H-Town Showdown

Tags: andrew hale, brian freeman, htown showdown, john sullivan, ready to die, ryan stevens, zack gutweiler

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Imagine walking through the streets of downtown Houston, Texas, land of corporate greed and homeless drug addicts. You stroll through the festival infested, police ridden landscape, and then, off in the horizon, you spot a mob of what you think to be gangster white boys and all out rock stars. As you get closer you notice that this is no group of thugs, but a mass of rollerbladers, raising hell and making more noise than the popped trunk of Paul Wall. Prepare yourself, for you are now witnessing the H-Town Showdown.

On August 12th, the 4th annual H-Town Showdown went down in a big way. As usual, everyone met at Danny’s house for great food and catching up with old friends. This year had a lil something different added: the slider bar comp. Although it didn’t turn out quite as planned, it proved for a good time before the action started. Also on the list of pre-comp activities was the premier of TxPRESS Volume 1 "Ready To Die", a DVD showcasing the Texas rollerblading scene. It was unbelievable how many people packed into the living room, making it just as hot inside as it was outside. For more info on TxPRESS Volume 1 READY TO DIE please visit www.FlatlineDesigns.com

Things finally got moving and we were off to the first spot, some throwed handicap rails at an abandoned car dealership. Things had gotten started before I had made it, so I arrived to a mass of skaters, surrounded by a ring of filmers. Skaters from every city in Texas were ripping switch ups left and right. I would try and name some of the top tricks, but it would be impossible to choose. Everyone ripped this rail to pieces without hesitation, and the bust factor didn’t even exist, making for a very good first spot.

Once everyone was finished getting dizzy with switch ups, we all headed downtown to a fresh new spot located along the bayou. After parking at Tranquility Park, we journeyed up the road, down some stairs under a bridge, along a lengthy sidewalk, to finally arrive at a beautiful ledge and a burly fat kinked rail. Once again, everyone who had qualified from spot one shined. The kink rail however proved to be a formidable opponent, taking a few skaters down, but not out. Most notably was Brian Freeman, who took a nasty fall but came back to pull a clean royale down a good portion of the extra long kinked rail.

For the final spot, we simply walked along the bayou to a drop off ledge. This ledge is not easy to skate, with nearly no run up at all, but the tricks that went down were incredible. Of the people who advanced to the finals, 4 were chosen to battle it out for the title: Brian Freeman, Josh Glowicki, Brian Moore, and John Sullivan. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that John Sullivan took first place yet again, with his onslaught of clean tricks. However, the title was nearly stolen by Brian Freeman, who just couldn’t quite get his 450 back royale.

By the end of the day, everyone was exhausted, ready to hit up the gas stations and fast food before preparing for the after party. This year's H-Town Showdown was a grand success, with buck ass skating and no problems with the fuzz. Congrats to John Sullivan once again, and keep your eyes open for another afternoon of fruitbooting next year.

-Michael Reed

Now a quick note from Danny :

I'd like to thank everyone who came out for a day full of fun. Much respect to the 40+ skaters who signed up, competed, and skated their asses off all day in the heat. Also, much appreciation to the photo and film crew for capturing this year's happenings: Randy Edwards, Nate Lorensen, Michael Martin, Steven Cox, Michael Reed, Chase Rees, Brian Forester, and Josh Dallera. Last but not least, big thanks to this year's sponsors who made the Showdown possible : www.ConnectionsSkateShop.com, Be-Mag, Razors, Remz, Jug, Ground Control, Havok, Ucon, 4x4, Vicious, Eulogy, Crap, Franco Shade, Fifty50, England, Vibralux, Mindgame, Xsjado, SixWonSix, Night, Rollerblade, USD, Deshi, Second Regime, Sifika, and Kizer. Stay tuned to Be-Mag or www.HtownShowdown.com for this year's official video edit, set to be up in the next couple of weeks.

Peace and love,

Danny Egan