First, recruit a legit selection committee to handle who is invited. Names like: Rowley, Cole, Ellington, Stratton, Gavin, etc. They know skateboarding, they know skateboarders and they know who should get the invite. There is a complete list of invitees at the bottom. After the original 36 riders were selected the Maloofs gave you, the people, a chance to vote in the 13 riders you felt were left out, and that list is at the bottom, as well.
Next, enlist the help of a few familiar names to make sure the course is unreal. The street setup was designed by Geoff Rowley and Joe Ciaglia with assistance from pro skaters: Lance Mountain, Erik Ellington and Braydon Szafranski. Like last year, the course will feature replicated famous skate spots from around the world. And that's that, feast your eyes on this:
Key:
1. Monster Roof Gap - Los Angeles, CA
2. Zoo York Brick Banks - New York
3. Pier 7 - San Francisco, CA
4. 3-Up-3-Down - San Francisco, CA
5. Spain Ledge - Barcelona, Spain
6. Bank-To-Ledge - Reno, NV
7. LA Corner Ledge - Los Angeles, CA
8. TWS Bump-To-Picnic Table - Upland, CA
9. 6-Stair Handrail - UC Irvine
10. Rincon Middle School - Escondido, CA
Now, on to the vert setup, and once again the Maloofs involved the right people. The 2009 Carl's Jr. vert ramp was conceived by Bob Burnquist, Jake Brown (remember him, he free fell 5 stories at the X Games a few years ago) and last year's winner, Pierre Luc Gagon. The result:
Finally, and probably the most important aspect of making sure the right people show up, the money. The Maloofs have once again forked over the largest purse in skateboarding, $450,000. The winner of street will get $100,000, the vert winner will get $75,000, the women's street winner will get $25,000 and the other $250,000 will be divided up amongst the top ten of each category.
This is all set to start Friday, July 10 and run through Sunday, July 12 at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA. Like last year, it will be a jam format, which puts less pressure on the skaters, since they don't have to string together a run. They can try the same move over and over again, which guarantees your going to see the best that skateboarding has to offer go down. Also, there will be a festival village with some of the biggest brands in skateboarding giving out products and holding autograph signings. As well, as the Maloof Money Cup models strutting their stuff around the setup.
Here is a little clip of what is about to go down if we all lived in a video game:
Here is a complete list of the competitors:
Men's StreetTop 36
Mark Appleyard
Brian Anderson
Zered Bassett
Silas Baxter Neal
Brandon Biebel
Dennis Busenitz
Mike Mo Capaldi
Mike Carroll
Chris Cole
Nick Dompierre
Corey Duffel
Jake Duncombe
Erik Ellington
Chris Haslam
Bryan Herman
Nyjah Huston
Stefan Janoski
Marc Johnson
Josh Kalis
Terry Kennedy
Heath Kirchart
Eric Koston
Greg Lutzka
Sean Malto
Alex Olson
Chaz Ortiz
Peter Ramondetta
Andrew Reynolds
Paul Rodriguez
Jereme Rogers
Leo Romero
Geoff Rowley
Omar Salazar
Ryan Sheckler
Darrell Stanton
Braydon Szafranski
Street Wildcard Winners:
Adam Dyet
Bobby Worrest
Brandon Westgate
David Gonzales
Kurtis Colamonico
Lizard King
Mike Vallely
Mikey Taylor
Billy Marks
Rodrigo TX
Spanky
Stevie Williams
Tony Trujillo
Street Alternates
Pete Eldridge
Sierra Fellers
Nick Trapasso
Danny Cerezini
Vert Top 22
Pierre Luc Gagnon
Shaun White
Bucky Lasek
Danny Mayer
Sandro Dias
Andy Macdonald
Bob Burnquist
Lincoln Ueda
Omar Hassan
Buster Halterman
Rune Glifberg
Darren Navarrette
Rodrigo Menezes
Rob Lorifice
Jake Brown
Adam Taylor
Marcelo Bastos
Danny Way
Colin McKay
Renton Millar
Juergen Horwath
Alex Perelson
Women's Street Top 12
Abisha Alshebaiki
Lacey Baker
Evelien Bouilliart
Leticia Bufoni
Amy Caron
Marisa Dal Santo
Tamara Drybrough
Lorena Lima
Lauren Perkins
Rachel Reinhard
Elissa Steamer
Vanessa Torres
For more on the Maloof Money Cup click here.
