In this age of virtually streaming media, my Jomopro footage will likely not be the first posted this time. I filmed so much this weekend you would not believe it. I hope that it will be well worth the wait, tho. A big thanks to all the riders who tolerated me capturing their every move, hiding in bushes, and generally being a constant silent presence. It's done in respect tho. It is my way of honoring your skillsets.
It is typical in America, at least, for controversy to follow every contest; in fact, we expect it. I would like to acknowledge that, and move on, focusing on the positive and expanding that.
Something happened at this contest that I feel the need to say a few words about. The Best Trick Contest at the end was one of, if not THE best thing that I have seen in recent years in the contest scene. I thought it was brilliantly conceived and executed. It cut right to the heart of the sport by pushing riders like never before; in a fast paced, thrilling format. I see it as an answer, really. The level of crowd involvement was matched only by the vibe from a few years ago at Voodoo Jam - pure electricity. I hope to see this catch on at even more contests as it seemed to be in all respects a totally badass thing. Controversy aside, I would love to hear some feedback in the coming days both from people who were there, and those that get a chance to see the footage online.
all the best,
jm
Thanks for the tweet Jim! I have linked this post to the JomoPro 2012 Highlights video post today on Flatmatters. So I hope it gets your editorial some attention!
ReplyDelete1) Progress has been made with Viki starting a future of pro flatland thread on facebook, this is where the 2 run format came in, and best trick, the riders voted for it. Thats a good thing!
2) Call it Best Combo not best trick, thats a simple thing to do. Terry's eventual trick (s) winner, was two combos put together.
3) Who judged the best trick? When Terry lands the trick, fat immediately announced he won. What was the process for that decision? Just for the record, i am not bitching, I am just asking questions.
4) This one is personal, others may not agree. I thought the riders gathered around the floor increased the atmosphere,, the crowd looked tiny. But it cut back on the riding area, and what tricks a rider may choose to do.
O Flatland á cada dia se torna mais dificil de ser julgado, parace que todos
ReplyDeleteestão tomando o mesmo rumo, por sinal uma boa direção, uma evolução
que nos enche os olhos de sincronias de talentos.
Nessa semana vamos ver e ouvir se falar muito de "JoMoPro-USA"
"Jim Mckay" fala bastante sobre isso.www.flatstylebmx.com-jomopro
2) I agree.
ReplyDelete3) I will have to check my footage to make sure I give a correct answer to this question. A little background - the event ran over schedule, and for the second half of the day, the contest had minimal downtime- they were really doing everything they could to get through it as quickly as possible; which in hindsight left the door open for something like this. Not taking ample time to discuss placing was a side effect. It's a hard spot to be in, and I regretfully agree that the result MAY have been different had more time been taken. I do not know the judging process that was used here. It is an extremely valid question Effraim that needed to be asked, and will aid any future use of this type of competition.
4) From what I saw, James McGraw (I hope I spelled that correctly) and Terry were the only two riders who might have benefited from more space, as both tried combos that were end-to-end straight rolling. the crowd did not decrease that dimension of the riding area; and actually me and Fat cleared stuff out on our end to make additional room for them when they rode.
As far as the spectators; I'm not sure what to say. Joplin is not a huge flatland mecca. Seeing as how flatland was the only thing going on, we did not have the huge amount of people in the building like previous years that spilled over from the park contest. Even with great promotion, I'm just not sure what we could have expected as far as an audience in that location. The folks that were there tho went ABSOLUTELY NUTS! It was the best vibe I have witnessed in a very long time!
I really do appreciate your feedback Effraim, and those were excellent points. Hopefully others will chime in - not only about who won, but what I hope to hear about is the CONCEPT. This is the first time this has been included in JoMoPro, and it was not perfect, but the idea itself is something I feel is worth fine tuning and including in more events. What do you think?
Cheers jim, makes more sense listening to your answers.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that because flatland was the only event, you didn't have park/street riders watching like previous years. That would explain the lower crowd turnout.