Some Street League Photos And What They Think About SLS KC!

Wow, the 9 Club got a lot more crowded in KC.

At the Nike SB World Tour’s first stop of the year in Kansas City, everything came together perfectly: the crowd was hyped; the world’s most elite skaters stepped up; the course was bananas; the webcast was the best of any live event; and the new SLS On Demand feature dropped, offering instant replays of every trick, every run, everything. In fact, with the advent of the incredible SLS On Demand feature, we can keep this recap almost as brief as Ishod Wair’s shorts. Well, not that short.

All kidding aside, if you love skateboarding, you gotta love the way the KC event unfolded. With an all-time display of 9 Club tricks, this was a banger of a contest.

That is, unless you’re Sean Malto. He was on his game all the way to the Final 8, and even threw on a fresh new jersey with his name across the back—repping the KC Chiefs in red and yellow. The crowd was ready to give their all for the hometown hero. And that’s when the wheels fell off—literally. Rolling to his first trick of his first run of the Finals, it looked like his kingpin broke. In fact, a loose kingpin nut came off his truck, sending his axle rolling the other way—simply a careless mistake setting up your board, and it can’t be blamed on anyone but himself. (Who else adjusts the tightness of your trucks?) In any case, Malto’s first run was clipped off before it got going. And when everyone else in the Finals nailed their first run, Malto was left behind the eight-ball. Malto’s show for the home crowd and shot at $100,000 bucks, all lost to one loose kingpin nut. That’s a tough, um, pill to swallow.

EVERY TIME SOMEONE STEPS UP TO HIS LEVEL, NYJAH TAKES IT UP TO YET ANOTHER LEVEL.

For the other pros, this was a day to remember, and a few skaters looked sharper than the rest. Dylan Rieder was on fire all day, skating to his first Finals and putting on a stylish display of power and pop. Nyjah Huston was, well, himself. The kid has not looked beatable and he may not be, because every time someone steps up to his level, Nyjah takes it up to yet another level. But on this day Chris Cole seemed up to the challenge.
Flow Section: Chris Cole & Dylan Rieder Emerge; P-Rod & Nyjah Simmer

After a doozy of a Prelim, the Final 8 set it off in the Flow Section. Dylan Rieder, skating his first SLS Final, skated flawlessly, with a Smith grind up the rail along the hip, a clean backside lipslide down the kinked rail, and serious pop on his nollie flips. Luan cranked up the level of difficulty from his Prelim runs by adding tricks like a switch 360 flip over the center bump-to-bump, a switch 270 to frontside boardslide on the handrail, and a switch frontside flip down the small double-set. Nyjah was also flaring pretty hard, with a gap to backside lipslide on the double-set rail and a kickflip to frontside bluntslide on the handrail. Paul Rodriguez looked a little tentative all day, but was still dropping tricks like a switch backside tailslide on the kinked rail and a switch kickflip backside lipslide on the handrail. Unbelievable what these guys can do in a run…

The skater who looked the best, though, was Chris Cole. He had a great run that combo’d tricks that complemented each other: a backside 360 ollie to lipslide down the rail, into a frontside 360 ollie over the hip; after that, a backside bluntslide down the long and low Hubba into a frontside bluntslide on a ledge. In the Flow Section, Cole definitely had the most flow, including a switch frontside 360 kickflip to ice the cake on his second run.
Control Section: The Favorites Heat Up and Drop Nines

The KC course’s design seemed geared toward technical skaters. But in the Control Section, an interesting mix of power and tech skating began to emerge, and 9 Club scores started poppin’ off. P-Rod started it off with a switch flip to backside tailslide down the kinked rail for a very high score of 9.4. (After the Barcelona debacle, check the replay at SLS On Demand and ask yourself: Do the judges overscore all of P-Rod’s switch backside tailslides?)

Chris Cole continued to make the most difficult tricks look too easy. After warming up on a casual Cab to frontside railslide on the handrail, he went and dropped a 9.1 with a stunning frontside bluntslide to kickflip out on the same handrail. Not to be outdone, along came Nyjah with a nollie heelflip frontside noseslide down the same rail for a 9.0.

Among all the nines, Dylan Rieder pulled some impressive, high-speed power moves, like a frontside railslide and then a Smith grind on the up-and-down rail on the hip. Tom Asta also made a creative impression with a fakie ollie into switch frontside feeble grind on the handrail.
Impact Section: Tech Vs. Big in a Parade of Nines

Coming into the Impact Section, the top four skaters were separated by only a few measly points. It was anyone’s game and, once again, a fierce Impact Section would determine the first-place check for $100,000. It was tech versus big, blow for blow, as the lead changed hands until the very end.

P-Rod again stood out, as much for his tentative and studied approach as his amazing tricks. His nollie flip crooked grind down the Hubba was expected, but his switch backside tailslide to bigspin out must be respected. Sitting on that trick isn’t easy, and neither is the exit. The judges clearly love Paul’s switch backside tailslides, and gave him a 9.0 for it.

Luan seemed strong heading in, but fell off the pace in the Impact Section (as he’s done in the past). He still managed to leap the long double-set with a very slick frontside 180 kickflip for a 9.2.

Dylan was still going strong, and letting it fly down the gap to double-set rail. He leaped the flat section onto the down-rail with a lipslide, frontside Smith grind, backside lipslide, and impressed everyone with a backside Smith grind for a 9.3.

DYLAN WAS STILL GOING STRONG, AND LETTING IT FLY DOWN THE GAP TO DOUBLE-SET RAIL.

Chris Cole was still making it all look too easy as he again increased the difficulty of his tricks. C0le flew over the gap onto the double-set rail with a noseblunt, garnering a 9.0. Mixing in his tech finesse, Cole got a 9.5 for a half-Cab noseflide to nollie 270 heelflip out on the Hubba.

Then there was Nyjah. While some got tech, he just went bigger and bigger, and so did his scores. He started with a kickflip to frontside board out onto the double-set rail for a 9.1. After that, a kickflip out to backside lipslide for a 9.5, followed by an ollie out to frontside nosegrind for 8.1. Tired of gapping it, he sat on a nollie crooked grind through the kinks on the double-set rail for 8.9. Then after outskating everyone in the Impact Section, and with first place in his pocket, Nyjah topped it off with a victory-lap trick for the crowd, gapping the rail to backside noseblunt for 9.8!

Nyjah is looking more and more unbeatable this year, as he’s now three-for-three on the 2013 Nike SB World Tour. Need more proof? His Average Scored Trick (AST) in the Impact Section was 9.2. Nyjah’s average is so high that most pros in SLS have never achieved a score that high once. Think about that.

NYJAH’S AVERAGE IS SO HIGH THAT MOST PROS IN SLS HAVE NEVER ACHIEVED A SCORE THAT HIGH EVEN ONCE.

His contest results are incontestable. In fact, you could argue that Nyjah is skating at a level never before seen in the history of skateboarding. Enjoy the show.

Other notes:
•   Shane O’Neill. Who? What happened? The course seemed tailored to the tech skills of the jovial Aussie, but he flopped around the course instead of flipping in and out of tricks, and didn’t even get to the Finals. Thankfully he more than found his feet in the #DiamondLife Afterparty.
•   Tommy Sandoval, despite whining about the course, notched his first 9 Club on a huge frontside flip down the long double-set.
•   The brain behind Skate Safari Tours, Dick McTrickle, hilariously revealed himself (and he looks a lot like Blake from Workaholics).