News
Ishod Wair claimed the Maloof Money Cup Skateboarding World Championships title
From out of nowhere amateur Ishod Wair claimed the Maloof Money Cup Skateboarding World Championships title and $100,000 cash in Kimberley, South Africa. Equally surprising was hometown favorite Tommy Fynn, born in Durban, South Africa, beating Ryan Decenzo in the semi finals for a shot at the title, but fell just short of Wair and claimed second place and $40,000. 
Wair earned his spot in the Maloof Money championships with his victory in the amateur event in D.C. back in September. Wair seemed unfazed by skating against some of the best professionals in the world.
"I can't even believe it," Wair said afterward. "I'm so hyped right now."
In the final round, the skaters were given an extra minute, which made the jam a full five minutes. Wair took advantage of all five minutes landing as many tricks as possible which proved to be enough to beat Fynn's kickflip crooked grind on the tall hubba ledge down the small stairs.
Flynn beat Ryan Decenzo in the quarterfinals, Collin Provost in the semi-finals, and eventually losing to Wair in the finals. As for Ishod his road was equally as challenging beating David Bachinsky in the quarterfinals and Jack Curtin in the semi-finals.
As for Kimberely South Africa Local officials and newspapers cited the impact on the local business community as thousands of skate fans from around the country descended on the small town, once famous for its diamond mines. Hotels sold out all weekend, restaurants and businesses hired additional workers to help with the influx of fans and the local government relaxed alcohol laws to allow for all bars and restaurants to stay open 24 hours throughout the three days of competition. Dozens of busses arrived, carrying fans from cities across the Northern Cape and local campgrounds overflowed with tent cities filled with fans eager to see the best skaters in the world compete in their backyard for the first time in history. Officials from the Northern Cape Provincial Government said "we haven't seen anything like this since the World Cup."Results: Maloof Money Cup South Africa street finalsRankName1.Ishod Wair2.Tommy Fynn3.Collin Provost 4.Jack Curtin5.Ryan Decenzo6.Dave Bachinsky7.Greg Lutzka8.Kurtis Colamonico9.Lizard King10.Nick Merlino11.Manny Santiago12.Evan Smith
Get ready for the Maloof Money Cup Skateboarding Championships
The inaugural Maloof Money Cup Championships in Kimberely South Africa are upon us as the top skaters from NY and DC Money Cups competing for almost $500k and the Maloof Championship title.
The street course where the contest will be hosted pays tribute to Kimberley's heritage, incorporating the famous Kimberley diamond into the course design. Designed by Joe Ciaglia of California Skateparks and Pro Skater and Vans Team Rider Geoff Rowley, the features for the course are based on skate spots from around the world. 
16 top skaters have earned spots on the Maloof All Pro roster including NYC winner Greg Lutzka and DC winner Andrew Reynolds. Both have proved they have more than a legitimate shot to earn the title, but from what we've seen in the past Maloof Money Cup repeat winners are rare, and last we checked Chris Cole is not in the contest.
The world's best vert skaters will also be in South Africa battling it out for $75,000. The Maloofs specifically wanted the first ever global Maloof Money Cup to feature the best skateboarding has to offer, so they decided to do both vert and street. Along with the worlds best skaters will be a highly competitive amateur division. If your trying to captivate a global audience then what better way than turning the contest into a skate festival? The local community of Kimberely is in for one of the greatest skate weekends in skate contest history. 
The skate park is situated near "The Big Hole," a former diamond mine that was once the world's largest and considered the largest hand-dug excavation on earth when it was finally closed in 1914. The Maloof Skate Park will remain behind after the contest and is the centerpiece for a new convention center and hotel complex that will position Kimberley as the action sports capital of South Africa.
Be sure to tune into the live webcast on the Maloof Money Cup Youtube page for the vert finals on Saturday Saturday, Oct. 1: 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. PDT, 7 a.m. to 12 noon EDT and the main event featuring the world's best street skaters on Sunday, Oct. 2: 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. PDT, 9 a.m. to 12 noon EDT.
Check back tomorrow to GrindTV Skate as we breakdown the skaters with the best shot to win the title.
Maloof Money Cup Skateboarding World Championships -- Confirmed Riders
Louie Lopez
Curren Caples
Greg Lutzka
Manny Santiago
Ryan Decenzo
Collin Provost
Johnny Layton
Lizard King
Bobby Worrest
Eli Reed
Andrew Reynolds
Pete Eldridge
Nick Merlino
Ronnie Creager
Sierra Fellers
Jack Curtin
Tom Asta
Ishod Wair
Evan Smith
Matt Miller
Kurtis Colamonico
Garret Hill
Bryan Hansen
Andrew Cannon
Tommy Sandoval
Anthony Schultz
Alex Mizurov
Pierre Luc Gagnon
Bob Burnquist
Adam Taylor
Andy MacDonald
Jake Brown
Elliot Sloan
Sandro Dias
Pedro Barros
Marcelo Bastos
Andrew Reynolds wins the first-ever Maloof Money Cup D.C.
33-year-old Baker skateboards owner Andrew"the Boss" Reynolds claimed the win and $160,000 at the first-ever Maloof Money Cup D.C. He defeating local favorite Jack Curtin before battling Manny Santiago and finally, his long time friend, Ronnie Creager in the finals.
Reynolds, the most beloved skater in the industry, beat out a very talented group of skaters to win the title and the solid chunk of change. It's hard to say with what Reynolds means to skateboarding that he came from nowhere to win the contest, but definitely a surprise winner in D.C.
Temperatures in the 90s and 100 percent humidity, the nation's capital made the world's best professional skateboarders work for their money.
Both Reynolds and Creager were visibly exhausted as they competed in the final jam of the day. With less than a minute left, Reynolds took a quick water break, stood up, headed to the golden stair rail and nailed a kickflip lipslide that won him the contest.
"I've known Ronnie since I was a kid. He was the guy I always looked up to," said Reynolds. "It didn't feel like a contest today, we were just out there skating like we always do. All my friends are here, and we just skate. Some of the other contests are just too serious. Maloof is cool because it's just like being out skating with your friends. You don't think about the $160,000, you just skate."
NYC Maloof winner Greg Lutzka lost in round 2 to Bastien Salabanzi who went on to loose to Creager in round 3. With Lutzka's loss Chris Cole remains the only skater with a chance to win the million dollar bonus this year given to the skater who can win four consecutive MMC victories.
Next up the Maloof Money Cup heads to South Africa for the MMC World Championships.
The Nation's Capital readies for the Maloof Money Cup
The first-ever Maloof Money Cup in Washington, D.C. is set for an exiting Labor Day weekend. On the line is a spot on the Maloof All Pros team, which was started by Joe Maloof this year to recognize
the top skateboarders in the world, and send them to the Maloof Money Cup World Championships in Kimberley, South Africa at the end of September.
The custom built street course is inspired by Freedom Plaza as well as the architecture up and down Pennsylvania Avenue. The DC skate park marks the second world-class skate park that the Maloofs have built and left behind for the community.
The MMC will utilize the head-to-head jam format that was first introduced at MMC New York in June. The new format is designed to encourage the hardest tricks in a fast-paced, energized environment that is closest to real street skateboarding.
Due to the skater friendly nature of the contest plus the the Money Cup D.C . will attract a diverse field of skaters including the reigning NYC winner Greg Lutzka, Andrew Reynolds, Geoff Rowley. 
For the second consecutive MMC vitaminwater will be giving the grom's a shot at stardom with the vitaminwater AM Invitational. The top AM's including Louie Lopez, Sebo Walker and Curran Caples will be on hand battling it out in D.C.
Vitaminwater will also be giving 2 local groms the opportunity to compete in the invitational against their idols by winning the "Golden Ticket." Similar to what they did in NYC over 30 local amateur skaters competed for two spots to skate with their idols.
Here's the complete roster of skaters confirmed for the MMC D.C.
MMC D.C. Pro Roster
Adam Dyet
Alex Olson
Andrew Reynolds
Anthony Schultz
Anthony Shetler
Bastien Salabanzi
Bobby Worrest
Brandon Westgate
Brian "Slash" Hansen
Bryan Herman
Caswell Berry
Chima Ferguson
Chris Pfanner
Chris Troy
Collin Provost
Corey Duffel
Danny Cerezini
Darrell Stanton
Darren Harper
Dennis Busenitz
Dustin Dollin
Eli Reed
Garrett Hill
Geoff Rowley
Greg Lutzka
Jack Curtin
Jake Duncombe
Jimmy Carlin
Johnny Layton
Jordan Hoffart
Justin Brock
Justin Figueroa
Keegan Sauder
Lizard King
Manny Santiago
Matt Miller
Mike Anderson
Nick Merlino
Pete Eldridge
Ryan Decenzo
Ryan Gallant
Shuriken Shannon
Sierra Fellers
Silas Baxter-Neal
Stefan Janoski
Theotis Beasley
Tom Asta
Tony Trujillo
Vincent Alvarez
vitaminwater Invitational Roster
Alec Majerus
Andrew Langi
Ben Hatchell
Brodie Penrod
Cody Davis
Curren Caples
Daniel Lutheran
David Loy
David Reyes
Davis Torgerson
Evan Smith
Filipe Ortiz
Ishod Wair
Kevin Romar
Kyle Walker
Louie Lopez
Luis Tolentino
Matt Berger
Morgan Smith
Neen Williams
Scott Decenzo
Sebo Walker
Trevor Colden
The Maloof's to leave imprint on D.C.'s local skate scene
Staying true to form, Joe and Gavin Maloof will donate the custom designed skatepark for the Maloof Money Cup D.C. to the city after the contest is over. Like they did in NYC, Joe and Gavin inked a multi-year deal with the city of Washington D.C. to host the Maloof Money Cup for years to come.
The World Class skate park will be built next to RFK stadium in D.C. appropriately to be named Maloof Cup Park.
Firm believers of impacting the local skate communities long after 
they leave the Maloof's continue to put in place programs based upon improving the local skate scene whether it be with new skate parks or local cleanups.
The inaugural Maloof Money Cup D.C. is set for September 3-4, be sure to check out GrindTV Skate for a preview in the weeks leading up to the contest. Also be sure to watch the live webcast on MaloofMoneyCup.com
Official Press Release:
"We're excited to bring the Maloof Money Cup to our nation's capital," said Joe Maloof, creator of Maloof Money Cup and owner of the NBA's Sacramento Kings and the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. "This location at RFK Stadium was ideal and we thank Vans and Events DC for making it possible for the park to remain as a permanent structure in the community. We invite everyone to come out Labor Day weekend to the first-ever Maloof Money Cup D.C. It's going to be an incredible contest with the world's best skaters competing on a brand new course inspired by D.C. skate spots and landmarks."
Designed by Pro Skater Geoff Rowley and Joe Ciaglia's team at California Skateparks, the 15,000-square-foot skate park is the first major skate park in Washington, D.C. and is inspired by Freedom Plaza and the architecture up and down Pennsylvania Avenue.
"It was important for us to take design elements from real D.C. skate spots and try to replicate them and hopefully complement them as much as possible," said Rowley. "The local skaters will recognize some of these influences like the Freedom Plaza Ledges and the Golden Rail made famous by legendary locals like Pepe Martinez, Chris Hall and many more original D.C. rippers," said Rowley.
Maloof Money Cup D.C. represents the first new event attracted to the District since Events DC rebranded as an organization last month. Following the contest, Maloof Cup Park will be available to the community as a recreational facility throughout the year. Events DC will oversee maintenance of the park and will look to attract other special event programming at the venue.
"This partnership speaks to our ability to deliver on our promise of creating economic and community benefits for the District of Columbia," said Gregory A. O'Dell, president and CEO of Events DC. "In a short time, the Maloof Money Cup has grown into a global event and we look forward to hosting the world's skateboard community in Washington, D.C. this fall. And most importantly, the city will now have a world-class recreational facility for the skateboard community to enjoy throughout the year."
Nyjah Huston wins third straight Street League in dominating fashion
Chalk up another victory and another $150,000 for Nyjah Huston. No dreads, no problem as Nyjah continued to dominate the competition at the third stop of the 2011 Street League tour.
There was talk that Nyjah might have lost his super powers when he decided to cut off his dreadlocks, but apparently that's not the case. He linked together big tricks with technical tricks landing 92% of his attempts. With that type of consistency Nyjah was unbeatable in the trick by trick format.
With his third victory in a row, Nyjah's total raised to $465,000 so far this year at Street league. Understandablya fan of the contest after his victory Nyjah told Rob Dyrdek in a post contest interview , "I all have to say is I love Street League, Thank you for inventing it."
Ryan Sheckler battled Nyjah to the end but down 3 points with 3 attempts left, Sheckler decided to go big instead of playing it safe which ended up being the difference. Sheckler fell on the attempts that counted most while Nyjah played it safe earning valuable points.
Chris Cole finally made his presence felt but in the end struggled to stomp his tricks landing only 67% of the time. Cole didn't go home empty handed, he won the Monster Energy Best Trick with a 360 flip
50/50 grind earning himself $15,000.
Here's the official results.
Points Success rate Best Trick
1. Huston 77.98 92% 8.9
2. Sheckler 66.0 75% 8.0
3. Cole 59.6 67% 8.9
4. Rodriguez 48.8 58% 8.4
5. O'Niell 45.8 50% 8.5
Maloof Skateboarding goes cross-country on a road tour
Maloof Skateboarding is in the midst of a cross country tour where they are traveling to 12 select cities throughout the US leading up to the first ever Maloof Money Cup Contest in Washington D.C on Labor Day Weekend.
This is yet another example of Maloof Skateboarding connecting with the community through skate contests, giveaways, and performing acts of community service in the local areas. 
There's no doubt the Maloofs have put an emphasis on impacting the local skate communities. In 2010 they donated to the city of New York the $1.5 million world-class skate park they built in Flushing Meadows Park in Queens for the Maloof Money Cup NYC.
Sundays on the tour will be dedicated to community projects, including skate park cleanup, graffiti removal, skate gear drives and other community needs.
"The Maloof Road Tour presents a great opportunity to visit amazing skate cities, have fun with the local skaters, and leave the city better than when we came to it," said Eric Isenberg, Maloof Road Tour Manager. "Kids are pushing the limits of skateboarding every day, so we encourage skateboarders and fans to come out to our Road Tour stops and show us what they've got. It's going to be a lot of fun. Plus, we have a whole RV of swag we need to unload!"
The winners of the Best Line contests in the first 10 cities will be flown to Las Vegas in August for MAGIC, the fashion industry's largest event, where they'll compete on a special course on the show floor for a shot at $5,000 cash.
Check out the highlights from the first 3 stops.
Here's a list of the remaining stops on the tour. If the RV's in your town, make sure to go check it out.
July 9-10, Sacramento
July 16-17, Vancouver, BC
July 23-24, Salt Lake City
July 30-31, Dallas
August 6-7, Birmingham
August 13-14, Miami
August 20-21, Atlanta
August 27-28, Philadelphia
2011 Dew Tour Information
I was wondering when the tour is going to start up. Looks like they did some restructuring for the better. First and foremost, here is a schedule of the main events:
PANTECH OPEN (July 21-24; Ocean City, MD)
PORTLAND INVITATIONAL (August 11-14; Portland, OR)
TOYOTA CHALLENGE (September 8-11; Salt Lake City, UT)
DEW TOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS LAS VEGAS (October 13-16; Las Vegas, NV)
They made all the main events include BMX and skateboarding, and there are supposed to be specialty events within the tour, such as an old school skateboarding bowl contest in Portland and a big air skate and BMX contest in Salt Lake City. The street courses for skateboarding will be concrete plazas this year and the BMX courses will be designed by the riders, such as TJ Lavin, Ryan Nyquist, Dave Mirra, and Garrett Reynolds/Dennis Enarson.
What will happen at this year's tour? Will little Chaz Ortiz continue to take advantage of inconsistent performances by stand out skaters Ryan Sheckler and Greg Lutzka? Will PLG make skate vert another battle for second for Shaun White, Bucky Lasek, and Andy Macdonald?
Will Jamie Bestwick sweep the BMX vert competition AGAIN? Will Brandon Dosch hold on to his BMX dirt title after Brett Banasiewicz almost stole the cup from everybody?Will Daniel Dhers continue his dominance in BMX park, holding off big names such as Garrett Reynolds, Dennis Enarson, and Brett Banasiewicz?
Find out starting at the end of this month (July 21).
Nyjah Huston wins Street League Kansas City
It's safe to say Nyjah Huston has 300,000 reasons why he's happy founder Rob Dyrdek decided to bring back Street League for a second season. 
Huston made it back-to-back wins in 2011after he came from behind to win at stop #2 in Kansas City. After being on the brink of elimination in the first section, Huston battled his way back landing a huge Nollie Inward Heel Flip off the top of the Big Section on his last attempt to take the top spot.
Huston has managed to stack up a solid career earning in just 2 events adding another $150,000 dollars boosting his 2011 season total to $315,000.
As you can imagine he had some positive words to say about Street League after the contest, "I'm just super happy I was able to win two stops in a row. Street League is by far the best skating contest ever and looking forward to the next stop in Glendale."
Chris Cole made a strong run at the win but came up short finishing 2nd followed by Chaz Ortiz who rounded out the top 3. Local boy Sean Malto successfully returned to competition after an injury that held him out of the first stop. He managed to take home forth place.
Not all was lost for 5th place finisher Ryan Sheckler who won the $15,000 best trick award when he landed a Caballerial Kick Flip in the Big Section for 9.4 points. 
Here are the official results from stop 2 in Kansas City
1. Nyjah Huston 72.6
2. Chris Cole 67.1
3. Chaz Ortiz 63.8
4. Sean Malto 63.4
5. Ryan Sheckler 61.8
6. Torey Pudwill 57.2
7. Mikey Taylor 21.9
8. Paul Rodriguez 7.4
9. Shane O'Neill 6.8
Photos courtesy of Street League DC Pro Tour fueled by Monster Energy
Greg Lutzka wins the 2011 Maloof Money Cup New York City
In a closely fought final Greg Lutzka beat out Dennis Busenitz for the 2011 Maloof Money Cup in NYC on Sunday afternoon earning himself a cool $160,000. 
It was the finals matchup everyone was looking forward to, the current Tampa Pro champion Busenitz squared off against the fan favorite Lutzka.
Lutzka landed a frontside big spin down the nine-stair and frontside 270 noseblunting down its rail.
After beating Ryan Decenzo is the semi-finals Lutzka seemed determined as ever to win the $160,000 first place prize. Lutzka has seen his share of success in skate contests but the win in New York is by far his best and most profitable victory yet.
The new head-to-head jam format was in full effect for the first time in MMC competition. The individual heats now four minutes and the judges weren't scoring falls but instead giving a higher reward for the more difficult tricks taking away the element of playing it safe.
The new contest format, while compelling for the viewers, seemed to take its toll on the skaters. After a tournament style bracket
Official results-
1 Greg Lutzka $160,000
2 Dennis Busenitz $40,000
3 Ryan Decenzo $15,000
4 Justin Figueroa $15,000
5 Nick Merlino $7,000
6 Jackson Curtin $7,000
7 Collin Provost $7,000
8 Sierra Fellers $7,000
9 Eli Reed $5,000
10 Manny Santiago $5,000
11 Andrew Reynolds $5,000
12 Cory Kennedy $5,000
vitaminwater Am Open Results
1. Evan Smith 268.00
2. Micky Papa 261.34
3. Felipe Gustavo 260.66
4. Kyle Walker 257.34
5. Trevor Colden 255.67
6. Jeffrey Marshall 251.33
7. Alec Majerus 248.66
8. Louie Lopez 242.66
9. Scott DeCenzo 242.33
10. Kevin Romar 234.67
11. Clint Walker 321.33
12. Sascha Daley 231.00
13. Clive Dixon 228.66
14. Curren Caples 216.00
15. Cody Davis 214.00
16. Andrew Langi 213.33
17. David Reyes 212.67
18. Pat Rumney 208.33
19. Ryder Lawson 204.34
20. Ben Hatchell 204.01
21. Matt Cartlidge 193.67
22. Youness Amrani 166.34
23. Riley Hawk 151.33
24. Ishod Wair 109.00 (Section 1 & 2 only
25. Gilbert Crockett 25.00 (Section 1 only)
