Caballero was a cool guy. Talking about everything from the legends vert jam session, to the Olympics, to God.
He also said the reason he got into skating was because skating presented a challenge to him.
"I looked at it as something challenging for my life and it's still a challenge," he said. "And now it's even more of challenge because your body doesn't heel as quick, your timing is a bit off, you're a little bit slower, your not as flexible, so it's even more of a challenge now."
"I think the more these guys (pointing to the participant in the skateboard men's vert competition) see us skating, and doing tricks, it's going to give them some inspiration and motivation to say 'hey, my career isn't just a short span' but (have) longevity in this career if (they) make decision and choices. Life is a choice, nothings a chance."
"It's retty rad how God has blessed me with this gifts and talents to make a name for myself and do something for the sport and do something positive that kids enjoy. I just want to give back to God and share my life and share what he's done in my life and show people what love is all about."
Skateboard legend Steve Caballero is under the impression that the same people that watch the Olympics are watching the X Games.
Following the legend vert jam session, Caballero, 43, was asked about his thoughts on skateboarding being an Olympic sport. He said it's great that its under consideration, but ...
"I think the X Games is just as big as the Olympics, to tell you the truth. Who doesn't watch the X Games?," Caballero said. "You telling me people that watch the Olympics don't watch the X-Games?"
Ah, yeah!
"You know the parents are watching the X Games because the kids are watching it," he added.
Well, that might be true, but no way are X Games getting the same numbers as the Olympics. But, the again, who am I to argue with a man guy who had a shoe named after him
The crowd here at the Home Depot Center is much lighter than it was yesterday. The limited slate probably has a lot to do with that, as does the absence of Moto X. Rally should be fun, but the only big draw today is the skateboard vert -- both legends and the regular finals.
Jaime and I split up as the legends event was about to end. He went to the VIP section, while I stayed in the media pen to make sure we got the riders if they went to one or the other. Most went to the VIP section, and when I went over there to meet Jaime it was packed. So packed that they wouldn't let anyone else in. It wasn't a big deal for me because Jaime was already there, but I felt bad for the fans who bought VIP passes and then couldn't get into the special section for the event they wanted to most. Kinda stinks.
Anyway, the workers are preparing the track for rally here within the soccer stadium, and the ramp looks nice and scary. I'll be interested to see how many fans we have in the stadium -- i.e., do a lot of fans just leave after the vert or do they stick around for the rally cars? I'm not sure on that, so we'll have to wait and see.
This rally car course is a lot different than last year, at least the section inside the stadium that I can see. There's a 70-foot ramp-to-ramp jump in the middle of the field. The cars start side by side on the infield and then turn in opposition directions. They then perform a figure eight, as one car jumps over the other as it speeds between the ramps. They then head out of the stadium to the street section.
The possibility of a spectacular crash is quite great if a car does not clear the jump, as it will implant into the side the dirt bank on the landing ramp. I could even envision a car stalling as it heads into the jump and lands on the car speeding through the ramps.
Last year, they just did single runs and had one ramp-to-flats jump, and even that little obstacle caused a car to roll over.
I noticed the cameramen working the infield are wearing reflective vests today. I can't remember if they wore them last year, when one almost got run over in the rally, but they weren't last night, when another got hit by the back tire of a motorcycle during the Moto X freestyle competition and left on a stretcher. I hope these guys are getting hazard pay.
Moto X freestyle put on another good show. The only person carried away on a stretcher was that ESPN cameraman. Nate Adams, who came in second, wasn't a big fan of the new format, which consisted of two-man semifinals, followed by a two-man final.
"The only thing that's not good about it is the pairing up, it can be really lopsided,'' he said. "Someone who has the ability to win can go out in the first round.''
The last few years, there were four or five riders in the final and each took two rounds with the best score counting as their total. I can remember a couple times the last rider clinched the victory before he had to take his second run, so he took it easy and didn't risk injury. Travis Pastrana was in first place last year and didn't make his last run after claiming he slipped and hurt his knee (yeah, right).
Tonight's competition revealed a flaw in the format, however. Jeremy Lusk had a bad crash in his semifinal against eventual winner Adam Jones, landing on his front tire, going over the bars and then getting squashed by his Yamaha. He was too hurt to finish his round and so he got a very beatable score for Jones, who followed. Jones still did his planned run, he just wasn't under as much pressure.
So Barry Bonds hit No. 755 on the same night Simon Tabron did back-to-back 900s. I'd say Bonds' achievement is better, but that's debatable for, well, several reasons.
Anyway, we had a great day here on the Moto X courses inside the soccer stadium and outside with the BMX vert and freestyle park competitions. The guys looked like they wanted to impress, and I think they did. Having Ricky Carmichael win was nice, but it was also good to see guys like Scotty Cranmer and Kevin Robinson and Daniel Dhers and Dave Mirra perform so well.
Jaime just told me that he saw a kid rip an exit sign from the wall in the hallway on the VIP lounge level. Cool, I guess.
Ricky Carmichael might not race in Moto X on any regular basis, but he still can leave everyone in the dust. Carmichael used a tremendous first run to speed out to the lead and never looked back. Carmichael took a four-second lead by the 10th lap and just cruised to the victory.
Carmichael, who is with Dale Earnhardt Incorporated (unlike, well, Little E), has been moving toward the stock car racing in a small-time role with big-time hype. Carmichael looked like he never moved into a doored car and out of the freedom of bikes tonight. It was a great sight, seeing him whip the back of his bike around in joy for the entirety of the last lap.
Victoria Beckham and kids were at the X Games. Which is no surprise to me, the Beckhams have been everywhere in L.A. since arriving.
I spotted the Beckhams coming back to the press box from the BMX vert finals competition.
Their car, a black SUV (probably David's Escalade) was pulled up to the front of the X Fest entrance and Beckham and kids (I spotted at least two, but I would imagine all three were there) were getting into the car. What drew my attention was that there was about six HDC security guards, one other person who looked like personal security and about 20 people snapping pictures with camera phones around the car.
At first I didn't know it was Beckham, but I told Ken Fowler that I thought it was Beckham. I was just joking, though.
Then I spot Victoria Beckham's blonde-doo through the rear window and knew it was her.
The personal security guard told the lookie-loos to please go away, that Ms. Beckham had done enough photos and the crowd began to disperse.
I know a lot of you are thinking "who cares?" -- I'm going "who cares?" -- but I bet a great majority of the people reading this blog, at some point while reading it, said, "that's cool" and nodded their heads.
I feel bad for those people that nodded their heads, though.
Had the privilege of listening to Catfish again. The thing is, Catfish’s partner, Paul Roberts, is pretty good. I guess the biggest problem I have is that the two guys act as if the relatively customary tricks are unheard of. The entire atmosphere then becomes forced and fake. I think the best way to explain it is as a manufactured atmosphere. Most of the fans here aren’t knowledgeable enough to realize which moves are special and which ones are not, but I doubt ESPN wants to admit it. Thirteen years into the event and no one really understands the technical moves? Not a good thought.
Some of the "better" lines by the announcers:
“That is one of the hardest tricks to perform on vert in the world!” “We’re about to go live to the world, Los Angeles. This is where we need you to go bananas!” “Keep it up, Los Angeles, you’re all going to be on television live. Let’s get crazy! It’s X Games 13.” “Jimmy Walker has taken care of business!” (He got a whopping 85.00 on that run.)
I spoke with Bucky Lasek earlier, and he told me he thinks most of the fans do appreciate the incredibly technical nature of skateboarding on the vert. I asked him if he worried that people were just tuning in for the crashes. He said he wasn’t, but that he thinks people who did back in 1995, 1996 and 1997 have grown to appreciate the finer points in the sport. I’m pretty sure that’s a bit of a stretch.
The only big applauses come when the announcers beg the crowd, and it’s rare to find a even a decent-sized cheer without prompting by the P.A. system. The only exception was Simon Tabron’s alley-oop 900. But, then again, it’s a lot easier to recognize massive spinning than it is to see difficult maneuvering of the handle bars.
Jake Brown, otherwise known as "that guy who who took that scary spill" earlier this week at X Games, made a superstar entrance into the Home Depot Center during the Moto X racing qualifiers.
The crowd gave Brown a standing ovation as he walked, with the aide of a cane, to where ESPN's Sal Masekela was waiting to interview him. The interview got off to a rocky start as the audio went awry just as Brown uttered his first words. When the audio came back the crowd cheered as they were about to hear Brown speak for the first time since his 45-foot drop on Thursday.
The clip of his fall was shown on the big screen and the crowd reacted as if it had seen it for the first time. Saying "whoa" when Brown was shown falling backwards and "ouch" when he hits the ground and his shoes fly off.
Masekela asked Brown if he was done skating or if he would ever compete in the X Games again?
"I can't wait to comeback," Brown said.
The crowd went crazy. I went crazy. Brown, pimp-cane and all, went crazy, also.
Dan Arritt (center), Times writer and O.C. native, has covered high school, college, the X Games and professional sports ranging from football to surfing in his two decades with The Times.
Jaime Cardenas (left), a Times intern and San Diego native who grew up in Tijuana with a passion for sports and writing, is a recent graduate of Cal State Fullerton. He has covered the World Baseball Classic, soccer's Gold Cup and junior college and high school sports.
Ken Fowler, a Times intern and Long Island, N.Y., native who attends the University of Notre Dame, has covered Notre Dame football since 2005 as well as women's basketball, college soccer, fencing and, most recently, the Galaxy (the soccer team, not our part of the universe).
Jaime Cardenas (left), a Times intern and San Diego native who grew up in Tijuana with a passion for sports and writing, is a recent graduate of Cal State Fullerton. He has covered the World Baseball Classic, soccer's Gold Cup and junior college and high school sports.
Ken Fowler, a Times intern and Long Island, N.Y., native who attends the University of Notre Dame, has covered Notre Dame football since 2005 as well as women's basketball, college soccer, fencing and, most recently, the Galaxy (the soccer team, not our part of the universe).