The inaugural Maloof Money Cup Championships in Kimberely South Africa are upon us with the top skaters from NY and DC Money Cups competing for almost $500k and the Maloof Championship title.

Heading into the event the competition is wide-open with a number of skaters having a legitimate shot at the title and a huge pay day. Like most skates competitions these days there's usually one or two guys you feel strong about winning, but with this years MMC's that's not the case. BUT we're prepared to go out on a limb and make a prediction.

The Maloof All-Star team set to do battle in Kimberely includes D.C. winner Andrew Reynolds and NYC winner Greg Lutzka. Reynolds win in D.C. was sort of a surprise, not because of his talent or for what he means to skateboarding but with the lack of recent competition results. Take away D.C. and Reynolds hasn't won many contests, but did prove he's capable at anytime. Greg Lutzka is a different story, he's made his mark in the past few years on the competition scene, competing in multiple X Games and Dew Tours. If we had to to chose between the two, Lutzka may be more of a lock over Reynolds to win in South Africa.

A skater with a bit of momentum coming into the contest is Ryan Decenzo. He recently won his first Dew Tour stop in Salt Lake City. Decenzo has come close in major contest before but has been unable to land the big tricks when it counted. With the contest format for the MMC being one that rewards big tricks, it's easy to see how Decenzo could walk away with the victory.

Ronnie Creager is trending upwards as one who has a chance heading into the championships. He's a perfect example of a skater with big tricks capable of beating anyone man on man. Remember with the head-to-head format you don't have to be the best skater all day, you just have to be better than the guy your skating against.

With that said, there's a whole crop of talented skaters with enough tricks in their bag to walk away with the title, but like we said we are here to make a prediction and we're sticking to it.

Our pick for the winner of the Maloof Money Cup Championship is Manny Santiago. He has what may be most important in the head-to-head format. He has the ability to skate all day long. Manny goes big and he goes often. Combine his huge tricks with his stamina and you have the recipe for success.

Hopefully we didn't put the Grind curse on Manny as many of our predictions in the past have failed miserably, but we truly believe in this one.

Bonus Prediction: Mitchie Brusco or Elliot Sloan lands a 900 on the MiniMega Ramp...

Here's a video to help get you hyped as the skaters begin to arrive in South Africa.

Well, the first stop of the 2010 Dew Tour is upon us. I'm sitting here in a Courtyard Marriot in the city of Boston about to get on a subway to head on over. In the mean though I thought I'd give you a little preview, because I may not make it home. I'm going to wear a Lakers Championship shirt all the way over, and at the contest. Oh, did I mention it's at the TD Garden, where the Celtics play.

Let's start in street. There's the event favorite Paul Rodriguez who's coming off a 2nd at the the Maloof Money Cup in NYC, and if I know P-Rod I know he'll be his usual land everything self. Then there's the reigning event winner, Ryan Sheckler. This will be his first major contest since breaking his foot at the X Games last year. I thought we were going to get to see how he recovered at Maloof, but he pulled out last minute because of an injury. The newly made Zoo York pro Chaz Ortiz will also be skating, and the always a threat to win, Greg Lutzka too. Although, my pick to really turn heads is going is going to be Hallelujah star Ryan Decenzo.

My predictions:

1. Paul Rodriguez
2. Ryan Decenzo
3. Greg Lutzka
4. Chaz Ortiz
5. Ryan Sheckler

Now on to vert. I though we were going to get to see Olympic gold medalist, Shaun White, skate but apparently he pulled out. It may have something to do with the new coach of the US snowboard team, I don't know. I know one guy who is for sure skating, and is coming in on a roll, Bucky Lasek, who is the reigning Dew Tour Vert Champion, and just won the Pro-Tec Pool Party. Then there's Lizard King's buddy, Pierre Luc-Gagnon (PLG), who is always a threat. Also, Alex Perelson, is vert's next big thing and will for sure shine.

My predictions:

1. PLG
2. Bucky Lasek
3. Alex Perelson
4. Bob Burnquist
5. Rob Lorifice

The contest will be televised on NBC, so check it out if you get a chance. I don't know what time, I don't write for TV Guide; find out yourself, remember skateboarding is D.I.Y.

Above Ryan Sheckler with b/s boardslide on B-Ball backboard. Photo: Elsa via Getty Images.

He's the King; enough said. B/S 50-50 on the guard rail of the Williamsburg Bridge and stair and gap ollie to disaster in front of a million NYC kids. Lizard King/Go Skateboarding Day. Check it out:

Go Skateboarding Day NYC 2010 KR3W / CCS from KR3W DENIM on Vimeo.

The man of the hour, 2010 Transworld Readers' Choice, Lizard King, now has his first episode of Epicly Later'd up over on VBS.tv. Pat O'Dell sat down with the reptile king, aka Mike Plumb, and a few of his friends to see what it is that makes up the Lizard. Click here to check it out.

Skateboarding once again packed The Avalon theatre in Hollywood, CA for the 12th annual Transworld Skateboarding Awards. The red carpet was rolled out, the stage was set, and skateboarding's elite graced the LA landmark was their presence. It wasn't just for the awards too. One of the biggest video releases this year Hallelujah was set to premier (there will be a separate post on that, because skateboarding was forever changed last night when that video finished playing).

In a somber moment the wife of former Transworld editor, Eric Stricker, who passed away last year, opened the event with a few words about her late husband. She talked of how much he put into the event, and the fact that he would be happy to know it was still going strong. Stricker was one of the coolest cats in skate media and will always be missed. It was deserving that he had his moment.

The Skateboarding Awards give recognition to individual skaters, skate teams and videos. The two categories I was looking most forward to were Best Street Skater, and the Readers' Choice. I'll start with the best in the streets. In this category, as usual Chris Cole was nominated. He was Thrasher's Skater of the Year this year, and everyone knows about how much he wins. I was just hoping Transworld would veer left and give it to another nominee, Dennis Busentiz, who is one of my favorite skaters to watch. In my opinion he is the definition of a street skateboarder. In the end, Cole has just done too much this year to give it to anyone else, so one more trophy for his mantle. He was not in attendance and Black Box boss, Jamie Thomas, accepted on his behalf.

Now, to the moment I was waiting for most, the announcement of the Readers' Choice winner. Lizard King, who is one of the homies, and has mucho passion was nominated. Early in the night it became obvious that almost everyone of pulling for the king. So when it was announced that Mike Plumb was the 2010 TWS Readers' Choice the place went nuts. Oh yeah, did I mention Mike Plumb also goes by the name most know him as, LIZARD KING! His speech, "I f--king deserve this. Shake Junt!"

Some additional notes: Matt Hensley received the much deserved Legend award, Pat Duffy should get a job on Fuel TV with his great hosting skills, Torey Pudwill was very drunk and that place is big making it very easy to get lost inside (especially when drinking).

Above L to R: Lizard King and DJ Chavez. Photo: Tom Morin

Here's a full rundown of the winners:

Best Rookie
Brandon Westgate

Best Video Part
Grant Taylor

Best Team
Flip

Best Street
Chris Cole

Best Video
Extremely Sorry

TWS Readers' Choice
Lizard King

TWS Legend
Matt Hensley