MANNY MANIA 2008

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What is Manny Mania all about?

Back for another round of NYC mayhem, the idea birthed by Red Bull Team Rider, Joey Brezinski, was to take the conventional contest formula and put it on two wheels! Based around everything manual, last years events in Venice, CA and NYC became the contest that everyone wanted in on!

What's happened in Red Bull Manny Mania 2008?

August 17th 2008, On a bright beautiful day in New York City at Coleman Park: Red Bull Manny Mania took place. These are the days in New York you pray for during a skate contest, not hot or humid in the slightest, just great summer weather. Upon arrival the course is already being session'd heavily by some locals and a couple professionals who are looking to get their warmup first.

The course is incredible, separated but connected into 4 sections. Starting at the far left is a half-foot curb high manny with flat square flatbar attached to the edge. Next to that is the foot high plain manny thats standard length perfect for flip-in, flip-out mannys. Following next was a unique manual, which is best described as a inverted mound, meant for holding manuals that roll in then roll out. Lastly is the pyramid manual, with attached euro-gap. This was probably the most entertaining to watch, due to the fact that they launch off the euro-gap to manual then have to hold it for the ride down too. All the ramps were simple gray and very easy on the eyes. My thoughts were these skaters are gonna rip this thing to shreds!

So looking around I see some of the best skateboarders in the world such as Eric Koston who is sweating up a storm trying a trick that is impossible. Well I thought it was impossible until I watched him land it. That was a treat for the crowd, considering Koston wasn't entering the contest and only judging it. The list of judges were Eric Koston, Steve Berra, Rodney Torres and Dan Pensyl.

Within moments if that wasn't enough, Stevie Williams rolls up quite non-chalontly and starts to warm up. The list goes on, Tim O'Conner, Brandon Beibel, Rob Welsh, Stephan Janoski and Brian Wenning just to name a few.

Prelims were a blur with tons of tech wizardry, every variation of flip in or out of nose, fakie, switch or regular manual. The announcers were of New York fame; Jeff Pang known from old Shut and Zoo Skateboard days, and Dave known from his boutique shop DQM (Dave's Quality Meats) on the wheels of steel was D.J. Dante Ross. Between all of them they kept us all entertained which random quips, jokes and loud music.

Notable skaters that were quite entertaining were: Kenny Anderson cruised around with a bundle of great manual trickery. He does tricks soo stylish that even the ones he doesn't land look good.

Dennis Buzenits was blazing manuals and grinds faster then most skateboarders feel comfortable with which makes him more enticing to watch. Kickflip backside nosegrinds across the foot high box ledge and an amazing backside 180 fakie5.0 the entire box ledge, showed the crowd that this trick was just the start of a great event.

Jason Dill sporting a bit smaller sweatshirt then normal was also milling around and maybe I am bias, but have always enjoyed watching his semi-eccentric skateboarding, watch the footage to provide a story better then I can describe.

I don't envy the judges, because deciding who made the semi-finals was a unfathomable task in itself. But it had to be done, and the semi-final 8 entries plus the 1 wildcard were: Stevie Williams, Danny Falla, Joey Brezinski, Eli Reed, Kelly Hart (as the wildcard) S.A.D, Malcom Watson, Chico Brenes and Brandon Beibel.

With everyone going for it, not everyone could make the finals, so this is the rundown of skaters:

Danny Falla (the newest rookie pro to 5boro) skated well but it wasn't enough to make the finals, he was awarded 9th place.

Coming out of the woodwork S.A.D (a resident of Los Angeles) hasn't really been seen much in the recent skate events. He skated smoothly, which only leads me to believe he skates daily in LA. SAD hit 8th place.

DGK professional skateboarder Stevie Williams completely shredded the prelims, but lost some momentum in the semi's which bumped him down to 7th place.

As the wildcard, Kelly Hart was happy to be chosen. "I was super surprised and excited to even be in the Semi-Finals," He commented. He skated nicely and was given 6th place.

Mr. Malcom Watson the new World Industries Pro has always been top-notch at skating manuals and is probably the nicest guy in skateboarding, so it's no surprise he made the semifinals. He did a backside kickflip to fakie manual, which was a crowd favorite, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to make the finals. 5th place.

Eli Reed which was entered last year as a default for Zered Bassett (who was hurt) was entered for the 2008 Manny Mania. Overhearing comments from spectators, it sounded like he should have been in the finals. His trick selection was elite and his skateboarding was perfect. Backslide lip to manual, plus numerous other tricks got him the spot right under the finals: 4th place. Again the judges have a tough job on their hands, so as always it's up for criticism.

Why New York?

Last year saw the rise of a new kind of skateboard contest, with top pros coming out in force to prove who is skateboarding's technical wizard. This year's field truly represents the core of skateboarding and for most of these pros Manny Mania is the only contest they'll do all year.

With New York City home to so many skateboarders and so many more in town for a weekend that sees New York the center of the skateboard world with the Back To The Banks contest on the day before. The event is expected to draw a huge crowd of die-hard skate fans and pros alike, all coming to witness some of the most technical skateboarding ever.

Rules:
An invite-only contest where 16 pros compete in four-man heats in a jam format. Each skater is given a score reflecting their performance in the entire jam. The top five scores from the entire field will move on to the finals. Then final will be the top five skaters in one epic 20 minute jam where they will battle it out until the Manny master is crowned

Why Manuals: One of the most difficult tricks, a manual requires balance, skill and creativity. With guidelines and manual pads, riders take to the course to see just what two wheeled trickery can get thrown down. Oh yeah, Joey's dog is named "Manny" too!

Check out the videos from 2007!

Venice Beach, California

Last year things got rolling out on the West Coast, providing a little Manny action for the beach bums and babes. Capitalizing on the California's expansive asphalt, finding the perfect venue was right around every corner!

Check out the highlight from last year...

New York City, New York

Part of the official NYC Skateboard Weekend, Manny Mania came to the East Coast with a fun format and a roster list that read like a Who's Who of pro skating. Back again for more this year with a new ramp, everyone can expect another epic weekend of skating.

Check out the highlights from last year...