March 20....
I had an amazing day on Friday. I actually got to see first hand how damn lucky I am to skateboard for a living. I spent the afternoon at my new friend Matt's house in Huntington Beach. Matthew has cancer and his cancer really sucks! It's in an area where they can't go in and do surgery because if they do it will paralyze him. You have to think about that! I sat there with Matt and his brother Austin and their mom Julie and was amazed at how positive Matt was. I think we all need to take a minute and say a prayer for Matt and anyone else who is suffering from cancer. I don't know if I could be that strong. Good Job Matt!
I leave for Dubai on Thursday. The logo contest is very, very hard to judge. Right now I (we) have 13 people out of the thousands that we received. Out of the 13 there are 2 people doing some revisions to a logo. One of these 2 people will be the overall winner. That winner will be announced at the end of the month. I will list the 13 finalists later in the week. Thanks to everyone who participated. I hope you all had fun with the project. We had an awesome time looking at all the designs and we looked at all of them..You Can Believe That!
Thanks to everyone who sent me emails after my fall in Tampa. It was a simple mistake that I had to pay for. After a day and a half with a pretty good head ache I was good to go.
That's it for now! Peace-Ryan
March 12, 2005 ....Tampa pro as told by Blair Alley of skateboarding.com.
As long as he stuck all his bangers, he was a shoe in for victory. And sure enough he did. Greg Lutzka had the gnarliest runs all weekend. Frontside 360 the long 12-foot box, then turning around and kickflipping the whole thing to backlip. He then rolled in fakie and Cab backlipped one of the small rails, turned around and switch kickflip backlipped the other small rail. He then capped his run with his patented frontside 270 to backside nosebluntslide down the big rail.
Second place could easily have been Sheckler, Jereme Rogers, Kyle Berard, or Austen Seaholm. The judges had their work cut out for them, and in the end Jereme got second.
In the middle of one of Sheckler's runs, he went for a kickflip backlip on the big rail, missed and smacked his head knocking him out for a good couple minutes. He eventually got up and actually skated his next run. He earned the best slam of the contest award for it. He's a tough dude.
February 23 .. I'm leaving for Spain tomorrow and just wanted to take a quick minute and update the site.
So last night I was flipping through SLAP magazine and I ran across a picture of myself and my friend Marco Melanson from Canada! I was moved, in fact I was very moved over the article Marco wrote about skateboarding and how stoked he was to meet me during a tour in Canada. Marco has autism and he skates!!!! Marco found a sense of peace with skateboarding and I think EVERYONE should go out and by this magazine just so you can read Marco's version of what skateboarding really is. I freaking love this guy! Marco .... Hit up Justin at STRICT UNION Skate shop for the package I'm sending you! You're and inspiration to me.
I had to take down the phone number that was on my site. That was a business number but for some reason thousands and thousands of people didn't believe me...............it just became impossible to do any business on that line. Don't get me wrong, I'm stoked that a lot of people want to talk to me but it just got crazy for the people answering the phones and trying to return messages. So if you have a question regarding an order you will have to email customer service with your order number and I promise you will get a super fast response.
My new site is done! We are filling it with some cool skate stuff and hope to launch it as soon as I get back from Spain.
The logo contest is almost done! This is going to be very hard to pick a winner. Stay tuned for a page on my site dedicated to the top 20. This has been a blast looking at all of the logos and I have personally seen each and every one of them.......anyway, I will have more information on that contest when I get back.
That's it for now. Thanks to everyone for your continued support!
OK...one more thing. When I get back from Spain and after the Tampa Pro we are going to embark on a HUGE PROJECT. I can't tell you about it right now but trust me it will make a lot of sense when you here about it.
PEACE - Ryan
February 12 .. Global Assault in OZ (aka Globe World Championships). Ryan is traveling in OZ filming with OAKLEY and Volcom but he has allowed me (his most loyal soldier) to update his site with contest results.
Ryan's heat was a who's who of the best in the world and only 2 would make it to the final 6 for a show down. Erik Kosten, Rick McCrank, Mark Appleyard, Ryan Sheckler and so on. Ryan and Rick McCrank made the cut and moved into the final 6. Here is where the magic happened. No timed runs! Check that .... there were no timed runs.....now the naysayers of the world would say that Ryan is done because this is a part of the contest where he can really lay down some poetic transitions. What you don't know is that Ryan had a premonition that soon the timed runs would no longer be a dominant part of skateboarding so he has been practicing for ''jam sessions'' only.
The final results of his unwavering love for skateboarding...1st Place and $30,000.00.
February 7th .. Tentative Schedule:
Australia from February 7th through February 21st Globe World Cup.
Mallorca, Spain from February 26 through March 6th for filming.
Tampa, Florida from March 8th through March 12th for the Tampa Pro.
Dubai, March 21st through April 2nd, filming with Volcom.
New York, April 4th through April 5th, ETNIES Shoe Launch.
China, April 6th through April 16th.
May ...... lots of sleep and motocross.
Paris, June 10 through June 13th, ETNIES Shoe Launch.
Kentucky, June 21st through June 25th, DEW Action Sports Tour.
Germany, June 28th through July 10th.
February 6th .. Hey Everyone! Here is an update for anyone who may be interested. My pro model shoe is out. If you're having problems finding it then go to www.etnies.com and hit the dealer locator. From there you can put in your zip code and find the nearest store. If that doesn't work send an email to ETNIES and they will try to help.
I'm leaving for Australia tomorrow. I won't be back until the 21st so if you place an order on my store and want my autograph the order will have to wait. This will be the first big contest of the year! I have an arsenal of new tricks that I will be putting out there for the judges and fans to see. I will try to post updates on the contest here at my site so check back frequently.
The logo contest is beyond CRAZY! Some of the logos are so creative I can't believe it. The contest ends on February 28th. It will take me and the other judges until the middle to end of March just to review the designs. I have my eye on a few different designs so there may have to be more than one winner. I will keep you posted on the status and I will be posting the top 20 on my site. I might even have an on-line pole just to see what you guys are thinking? Who knows, either way it's going to be very hard to pick a winner. Thanks to all of you who took the time to get in this contest. I appreciate all the effort everyone put into creating something so cool and meaningful.
I want to throw out a congrats to Nicoll Racing Inc. (www.nicollracing.com) Supercross rider Jake Christianson. I won't at the San Diego Supercross race to support him in person but want to wish him well. Lastly, my number one man Colton Udall took a nasty spill while riding and will be heading into surgery on Tuesday when I take off. Send him a get well email if you have a minute (colton@nicollracing.com). This guy is an up and coming professional! RC and Bubba should be scared! Special thoughts and prayers go out to him for a quick recovery!
That's it! For those who care, throw me down some good luck for my trip down under. See you all in a few weeks – Ryan.