Well, March was maybe the best month I’ve seen since I’ve started doing this column. I feature 43 items, of which 13 went for over $1,000. That’s got to be a record, but I’m not going back and looking through all of the old columns to validate. And two decks went for over $3,000.

By the way, thanks to everybody who writes in with kind words about the column. I appreciate all of your kind words. The fact that we get so many hits and so much feedback from all over the world is amazing, and it’s what keeps me doing it month after month.

Just for Randy, this month’s Baywatch is fueled by Hornsby cider and the rocking punk rock sound of The Carbonas. Have you been missing the Briefs recently? Then give the Carbonas a try. They’ll fix you right up. Their new album is available on iTunes, if you are interested.

So let’s get to the meat..

Apparently the anguished cries of old men everywhere resonated in the halls of ESPN. EXPN.com reports:

ESPN has decided to continue its 13-year tradition of vert competitions at this year’s X Games. Over the past month ESPN has engaged in many conversations with the X Games BMX and Skateboard vert athletes in an attempt to transition the Vert discipline into one featuring a skatepark course design. While many athletes were initially receptive to the idea, the majority of them have indicated to ESPN that they would prefer to compete on a halfpipe.

So vert skating is back from the dead. Who could have predicted it? I think it’s funny that the athletes were the ones the brought it back. More telling is the fact that they plan to go forward with the Superpark concept in addition. I have a feeling that the vert riders who don’t decide to enter Superpark are going to lose ultimately. I see this as a temporary appeasement of the talent so they don’t have a mass boycott of riders. Sure, they’ll bring back vert for one or two more seasons while they quietly build up Superpark until ratings prove they don’t need vert anymore, because there will be a whole other gorup of riders who won’t complain about the format change. Superpark sounds more fun to watch in my opinion anyway. Ha! Check out the photo credit on the image in the source. (They are rotating them.)

– Thanks to CretinNik for the tip.

Here it is the adult skate boarders spring break. Booze, chicks and skateboarding minus the booze and chicks. Peace Off. Grover

I brought all my stuff, but in-laws, illness and weather conspired against me. I had five days of vacation. I packed all my stuff. All the public parks in Florida seem to require a helmet and pads. I think elbow pads were required at the last one I hit. Enterprising locals had cut off tube socks over their elbows. Point is, I was meeting my kids out there, and if I skated, my oldest would want to go to. So I had boards and a full set of helmets and pads for two packed. I was staying near Sarasota, which has a Team Pain park that is nice, but I’ve ridden it a bunch before and I wanted to hit soemthing new like the Bro Bowl or Dunedin, which is about an hour and a half away.

Warning: Boring story for adults ahead.

This week’s Shot of the Week is another old one, dating back to 2001. Chris “Bone Man” Swan at the old Pier Park skatepark. I like the way everything is out of focus except for the wheel and shoe, and it’s shot with film. How nice. Bone man doesn’t skate very much these days, but when he does he still rips. He’s annoying that way. Check out the full sized shot.

So yeah, doing the family vacation thing. Mother in-law brought us to an “incredible new restaurant” that turned out to be a newer chain of sports bars. I counted at least 33 flat screen TV’s with assorted sports programs on, one of them was playing Fuel, so that means I got to watch skateboarding in a sports bar. It was an episode of Driven, and there was hardly any skateboarding in it. For some reason there was a big production about a kid giving Vallely a bracelet of sorts. Not very manly behavior for a sports bar. I swear I heard some snickering. Maybe the kid had a terminal disease, it’s hard to tell because there was no sound. Looks like they gave him a Jeep, though. So yeah, manly sports bars and skateboarding. Alright.

Nobody wants to go to jail!

Skate Daily brought our attention to three Vert Death Knell stories today. The XGames is abandoning the vert ramp competition and the latest Vans park remodel will not include a vert ramp. Haw haw! That must be why I’ve been hearing so many “we should build a vert ramp” comments lately here in Oregon. Since big vert is no longer considered commercially viable, maybe it’s edgy now?

A lot of our readers won’t get a chance to go to Lincoln City and see what the new snake run looks like. Fortunately for them, I’ve gone ahead and put together a short video tour that looks like it was shot by a meth addict in withdrawl who covered the lens with vaseline, stuck it down his pants and then dropped it in the dirt. This is the first time I’ve looked at any of the footage I’ve shot on a large screen in a long time. I can’t wait to see those family videos…

There’s a Marginal Way benefit on Thursday night in Seattle. Marginal Way has the best PR agency out there. It seems like there’s a benefit for MW at least once a month. This one is courtesy of Sleestak.

Jay Meer bought me a beer last night at the premier of Why wouldn’t you?, the new video from Dave Hupp. I don’t know if Meer was fully cognizant of the fact that he bought me a beer or not, but thanks all the same. Now go visit Jay’s web site so he gets his money’s worth. How was the video? In a word, great! Full review coming as soon as the DVD’s are produced, which is supposed to be before the end of April. Look for it. Jay said he’s hosting a premier in Seattle at on an as yet nailed down date. If anyone else is looking for kickbacks, I like brown ales. [Photos: DLH Productions.]