Re-Match!
Golden State Championship Game day! Malibu High vs. Carpenteria High.
A rematch of last year’s nail biter when Kokoro Tamatsuri won The Game, getting an 8 point ride with 1 second remaining.
Conner Coffin, Carp’s version of a Lebron James, was home sick as a dog. Carpenteria would have to dig deep to win today.
Malibu won the toss, and took the top of the order. Skylar Lawson the freshman sub gets put in the game with 30 seconds left in the first period and comes up huge with a 7.0 score! And throws a fist pump! Hahaha awesome! This is the stuff I was thinking of when I wrote the rulebook. 7’s were not easy to come by either as the judging panel was led by 3 time World Champion Tom Curren.
Chandler Parr, the lone girl in The Game, went big with a 6.0. The goofy-footed Parr ripped the hell out of a left with three solid turns. Impressive but not unexpected, as she was MVP yesterday, a first in NSL history.
Malibu posted a whopping 24 points in the first period and never looked back. The coaching was on point today with the team of Rich Lawson (football and golf coach) and Pascal Stansfield, LA Arc Angels pro surfer.
Conrad Carr was totally dominant today. This was Conrad’s 3rd year playing the Game and his experience and ability to perform under pressure gives him a serious future if he wants it. I think Conrad had a 24.5 point Game.
The big story today was Skylar Lawson. He was again subbed into the Game in the 3rd period and came up with another blitzing 7. He was awarded MVP today. It is the first time in NSL history a sub won this award and the first time a freshman has won it too! Wow!
Malibu is off to the National Championships at Upper Trestles June 6-7. With some rhythm! MTV2 will be following the Malibu Sharks in their daily lives for an upcoming 6 show series.
Thanks to: Red Bull! Allisports.com! Outdoor event specialist! Yeah
Dante, Shane, and Sin! Dave Letinsky and Mr. Tamatsuri for coaching
Santa Barbara!
And to all the pro’s that helped out this week in Ventura.
Ventura Pelicanos: Tom Curren, Nate Curran, Timmy Curran, Adam Virs,
Sean Hayes, Matt and Mike McCabe, Parker Coffin.
LA Arc Angels: Pascal Stansfield, Justin Swartz, Shaun Burrell, Jamie
Meistrall, Greg Browning.
San Diego Sea Lions: Zach Keenan, Jeremy Sherwin.
OC Octopus: Micah Byrne, Jesse Evans.
Here’s to bringing the pro games back!!! We should make bumper
sticker’s that say “honk if you want the Cali Cup back” hahahaha!
See ya in Florida next week for stop 3 of the Red Bull Riders Cup.
Tommy’s In!
So Tommy called me back and said yes, he’ll come down and judge! So stoked on that! Everyone loves and respects Tom. He is one of surfing’s all time greats, so many people including myself have been influenced by his surfing genius. It’s an honor to have him judge the Red Bull Riders Cup and legitimizes our competition as the real deal. Pro surfers Micah Byrne and Jesse Evans are the other two judges. This is a top notch judging panel for any event, including the World Tour. NSL’s stance is that a judge must have the ability to surf at a pro level in order to really understand how critical good surfing is. In our 150 plus Game history we have had some very close Games, but we have never had a team that deserves to win end up losing.
We also believe that a score can be debated. That’s why we also have professional surfers as Referee’s. Here in Ventura Jeremy Sherwin and Justin Swartz stand next to the coaches during the game to call timeouts, sub in players, or refute scores. These coaches, who are pro surfers themselves, must be talking with a respected peer or this referee situation would not work. The Ref’s are in walkie talkie communication with the head judge, so if the Ref doesn’t like the score he communicates it with the head judge or game director (pro surfer as well). This sometimes helps the head judge plead his case with the judges who may be a little off.
The Game format has checks and balances. That is why it works so well.
Off to Ventura
I called Tom Curren to judge as I figured there is nobody more qualified than him. Left him a message. He judged the 3 Golden State Regional Games held in Ventura last year and knows The Game format well. He was on the Ventura Pelicanos in ‘04 and ‘05, won a gold medal at the X-Games in ‘06 with the West Team, and was in Brazil last November to go up against Team Brazil along with Corey Lopez, Shane Beschen, Clay Marzo, and Asher Nolan.
Brazil Game Challenge Video
Check out this video produced by Fabio Eduardo Richner Galli from the 2008 Oi USA vs Brazil Challenge held in Marasias, Brasil.
