The American Dream on four wheels hit ESPN2 last night as Rob Dyrdek's Street League DC Pro Tour Fueled by Monster Energy Drink took center stage, unleashing a barrage of professional skateboardings finest athletes in what will stand in time as, "the future of competitive street skateboarding." But what is Street League and how does it work? For those of you who missed last nights taping, and the re-taping, the formula for success couldn't be as easy as 1 + 2 = Amazing!
Five years in the making, Rob Dyrdek shocked the world last night by doing what many deemed the impossible, taking his love and desire of street skating and combining it within a league format, to create an entrepreneurial masterpiece that is sure to entertain audiences around the world, known as Street League. Boasting the single largest cash prize in professional skateboarding history, the $1.2 million dollars in winnable earnings is a mile stone in the action sports industry and has set the bar high for all those who dare to follow.
Street League encompasses three stops and 24 of professional skateboardings finest athletes including Ryan Sheckler, Chirs Cole, Paul Rodriguez, Shane O'Neill, Torey Pudwill, Sean Malto, Chaz Ortiz and 15 year old up and comer/1st Stop Champion Nyjah Huston to name a few. At each stop, in the case of last nights broadcast at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, AZ, all 24 members competed in a preliminary qualifying round before the 7 finalist were chosen based on their total cumulative score from that round, with the highest and lowest being thrown out. The Seven finalist then competed head to head across four sections (28 tricks), with the rider with the highest overall cumulative score taking the $150,000 cash prize.
As for the layout and scoring, Dyrdek and his team have come up with an amazing array of sections, each focusing on a different element of street skateboarding including the Creative (Originality), Line (Putting multiple tricks together), Technical (Bench and Flat Bar Tricks) and Big Rail (Staircase layout made for 'Chasing the $'). Each trick is scored on a scale from 1 - 10 using Drydeks signature live scoring system, with the average trick score hovering around a 4.2 for the average rider.
The greatest thing about this system is that is offers the riders the ability to receive their scores in real time, affording them the opportunity to not only game plan the rest of their 7 trick session, but allowing for competitive balance and a array of on the fly, free flowing action that forces the riders to adapted to each competitors run or onslaught of tricks. Essentially, the scoring changes the way that you skate and forces you to think on your feet.
The free style nature of this sport is what enhances its appeal. Using Social Media tools like Twitter, Facebook and existing networks like ESPN, Dyrdek, Street League, the riders and enthusiasts alike have been on this thing like wild fire and tweeting/liking its way into the minds of skateboarding fans everywhere. With the likes of Snoop Dogg and Sal Masakela tweeting their thoughts during last nights event, to the every day fan dropping lines on their messages boards and personal accounts, it's easy to see why there is a perfect marriage between between the sport and social media platforms. Street League and its followers have used these resources for promoting and hyping these events, creating buzz, generating movement and of course sharing content like videos, interviews, highlights and ramp builds to create user generated content and spur fan interest.
With Stop 2, which took place on September 11th at Citizen Business Bank Arena in Ontario, CA set to air next Wednesday, September 22 @ 8ET/5PT on ESPN2, viewers will be tuning in once again to get a glimpse of last weeks action. The third and final stop however is a thing of beauty and is already on my calendar as I plan to take in the madness for myself at the Thomas & Mack Arena on September 25 in Las Vegas, NV. While I have an idea of what to expect, I feel that this event will surely kickflip it's way into the psyche of America. I look forward to great things for Drydek and Co. now and into the future, with Drydeks signature film Street Dreams set to hit shelves here on October 26th. All I can say is keep up the good work Rob your creative efforts are not lost on those who follow...keep grinding and spreading the word on the world of competitive skateboarding, we are all watching!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Street League: The American Dream on Four Wheels
The American Dream on four wheels hit ESPN2 last night as Rob Dyrdek's Street League DC Pro Tour Fueled by Monster Energy Drink took center stage, unleashing a barrage of professional skateboardings finest athletes in what will stand in time as, "the future of competitive street skateboarding." But what is Street League and how does it work? For those of you who missed last nights taping, and the re-taping, the formula for success couldn't be as easy as 1 + 2 = Amazing!
Five years in the making, Rob Dyrdek shocked the world last night by doing what many deemed the impossible, taking his love and desire of street skating and combining it within a league format, to create an entrepreneurial masterpiece that is sure to entertain audiences around the world, known as Street League. Boasting the single largest cash prize in professional skateboarding history, the $1.2 million dollars in winnable earnings is a mile stone in the action sports industry and has set the bar high for all those who dare to follow.
Street League encompasses three stops and 24 of professional skateboardings finest athletes including Ryan Sheckler, Chirs Cole, Paul Rodriguez, Shane O'Neill, Torey Pudwill, Sean Malto, Chaz Ortiz and 15 year old up and comer/1st Stop Champion Nyjah Huston to name a few. At each stop, in the case of last nights broadcast at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, AZ, all 24 members competed in a preliminary qualifying round before the 7 finalist were chosen based on their total cumulative score from that round, with the highest and lowest being thrown out. The Seven finalist then competed head to head across four sections (28 tricks), with the rider with the highest overall cumulative score taking the $150,000 cash prize.
As for the layout and scoring, Dyrdek and his team have come up with an amazing array of sections, each focusing on a different element of street skateboarding including the Creative (Originality), Line (Putting multiple tricks together), Technical (Bench and Flat Bar Tricks) and Big Rail (Staircase layout made for 'Chasing the $'). Each trick is scored on a scale from 1 - 10 using Drydeks signature live scoring system, with the average trick score hovering around a 4.2 for the average rider.
The greatest thing about this system is that is offers the riders the ability to receive their scores in real time, affording them the opportunity to not only game plan the rest of their 7 trick session, but allowing for competitive balance and a array of on the fly, free flowing action that forces the riders to adapted to each competitors run or onslaught of tricks. Essentially, the scoring changes the way that you skate and forces you to think on your feet.
The free style nature of this sport is what enhances its appeal. Using Social Media tools like Twitter, Facebook and existing networks like ESPN, Dyrdek, Street League, the riders and enthusiasts alike have been on this thing like wild fire and tweeting/liking its way into the minds of skateboarding fans everywhere. With the likes of Snoop Dogg and Sal Masakela tweeting their thoughts during last nights event, to the every day fan dropping lines on their messages boards and personal accounts, it's easy to see why there is a perfect marriage between between the sport and social media platforms. Street League and its followers have used these resources for promoting and hyping these events, creating buzz, generating movement and of course sharing content like videos, interviews, highlights and ramp builds to create user generated content and spur fan interest.
With Stop 2, which took place on September 11th at Citizen Business Bank Arena in Ontario, CA set to air next Wednesday, September 22 @ 8ET/5PT on ESPN2, viewers will be tuning in once again to get a glimpse of last weeks action. The third and final stop however is a thing of beauty and is already on my calendar as I plan to take in the madness for myself at the Thomas & Mack Arena on September 25 in Las Vegas, NV. While I have an idea of what to expect, I feel that this event will surely kickflip it's way into the psyche of America. I look forward to great things for Drydek and Co. now and into the future, with Drydeks signature film Street Dreams set to hit shelves here on October 26th. All I can say is keep up the good work Rob your creative efforts are not lost on those who follow...keep grinding and spreading the word on the world of competitive skateboarding, we are all watching!
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