In response to the X Games not being held in Detroit this year, the city put on their own adventure event for skateboard competition, and they did it in style. Skateboarders love to go on an adventure in odd places throughout a city. Sure, a skate park is awesome, but it lacks the character of city built landscapes and landmarks. The Zumiez Best Foot Forward amateur skateboard finals mixed the two worlds of skate park and urban location in an incredible way at the Michigan Theatre. The adventure into skateboard greatness took place this past weekend.
The Michigan Theatre was the home of Henry Ford’s first created automotive design (no, not the Model T, which would come soon after, his first created design was the quadricycle), then became a theatre in the 20’s, and then was finally stripped out and made into a parking lot in the 70’s. A city, especially one dubbed the Motor City, could always do with more parking, but it wasn’t doing the old French Renaissance style building any justice to just collect cars, and that’s why this competition will hopefully serve as a flagship for more live events in the venue, a place unlike any other around the world.
The event was born from the hopes and dreams of the city of Detroit and her people to host the X Games this year, an honor, to their dismay, that went to Austin, Texas. However, their voices were not shut out entirely by the big wigs of the skateboarding world, and many sponsors, companies, and organizations showed up to check out what was good. That meant extra pressure on the 37 competitors to perform well and get noticed. 3 of them did exactly that: Brandon Villanueva, Tyson Bowerbank, and Jamie Foy all won the competition and are moving onward and upward to new tours and new sponsors.
Their adventure is just beginning, as is the city of Detroit’s adventure into being recognized as a namesake and home for skateboarding as well as cars. Perhaps soon they’ll change the name to Wheel City from Motor City to make room for all the new action the city is brewing.
