A Porsche show? Nobody cares. Scantily clad women that reek of cocoa butter and vodka? You might car a little bit about that. But today is about something entirely different. If you care about anything other than skateboarding today, something is wrong with you. Unless maybe you don't skate. People can rant at length about how much skateboarding contests suck. They do, from a pure skateboarding perspective, and anybody who has entered enough of them will most likely agree. Once upon a time, contests were the measuring stick, the way of defining who was hot and who was not. But things changed. Unlike a team sport where it's only about competition, titles, and accolades, skateboarding is a form of individual expression. The purest form of competition within skateboarding is with one's own self. One-upping yourself is usually the most satisfying acheivement to be found. So why hold a contest? Obviously to pay the top guys and girls, reward them for their prowess, their tenacity, and their guts. But there is something beyond that might just be the best reason to hold any sort of skate contest.

In my youth, when contests were a big deal in terms of how your qualities were measured, I entered several. It only took one to realize that the competitive aspect sucked for me. Yet, I continued to show up and enter them and I soon realized why. Contests presented an environment where you could skate with so many different people, people who were pushing the limits. It also provided the opportunity to skate with people who you only ever got to ride with at the contests they travelled to. That was the best part as far as I was concerned.

So maybe the Pool Party is more about that than anything else, or at least some of us would like to think so. The best in the business are here, many from distant lands. Whatever you might think of prize money, vibing, trophies, jams and rabid crowds, enjoy the skateboarding for what it is. That's what everyone comes here for anyway. Stay tuned for the blow-by-blow...