Well here it is! The final game in the second round is here to close the year. Obviously we are going to continue first thing in January, but for 2018 it is all.
In this game Kaspars Polis, the guy who started the championship this year by winning Aleksis Sokolovs, is up against Robert Potašs who is Sokolovs’ homie. Aleksis was a bit upset after his defeat and now it is up to Roberts to take revenge for his friend. Will he do it? Well, it is not going to be easy as Kaspars is known for his abilities to pull himself together during competitions, and Roberts, let’s just say, is rarely interested in competing.
It has been a tough time in RajonTV office. Grandma’s mayonnaise filled salads (Christmas special) don’t increase energy levels that much. As well as excessive free time contributes heavily to laziness and procrastination. Great plans are postponed forever and the fear of looking at 2018 to-do list, only to find one-third of goals achieved, is paralyzing. Nevertheless, it is the last time to make a difference and be productive.
Our game of skate championship is in the middle right now, and second round has only two games left. Today we havenotorious photographer and Pis Taisni ambassador Nauris Dollins playing against glass sculpture enthusiast and one of the best skateboarders in Latvia Karlis Bogustovs.
Ex-Boards.lv rider Miks Grantiņš, currently Tikari skateshop rider, is up against Arturs Bogdanovičs, Boards.lv current representative. Both of them have strong tricks and consistency most of us only wish for. Arturs definitely has a heelfip advantage here; some of his heelfip variations can get him the win. However, as you probably know, unless Miks has a cold, a back pain or a broken leg, he normally wins majority of games he enrolls in. That’s bad news for Boga!
Nevertheless, with these two on board, the game promises to be a good one.
GAME COMMENTARY
With an utterly advantageous score, seven to zero, Miks Grantiņš, obviously, won the game and you could hear some Shang Tsung in the air. Flawless it was! All in all it is a pretty evident culmination considering Miks’ previous game with Rudolfs which had the same result, seven to zero. This makes Miks Grantiņš the only person who has gotten to the third round without any letters whatsoever. The dude’s clean! Can he keep this going, it is going to be interesting to find out.
As for this game!
We are well-informed about Mr.Boga’s bs heel abilities, he rightfully earns the title of the meanest bs heelfliper in Latvia; howevre, Miks’s talent is not a single trick. His thing is to repeat whatever is thrown at him.
Exhibit A: Boga’s signatures are no match for Graņa
Miks’ last trick in the game. Keeping it interesting for us with surprise moves like these.
Exhibit B: making this despised move in switch = pure evil
Thanks for tuning in, see you tomorrow for another game
Two young gents – Niklavs Vetra and Hugo Berziņš battle it out on the most exquisite arena in Riga, the Spot Center. Everything is perfect: it is warm in the park, there is no one in their way and the flat doesn’t slide. Not to mention that they are both young and talented dudes, they can do anything they want. Especially Niklavs! You saw his game in the first round, it was bonkers. Niklavs’ trick selection is outside the average tricks: he adds extra spins, late flips and pops his tricks higher than required. Hoever, there are these days – the days when you can’t do shit! That day when we filmed this game was just like that.
Game Comments
Not much to say here. Let’s just appreciate this cab flip by Hugo. That was pretty sick.
Last Friday Riga skate scene was taken over by the premiere of Pis Taisni, a movie by Armands Baumanis who is a pretty well-known character in local skateboarding circles. The movie captures the expiring year with the main focus on parties and skateboarding. Despite rumors that the movie was mostly about parties, it had plenty of skate action to hype everybody up. However, it didn’t have any separate parts, as Armands explained himself: “Each part of the film is about a city, so cities have parts not skaters”. This year he managed to travel a bunch: Germany, Switzerland, Estonia, Finland and, even, USA are all featured in the Pis Taisni movie.
Of course our beloved Riga was also featured and had, skatewise, the heaviest section. The spot selection is minimalistic: there are some random streets, some LNB, and the spot of spots, the Barix. The so-called no-go zone was the main shelter for Armands and Co. during hot summer days. It has also served as the proving ground for tricks and filming. The guys have spent the most time there, and it is all captured in the video. Moreover, some footy will forever go into Latvian skateboarding history books. Everybody killed it, but special shout out goes to Niks Kolosovskis! His switch 360 flip, which is indistinguishable from a regular one, deserves special appreciation. Also that noseslide nollie heel looked exceptionally cool. Niks’ skating is like the finest top-shelf liquor that most of us can rarely afford.
But the video didn’t want to reach for the top-shelf all the time, it remained affordable and simple. The notorious horse water was a frequent feature, and the results of usage were shown in a special edit set to a dramatic score. These good times scenes reminded of the classic. All the good times wasted having good times – the eternal story of humanity. The video continued with some more good times sections: the Viljandi Bash and Helsinki Helride, showing the capabilities of Latvian skaters to withstand any amount of beverage and remain in the working condition. You can also spot a Pat Duffy cameo there. He hosted the guys at his place during their stay in Helsinki.
The video ends in New York, which is a pretty unique ending for a Latvian skatevideo an NBD for sure, where Armands skates one of the most iconic spots in the world – Brooklyn Banks! He told us that the spot is closed down and it is illegal to skate there now. However he was lucky to be in New York during some holidays when police didn’t work, so he skated there without problems and even filmed a trick.
Overall Pis Taisni was an enjoyable piece and as Armands said “I am going to start filming the second part”. Looking straightforward to that!
I think this was one of the first trips outside Rajon. The trip was organized by Madars, he invited a few of his foreign friends to Latvia to show them how things are done here I guess. The crew comprised of: Nick Garcia, Pat Duffy, Gosha Konyshev and Josef Scott Jatta. Madars also invited the Latvian boyz to compile a more romantic atmosphere: Gaba, Naurix, Deda, Graņa and me (Rob). More homies joined as the trip progressed. We visited three Latvian cities – Ventspils, Kuldiga, Liepaja. Each city with a different vibe and smell, architecture and water. Some good times, music, water and skateboards and friends. Very good recipe for a trip. Enjoy!
Thank you friends for the good times and thank you skateboards!
Jevgenijs Kostirko, on the other hand, has never won anything as far as we are concerned. RajonTV Game of Skate championship is a rare occasion when Jevgenijs is introduced to a broader skateboarding audience. Last year his efforts in our championship didn’t pay off; however, this year he got past the first round, and now (not that he cares) he can prove himself.
GAME COMMENTS
What a great game! You could feel the tension was high. Jevgenijs’ showed incredible control in the second part of the game. He was one step away from losing, one double flip away to be more precise. Edijs has some consistant moves that usualy get him the win; however, was it due to mockery or the aspiration to show that he can do something else – he didn’t pull them. The double flips! Where were they? This decision cost him the whole game.
People who skate with Jevgenijs on the daily basis are aware of his abilities that periodically spark hype. I believe this is the first time when he showed his real potential to the skate community! Quite happy for Jefka and if he stays as consistent as he was during this game he might win the whole thing.
Exhibit A: ss bs 180 one foot
This was a rare one! A different angle would give it more justice.
Exhibit B: ss 360 flip
This will keep their heads ringin’!
Have a good week everyone! Next weekend two more game are coming your way:
RUDOLFS RORBAHS VS MARTIŅŠ REITUPS HUGO BERZIŅŠ VS NIKLAVS VETRA
Major shout out to Miks Grantiņš for letting us skate and film on the premises of the beautiful the SPOT center!
Same as the other games, this game features two exceptional gentlemen: all around goofball Kristaps Judris, representing the Boards.lv skate forces; and one of the finest Aizkraukle’s procrastinators Marks Voronenko, representing Trunk Boyz.
First round went quite good for Mark, his game against Linards is considered to be the best game yet. Kristaps is also a guy who can make a great game (watch last year game with Madars). So with these two anything can happen!
Although we got a lot of complaints (see comments), we still decided to give Aleksis Sokolovs another shot at refereeing. We are a humane organization and strongly believe that people change and can improve.
Frog skateboards can seem a bit weird. The graphics look like they have been drawn by children, the edits are always set to weird music and filmed on whatever camera was available, and the name of the company: Frog skateboards? Wtf? However, on the other hand, isn’t skateboarding all about freedom, creativity and self expresion? They say you can do whatever you want on a skateboard, but how many companies actually do that? Most brands follow the rules, trends and try to look cool. Well these guys offer an alternative.
