Expecting a possible announcement soon, a rumor mill has surfaced of the possible annihilation of the VERT competition for Skateboarding and BMX in the X-Games!!

According to Jason Ellis, on his radio show on Sirius, the leak came out as a bit of a shock to the skateboarding world, for which the vert has always been a big part of the competition! Blasting the ''big corporations'' as the problem, Ellis goes on about the possibility of them dropping vert to pick up other sports to ''attract all crowds''! Maybe professional ''Bull Riding''? Who knows.

I, for one, am very disappointed, not only to we have to see what ESPN feels THEY like to broadcast, but now the possibility of a competition that put the X-Games on the map, is going to omitted? Was it because Shawn White never landed that 1080? Is it now considered ''boring'' to mainstream if someone doesn't beat the odds of a trick, or nearly kill themselves as we've seen last year with the mega-ramp? The fact that Danny Way invented the ''Mega-Ramp'', but the X-Games call it ''Big Air'' so they don't have to give him $$$ towards it!

Skateboarding will go on of course, and doesn't need the X-Games to survive, its in our blood! But for them to just ''drop it'' would be a slap to the face to anyone who ever gave their own sweat and blood the competition, for all of us to enjoy, and then they get turned around by a few guys in suits deciding ''we should try something else''?? Vert is what pays the bills for most of these guys, the ads they wear, etc etc!

Sure, we'll all have someones backyard to rip on, or nearby park to watch some of the local talents. Street and freestyle will survive by skaters just doing what they love when and where they want in the end. But for the few of us that did enjoy the time sitting in front of the TV watching guys like Tony Hawk, Burnquist, Pierre-Luc Gagnon and others that we didn't see everyday riding, it will be sadly missed if the rumors are true, and we DON'T get to see the up and coming stars!! At least, thats my opinion on it!

That sucks if it's true. I like watching the skateboarding x-games on tv

I personally dont care. I dont like the X games, its like theyre trying to make skateboarding appeal to non-skaters. (not in a way that tries to get people to start skating- that would be good, but its more like them looking for the people who just want to be entertained when Nascar and Americas Most Wanted isnt on) We dont need those people. They dont understand how much skaters love what they do, they just see them as stuntmen

No way! I love watching the X-Games, even when I wasn't skating. It was all unfamiliar words to me, but I still loved watching them go up so daringly and down so cleanly.

Keep in mind this is a rumor. Lots of rumors tend to be fake, unless you have some legit sources/reasons?

damn that sucks..but on another note...HOLY **** PATHTEK IS BACK!:)

What the hell, that's way bogus. I know the Xgames used to have a ton of different things to it, but dropping vert? That's one of the most played comps from the Xgames. Bad call. Same with adding bull riding... -_____-

No way! I love watching the X-Games, even when I wasn't skating. It was all unfamiliar words to me, but I still loved watching them go up so daringly and down so cleanly.

Keep in mind this is a rumor. Lots of rumors tend to be fake, unless you have some legit sources/reasons?

It is only a rumor, but its going thru the PRO end of the sport, which by any means, is a HUGE rumor nonetheless! A smaller rumor would probably work its way from the bottom on up, but in this rare case, its coming from the top down...somethings up, we just don't know what it is yet!

damn that sucks..but on another note...HOLY **** PATHTEK IS BACK!:)
Yes, i'm getting back in the swing of things :)! Wish I had better news :p

What the hell, that's way bogus. I know the Xgames used to have a ton of different things to it, but dropping vert? That's one of the most played comps from the Xgames. Bad call. Same with adding bull riding... -_____-

I was hoping bull riding was a joke.

Apparently not.

Damn those delicious bulls

that would suck, vert, in my opinion, is awesome to watch. not so fun to do, but i like watching it. btw, does anyone know when the xgames will come on?

that would suck, vert, in my opinion, is awesome to watch. not so fun to do, but i like watching it. btw, does anyone know when the xgames will come on?

Usually its end of June or early July

well, if the rumour is true, that's a huge bummer. But I'm sure some other corp would make a vert comp to take it's place, possibly?

well, if the rumour is true, that's a huge bummer. But I'm sure some other corp would make a vert comp to take it's place, possibly?
Ahh, but, see, X Games is one of the most popular shows for sports. Skateboarding in there would mean more skaters in the world.

For us already-skaters, it would be fine if they did replace it. But it would be less popular.

flip kicked chalmers off the flip team because "vert is dead" i saw this coming along ways off.........if its true.

Check out the poll on the Xgames website!
expn.go.com/expn/index#
"Vert riding is
Rad
Dead
Inaccessible
For dads with pads
"
Hope they aren't cutting it....

wait...sh*t! they don't show street,verts probably gone, that means skating will no longer be viewable on the xgames!

unless they bring street back! DAMN THAT SUCKS!

and yet again on another note Im just glad your back pathtek!I Missed you and your friendlyness!:)

Thank you ESPN Latin America for not airing the X-Games, thus leaving me feeling left out of this conversation.

thats gonna kill the careers of some riders
cause in vert all you can really do is comps

im not a huge fan of vert
but its fun to watch

Okay, everyone go here:
http://expn.go.com/expn/index

and vote for rad.

There are only 162 votes so far, so the cafe can make a HUGE difference.

I love vert, I can't even drop in on a half pipe..but I love it.
This sucks if its true

voted rad!

the x-games has sucked for years now. once they started adding new sports every year or variations on sports it started to loose its meaning. i watched the winter x games, what a joke. now they have snowmobile racing and motorcycles on snow and other crap like that. thats just stupid, those arent sports those are stunt man compitions and thats not what im interested in watching. i dont give a **** about snow mobiles. i want to see half-pipes, street courses and dirt bike jumps. thats it. no more, no less those are the x-sports.

voted rad, looks about 48% of everyone else voted rad too. VOTE PEOPLES!

I voted rad, just because I greatly respect what vert riders are able to do.

What it really boils down to is skateboarding, like surfing or snowboarding or bmx, is not conducive to live competition. The most exciting things happening in the sports happen on film, in edited video segments. Contests can't compare, because riders do what they know they will land in a controlled environment which limits creativity. Contests are boring.

I voted rad, although i don't think i've every really seen the x-games, i deffinately wanna see it this year and coming years. Vert is awesome to watch even if I don't do it.

Same thing happened to all of the Inline competitions.

Vert just isn't as popular anymore, that's probably why they are taking it out. It sucks, but it was bound to happen.

Same thing happened to all of the Inline competitions.

Vert just isn't as popular anymore, that's probably why they are taking it out. It sucks, but it was bound to happen.
What is inline?

I think I know what it is, but I want to be sure...
rollerblading?


Anyway, I guess...If it isn't as popular anymore, that is a good reason to take it out, purely from a monetary/big corporation standpoint.

But from my standpoint..this sucks.

I bet that is what that poll is there for.
Why else would it be there?

No way, i love the x-games! It was the x games that made me wanna skate, especially the vert competition. I feel very disappointed in knowing that the vert competition is being cancelled. At least there are still the other skating competitions but I will miss seeing skaters like tony hawk and bob burnqiist doing awesome grabs in the x games.

No way, i love the x-games! It was the x games that made me wanna skate, especially the vert competition. I feel very disappointed in knowing that the vert competition is being cancelled. At least there are still the other skating competitions but I will miss seeing skaters like tony hawk and bob burnqiist doing awesome grabs in the x games.Tony Hawk doesn't skate the X-Games anymore does he?
I think he just comments..

I missed last year's X-Games because I didn't have cable back then.
{bh)

It's about time professional bull skateboard riders took it to the ramps, humans have been hogging the glory for far too long.

A bit of skateboard history.

Skateboarding took off in 1965 with a group of local surfers nailing reollerskate trucks to 2x4's and coasting down streets. By 1968 the first boards began appearing in shops made professionally by companies. Around 1970 skateboarding had reached it's first peak of popularity, but by 1972 had already slid into recession (If anyone's curious, I can tell yuo the general reason why), and remained an underground sport until the late 70's. About 1979 skateboarding kicked off again with the appearance of curved tails, allowing for new innovations to the sport. Skateboarding once again took off and reached it's second peak of popularity. By 1985 however, it again slid into recession. In 1991 (or was it 1992) the first X Games came out, and skateboarding took off once more, and has since been pretty succesful. However, over the last 2 years, BMX and inline have been taking media attention away from the sport, and it has been sliding into yet another recession. If vert goes from the X games then pretty much, that just kicks skateboarding off of it's popularity peak once more. It'll become a more underground sport, playing the shadow of BMX primarily, until something new comes about to raise it back.

It's all a boom and bust cycle. It's happened before and it's gonna happen again.

This whole thing makes no sense to me.

Shaun's run last year reinstilled my faith in the entertainment value of the vert comp, of course not the same can be said of the other pros. Most were saying they were doing "safe runs" which i understand, but if you are there you need to not let the crowd down.

I'm impressed by those pros just doing simple tricks like fronstide grabs, but Viewers that don't skate can't enjoy it fully cause they don't know really how hard it is to do what those pros do. all they can think is "Why don't they do backflips, and cool stuff"

either way I'm so psyched cause Jerry Hsu's gonna be in the street comp. He's gonna demolish all!! MAUHAUAHU!

this is gay as hell. vert is awesome. On the website I voted rad, I love watching vert on the x games.

I voted rad, just because I greatly respect what vert riders are able to do.

What it really boils down to is skateboarding, like surfing or snowboarding or bmx, is not conducive to live competition. The most exciting things happening in the sports happen on film, in edited video segments. Contests can't compare, because riders do what they know they will land in a controlled environment which limits creativity. Contests are boring.

Well, while I agree with your statement, I disagree with the boring part. Contests show the natural enviroment of all skaters, but what it boils down to is that those guys that take 20 runs to land something in one video clip, are throwing it all together in one complete run...that isn't boring to me, but rather, shows they have those tricks dialed, and can link them all back to back to back consistantly! Thats a heavy chore to do, and an incredible feat at that. If ESPN wants harder tricks consistantly, they're gonna have to wait, cause look how many times and contests it took for Tony Hawk to land the 900.

I nearly edited that last sentence out after posting it. You're right Pathtek4, the skaters on vert and street have been stepping it up to more and more difficult tricks in contests.

k dude i voted for rad

look how many times and contests it took for Tony Hawk to land the 900.

About 18 years from the time he first attempted one ;)

CAUSE KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

They always had some stupid events, I think the first X-Games had competitive bungee jumping.

^Only if they do it without a bungee :p...I think that's more along the lines of what the X-Games are going for now.

If they really are adding bull riding i'm not even gonna watch it any more.

k dude i voted for rad

why the **** did you neg rep me for "dissing street"? i didn't diss anything, i just said i like watching vert on the xgames..

They won't nix vert, Tony Hawk is one of the commentators and they wouldn't let him go, after all the money he has made them.

omg hope they dont own the verts. i got inspired by verts to skate. dang, the only good part in x-games is the verts

Surely not true! In all the years i have watched it some of the most aniticpated part was the vert.

The vert gave us some of our 'most famous' skaters, Hawk wouldn't be anywhere if it wasn't for Vert competitions.