Oregon Trifecta 2006 - West Linn: Skip to Results - See also Lincoln City - Newberg             Want to comment on this article?

Day two of the Trifecta. This is where it all started to fall apart last year. But again everything ran pretty smoothly, or at least as smooth as any contest of this caliber. Today I made it in time for every event, including every excruciating open practice session. Three days in a row of this circus has got to be mind numbing for the judges and officials. My hat is off to them for being able to maintain the interest level and motivation to keep it going.

West Linn is a pretty tight park. There were some serious dogfights in those heats, like the old balck and white movies of biplanes dueling. Of course the biggest collision of the day was when I took out my longtime friend Gordon Gilchrest during the old man's jam. I don't know whose fault it was, but we both ended up in the same place at the same time. Gordo outweighs me by more than a couple pounds, and he's shorter too. I don't understand how he got the worst of it, but the did. Sorry Gordo. A lot of my photos from today arekind of lame. I wasn't feeling it for the most part of the day. How's that for an excuse?

Steve Steadham was there doing some Bones Brigade Video Show era backside bonlesses that were a sight to behold. You still see these every so often from the new breed of bowl riders, but they have a different style to them. Steadham floats his up and lands on his tiptoes. It's almost dare I say it, ballet-like. They are killer to watch, and the crowd appreciated them. Unfortunatley I only got a chance to snap one before he started doing them in a different area of the park that was already crammed full of photogs and video poachers like a duck hunting blind full of fat Wisconsin hunters. Steadham's deck is partially out of frame but I included the shot anyway. How often does he show up anymore? I didn't get to see any of his patented 12 block rock and roll slides either so I'll have go back the the Bones Brigade Video Show for that.

You may want to skip next two paragraphs in this article. It's more properly targeted to the contest promoters and organizers. Basically the bitch session with some ideas on how to improve the event. Normally I wouldn't care about this sort of thing except for the fact that I feel an attachment to the Oregon Trifecta. Lord knows we don't need more people traveling or moving here to skate our parks. It's not like they are a well kept secret, we're world famous for our parks. Thanks to the Dreamland, Grindline, and Airspeed crews for making it so. However, all things considered, other states like Washington, Idaho and now Montana are well on their way to giving Oregon a run for it's money. For some reason, I'm still proud that we can host a unique event like the Oregon Trifecta, and I want it to be as a good as it can.

Lest you think I've gone all soft, there are a few simple things they could do to make it all run smoother. One thing that is seriously lacking in the Trifecta format is the lack of a head to head finals heat. What this means is a finals heat is usually split up into two groups of eight or so. The placement is picked from scores during both jams. I don't know how you can accurately score a competition that way. It also leaves itself more open to "Bro-judging" criticism, whether warranted or not. Bring back the head to head jams for the finals! It makes the final heat hotter and the contest more interesting to the spectators. Without it, the contest is sort of anticlimactic. It's just weak to judge the skaters in an ice skating manner as opposed to the traditional contest jam. Sure, the skaters are in the bowls at the same time, but not all of the so-called finalists are in at once. It's like they stop the contest after the semi finals and then judge everyone and pick a winner.

I think the reason they don't add that last finals heat is do to time constraints. There is plenty of time in the day to do if the organizers would tighten it up. A lot of time is wasted looking for riders who entered on the previous day but are MIA at contest time. As a result they scramble to add guys to different heats when they become underpopulated. The last Grand Masters heat in West Linn featured Steve Cabellero and Steve Steadham by themselves because they ran out of competitors. They each got their one minute intro run and then a 5 or 10 minute jam session. If they had been folded into one of the other heats that time could have been used for a finals heat in the pro competition. This phenomenon happened across all levels of competition. The simple way to fix it would be to require riders to check in at a certain time if they intend to ride, even if they rode the day before. Then the organizers could arrange efficient heats on the fly. As another example, I registered to enter the old man's competition on one day only, but the next day they still kept calling my name to enter a heat. Another thing that could cut down on wasted time would be Dave Duncan's fondness for giving people an extra minute or two, practically at the drop of a hat. On rare occasions when the session demands it, sure, go for it, but Dave was way to liberal with his extensions. "Hey, these guys are having such a great time I think they deserve an extra minute or two, don't you?" Not really, more often than not.

Who won? The pro-am was headed up by Tim Johnson, Benji Galloway, and Rune Glifberg in third. Grand Masters was won by Steve Caballero again (duh!) with Glen Charnoski and Pat Ngoho in third. In past year's events some had thought Ngoho had benefited a little bit from the bro-factor, but this year at West Linn he tore the park a new a-hole, and could have placed higher in many opinions. The ladies event was won by Mandy Esch with Kim Peterson and Jessica Starkweather in tow. You can read the full expanded results here, including the locals placing. It's a nice touch that they allow local kids to compete for a chance to ride in the regular contest. They essentially have a local kids contest and allow the top placers to enter the regular contest. Fortunately the local talent is usually able to step up to the plate.

Our highlight of the day was when Dave Duncan announced over the P.A. during Steve Grover's run that Steve and he had skated together for years, as if they were old friends. We all got a chuckle out of that, cause technically, it was true since Steve and he had both been in the previous two years Grand Master's events. It makes you wonder about the credibility of some of the rest of his stories. Ah well, you gotta talk about something right? It was also readily apparent that Dave's new favorite phrase was "This kid is no joke", apparently replacing "back in the day.." Dave was pretty flowing though, trying to get me to enter again the next day in Newberg, if only to have fun cruising the park. It's an easy target though.

West Linn witnessed some heated sessions to be sure. The energy level was high, but not as much as it was the the first year, when the whole crowd was intoxicated with excitement and screamed themselves raw. I think you can place the blame for that squarely on the shoulders of a lack of a true finals heat. The Parks guy from the City of West Linn deserves accolades for the general relaxed atmosphere lettign the event go into overtime. The park is in the middle of a very uptight neighborhood whose inhabitants have been known to call the cops when skaters were enjoying themselves too loudly. I kid you not. Police have shown up and told certain boisterous individuals not to whoop and holler so loud while enjoying a particularly fun session. I'm sure those same neighbors were gnashing their teeth from the balconies of the houses that overlook teh park, especially with the very metal soundtrack blasting out over the P.A.. Thanks to the City of West Linn for allowing this event that I'm sure the neighbors would rather outlaw.

Oregon Trifecta 2006 - West Linn: Skip to Results - See also Lincoln City - Newberg
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photos © kilwag