6th Place Josh Glowicki and 2009 Hoedown winner CJ Wellsmore.
I truly thought 2008 was going to be the last Hoedown EVER. At least concerning the way over-hyped rumors circulated around this giant talent cess pool of a state! Ha, ha! Anyhow, not one of these words, including the shamelessly abused adjectives, nouns, the punctuations, any “terrible angles” online edit, the over exposed photos due to innumerable flashes simultaneously firing, do any justice as to what the Hoedown REALLY is.
CJ Wellsmore / 450 Front Nugen to fakie
The energy levels there seem to hum in the rafters — a sort of buzz, like an unoiled pair of ancient clippers, but with crazed purpose! You have 15 or so dope rollerbladers a heat, with a total of three heats. Five from each heat advance, from then which five are selected by the ballot votes of the other bladers competing.
Aragon getting taped up.
After 10 minutes of almost-collisions, speed, no gravity, a heat, and the madness, comes down to the final five. This is where the Jam Session term really comes into action! Throughout the comp, the likes of some of the worlds best Pros and the world’s most underrated Ams rolled around Eisenberg’s plotting out their next hammer.
B Free on the scene.
Jon Jon Bolino with the unreal consistency; Rob G. with the pudslides to darkside top soyales with the veteran sickness; Haffey (Best Trick) 540 tru AO Soul “how is that even possible?” stunt; CJ Wellsmore the “nail-biting, that-was-scary” gesture after lacing some giant royale transfer to 540 out number; Aragon spinning so suave to tricks I can’t even do alley-oop. You can’t overlook Keaton Newsom’s raw eye for laying down the RIGHT trick on the right obstacle at the RIGHT time, either!
Keaton Newsome / Disaster AO Tousoul
People stood in the middle of the skatepark trying to film and shoot photos. Others stood on ledges and shotgun rails blocking the paths where these bladers were trying to go. The Showdown at The Hoedown really is what it is. It’s utter madness.
Gogo and Keaton taking a break.
Too many things going on at once. I can’t even remember half of what went down because it’s so intense. Everyone is feeding off the cheers of the crowd, they are pushing, trying to increase the volume of their approvals.
Fritz Peitzner amid shenanigans.
Too many things going on @ once. I can’t even remember half of what went down because it’s so intense. Everyone is feeding off the cheers of the crowd, they are pushing, trying to increase the volume of their approvals.
CJ Wellsmore / 540 AO Topsoul to fakie
This is the sound of rollerblading gaining ground once again. It’s organized chaos, courtesy of Arlo Eisenberg! CJ Wellmore the flying Aussie, took home the win with smiles & amazement.
DJ Wreckshop making that noise.
Josh Glowicki stealin’ more camera time with Mason Richard.
Jero and your humble story-teller, Rob Z.
Everyone entered bladed hard and held their own! The Hoedown, the vibe, the friends, the progression, the parties! It’s rollerblading being displayed the way it should be, only Texas style! — Rob Zbranek
Photos © 2009 Greg King
Whooooop! Helluva hoedown for sure! Awesome pics Greg, and of course, superb storytelling from Rob 🙂 You boys make a grrreat team!!
like Rob has said… the pics/words do the comp no justice. You def have to experience it yourself. Hopefully there will be more to come… the Showdown at the TX Hoedown will always be one of those legendary comps I’ll remember. Even if you don’t like someone’s particular style of skating, we can all agree that comps like this bring together people who share one common interest… that is, the support for rollerblading. VIVA LA REVOLUCION!
jason reyna, why have u not yet posted your video clips of this event? is there some sort of coincidence in the fact that you have time to comment on others art yet you put out 2 year old edits. Im only noticing a fact.
Im convinced the Hoedown is a happening event in our industry. Glad you guys put this thing together consecutively year after year, and please be open to a suggestion: maybe we could start a Hoedown series contest format. A contest series that could last for a period of maybe 6 months without much money at stake because each contest will reward with merchandise instead of money.
Then at the end of the 6 month period we could hand out a cash prize similar to that of the Hoedown, and we could change the name up a bit.
In my opinion, this stance might attract more media exposure, and Im convinced prime media exposure is what we need more of.
mufassa, the clips were used by brian moore in the hoedown edit that he posted the wednesday after the event. that edit has been posted on ONE, Rollernews, and Rolling Mission. just noticing a fact you seemed to not notice.
FKNIN insanity.. so proud to be aussie!!! get to winterclash CJ!
Jason Reyna, It’s obvious not everyone is a fan of you. Chill the fuck out. Half of Texas is ready to slap you in the vagina for being such a jock. You are extremelly insecure and need to except the fact that not everyone likes you. You are a little girl with a little girl attitude.
