better than the first run for sure.  He calls it a run.  He drops one more time for glory though... Some setups and a big 540 turndown that won't count on his score.  78.40, yeah, we'll drop that.

One more rider left...  Does it matter how well he does when he's already in first place?  Of course, with another 10 riders to go...  Simon drops in and shows us what real European riding is all about.  That's a real vert rider.  One-footer one-hander off the drop in.  A lookback canc-cn then a candybar.  A 540 straight up.  He is having fun.  A few setup airs and thena nice fliar to a footplant on the deck.  He calls it a run early but that looked like a new trick for him.  The flair was definitely not as smooth as his other stuff, but was pulled clean.  A much lower 86.40 is fine by him as he stays around in number one.

SECOND HEAT - FIRST RUNS

This is the group that probably has the guy that will win the event. Simon Tabron could be a match for Mirra the way he is riding and Matt could show that he will never - EVER - retire from competition and winning it all.  But, Bestwick would have been the one I would have bet on... if he were here.  He's out injured and that opens up the door for the second year in a row for Dave to take home the gold.  It's gotta be frustrating for Jamie to have the same thing happen two years in a row.  We will see him do it eventually I am sure.

I get a few seconds to relax as the second group of riders warms up... so about 1:10PM you can hit refresh and see what you get...  Just a few more minutes...  They are trying to get the crowd psyched up and screaming.  We will see what happens.  A little bit of noise maybe and about 2,000+ onlookers are filling up only a small part of this stadium.  But, they are here and the second round is getting under way.

Mike Mancuso drop s in a nice one-hander then a one-footer.  A switch hander air and aflari to a flair on the other side,  barely pulled... whoa.  A no-hnader on the other side then a smith grind cacrooss the deck.  He does a few setups then a no-footed can-can one-hander.  He flies out and calls it a run.  Very sweet.  The judges have had their brains go on hiatus again:  80.20... hmmm okay.

Bob Kohl makes his first appearance.  32 years old and the inventor of the superman on vert.  He startts with aone-footer one-hander.  A big no-hander and a tire grab siwitch hander.  A coule of setups and x-ups.  A nice can-can no-footer.  He has a ton of tricks a throws out the tailwhip then straight to a 540.  He comes back and washes out on a barspin.  Lots of tricks. not as much height as the other guys.  But still good enough for a 83.20 and 6th place.

The man in black is up next...  no, not the undertaker (sorry people) it's Rick, I can pull that backflip fakie, Thorne.  He drops and hits a 50-50 grind across the coping.  A couple of lookbacks and a switch ahnder and a big 540.  A setup air to a tailwhip on the other side.  He does a good 270 to smithgrind and a footplant tailwhip on the deck.  Weird.  There's the flip fakie... and a washout on the landing.  But the crowd likes it a lot as they erupt in applause.  The judges like it enough to award a score of 80.60 and tenth spot - the crowd is BOOING loudly.  Wake up judges!  There's a contest going on.

Kevin Robinson owns the corkscrew and you better believe that we will be seeing him toss them out like old trash today.  He is all set at the top of the ramp, he looks down and drops.  First trick a big no-hander then a lookback.  At seriously... 10 feet - no less.  A can can and a can-can one-hander.  Nice superman and a big 540then the first of the corkscrews straight out of the 540.  He barely pulled it so he sets up again and drops back in.  A setup air or two and a huyge flair, to falir to flari to NO HANDED FLAIR.  NOISE - I hear noise from the crowd and I have to cheer along.  That was the first of the bomb runs of the day and was great to see...  I wonder what the judges saw?  They saw a tie for 1st place with an 89.60...  Well, at least they aren't all dead back there in their hidey holes.

Okay, no more picking on the judges, they may not be yours or my favorite people, but someone has to do it and I'm GLAD that it's not me.

Jay Eggleston is up next.  He is 30 and out of Lakewood, Colorado.  What else do I know?  He's 5'8" tall and weighs in at 150 pounds.  He also starts with some good airs and some serious heights.  A big no-hander and a turndown.  A can-can follows up  and a one-footed 540.  He throws a x-up and a rocket x-up.  50-50 grind then a few more airs and a solid 540.  He's tired and his time is almost up.  He sets up and does a nice faceplant out of a tailwhip attempt.  But, his time was pretty much up and it shouldn't affect his score to much (or at all).  He ties with Burgess for ninth place and will have to step it up to make it to the finals.

From Germany we now have Stefan Geisler up.  He doesn't go as high as some of the other guys but has some good extension>  A big superman setgrab and a one-footer.  One-footer one-hander then a multiple barspin to ... where are my handlebars?  He's down, but not out I don't think.  A few seconds later he is up and off the course with a score of 76.80 and 15th place that hurts twice.

Condormania grips the stadium as Matt Hoffman gets ready to drop in.  The inventor of more tricks then most people ever dream of.  Matt drops brakeless and starts near 10 feet.  A couple of setups to a big no-hnader then a no-hander one-footer.  A double peg grab and a huge lookback can can.  A turndown sets up for a 540 and then a flair straight out... then a tailwhip straight out.  Dude, he sucks... in a good way.  A few more setup airs and he hits the no-handed 540 but slides out on the landing.  The crowd explodes in appreciation and the judges will be shot if he isn't on top after that run.  I can't type nearly fast enough to keep up with the tricks...  But 92.20 puts him WELL ahead of the competition and he can sit down and relax until the finals... just skipping his second run... HA!

What is this a commercial break?  No, they are just trying to show the highlights of his run... so it takes a while.

John Parker is up next.  From Arizona and 28 years old he can push the ceiling on height but may go down hard during tricks.  Will he hold it together?  They give him the green light and he flies straight at the coping and drops  in... x-up right away.  One-handed alley ooop.  A no-footed can-can and a nice barspin to no-footer.  A barspin tire tap flyout.  He drops back in and sets up for a 6 foot high tailwhip.  A few more setups and he throws a 540 into the mix.  A 5050- stall then a one-footed toothpick.  His run finishes but I don't expect this to score incredibly well.  A big letdown after watching Matt ride.  85.20 is enough to get him into the finals unless some others step it up.

Last rider... only 19 this year with Koji out.  Any guesses as to who it is and how the crowd is reacting?  Dave Mirra drops staright into some tricks and a huge 540 to a tailwhip on the other side.  A nice manual across the deck.  A one hander and a no-footed can-can.  A no-hander and a ig flair.  6 feet out?  Maybe.  A flair back the OTHER direction at about the same height.  A few lip tricks and some solid grinds to put him up high.  A double... triple barspin?  Dave owns this competition... maybe...  maybe Matt is just a little bit better.  The judges say that  Dave is just behind Matt... 92.00  so close!

SECOND HEAT - LAST RUNS

With the first heat over some people know they are going home this year.  Zack Shaw, Jim Burgess, Josh Harrington, and Eduardo Terreros are done for the year.  But there are a few more on that list that want to move up and push some other guys off the list.  There are also some guys that are definitely in the finals no matter what happens...  Dave Mirra & Matt Hoffman & Simon Tabron are in the finals no matter what happens for the rest of the event.

Mike drops back in and wants to move up.  A few setup airs and a nice one-hander.  A big flair halfway across the ramp landed too hard and he is bounced off his bike.  He gets up again very quickly from the relatively soft fall.  But the fall itself is the end of his chances.  He goes back in and pulls the flair and then calls it a run.  He had a goal to do the huge fliar - a 10+ foot carve with about 6 feet of height.  It's good to watch, but not enough to raise his score - only a 76.80, much worse than his first run and he is out for this years Games.

Bob Kohl is a superhero...  he will be forever a legend for inventing the superman and no matter what happens now he will be one of my favorites.  He drops in and does a quick look back then a no-hander.  A seat grab and a tire grab.  A couple of setups and then the one-hander superman - kohl style.  A dx-up and a no-handed alley-oop air.  A tailwhip about 5 feet out and a 50-50 grind.  10 seconds left he hits the 540 and finishes off the really big run with a flair attempt gone wrong.  Not even close, but it was an otherwise very good looking run. Just an 81.80 so he doesn't do better than before...  but he is still in the #10 spot.

Next on the list is Rick again.  The crowd definitely is into Rick who brought out the boos last round for scoring.  Rick drops and does a quick x-up and a switch hander.  A toboggan to a 540 on the other side.  He does a 50-50 grind then a framestand 50-50 grind on the other side.  He tricks a grind variation and doesnt' pull it.  A quick backflip and he slips the pedal on the landing... hard.  But he gets up quickly and tries it again.  bacflip to fakie to ground... no luck this time either.  78.00 - no boos, a much worse run than the last one.

Kevin Robinson is up again and already iin the finals unless he hurts himself.  A big no-footer to start and then a no-footer to no-hander.  A few more variations and he sets up for the biggest 540 of the day - 8 feet out?  Maybe more.  He sits down for a second and drops back in.  A quick setup air to a flair.. flair... flair... flair.... that was FOUR back-to-back... to back... to back.  Whoa!  I like it, the crowd likes it, the judges...  They don't like it as much as his first run and only give him an 87.00..  Bummer for him to remain TIED for 3rd place.  Not to shabby no matter how loud the crowd boos.

Jay Eggleston runs again and needs this bad.  He starts with some serious height 11+ feet.  He then throws the no-hander and a no-footer on the other side.  A quick no-footed can-can and then a barspin.  He takes one hand off during  a rocket air and then does an ex-up.  A big 540 sketched on the landing somewhat.  He works his way back up and does a candybar and a icepick grind.  A tailwhip to finish it all off and he is done.  81.80 and he is really done.  No change at all from the first score.

Stefan Geisler is the last rider up who can knock anyone out of a qualifying spot and he will have to do much better than his first run.  He goes over the edge and pushes some quick setups before a superman setgrab.  A one-footer and then a no-hander on the other side.  A quick x-up and a candybar.  A one-footer and a bar-spin to barspin back.  A big superman and a solid 540.  How doese he pull that?  Anyway, a one-footer and a tailwhip barely pulled.  It was a big improvement on run #1 for him, but I don't expect it to be enough...  is it though?  Not enough and our qualified riders are set for the day - he moves up to 14 and can pack his bags for the flight home.  A good outing though.

Hoffman is up for his final run... any chance he will take it easy?  Let's see - first air is a no-hander then a peg grab.  A no-footed peg grab and then a one-handed no-footer.  A couple of setups and he does a downsided icepick.  A no-handed 540 straight to a flair and he calls it a run.  Must be nice to throw stupid insane down whenever you want.  His score doesn't matter - color him first forever.

John Parker is back in the ram p with a no-hander at 10 feet.  A no-hnaded on-efooter and a tailwhip at 8 feet to a tailwhip.. boom!  He's down on the toher side and up again quickly trying to adjust his seat.  He is already in the finals (he may not realize) so he is going for it with 10 seconds left.  He drops and sets up for the alley-oop tailwhip and a icepick to the end of his run.  That's it, and really doesn't matter since he is in already.

Shall we see whether or not Dave goes into the finals in the 1 or the 2 position?  We shall...  Dave drops into the ramp and immediately throws down a x-up a x-up the other way and a 540 in the cornder of the ramp.  He sets up and throws a big, big big big, big tailwhip to 540 same air!!!  That was gross and Jay is probably pissssed.  A tailwhip the opposite directiona nd he calls it a run early.  That was a sick ass trick though.  The trick of the contest so far.  91.80 is what the judges say and Dave stays in second.  He will have to put it together with a little bit more in the finals for that to work his way to #1.

As it stands the Condor of 1987 is also THE CONDOR OF 2002!

BMXTRIX will be back tomorrow with coverage of the finals live!  Thanks for reading and look for some pictures in about 30 minutes! ~P~

RED INDICATES LOW DROPPED SCORE!!!