On Sunday, Torey Pudwill beat out Chaz Ortiz, Sean Malto, and the rest of skateboarding's elite to claim his first Tampa Pro title at the famous Skatepark of Tampa.

As impressive as Pudwill's ability to land the big tricks all contest long was, an even more impressive display of perseverance came from 23-year-old Brazilian skateboarder Italo Romano. He qualified 19 out of 77, ahead of skateboarding's brightest stars, such as Ryan Scheckler and Manny Santiago, earning himself a spot in the finals.

The accomplishment is perhaps most notable for his ability to compete alongside the world's best without the use of his legs. As a teenager, his legs were amputated after an accident where he tried to balance between train carriages.

Romano shows determination to never allow the loss of his legs to get in the way of his dreams. As he recently stated, "Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it."

Video of Romano's qualifying run:

Rob Dyrdek's Street League, the premiere skateboarding tour, is back for a third season, with new dates, locations, qualifying system and an increased prize purse.



"Our goal is to continue to refine the series and make it better year after year," Dyrdek recently stated.

For better or worse, Street League has emerged as the professional tour for skateboarding, with live national telecasts and a competition format modeled after traditional sports.

But can it be considered a legitimate professional tour when the best skateboarder of the season doesn't win the championship?

In 2011, Nyjah Huston was unbeatable-- dominating the first three contests. But it was Sean Malto who earned the title as Street League champion when he won the winner-take-all championship at the fourth and final event in New Jersey.

If this format were used for professional surfing, for instance, Kieren Perrow would've won in 2011 for his victory at the Pipe Masters-- surfing's final and most prestigious event-- instead of Kelly Slater. Same goes for the 2012 Supercross season. It would be James Stewart and not Ryan Villopoto winning the title, since Stewart won Daytona, the biggest event on the tour.

In some ways, Street League's championship is comparable to the playoff system in many mainstream sports where the regular season serves as a qualifier and the championship event as the playoffs. With a playoff system, the most dominant team doesn't always win. Instead, it's the team that gets hot at the right time.

It's arguable which format produces a true champion. But for now, this is what skateboarding has going, and it appears to working for them.

In order to celebrate the 40th anniversary edition of the album L.A. Woman, The Doors released a music video to the title track, featuring pro skateboarders Kenny Anderson, Alex Olson and Braydon Szafranski skating the streets of L.A.

The original band's drummer, John Densmore, and guitarist, Robby Krieger, make cameos as the guys skate past prominent locations that figure into the band's career such as the sidewalks in front of the Hollywood Bowl, the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, and the street artist Gronk's mural of Jim Morrison in Venice.

According to the L.A. Times this is the first time an authorized edit of the song has been released.



Kenny Anderson was so pumped to participate in the remake of the music video that he produced a clip entitled, "Top 5 Things About Being in the Doors 'L.A. Women' Video."

The latest bird's-eye-view skate clip making its rounds on the web captures Brett Sube, Danny Supra, and Manny Santiago skating the streets of downtown Los Angeles from the perspective of a remote-controlled helicopter.

Along with the launch of their new website, Quintin Co.'s Brand Manager, Brett Wiley, wanted to develop a unique skate edit entitled Heli-Attack. Wiley commented, "We've seem a bunch of clips shot from an RC Helicopter, but never did we see anything as cool as skating through the streets of LA."



Whether or not you need permits to fly in the city, Ivan Pancinko of RC Aerial just went for it. "In some situations we need to get permits," said Pancinko. "But we did this one guerrilla style. It was a last minute run-and-gun shoot."

Skateboarder Manny Santiago was amped to film with the new gadget, stating, "I'm a little kid at heart, so remote controlled cars and helicopters are dope. I was fascinated by how they control the helicopter and camera at the same time. I was blown away. The clip came out way better than I thought."

Every Tuesday Skateboarder Mag delivers 25 quick-hitting questions to a member of the skateboard community. This week they sat down with Louie Lopez from Hawthorne, CA. The 16-year-old's outlook is reminiscent of skating's golden age, when the emphasis was purely on the fun of skateboarding.

Kickflip
Photo: John Bradford

1. Warm up trick:
Impossible

2. Recent video part:
Grant Taylor SB Chronicles

3. Thing about Flip:
Flip is like one big family. Everyone has each other's back.

4. Meal:
Any of my grandma's (Lita) homemade Guatemalan food.

5. Place to travel to:
I really want to go to Australia. I have heard that there is nothing but good times and good vibes out there.



6. Curren Caples story:
Too lazy to go to the bathroom right next to his bedroom, so he decides to shit out of his bedroom window.

7. Thing about being homeschooled:
It has it's pros and cons but one thing that sucks is it is definitely harder to get chicks. Haha.

8. iPhone app:
Instagram/ Temple Run

9. Rapper:
BIGGIE

10. Book:
Wait for the movie.

Questions 11-25