Tampa Am 2012 Photos
Posted on Monday, December 10, 2012 by
By Rob Meronek
The Monday morning after Tampa Am is spent in meetings discussing the Tampa Am weekend and how we can improve it and learn lessons for the next big event, Tampa Pro. I also spent a few hours emptying out my camera and getting a few photos together here. What a weekend. Thanks again to everyone that was a part of it, from viewers to workers to lurkers and all in between.
The Monday morning after Tampa Am is spent in meetings discussing the Tampa Am weekend and how we can improve it and learn lessons for the next big event, Tampa Pro. I also spent a few hours emptying out my camera and getting a few photos together here. What a weekend. Thanks again to everyone that was a part of it, from viewers to workers to lurkers and all in between.
On Thursday, I worked the front counter from 9am to 9pm checking people in for an endless supply of handshakes, high fives, and knuckle pounds. It’s nice being able to meet everyone that comes through. Tony and Trixie are here to play tonight for the Welcome to Tampa Party.
Childhood friends were reunited today after one was recently released from a three year visit to the big house. Jeffrey Marshall and Alex Morley.
Ishod hung out and skated all weekend. As he walked by, Alex Midler was busy setting up one of his boards.
Tim O’Connor, thanks for the laughs all weekend. Thanks for the truth, too. Sometimes the truth creates laughs so it’s a win/win situation when you tell the truth.
The parking lot party was just like the early days of Skatepark of Tampa. We haven’t had a party like this at SPoT for 10 years.
Earlier in the Shop Jereme mentioned to me that he was hoping to get the Destroyer award for the weekend. Later that night, he found out he got the Zumiez Destoryer of the Year award. Now that’s a great way to kick off Tampa Am weekend.
Sebo Walker gets the Best Trick All Year Award for the 360 shuvs smith grind at Damn Am Huntington Beach.
Anthony Anaya got the Came Out of Nowhere Award after he grew up and won Damn Am Woodward West this year.
Scuba Steve picked up awards for some Nike team riders, including Damn Am of the Year, Auby Taylor, who got hurt and couldn’t make it this year. Get the full results from Damn Am of the Year here.
Trixie and Tony are like the punk metal version of Matt and Kim tonight with Jake Phelps missing due to some kind of illness.
After a late night, it’s time for our first early morning. This house van ran the parking lot all weekend. AC was turned on by opening the door. Watch for neighborhood creepers.
Bryant Chapo just missed the cut on Friday. He ripped and made his impression on everyone though. Thanks for coming and bringing your whole awesome family, Bryant.
Chris Colbourn is an undercover ripper that's been skating Damn Am since 2005. I knew he'd be making the cut after just missing it last year. He ended up in 27th this year.
Brendon Villanueva ripped and ended up in 22nd in the Semi-Finals, a nice move up after getting 33rd last year and missing the cut.
Paris Laurenti almost made the Semi-Finals from the SPoT Lifer’s Choice Award voting. His skating almost got him in there, too, but not quite. That’s a shifty flip. Paris ended up in 36th in his first Tampa Am.
Here’s Dune and Bo. Bo owns a shop in the Carolinas and makes regular appearances on Eastbound and Down.
Na-Kel Allah Smith almost got his spot in the Semi-Finals from Tyler the Creator tweeting everyone to vote for him in the SPoT Lifer’s Choice Award. That’s a damn good looking hardflip. He killed it and ended up in 29th on Friday’s Qualifiers.
Tiago Lopes was about half way down the list this year for his second year in Tampa Am from Portugal. That’s a feeble grind.
Brian Reardon at Auxilary Channel heads up the live broadcast. It’s a fine crew of tech nerds over there.
I don’t ever wash my car. Found this on there after day one. You could have just written "wash me" like everyone else.
Gio Trentalange and one half of the Norton wonder twins are asking me to get photos for their profile on the site.
Timmy Johnson broke the same bone in his hand this weekend that I broke a while back. I had that exact same awkward cast.
Dolan Stearns was put in his first Tampa Am by our friends at Brixton. He’s got a boneless to lipslide here.
I really thought Mark would win this year. He tries the hardest tricks. He made this backside 180 fakie 5-0 right at the end of his Jam.
Back in the day, Souls of Mischief’s debut album 93 'til Infinity was on rotation at Skatepark of Tampa. It’s amazing that 20 years later they’re here on stage hanging out with us.
The heavy metal parking lot in the back of Skatepark is commonly referred to as "Tampsterdam." Big Al is the mayor of this town.
Now it’s time to return to The Bricks for more nightlife. After seeing Cody Lockwood’s video footage where he’s doing kickflip backside noseblunts at Burnside, I was looking forward to seeing him skate. He did not disappoint.
The 20 Years of SPoT history video probably taught a lot of people some things they didn’t know about the Park, especially the younger guys like Jayden here. We all watched it in Czar before the bands started.
Killer Mike’s performance made me lose my voice. His genuine words about skateboarding and it’s influence on making his son who he is today were amazing.
After a late night, it’s straight to an early morning at the Park for the last day of Tampa Am. Duffy and his crew of little ones are here to take it all in.
Man it must be awesome being able to do Andrects and not even know what they are. I asked Dashawn if he knows what this trick is called and he said, "Like early grab melon or something?" Ha, nice. Dave Andrect was a pro before our time who invented this style of invert where you grab behind your front foot with your front arm.
Cheers to 20 years. The special boards with a ply soaked in Moat Water beer will be out in a limited run soon. We’ll keep you posted on that.
Thrasher photographer Joe Hammeke on a tailslide during the Old Man Bowl Jam. The Editor of Frontside Grind Magazine is too tired and has too many other jobs to be doing covers this weekend.
Dark Mark is behind the scenes here at SPoT making it happen with sledgehammers and possibly spells and hexes from Dungeons and Dragons or something.
Alec ended up winning this year after capping off one of his runs with a huge gap kickflip back lip. This is a gap frontside nosegrind.
Edgar Barrera made the cut and ended up in 29th in the Semi-Finals. That’s a nollie backside tailslide.
Independent Best Trick was total chaos as usual. That’s Brodie Penrod about to big flip out of that backside tailslide. Check the results here.
Jagger Eaton, Baby Torey, and Jett Eaton. Jagger in Tampa Am this weekend made quite an impression. Check out his 3rd place run here.
Now it’s time for the Just for Showing Up Awards. Thanks for watching while we take the time to recognize a few that we want to thank for coming like Leo Romero and crew.
Jamie Foy got the Zumiez Destroyer Award this time. What a story he's got. From local kid who just shed his helmet, to grown young man making a memorable impression at Tampa Am by making the cut, placing third in Independent Best Trick, and not letting you forget it with loud ass pink shirts. The skateboard industry now knows who Jamie Foy is. I wonder who’s going to start flowing him stuff after this weekend.
Evan Smith got the Gatorade Driven from Within Award. Somehow I don’t have a photo of The Skateboard Mag Fan Favorite Award. That went to Pat Shaefer.
This fantastic crew of tech nerds is Auxiliary Channel. They’re responsible for delivering the live broadcast. It’s been a pleasure working together on another successful show.
Ryan Reyes and this posse stirred it up and by the end of the night, Ryan went through the glass at SPoT Ybor next door.
Gabe Clement in the middle helped with our Instagram posting this weekend. Chris Nieratko covered the contest for ESPN here.
Woody Hoogendyk and Mohamed Saouti both skated Tampa Am for the first time this weekend. They’ve been skating AmsterDamn Am for years. I hope you guys had the same blast in America that we have when we visit your country.
Rather than an expensive rental van, why not just get a damn $19.95 a day UHaul van for the weekend? Best travel idea ever.
David Loy solo on the streets of Ybor, which he later apparently destroyed by knocking down garbage cans.
Keith Walsh and homies from Dublin, Ireland – thanks for coming and being a part of it. What a weekend. It’s time to get home and get a little rest for one last long ass workday on Monday that starts with a recap meeting on how we can improve Tampa Am, what we learned from this weekend, and of course putting together all the coverage like these photos here. Thanks everyone for another great weekend!
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