Heat, humidity, rain and Cole. That was the 2010 Maloof Money in Cup New York City. For the second time in a row
Chris Cole is $100,000 richer courtesy of Joe and Gavin Maloof. Not to toot my own horn, but if you've read any of my Maloof Money Cup Contender Spotlights, I picked the top three in the exact order. Cole 1st, Paul Rodriguez 2nd and Torey Pudwill 3rd.

Cole absolutely destroyed the course. I've said it once and I'll say it again, "it's a Cole world and we all live in it," the skate world that is. He just lands everything, so tech, yet can go so big...just so good. That's not to say Rodriguez and Pudwill weren't killing it. The two of them were just landing everything, especially Rodriguez. Cole was just able to go a little bigger, which even included two laser flips almost stuck down the replica Brooklyn Banks 9.

On a side note Bastien Salabanzi came out of nowhere and brought home first. I'm off to the VBS.tv after-party, don't judge me I worked all weekend. Here's the full results stay tuned for complete coverage:

1. Chris Cole
2. Paul Rodriguez
3. Torey Pudwill
4. Bastien Salabanzi
5. Sean Malto
6. Sierra Fellers
7. Ryan Decenzo
8. Peter Ramondetta
9. Greg Lutzka
10. David Gonzalez

Well, the first day of the Maloof Money Cup NYC is in the books, and three of my five picks made it through. Due to no fault of my own I may add, because two of my picks were no shows. Nyjah Huston and Ryan Sheckler were M.I.A. Sheckler being among the missing was the talk of the skater lounge because up until the start of the contest he was set to skate, even the guys at Etnies, one of his main sponsors, had no idea he wasn't skating. Word on the street is it has something to do with his manger, and some possible nagging injuries.

Of the guys that did skate the usual suspects shined. Paul Rodriguez, Torey Pudwill and Chris Cole easily qualified for the final 12. Also, a few of my favorite skaters to watch free skate made it trough. Guys who don't normally skate contests like: Caswell Berry, David Gozalez, Bastien Salabanzi and Peter Ramondetta.

In the Best Trick contest my Maloof Money Cup Contender #3, Torey Pudwill, brought home $10,000 with b/s blunt on the wallie ledge weird thing.

Here's the 12 qualifiers that will battle for $100,000:

1. Paul Rodriguez
2. Torey Pudwill
3. Chris Cole
4. Bastien Salabanzi
5. Peter Ramondetta
6. Sean Malto
7. Keegan Sauder
8. Ryan Decenzo
9. Greg Lutzka10. David Gonzalez
11. Caswell Berry
12. Sierra Fellers

It's the fourth edition of the Maloof Money Cup Contender Spotlight here on Grind TV, and the tough decisions have started. The first three were gimmes in my opinion: Chris Cole, Paul Rodriguez and Torey Pudwill. If one of those guys doesn't win either contest, I'm going to be surprised. Although, that's not to say they're aren't plenty of other skaboarders capable of winning: Tommy Sandoval, Najah Huston, Sean Malto, Mike Mo Capaldi, Chaz Ortiz, Greg Lutzka, Peter Romandetta, Keegan Suader, Dennis Busentiz, Leo Romero, Davey Gonzalez, Luan Oliveria and Mark Appleyard.

Who am I going to go with in the 4th contender slot? None of them. And the lucky winner of the forth contender slot goes to...clear your mind and imagine a drum roll. Are you mind drumming yet? Numero quatro is...Ryan Sheckler.

Yup, I'm going to get criticized for this pick by both ends of the skate spectrum. The so-called "core" guys are going to call me sellout and say I don't know anything about "real" skateboarding. Then, the contest crew is going to make the argument of the fact that he hasn't had that many good contest finishes in the past two years. My answer to both sides is you guys know how good Sheckler is. Whether it's winning a contest, or backside flipping El Toro, which he may or may not of done, but let's not forget what Jamie Thomas told Thrasher editor, Jake Phelps. Thomas was a god amongst my generation as far is going big is concerned, and his most talked up godly act is known as The Leap Faith. It goes as follows, you ollie over a handrail and drop two stories. Thomas' board broke and he didn't ride away, but the fact that he came so close, made the feat that of a legend. Later, one poor copy cat made an attempt, broke his leg and the bone ripped through his skin. That said, Thomas told Phelps he thinks Sheckler can not only ollie The Leap of Faith, but kickflip it.

Alright, so back to the Maloof and what it takes to win a contest. Finishing on top is all about having a big bag of tricks that you can consistently land on a diverse range of obstacles. Come on, we all know he has that, he's a skate trick machine. When he's healthy and feeling it he has one of the best and most consistent repertoire in the game. Everyone knows how much of a competitive force Sheckler was a few years back winning Dew Championships, X Games golds and for you "core" guys a Thrasher Bust or Bail contest at a 17 stair handrail. Since all that his winning ways have slowed down , and why? He has had to deal with injuries. A recurring elbow dislocation that slowed him down at the first Maloof, and a broken foot suffered at the 2009 Summer X Games, which sidelined him for a few months, and only days before the injury he had looked pretty unstoppable on his way to winning the first stop of the 2009 Dew Tour in Boston.

Now, Sheckler seems like has made a recovery from his injury, and as competitive as he is I know he is hungry to prove he still has it. He just won a Best Trick contest in China, which wasn't against a very stellar crew, but he did taste victory. And here we are in the midst of Maloof season, a series of contests Sheckler hasn't really shined at. He finished forth at the first Maloof in 08', and fifth in 09'. Now, in 2010 and we have two. Two shots for Sheckler to win what is being called "the biggest contest in skateboarding," that if you don't already know comes with the biggest cash prize $100,000. I'm going to go out on a medium sized limb and say Sheckler may win one Maloof Money Cup this year.

Here's a little video interview with Ryan courtesy of Etnies:

Two years ago was the first Maloof Money Cup, now we have two, and a favorite to win either of them is Paul Rodriguez. At that first Maloof back in 2008, in the midst of the Orange County Fair, he walked away with the biggest first place prize in the history of skateboarding (up until that point); $100,000.

Since then he has won an X Games Street gold and the Tampa Pro, the later being one of the most respected contests in the world amongst core skateboarders. If you've watched any TV lately Rodriguez is in that commercial where they explain where the air in Nike shoes comes from. He's the guy who hard flips the stair set into the tennis court and says what's up to that lovely tennis siren, Maria Sharapova.

Besides a few appearances in the mainstream, he is a pretty low key guy who likes to keep his focus on skateboarding. And when you're as good as he is, why not? I was recently at a major commercial shoot that starred Rodriguez. He was warming up on a hubba, and was just torching the thing with trick after trick, when one of the employees of the company shooting the commercial turned to me and said, "The kid is a technician."

Dictionary.com defines a technician as, a person who is trained or skilled in the technicalities of a subject, and in the subject of skateboarding Paul is about as technical as they come, especially when it comes to switch. At the Tampa Pro half of his winning run was switch or nollie, and at last year's X Games a switch flip and a switch heel down a 12 set are what clinched it for him.

Here's a little bonus definition of "technician" from Dictionary.com for the all the "skateboarding is an art" people, including myself: a person who is skilled in the technique of an art, as music or painting. So, pretty much Rodriguez is one of the masters of the art form of technical skateboarding, and his main medium is switch.

That's not to say he's just a tech guy. P-Rod has it all: great style, the ability to sack up and consistency. It's the combination of all of these things that make him such a competitive force. He can take those extremely complicated tricks he has locked into his muscle memory, do them down and up some pretty big obstacles, and consistently land with style.

The New York City Maloof Money Cup is first, and is made up of replicas of legendary NYC skate spots. The course is going to have a total city feel, kind of like you're on a movie set for a film with scenes at 11 different skate spots. When it comes to skating a city well, which is the ability to find a line and just come up with as many combinations and variations of what you can do in and out of tricks on what you encounter on your path, Paul is one of the best. He did grow up in Los Angeles, if you can call LA a city. Nothing on the course seems like it's going to be overly huge which should play right into his hands, because there are going to be guys like Cole and Sheckler looming, who specialize on the big stuff.

From the looks of the course it seems like P-Rod's skating may just be a perfect fit. If everything comes together and he kills it like his dad, comedian Paul Rodriguez Sr., did the last time a saw him at the Laugh Factory in LA (that joke about how Fairfax Blvd. gets skinnier as you enter Little Ethiopia; classic) he could have $200,000 reasons to really like Joe, Gavin and George Maloof.

Here's some video highlights of $100,000 day two years ago at the first Maloof Money Cup:

Geoff Rowley recently cruised over to the Big Apple to meet up with New York City skate warlord, Steve Rodriguez, to get a little preview of what's set to go down this June in Flushing Meadows, Queens. Meet the course designer, the main man behind the contest, and just get into "A New York State of Mind." Check it out below: