|
Posted on August 12th, 2008 by factor54 | |
Photos by: Toby Sharp..fiatsurf.com


The crew from Monrovia Avenue, rolled in to Rudy’s Newport to kick off summer proper with their “Freaks of the Night” party to blow off some summer steam, honor the company’s local retailers and promote a season chock full of upcoming events. We just wrapped our first Skate film, and our annual “Freaks of the Peak” summer surf series at 54th street is coming in late July. One insane highlight was the epic giveaways F54 was throwing out. Typically it’s just cheap swag. Not this time. Killer giveaways from Oakely, Vestal, Becker, Surfside Sports, Green Room, Main Street Surf Shop, Elm, Pocket Pistol, Indie 103.1, Futures Fins insured everyone took home a prize. All kinds of gear was being passed out to all the rowdy’s in line, so no one went home empty handed.
Thanks to everyone who made it possible…much love to you!!
|
Posted on August 12th, 2008 by factor54 | |
Pro Street Finals
1. Paul Rodriguez took 1st and won $100,000!!!
2. Nyjah Huston grabbed $40,000
3. Chris Cole $25,000
4. Ryan Sheckler $15,000
5. Darrell Stanton $6,250
6. Jereme Rogers $5,000
7. Terry Kennedy $4,000
8. Andrew Reynolds $3,000
9. Greg Lutzka $2,500
10. Dennis Busenitz $2,000

ZUMIEZ BEST TRICK
Lane 1 — Greg Lutzka Frontside-Flip Back Lipslide $2,000
Lane 2 — Jake Duncombe Bluntslide to Back Nose-blunt $2,000
Lane 3 — Greg Lutzka Frontside 270 Kickflip Nose-blunt $2,000
Lane 4 — Leo Romero Frontside Nose-blunt Upledge $2,000
Lane 5 — Nyjah Houston Big Spin Flip to Frontside Boardslide $5,000
VERT
1st — Pierre-Luc Gagnon $75,000, a New Ford Flex SUV and Nixon watch worth $10,000
2nd — Shaun White $35,000
3rd –Bucky Lasek $20,000
4th — Danny Mayer $10,000
5th – Sandro Dias $6,000
6th – Andy MacDonald $5,000
7th — Bob Burnquist $4,000
8th – Lincoln Ueda $3,000
9th – Rodrigo Menenez $2,000
10th — Rob Buster Halterman $1,000

WOMEN’S STREET
1st – Lacey Baker $25,000 and a Nixon watch worth $10,000
2nd – Rachel Reinhard $8,000
3rd — Vanessa Torres $4,000
4th – Elissa Steamer $2,000
5th – Leticia Bufoni $1,500
eS game of SKATE
1. Chris Cole for the second year in a row. $25,000
2. Eric Koston
3. Alex Mizurov
4. Billy Marks
WORLD INDUSTRIES U.S. AMATEUR STREET CHAMPIONSHIPS:
1st – Dustin Blauvelt
2nd – Scott DeCenzo
3rd — Timmy Knuth
4th — Taylor Smith
5th — David Loy
6th — Cody Davis
7th — Evan Smith
8th — Collin Hale

Timmy Knuth
WORLD INDUSTRIES U.S. AMATEUR VERT CHAMPIONSHIPS:
1st — Ronaldo Gomes
2nd — Pedro Barros
3rd — Dylan Taylor
4th — Ben Hatchell
5th — Chris O’Reilly
6th — Nolan Munroe
7th — Zak Miller
8th — Jordan Price
9th — Dalton Dern
10th — Morgan Burgess
F54’s Timmy Knuth wins 7th Annual King of the Park


King of the Park 2008

Oakley, Red Bull and Progressive Skate Park played host to the 7th Annual King of the Park that went down this weekend in the good ole town of Canton, Georgia, just outside Hot-lanta. This year’s event line up consisted of Big A’s Mini Ramp Jam, King of the Park (main event) and the Red Bull Best Trick Contest.
Progressive Skate Park plays host to many great events and takes care of the local skate crews in style, from their sick park set-up to the great hospitality of Mike DeLuca (owner) and his family. Outside the Rolling O Lab was set up for educational tours that the riders, family, regional accounts and visiting crowd could all take part in. Big ups to Frank, Kyle and John for delivering as always with a great set up and providing a fun atmosphere in the Progressive parking lot with a mini-bike, cruiser bike, pogo stick, drinks and motorized skate deck for all to enjoy.
In a set up very similar to the NCAA Division One basketball tournament, 64 of the best (invited) Am skateboards came together to fight for the bragging rights of King of the Park 2008. The contest allowed for double elimination, taking place over a two-day period, with the day one winner Timmy Knuth of Coco Beach, Florida waiting until Sunday afternoon to find out his finals competitor.
As luck or fait would have it local boy Solomon Mosley, or JR as everyone calls him clawed his way back from the losers bracket to make it into the finals against Timmy Knuth. Only a machine like Junior could skate that much in one day. The finals were something straight out of the history books with Solomon having to beat Timmy twice to win the crown, but in the end Junior would run out of gas. But not to give credit where credit isn’t due, Timmy Knuth brought the hammers in his last finals run. Congrats to Timmy and his sponsors – World Skateboard, F54 Clothing and DNA.
Sunday wrapped up with the Red Bull Best Trick contest, which provided some absolutely insane skateboarding. Oakley was well represented with Manny, Tyler and Danilo being tapped by Kelly Walsh as the top competitors on the Red Bull Hubba. When it was all said and done Danilo De Rosario all the way from Brazil took home the $500 check and a chance to stand on the Red Bull Hubba element with the beautiful Red Bull Girls.
Timmy and Danilo now have the official bragging rights of King of the Park until next year’s event. Many people need to be thanked, but at the top of the list is the man who runs Progressive Skateboard Park – Mike and his entire family. Also on this list has to be Kelly, Scott, Mark, Longer, Dylan, O Lab Crew, Red Bull, and the great town of Canton, Georgia.
F54 wants to give a big shout out to Pete and Mattie B at Decked Out for giving us the store front window of Andrew Thompson!
Thanks you guys rock!

F54 would like to invite you to their 3 annual Summer bash at Rudy’s in Newport beach. Tons of giveaways, dj and dancing…so come get your freak on!
See you there!

Congrats to Timmy Knuth for winning the Best Street Trick at 3rd Lair in Minnesota.
1
|
Timmy Knuth
Sponsors: Graffiti Skate Zone, World,F-54clothing, Ninja, Venture, S-One, DNA energy drink, getskatestuff.com, Pistol-Grip Griptape, Sentury Wheels
Age: 16
Hometown: Melbourne FL
Notes: Long gap kickflip to crooked grind |
|
2
|
Andrew Pott
Sponsors: Famous Stars and Straps, Venture, Oakley, Ninestar, Nike SB (flow), Kontrol Wheels (flow)
Age: 19
Hometown: Inglewood CA
Notes: Too many tricks |
|
3
|
Dylan Perry
Sponsors: Skatepark of Tampa, Etnies (flow), Alien Workshop (flow), Innes (flow), Bones Wheels, Emerge Water, Destructo (flow)
Age: 19
Hometown: Tampa FL
Notes: Gap to backside noseblunt slide |
|
4
|
Luis Perez
Sponsors: MIA, Fallen (flow), Red Bull, MIA Skatepark, Spitfire (flow)
Age: 19
Hometown: Miami FL
Notes: Long gap to noseblunt slide |
|
5
|
Anthony Brunson
Sponsors: Prophecy, Adio (flow), Silver (flow), FKD
Age: 24
Hometown: Rockford IL
Notes: Switch tailslide nollie heelflip out |
Well folks, I managed to turn the tables on one of the greatest arbiters of the pressure flip, Mr. Nate Sherwood Esq. He is usually the one asking the questions and it’s fun to get to be on this side of the tape recorder and watch old Nate squirm a bit. Problem is, he loved my non traditional questions. I caught up with him in between takes of his show “American Misfits” and his gig running the Skate Team at Factor54. So- have a gander at ye-old interview with ElNato….
Ted- So Nate, first of all thanks for sitting down and talking with me about all things Nate Sherwood….and I do mean ALL THINGS
Nate- NO PROB TED. I AM STOKED TO CHAT IT UP MAN. SOME ADVICE TO ANY HUMANS COMING TO OCEANSIDE IF U GO TO THE RED ROOSTER BAR N GRILL DO NOT EAT THE FRIES. THEY WILL END YOUR LIFE.
Ted- Dude, Why’d you cut your hair? you looked pretty hesh when we first met and
frankly, that was part of the appeal when we hired you.
Nate- Laughing… OH CRAP, I HOPE I DON’T LOOSE MY JOB. MY GIRL ALMOST LEFT ME TOO WHEN I CUT IT. To be honest I had a fever and I was sweating real bad and the mop was bugging my dome, so I cut my hair myself at 2 in the morning. My girlfriend’s mother, who is a hairdresser came into town and I told her I cut my own hair and her reply was “No shit,” as she was looking my hair over. I think she was impressed (read: depressed). I had to bring the bowl cut back also, I was sick of getting ID’d and having to pay for drinks.
Ted- OK, Well I guess that answers that, you looked pretty rock starish with your bitchin locks. Wait? is that gay of me to say that? Wait is it wrong of me to ask if that was gay? Shit, I give up.
Ted- So, What does your day look like? Other
than your new awesome, coveted job as TM for Factor, what else are you up to?
Nate- First I’m going to edit the trailer for “more tricks less politics.” then i’m going to email Ian Hill over at Fuel(TV) and promise that I will fedex him 4 Latino women for a bribe to give F54 endless coverage on Fuel.The problem is the mail order bride sites are really hard to navigate and i don’t speak Spanish for shit. I tried to get a translator on mission street in Oceanside but the she/dude just kept smiling at me and nodding. It was crazy. So I just bought him a corona and he fixed my bike for me. (Editors note: Nates bike was a really fucked 3 speed but had cool grip shifters) It was cool. Anyway, where was I? So today I am going to go skate and walk my dog, Oscar the wild, he is a 6 week old puppy, who actually belongs to my mother and looks like Chewbacca (YEAH THE WOOKIE). When I talk to him like r2d2 he actually comes to me. After that i’m going to talk to Greg Hicks and get ready for an upcoming weekend for me and his army to shred. I feel like yao ming with a bunch of horse jockeys when I roll with his crew.
Ted Yeah, I Dig your pain man. Do you want to help me flush the radiator fluid on my Nova after this interview?
Nate- baffled.
Ted- Do you still have time to skate? Where do you like to go?
Nate-Oh hell yeah. I try to skate everyday. Weekends I go to Libby school or black box distribution. Weekdays its either a ditch or the Cassidy bridge. i’ve been filming and shooting photos with brooks fritz and Chad Jenkins a lot for more tricks less politics. I’m trying to be a renaissance man, do it all.
Ted- Hillary Clinton just conceded to Barak Obama for Democratic Nominee for President. Don’t you think Barak should demonstrate some skate prowess (like
say a simple lean to tail on a mini ramp or some crailed out ledge shit) to win over his younger, potential constituents?
Nate- Yeah man, he’d probably be better at skating than he is at bowling. I’ve heard he’s really good at shooting pool. Which is rad cause shooting pool is all about strategy and think about your next shot and that is exactly what I look for in a good president. I hope he wins because I don’t want another geriatric republican in office, EVER.
Ted- Werd Brother
Ted- You seem pretty popular with the Groms- Remember when we did that opening at one of our shops and you just up and took a bunch of kids to the local school to skate? They seem to be mesmerized by your abilities or is it some
zen, Voodoo mind meld you are warping on them?
Nate- No, i’m just a conceded, self centered bastard and when I shred around little kids it makes me feel like a god. (Lauaghing). No, but for real, I like micro-climates. I love going places and meeting the local people, skating with them, etc. cause every place has it’s own small culture. Not only spots and environment being different but mannerisms and etiquette. For instance, when I was up there with those kids I put my thumb on my forehead when I farted and they had no idea what the hell that was about. At first I thought it was a generation gap, but one of the kids recognized it as something his brother did but it was a different facial gesture. I feel like an anthropology major right now.
Ted- Baffled..
>
Ted- I hear you are working on some super secret movie or some shit. what’s that about? Will there be nudity? I’ve heard about you and your movies.
Nate- yeah man, happy you asked. I’ve been jamming Dr. octagon, descendants, adolescents and exploited a bunch as of late, but I’m a huge fan of backpack rap. Anything anticon, living legends, hieroglyphics, reason the citizen and of course, abstract rude & aesop rock. I love death metal but my girlfriend hates it. She doesn’t know but I put on my headphones and blast nile or morbid angel. I even have some corpse paint in the car. There’s nothing that will scare your neighbors more than getting you mail with corpse paint on your face. I like folk music too, I think Bob Dylan’s great. He and king diamond should cut and album with DJ shadow or DJ premier as a default if shadow isn’t available. and they should have Danny Sergeant as a roadie.
>
Ted- Who are some of the next level ams that you have an eye on?
Nate- Andrew Thompson is fucking blowing doors open as we speak. if he was a piano he’d be a Steinway. if he was a drink he’d be 18 year old Glen Fidduch. John hicks is killing it. the twins, pierce and Chris Brunner are both underrated as hell. This guy Jeff “blue” Wright, who I’m trying to get who rides for Surfride, is downright insane. not only on a skateboard but he’s crazy as hell. its alright though, I’ve got plenty of thorzine, just incase we need to put him in a strait jacket on the road. Trung Ngo from Sun Diego is rad. I used to torture him by making him listen really bad 80’s pop music like Debbie Gibson and new kids on the block. If I knew he was going to be a big as he is now i never would have done that. he can probably kick my ass now. Jamie Palomar is amazing as hell and Taylor Shuffield is now on flow with us and he just sent me some of the best footage for the video. So raw and rad.
Ted- Cool man, Well thanks for sitting down with me. Sorry if these questions
were stupid. This is my first interview of any kind of professional athlete.
Nate- Are you kidding me? These questions are 10 times better than every myspace interview i have ever done.

I grew up near the Washington Monument in DC and never went there as we used to skate all through the District of Columbia at all the ditches and obstacles in the city while listening to Minor Threat and The Obsessed. This pic is a great example of a kid who is so focused on throwing it, that even the launch of the Space Shuttle fails to take his mind off Skateboarding and the trick at hand. No offense to the moppets in the background checking out the liftoff but we were totally impressed that this kid decided to take advantage of the temporary emptiness of the bowl to get solid run in. This kid’s name is Dylan Durkin and we have been hearing about him for about a year now and when we received this photo from our Sales rep we felt it was time to commit.
Welcome Dylan. Keep on it.

Timmy Knuth still on a tear won the Playstation Am Jam tour stop in Orlando this past weekend at Mesh skatepark. Throwing it down all day to make it to the finals, Timmy laid down solid lines and continuous back to back tricks to take a commanding lead for the win. He now will take his seemingly unending bag of tricks up to Woodward Camp for the overall finals in August and a chance to win some big cash. Up next for Timmy he’s off to Minnesota for the Damn Am on June 6,7,8th.
“F54 Unchained Youth”
