Day three in SLC was chill...this place is full of GOD and wonder. Kidding, but here was the first photo from across the street from Econoville.
I starting off with a grande mocha (from you know where) and Econo-shuttle. The driver shuttled me over to the Energy Solutions Arena
The driver has been hookin' up some transport services beyond Econo budgets. He's a cool dude...so I rewarded him with a Friends/Family pass instead of cash. He was hyped! Next thing I knew he was up in the athlete lounge chuggin beers and throwing back cubes of cheeze from the silver (plated) platters. It all sounds like the lounge is glamorous, but actually it's pretty modest. All action sports guys need is some cheep beer, some bean bags to chill on, a poker table to lose the money they don't make, some obnoxious music and some more acai with granola and bananas. When NBC found out how cheap we all are, they said "hell yeah, we'll muster up a cheap purse and entertainment for them...and they'll show up for sure. Then we'll create a brand of clothing and merchandise that they can market and have four years of success and we won't even increase the purse payout at the same pace as inflation. We'll be in the black in no time. They'll still come...they are so dumb. Oh, and we'll just lie to them and say, hey, if you boycott The Familie's series, we'll surely reward you guys...we want to grow this series with the athletes...we'll work out some ownership in the the success of the tour so we can grow together." That quote wasn't verbatim, however, pretty damn close. Meanwhile, we can't seem to find food when we need it and many go home losing money after expenses they incur. No, sponsors don't always support those who you might think are 'ballin'. That's reality, still!
Yeah, they are pretty much right! Some guys just won't stick with herd, they are pretty self centered (after all, they are individual sports) thus the herd is separated or fragmented. The herd becomes weak. In the end the majority suffer and few reap the majority of the endorsements and success from the tour. That is life, that is reality. Some call the efforts of Gentry's Pro Riders a socialistic approach, however I never saw it that way (when I was so passionate about it). Pro Riders was/is about sticking together and furthering our sports and the careers so that all the pros can survive financially without losing money at each event. For SLC's God sakes, there'd be no stars without the supporting cast. The supporting cast can't starve or it will just fade away. If it fades away it will take the stars with it. That is the basic philosophy. Fun stuff...this blogging!
Ah, man, I wish I was funny. Here's a photo of me and Jay Eggleston chillin' in the lounge. Jay deserved the beverage after getting ripped off in the BMX finals but still surviving. He's a gladiator and shreds.
...I spent most of the day icing my injured knee. I slammed yesterday, right before qualifying. Oh, I think I forgot to mention that in my last blog; you know, good ol' watery eyes on the second run of the day, then did a blind landing on an indy air (killer), landed halfway down the ramp and power drove myself in the flat. Somehow my knee got in the way between me and the flat bottom. I survived the day, and it just got worse. More and more fluid found its way to my knee. Today I was on ice and ibuprofen. Skating wasn't in the cards. Hopefully I can skate practice tomorrow and the final Sunday.
Oh, but before the lounge, I had an appearance with Chris Pastras (Fuel TV) at the Dew Underground. It was fun...my favorite question from crowd was "what was your most embarrassing moment in skating?". I responded promptly with the story about me dropping in and slamming my brains out because I put my truck on backwards. It was at the Dew Tour about 3 years ago in San Jose. I was laughed at once my fellow skate pros saw my board with backward the truck. ARGH!
After that, more ice. Then bmx dirt (more gladiator sh##). Then off to dinner with Chris, Dylan, Lea, Toby, Adam, Zack, and Owen. We spent most of the discussion creating a bet with Zack Miller. He claims he can pump the ramp for 1 hour straight at the top of the ramp. Yeah right! Then we made fun of Adams super saggy style pants. How can they be skin tight but baggy ass sag? Don't get it! Here's his dad trying to emulate Adam sag.
...that was funny crap to end a pretty cool day in slc.
