I want to hear some real opinions...

[Jake S]

Isn't Austin Pastura close to landing a fs tailslide kickflip out?

[jdarr]

[flow407]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StFH5vgm7MM

casper flip would be so sick

[overstreet31]

Looks like someone was having a little strapper fun! photo courtesy of Tynna

[senza wake]

i spy tindy!

[-=AlexXx=-]

flow407, i was almost doing them when i was learning kickies back in the day lol, totally by accident! but that would be so bad ass, the one that kid did to manual was so steezy

[POPTART]

overstreet31, looks like the logo search is over

can we get a silhouette?

[nick]

Switch 7 for the win!

The girls who ran the registration for the Wake Park Worlds in the Philippines that year accidentally signed me up for the cable wakeboard event as well, so as a joke, me & Reed Hansen agreed to ride in it... I think we both ended up winning our heats, but they didn't put us through because the wakeboarders we displaced were very unhappy about it.

Wakeboarding is easy.





`

[-=AlexXx=-]

nick, thats freakin hilarious.

[miller]

overstreet31, he has always strapped

[johnnyk]

ZEACH

[overstreet31]

miller,

I'm surprised after all these years he hasn't bitten off the end of his tongue.

[wakemitch]

What do you guys think about the home court advantage of the wakeskate tour?
Is it fair?

I think we all know Reed Hansen is going to win battle falls. It would be more exciting if there was an upset, but it seems extremely unlikely. He has way too many hours there.

[electricsnow]

He also invites people over to shred. I don't think it's unfair. Look at nick: he had hours and hours of build time, but basically zero riding time over the previous two weeks. My impression is he didn't shred his set up more than anyone. He sounded really energized and inspired. So in that regard, the energy from that responsibility might be the unfair advantage.

[wakemitch]

electricsnow, if all the homecourt people win this year and that continues next year, do you think there would be an issue?

[canalskater]

wakemitch, I'd say its fair unless you have another suggestion. Every rider that gets this home court advantage is also at a disadvantage because for the coming weeks before their event, they don't get to ride anywhere near as much as the rest of the guys who are out there "training" for the next stop while the host is breaking his back day in and day out to make sure they have something new and incredible for the guys to destroy every year.

These guys aren't rich, and the set ups they are building are pretty costly. They're putting back almost everything they've earned from wakeskating right back into the sport, in some cases more than they've made. Who cares if its fair? Naturally, they will have the advantage but an upset is totally possible and would be cool to see but I won't be any less stoked to see Reed win it at his house than anyone else. Also, all of these guys have been very generous about letting people come out and share their spots with the rest of the community so if they went through all the trouble to build it and are letting other come out and enjoy it to, I'd say anyone calling it unfair is lazy for not making the trip to go practice as often as the can. It's certainly easier than building your own.

[wakemitch]

I was just trying to spark some discussion.

Everyone that has won has totally deserved the win. It's just been interesting to see that each host has won their event and wanted to hear what other people thought. I actually totally agree with everything you (canalskater) said.
I'm just really stoked on the tour and it has been so fun to follow and discuss. I know some people don't like to call wakeskating a sport, but this tour makes the professional side of wakeskating more exciting to the average wakeskater to me. Other wakeskate comps never interested me much and weren't anything worth following.

Sidenote: I would love to see someone do a shuv to locked in front feeble on Reed's new set up or maybe a shuv to locked in back smith. Seeing those pics made me think of those tricks.

[senza wake]

Do we need to review what a Zeach is and where the term came from?

As for fairness... It's been nailed on the head about how much build time is required and so little riding. Also, look at any organized sport, home court/field advantage exists yes because of fans cheering and because of time spent on the court, but I also believe there is a strong desire to win at home. For pride.
With that said tho, who won the overall Tour last year and currently leads this year? No one who hosts a single event. Andrew Pastura. So clearly the overall fairness is there.

[tad]

The other option would be going back to building the worst, cheapest pool gaps ever at odub that nobody even wants to practice on.



Anyone could take Battle Falls and I doubt Reed is out there training on those rails. I think he rode one time before the contest last year. I can't wait to see what everyone throws down. This year's tour has been really fun to watch and each stop keeps getting better.

On the other hand, if wakeskating does ever blow up, it would be really sick to see contest specific set-ups like Street League go down. Can't wait to watch the final tonight.

[johnnyk]

senza wake,

i think we just found out who runs those wakezeach accounts.....