Thursday heralded the arrival of hardcores, hopefuls and hellions at the Combi. In similar fashion to last year's epic throwdown, the last chance qualifying event was fast and furious, and seeing 3-4 riders attacking the Combi simultaneously, vying for those last remaining slots into Saturday's main event. It should be noted here that a couple of extra slots opened up in the Masters' division due to injury. I regret to inform you that both Jeff Grosso and Tony Magnusson have withdrawn from this year's event. Grosso is one of my all time favorite skaters, and I am sad to report that the nagging knee injury that Jeff has been dealing with of late is going to result in surgery according to insiders. While I lament the fact that Grosso won't be in this year's contest, I wish him the speediest of recoveries and I know he will be back next year at 100% and ready to give Miller a run for his money. T-Mag went down hard during practice a few days ago and suffered a dislocated/separated shoulder. Under normal circumstances I might suspect this was just a rouse, a bit of classic Magnusson pre-contest psyching strategy, but by all accounts it appears Tony is out of this year's battle.

To give you a better understanding of the pre-contest atmosphere, allow me to explain a few things. First off, the pre-seeded riders are showing up to practice for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, the Combi is formidable, and remaining on point is priority one. Taking a "few days off" isn't going to help anybody. There is also the need to see what the competition has under their belt. It's interesting to note that while the overall level of skating is already surpassing last year, the top skaters seem to be keeping a few secret moves up their sleeves. Occasionally, they let out a secret or two, just to let everyone else know that come contest day, all bets are off. I witnessed one such move yesterday, courtesy of Mr. Bob Burnquist. Hopefully the description gives you some understanding of it: For those of you familiar with the standard boardslide rock and roll, picture Bob boardsliding most of the flatwall and through the corner, but rather than the standard rock and roll he whips into a reverse direction frontside rock and roll. Everyone who happened to be watching this appeared dumbfounded and with good reason. This is precisely the defiance of physics and science I referred to in an earlier report. Bob has always been known for his unique approach and impossible moves, and it should come as no great surprise that he will unleash a lot of freaky stuff like this on Saturday.

Another reason many of the pre-seeded riders come out early and especially on the day of the qualifier is to skate with the riders hoping to slot in via the last chance event. They pump up the hopefuls and push them and cheer them on and it gets everybody hyped.
The qualifying event got underway at 4pm and a few last-minute, and previously unannounced riders torqued up and threw down. Each and every one of the combatants ripped and the judges' picks were no doubt difficult. Here are your qualifying riders who advanced to skate in Saturday's main event:

Pro Division:
Remy Stratton
Sergie Ventura
Nolan Johnson
Darren Cookiehead Jenkins
Darren Navarette
Matt Moffet
Chris Cudlipp
Daniel Cardone
Tyler Mumma
Josh Skreech Sandoval
Dave Science Maxwell
Pro Division Alternates:
Josh Nelson
Will Powers

Masters' Division:
Glen Charnoski
Micke Alba
Lonny Hiramoto
Mike McGill
Jesse Martinez
Henry Gutierrez
John Squirt Harsma
Pat Black
Jon-Jon Bryan
Masters' Division Alternates:
Don Fish Fisher
Jim Gray

So now, the roster is set, the screws have been tightened and the bombs are ready to drop. Judging by what I witnessed on Thursday, any predictions of the outcome of all things are near impossible. What I can say is, any pre-conceived notions have flown like so many quail scattering at the sound of Dick Cheney's shotgun. I might try to call the top ten, or then again maybe not...

Stay tuned.