Bucky Lasek wins one

I had the honor of standing next to an awe-struck Steve Caballero to watch today’s Skate Vert Finals. In between his oohs and ahs as he went nuts over each consecutive performance, he looked at me and said, “It’s come a long way, man.” Indeed.

Bucky Lasek’s first round score of 91.75 put him in the lead heading into round two, and held strong to give him his first win on this Dew Tour. Lasek, the returning 2005 Dew Tour champion, was the overall points leader coming into this event but had yet to place higher than second in previous events. His winning run included a nollie heelflip to fakie, a frontside heelflip gay twist, and a huge frontside Caballaerial – a tribute nod to the local legend that was respectfully made by nearly every skater here at some point during the Toyota Challenge Prelims and Finals.

Lasek’s win didn’t come easy: 2nd and 3rd place finishers Sandro Dias and Bob Burnquist were skating at the top of their game, and some of the skaters further down the list were skating better than we’ve seen all summer: Rune Glifberg, Tas Pappas, Lincoln Ueda and Mathias Ringstrom each had runs that might have put them in the top three if they’d each held on for one more second. In a contest this close, the difference between 44 and 45 seconds of quality skateboarding is huge.

After the contest, Burnquist – who limped into the Toyota Challenge with a cane and a broken toe – made several just-barely 900 attempts. He was having more difficulty walking up the stairs to the roll in deck than he was attempting the trick! He one-footed two landings before giving up and heading in for painkillers.

After the contest I had time to ask Steve Caballero one quick question to sum up his reaction to the contest: Cab was a hero of mine when I started skating back in the 80s, and I wanted to know what he thought the 80s version of himself would have been most surprised about by the state of skateboarding, circa 2006.

“I’m so impressed by the tricks – I never imagined that the progression of the sport would go so far,” said Caballero.

“Back in the 1980s it felt like it had peaked, and there was nothing much you could do afterwards. But with years gone by, it’s proven that the sport keeps progressing further and further. It goes to show you: keep an open mind and stay positive, and don’t limit yourself as far as thinking anything is impossible. That’s the lesson you have to take from watching guys like these. The guys who keep their minds fresh, try new things, and take risks are the guys who are progressing the sport. Bucky, Sandro, Bob, and the rest of these guys deserve everything they’ve got coming to them.”

Lasek now leads in the overall points race, with 313 points heading into the Playstation Pro, the final Dew Tour stop next month in Orlando. To shake things up, Sandro Dias would need to win in Orlando, with Lasek in 4th place or lower. Otherwise, Lasek will be adding to his collection of Toyotas and drinking from the Dew Cup.