LG Action Sports Championships!

Well, I have to apologize for waiting so long to post this. It took me a week to compile all the pictures I wanted and I had actually tried writing this post last night, but Firefox froze and I lost everything...It's soooo totally evil.

Moving on, last Saturday, Oct. 28, I had the wonderful chance to see part of the LG Action Sports Championships live in Dallas. After a very long drive, with all that wonderful DFW traffic (Dallas' traffic is now rated worse than Houston's, crazy ain't it...), we (my dad and me) finally got to the arena and managed to grab some awesome seats.


















First up in the nights events was the BMX Street finals. I have to admit that I wasn't to big into BMX at first...but after watching some of the top athletes in the country go at it on this wicked freestyle course, I couldn't help but think it was totally cool! I think my dad enjoyed it even more than me, although I think that had to do more with some of the hard crashes the poor dudes underwent, than the actual sport.

Here's a part of what Lat34.com had to say about the events (if you want to read the whole article, go here):

"Dhers took no time at all to warm up and blasted the course with a

no-footed can can to 360 double tailwhip over the side box followed by a big double tail whip on the quarter pipe, a 360 double whip, and crazy front flip over the spine. And from there his fast-paced, super intense run didn’t slow down for a heart beat. He takes home $30,000 for his 1^st place win, and adds that to the $90,000 he recently won in Orlando at the Dew Tour. $120,000 in one month? Not bad Daniel. Not bad.

Garrett Reynolds, the 16 year-old phenom from New Jersey, had a killer run scoring 86.75 that placed him 2nd and puts an awesome exclamation point on a solid 2006 season. And Rob Darden put down a run loaded with good lines and several variations of tail whips and flair tricks. Darden was tied with Reynolds for 2nd, but due to judging rules was bumped down to 3rd.

Steven McCann finished 4th with a big run that included a crazy no-handed 720 to turndown over the side box. His first run scored him an 86, which meant he had to come out big on his second run to break into the top three spots, but he wasn’t able to keep it together. On the upside, his new teeth look great after knocking out a few in Orlando at the Dew Tour."

Next up was the Moto show...they really couldn't do a competition in this category do to a lack of space, so they just had a showing of sorts. It was so insanely cool! Let's just say that these dudes have some sort of death wish, but it is neat to watch! If you don't know what I'm talking about then take a peek at the following pics: (they aren't from the Action Sports tour, but they give you a chance to see what I'm talking about)






























Well, if that wasn't enough to knock your socks off, then just wait. My favorite part of the competition, and the whole reason for me begging my dad to take me, was the Sk8 Vert Finals.

Please excuse my language, but it was Freakin' Awesome!!!!!!!!!! Once again, here is a short recap from Lat34.com (to read the whole thing, go here):

"The Aussie wins! Tas Pappas squeaked by Sandro Dias and Andy Macdonald in a nailbiting tiebreaker that didn’t get resolved until the final run of the night. Each skater had three runs to prove themselves worthy of the $30,000 1st place prize, but in the end it was Pappas’ big 720’s and technical kickflip variations that pushed him over the edge for the win.

Dias threw down a couple of monstrous runs with airs well into the 8-foot mark. He uncorked his patented Brazilian energy and launched a barrage of 540’s including his signature Gnar Jar, a 540 to an earth-shaking tail tap. Sandro Dias has been dominant all year long with a win at X Games, a win at the LG Tour in Virginia, and a 2nd place finish for the overall Dew Tour title. Dias is sure to come out swinging at the Finals.

In 3rd place was the ever-consistent Andy Mac. Macdonald showed everyone that you can never rule him out from a podium finish. He peppered his runs with a host of 540’s including his favorite trick, the lien rodeo 540. Macdonald also won the LG Tour in San Diego earlier this year.

Bob Burnquist finished in 4th place with some big runs on the giant halfpipe. (By the way, the LG halfpipe is 14-feet tall and has two roll-ins that start at 19 feet high.) Burnquist qualified 1st in Friday’s Prelims and looked like he might have the Finals in the bag. But, that’s the beauty of these events. You never know who’s going to come out on top. Earlier this year, Burnquist won the Dew Tour in Louisville."

It was sooooo totally cool! I even got to see my favorite skater compete, Sandro Dias! Anyways, here are some more pics from the Vert event:





















































On to the highlight of the whole night (well....you probably will totally recognize this name for sure) Tony Hawk (yes theeeee Tony Hawk) took to the ramps along with Matt Hoffman (a BMX legend) to give a killer demo. I managed to find some really killer pics:


























Ok...I think that's it's for now...if you want anymore info, I suggest checking out the LG Action Sports Tour's home page and Lat34.com...also EXPN has more than enough extreme sports news!

All in all it was a great night! I hope some of you out there enjoy these sports just as much as me...and if you don't...well, let's just say you lost 5 min. of your life reading this, and you'll never get them back! ;-)