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The Coveted 10 Club

5/26/2019

Photo by Jonathan Hoxmark on Unsplash

So, it's only been about 12 hours since the Men's Street League Finals results and I just had a thought.

Will we ever see a perfect score of 10?

There were plenty of 9's being tossed around today and mostly on the men's side unfortunately, but still...plenty to go around for many. Basically, if you tried hard enough you could have scored a 9 in this contest. Now, that's not saying that the score wasn't worthy or that there is some questionable scoring going on, but there were a decent amount again today.

I decided to go to the Street League website and do some more research. As of today, the highest score ever is a 9.9. A 9.9! And you can probably guess who was able to get that score. It's actually two riders and you guessed them right; Nyjah Huston and Shane O'Neill. A nine point freaking nine.

Here are the trick breakdowns for the 9.9's:

Shane O'Neill - Switch Double 360 Kickflip
Nyjah Huston - Backside 270 Noseblunt

And we can even break it down even more on the 9.8 scores. And yes, you guessed the right riders again; Shane O'Neill and Nyjah Huson. You're getting good at this!

Here are the trick breakdowns for the 9.8's:

Shane O'Neill - Switch Double 360 Kickflip
Nyjah Huston - Gap to Backside Noseblunt
Nyjah Huston - Full-cab Kickflip to Backside Lipside

So I'll ask again. Do you think we'll ever see a perfect score of 10?

If so, what trick do you think it might be? Or what trick will have to be?

Which rider do you think will pull it off? Nyjah? Shane? Yuto? Leticia? None of the above?

These are actually really good questions (humble brag not intended) as I honestly don't know if we'll see it anytime soon. Only because we have gotten so used to seeing 9 Club tricks that we've almost become desensitized to them. Or maybe I just have. Fans have grown to expect seeing 9's.

I always try and judge along with contests and see if I would score the same or similar scores. Sometimes I have been close. Others I was off by a point or two. However, when I did see the 9 Club tricks today it just didn't give me that same feeling as before.

So as I wrap up this post I truly do not know if we'll ever see the coveted 10 Club score anytime soon. But then again, we might. Either way it'll have to be a trick that is so damn good that I stand up from my seat and scream, "That's f*cking 10!" and yes that will have to be verbatim.

In the meantime, I'm going to continue to score along with the judges who obviously get paid to score, as I am just some random blogger and podcast host chiming in.

Will a Kickflip backside 270 to Bluntside seal the deal? It just might.

I do think that it'll have to be perfectly executed trick and all bolts. It can't have a whiff of sketchiness to it at all. It literally has to be absolute perfection and I just don't think that will happen anytime soon.

Let's talk. Post your comments below.:

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We Need to Have a Board Meeting

5/15/2019

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Photo by Benjamin Child on Unsplash

Today was the day we finally got to hear about Shane O'Neill's board company, April Skateboards. He had originally announced his departure from Primitive Skateboarding way back in June, 2018 and has been riding blank decks in the meantime. So after almost a year the time has come.

I had been waiting anxiously and even mentioned it on the podcast. We were all waiting to find out what was next from the tech wizard, but he seemed to have his eyes set on May, 2019 for his launch.

I was so excited to finally see some footage of the new crew. Congrats to Yuto as well -- it's about time damn it. However, my excitement was short-lived. Something dawned on me.

Do we have too many board companies now?

Photo by Mike Petrucci on Unsplash

Are there too many options these days?

Or does it just seem that way?

How can the little guys survive?

In the past few years we've had Roller Horror, Dugout, All I Need, Street Plant, New Deal (back from the dead), Visit, Brainchild and now April launch board companies. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm having more and more trouble deciding who to go with these days?

I have been riding Element boards for the longest time and recently switched to Street Plant. I wanted to break away from the standard popsicle shape for a change. It's been a fun ride so far. Nevertheless, I was almost overwhelmed with the decision. And I'm not on any flow or anything so I pay full price and my decision has to be a wise one.

Oh, and notice how I am only talking about skateboards. There are so many damn gear and clothing options out there that's a whole other blog post in itself. It's almost getting out of hand.

Maybe it just feels like there are too many board companies these days as social media seems to be more in-your-face than having to wait weeks or months to READ about a launch in Thrasher or Transworld (RIP print edition). Or maybe the industry is right where it needs to be?

These riders work hard to make a name for themselves and have the right to spinoff and launch their own brand. This, in turn, helps keep the big brands in check too with the threat of one of their well-known riders leaving for the latest and greatest brand. In a way there does seem to be enough talent to go around. And not just locally. I'm talking global talent is in full force. So there is that.

I guess what I am trying to say is at what point will it be oversaturated? Are we already there? Or will it never happen?

Curious to hear your thoughts.

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The Coveted 10 Club

We Need to Have a Board Meeting

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