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Superhick 2006 Analysis - 06/05/22 Note: The opinions in this column are strictly those of the author. Now that the dust has settled and the skaters have left town, the armchair quarterbacking can start for this year’s Superhick. Everyone has an opinion on who should have won, who got robbed, and who was overrated. The Be-Mag messageboard is being flooded with everyone’s two cents, so I decided to go one step further with what sports commentators commonly call “post-game analysis”.
For the second year in a row, Jeff Stockwell took first place, and for the second year in a row, he earned it. Everyone has complained that he didn’t pull enough hammers or that so-and-so had better tricks but these people forget that this is a contest, not a best trick stunt show. Stockwell won because he landed almost every trick he attempted and he landed them all over the park. This year’s competition was fought mostly on the flat ledge in the center of the park and the judges here hate it when that happens. Stockwell utilized almost all of the park, something few of the other skaters did. He also went for consistency, not for one or two show-stopping tricks. Best trick may have won you $500, but first place was $2000. You do the math.
Those readers following the competition will also notice that some of the big names did not even make it past the first round, and that three of the skaters in the finals were local guys. You can blame this on the judging as much as you want to, but it comes down to one simple thing: the skaters who advanced skated their hardest all three rounds.
You want to know why skaters like Brian Shima and Chris Farmer didn’t advance? Because they rolled around during their heats, landed one or two tricks and expected to advance based on name recognition alone. People like Frankie Morales and Alex Broskow did the same thing in the semifinals; they pulled all their tricks in the first round and had a weak second round which got them eliminated. In the meantime, a 16-year old amateur named David Sizemore pulled out all the stops and annihilated every other skater he went up against. He skated like it was the finals in all three of his heats and because of this, he walked away with both second place and best trick.
Should the Shimas and Haffeys of the Superhick have been given an automatic bid to the finals where they could’ve pulled out all the stops in one spectacular ten-minute run? No. These skaters have proven their ability in the past, but to use that as an excuse to put them straight into the finals is doing a disservice to the lesser-known skaters who are trying just as hard, if not harder, to win this comp. It would be a slight to David Sizemore, Montre Livingston, and Kevin Dowling if their spots in the finals would have been taken by some famous pros who proved their worth, not with a spectacular performance in the prelims, but with a part in a video that came out last year.
 What happened in the Superhick should be a wake-up call to pro skaters everywhere. There is a generation of kids coming up right now who are hungry to take your spots at the top. These kids were raised in skate parks and once they get old enough to get out on the streets, they will rip and they will get noticed. The most impressive competition of the weekend was not the Pro/Am--it was the Open comp. The top three finishers were all under the age of 15 and they all had runs that would have sent half of the pros home with their tails between their legs. The Open comp winner, 13-year old Randall Ruiz, could’ve easily went to the finals in the Pro/Am--and that is not an exaggeration. If the complacency that characterized the pros at the Superhick continues, they are going to wake up one day to find themselves replaced by a 16-year old ripper like David Sizemore, who skates hard all the time.
Are people going to remember this Superhick for the spectacular tricks that were pulled? Probably not. Are they even going to remember the competition? Again, probably not. And that is a shame because people come from all over the country every year to watch this comp and, frankly, this year they were let down. These young rippers are going to keep showing up at competitions like the Superhick and people will see that the future is coming fast.
- Cole Wood Photos: Jeremy Stephenson Top: Chris Haffey: Huge Wallride Middle: Cosimo Tassone: Dis Ao Fishbrain Bottom: Jeff Stockwell: Mute Transfer while Broskow throws some horn hands  Tags: alex broskow brian shima chris farmer chris haffey cole wood cosimo tassone david sizemore frankie morales jeff stockwell jeremy stephenson kevin dowling montre livingston superhick | |
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25 comments so far
I rolled the old man comp and had a good time. I do think the age limit needs to be raised to 30 and over. I’ve been rolling since 1991 and it is truely amazing to me how far rolling has come. Most kids nowadays dont know there roots. 80% of the tricks going on nowadays would be almost impossible on say TRS lightnings. Hyper Fat Boys anyone? Moscow Ramps? I love all of you rollerbladers! I dont give a fuck how you rolled that day, its just about overcoming fears, and having a good time! Props to Kato, Corry M, Dave K, Andy K, Tom H for coming out and representing. At 34 it takes me like 2 or 3 times as long to heal from bad falls, but I’ll roll “until my legs fall off!”
Peace to all rollerbladers!
Scott Wilcoxson AKA: The Green Lantern
Asheville NC
P.S. Did anyone see that HUGE 180 wallride transfer Frankie did into the 6’ mini! Frankie is the man!
drama..you no want no drama..no no no drama
Hey, I would just like to say that I skated the Old Man comp, I had a ton of fun and I am deffinately coming out next year. I made finals, but I never found out what place I got (somewhere between 4th and 10th). No one told me or the others what place we ranked, except top 3. I spent about $700 to come down for 3 days, took time off work, damaged my car in excess of $1000, had a horrible case of Montazuma’s Revenge, but in the end I had a shit eating grin on my face and I wasn’t all pissed about rankings. So what if I didn’t win, I still had more fun than I could have asked for. Please remember that fun is what this is all about, and if you’re not having fun while watching it, doing it, or even bitching about it, please find something that makes you happy because you’re killing my buzz! Mr. Haffey, Mr. Stockwell, it was nice to see you guys again, and thanks for being 2 of the most badass motherfuckers I have ever had the pleasure to know.
This is kindaoff true, but hell. I hope that before you started writing this, you got your facts right.
You can’t just throw out YOUR opinions like this without thinking it true correctly.
I agree with some of the things you said, but a also disagree…
Well another thing is all the big contest are all so close together by the time the later contest come around alot of the pros are hurt from filming and other contest, so they really cant throw down as hard as they want to. The other thing is by that time they are so burnt out too. They are tired and wore out. The contest should really be spaced out a little better so that the pros can get a little time to heal up and get refreshed.
I don’t hide behind screen names Cuz I sign (Gijs) Piss to most shit I write in and for Be-mag anyways, and if you don’t know or know me that’s fine but it aint hiding: Gijs Peetsold, I live in Amsterdam these days, I dabble a little in competition-organising myself, come and get at me if you want.
Lets see here, Cole calls seasoned pro’s “complacent”. he suggest that they “expected to advance on name recognition alone” he suggest that a “video part shot last year” says nothing about a riders’ abilities to roll right now and goes on to conclude that these pro’s really don’t deserve what they have and may soon be replaced by “hungry young kids”and then actually proposes some thirteen year old kids’ run would have sent the pro’s home “with their tails between their legs”.
All ridiculous.
Way I see it, your comp didn’t work out like you hoped then your format sucks. There’s a couple of things i wonder about: you want the whole park lit, but shy away from timed runs. You want people to go all out but shy away from a head-to-head at the finals (wich wás done at Winterclash with great success, I might add, and was a suggestion that came from me and Zeke as we were amongst the 4 judges there). And obviously you don’t appreciate the risk a pro takes. A thirteen year old kid gets hurt momma comes round and kisses to make it better. Pro gets hurt he stands to loose a lot more. Hence letting them in later in the process. There’s a thing out, it’s called a wildcard, you might wanna try it sometimes. And if your local kids are as good as suggested he can take ‘em out in the finals anyway so no harm done. So why not advance a couple of námes. Fact is that they díd in fact earn it.
i’m just curious to know when i said, thought, expected, questioned, assumed, blah, etc. that i was going to make it past the first round? i knew i wasn’t going to skate good the first second i put my skates on and it felt like i was at an ice rink rather than a skatepark haha. i probably looked rediculous attepting to get from one end of the park to the next, my apologies. me+hard wheels+semi slippery park= the next brian biotano(funny i say this, cause about 4 years ago at superhick bcam prank called the guy since he was staying at the host hotel.) anyways, like chris said, he had some other shit going on the following week and didn’t want to get broke off and jeopardise it, i was in the same boat. kruse came up to me asking me if i wanted to skate in the comp, and i thought to myself “do i want to attempt to walk away with the “W” and most likely get broke off while doing it, or do i want to get some ill shit done for doug’s next project, seeing that i was going to be in ATL for the next two weeks?” i opted for attempting to skate the first round with absolutely no expectations of making it further, so i could stay fresh for my nice little stay in georgia for the following weeks to come. so cole, buddy, pal… can you please not make up some false allegations without the backing evidence and facts? you got me, i skated like shit, but i will admit that i did have a lot of fun being there, seeing everyone, and talking to kids throughout the park. till next year… (maybe i’ll bring softer wheels?)
Should we go back to timed run format for comps? Or just have the final round a run format? I have been wanting to bring this up for some time now. I like the open session feel and everything but people skating just one thing at a park comp is getting old fast.
werd
Fighting in rollerblading is like a mutiny on a sinking ship. There shouldn’t be any reason for it. I think we should care about the long term success of rolling, than one day or event.
what a stupid article. take this shit down.
yo i just wanted to make sure that what i said didnt get to mis interprated. i agree that everyone who was in the finals was skated incredible, and props are definetly due to all of them. i really dont see why anyone cares so much either…but when i saw my friends, and even my name brought up at one point in coles article i just wanted to throw out an opinion. i wasnt trying to offend anyone, i just dont think anyone was really pissed they didnt make the finals. i just felt like he was trying to blow up some peoples spots on things that werent true. again i totally agree that the people in the finals deserved to be there. david, montre, and kevin i hope you guys didnt take what i said the first time the wrong way. i think you guys all skated incredible.
Yo…I am going to speak from one of the non “pro” rollerbladers perspectives….
Why the fuck does everyone care so damn much…??? I didnt even plan on skating in superhick until right before the comp when Erin told me I had to. I have never thought of myself as a contender with Haffey, Shima, Broskow..or any of the “pro” rollerbladers who get paid to travel around the globe hanging out with eachother and having little to no responsibilities…I dont even think they have actual job descriptions. What a fucking treat it must be for you guys! You know I had to go back to work the following monday at a job that has nothing to do with skating. I love my job and I do get a decent salary but you guys get loot (I know its not as much as tony hawk but it is for skating…you are not starving or suffering), free travel, per diem, free clothes, pro skates, people buy you drinks, you get to meet thousands of like-minded individuals that support what your doing. I never would have complained if you placed higher than me in the comp, it would have been normal…people who dont do 450 topsouls and 540 tru souls are not supposed to make finals. I know we have a uniformed order of what is expected of everyone in every comp and it is a pleasure to be one of those guys who does some random tight shit every once in awhile, not doing “whats hot in rollerblading today”...I dont have time to practice my 540 top souls….SORRY BE-MAG …...I like to do shit I dont see and it is really fucking unfortunate that our sport is so close minded to think that Montre, Myself, and David did not deserve to be in the finals….I WAS JUST AS SURPRISED AS YOU GUYS!!My point is that I didnt want to make the finals…I simply wanted to skate in one heat and show everyone that I still got tricks…I am not surprised that people hated…
David and Montre….if you guys read this, fuck the haters…I watched you guys skate and you fucked shit up…David did incredible tricks..the kind that win comps….Montre is a fucking pimp…. he did right foot soul to 360 (to the left) to switch topsoul….that has never been done….I think the level of skating was amazing…it just wasnt from your favorite pros….
I am glad to know that the south is producing talented individuals that have good personalities and play a part in helping their local scenes grow….
the revolution will not be televised…..
kevindowling
wow. how astoundingly intelligent you sound. “no name livin off mommies allowance, happening to skate well in his home park”. it is simple for you my friend “piss” to sit there and talk shit about pretty much anything because you are cowardly hiding behind a screename which refers to what comes out of your mouth and onto your keyboard. first off i was one of the judges at this comp. so let me state a few things from my point of view.
1. stockwell won hands down
2. i agree with haffey that its hard to watch one dude rip the park while you watch 4 others in other parts. Me, Kato, Corey Miller, Andy Kruse and Tim Schmidt all did the best we could to watch everyone skate and not much got overlooked.
3. the judges at the contest did not favor anyone based on relationships to them, Corey is from RB so is franky, Kato is from remz so is haffey and so on. the judges wanted to see shit get hype and whether you believe so or not, doing switch ups on a tiny ledge that gets lit up every week in every combination of tricks does not impress anyone. sorry.
4. the thing i have to question, and i mean no harm to those of you who brought this about, is why are grown, 20 something or older, pro skaters complaining about having to compete against no-pro skaters at superhick. i know who was involved in this and it blows my mind. i am the same age and older than some of you and it just makes you guys look weak. not gay. not stupid. not snobby. but weak. when you are beat, you are beat, please dont come to my home town and cry about the way we hold our comps or who you dont want to skate against.
5. i loved seeing all of my friends from all over the states out at superhick and enjoyed watching everyone rip. i had a great time partying with you and hope that those of you who were dissapointed in the comp this year dont make that a reason not to come back. much love. make love. misery loves.
mike mcmullen
Cole, you suck and your young hungry buck analysis sucks and the idea that a proven skater can’t use past credit today sucks even more and is exactly why we hardly have any pro’s that DO last cuz idiots like you are always looking for the next new thing to topple so-called vested names, without any respect for the sports hard-working hi-end pro’s and their past accomplishments, so do me a favour next time you wanna write about some no-name livin’ off of mommies allowance, happening to skating well in his home-park and then pretend he is better than a seasoned and adult pro like Shima please: don’t. As a matter of fact just shut up all together.
i have to agree with haffey when he says it’s hard to watch one person throw it down when 4 other people are doin some crazy stuff too, i think the most overlooked was erik bailey, i also have to agree about franky, even though he pretty much only skated the flat ledge he did some really crazy stuff on it, but i guess the big idea with this comp was to skate hard the entire time and draw attention to yourself… that would mean going really fast, doing good tricks, and being everywhere at once… hmmm jeff stockwell anyone?
eat a nut, jeffery won….makin junk up.
i wanted to stop by and give you a couple of things to consider from a pros point of view. first off though i want to say that i think jeff definetly deserved to win, and skated amazing. i also think regardless of who had been in the finals with him he would have won anyway. with that said i just wanted to try and shed some light on things i dont know if you considered. i dont think that people should make it into finals off name or past accomplishments either. i think its wrong to call people out and say that shima and farmer only did a few tricks and expected to make it to finals, because you dont know what they were thinking. i know what i was thinking and i did one trick in semi finals and stopped skating for a few reasons. one of them was not because i thought i would make it to finals anyway. i was getting really tired from skating too long before the contest started, and knew if i made it to finals i wouldnt be able to do anything to win anyway. i also knew that i was going to another contest the next weekend that could be much more profitable for me, and didnt want to hurt myself trying to win superhick, taking myself out of the running for the money the next weekend. i also think frankie got robbed pretty bad. he skated incredible in semi finals and i dont think a lot of people saw the tricks he did all over the park because they were watching the 5 other people in the heat skate the box. its hard to watch one person shred a whole park when you are trying to judge 5 other people in a different part of the park. i think that that park got skated a lot harder the previous year and harder tricks definetly went down last year. i dont know why it wasnt that good this year, but i know its not because all the skaters are getting lazy and expecting to just make it to finals off name power. i think to base such a harsh judgement off one contest isnt really fair. so i agree with some things that you said in the article, but i disagree with a lot and think some assumptions were made that arent correct. no hate. just trying to give another opinion.
Show me this $$$$ or finances you are talking about where Pro’s make enough money to where they don’t give two shits about $2,000 from a comp. And pro’s not giving a shit about this comp, probably one of the biggest in the industry I feel ill from hearing such a comment. Its comps like this one that are keeping our culture alive and skates on our feet. How dare you disrepect someone who puts in effort to promote our sport. Whens the last time you’ve done something for our industry and culture?
i agree with what you said about jeff stockwell BUT i reckon these pros dont really give a shit about this comp, they make enough money elsewhere as it is. You trying to say they are going to just be replaced by these upcomers, yes they may be good but so long as the big pros keep dropping the big sections in their vids then they have very little to worry about.
Sure we would have liked to see them put in more effort in the comp but honestly im sure they couldnt care less.
Maybe true. But how do you know they just (the pro’s that is) expected to be let passed by their name recognition. Maybe they were just chilling. It’s just rollerblading man, calm down.
“For the second year in a row, Jeff Stockwell took first place, and for the second year in a row, he earned it. Everyone has complained that he didn’t pull enough hammers or that so-and-so had better tricks but these people forget that this is a contest, not a best trick stunt show. Stockwell won because he landed almost every trick he attempted and he landed them all over the park.”
Well said.
definitely something to think about!
Thanks for the “post-game analysis” Cole. I agree with your thoughts and observations 100%.
Well put Cole, word up.
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