Best of BATB

After finally getting through all of the battles from the past 7 years of BATB, here are my top 5 favorite battles:
(Coming so late in the week, it felt more appropriate to consolidate the High Five into one post.)

5. BATB 6 Round 2 - Morgan Smith vs. Eric Koston

Koston's T-to-nothing comeback is amazing. Everyone knows that Eric is always pretty light-hearted when it comes to his skating, never taking things too seriously, while still being one of the best skaters alive. So messing up 4 tricks that you know he has is not the most uplifting for the viewers. But for the same reason he missed those, you can never count him out just because he's always got surprises. After Morgan also misses a couple of unlucky ones, Koston pulls out the half cab late shove and switch laser to change the game to sudden death. Soon after that there's a string of tricks by Morgan (starting with a nollie big heel) that could get anyone out. But Koston matches every single one of them, all while the game is at T-T. Along with The Chief's reactions, this is the portion of the game that builds the excitement to make the game so great. When Koston messes up the first fakie big heel and says, "Hold on, I can finish that," you know he's found his groove at this point. A missed frontside cab heel by Morgan and a fakie laser by Koston later, and the crazy game comes to a finish.

4. BATB 1 Semifinals - Mike Mo Capaldi vs. Billy Marks

I first started checking out the Berrics sometime either in Round 2 or 3 of BATB1. By the time Finals night rolled around, I was already checking the site daily and keeping up with everything to do with BATB. At the time, this battle was absolutely unreal to watch, and it's still pretty nutty today. Seeing Billy match the fakie bigger flip, the cab big flip, and the nollie laser (flawlessly) was not expected 7 years ago. And also watching Billy find out Mo's multiple flip weakness (though Mo was so close on that triple flip!) and pulling out the old school half heel late back foot flip was pretty bonkers. At the end when it was T-T, seeing the nollie back heel 360 as a finisher was certainly crazy, but seeing Billy come so close and just slip out on the trick was even harder to believe. Needless to say, this game holds a beloved place in the top battles of BATB history. 

3. BATB 7 Championship - Cody Cepeda vs. Luan Oliveira

The concept of Pros vs. Joes alone was pretty intriguing, especially to see how these Joes could handle the pressure of a broadcasted and heavily watched game of skate. It's pretty clear that there are tons of "Joes" out there with the tricks to take down any pro, but to bring them to a stage like The Berrics is a whole different story. Enter Cody Cepeda. From the moment he opened up the whole contest for the interweb playing Trent McClung, it was pretty easy to tell that he had nerves of steel and a determination like no other. Of course he has all the "basic" tricks too, which he brought out later in defeating Shane and Tom, but he has double/triple flip variations for days along with some other flatground bangers as well. So when he led the underdog story to the Championship at BATB7, it was truly a sight to behold. Whether it was the live webcast and stoked crowd, the touching dedication to the Romano family, having his Recruit premiere just before the final match, or the fact that he shutout Luan Oliveira, everything contributed to the breathtaking vibes of that special Championship battle. And it's not just Cody's whole story that made this such a memorable battle, the skating was sick too! I doubt anyone expected Luan to match all those double flip variations that Cody threw at him. It's hard not to explode in joy just like the crowd when Luan somehow pulled out the pressure heelflip and the nollie back double heel to keep the game going. Even Cody was super stoked to see that! But in the end, there can only be one winner...

2. BATB 6 Championship -  PJ Ladd vs. Paul Rodriguez 

What can I say about this game? It's super long, always good. It covers almost all the "basic" tricks you can think of, always good. It has some pretty epic matched tricks, always good. It's just straight up one of the most solid games in every which way. Being handled by two teammates to decide the winner between Regular vs. Goofy also helps make the occasion precious. Then throw in the fact that these two met in the BATB3 Championship as well, where P-Rod got PJ on tricks like the big spin heelflip, the laser flip, and the nollie late front foot flip to win the game. What makes this game so epic is that PJ matches those with no problem here, along with some of P-Rod's new ones like a frontside nollie double kickflip. But P-Rod's varial double heelflip? Now that's a sure letter and a pretty insane trick when you think about it. (Props to Chris Chann for knocking out Chris Cole with the switch version of the trick!) On the other side, P-Rod matches some of PJ's crazy tricks like the 540 flip, the frontside cab heelflip (with pop!), and especially the the fakie 540 flip on the second try to keep the game alive. That moment is a pretty definitive feeling of elation for watching a spectacular match. After P-Rod tries to make history and finish the game with a backside nollie late front foot flip, PJ seals the deal with fakie big spin inward heelflip. All in all, just an incredible battle.

1. BATB 6 Round 3 - Moose vs. PJ Ladd

Just like the BATB 6 Championship, this is a long game filled with all the basic tricks and even some miraculous ones as well. Now there are a few reasons why this game is my favorite one ever. First of all, it's pretty comical how Moose got letters on the 4 inward heelflips and a fakie big spin inward heel. Moose landed just about every other trick possible in the game, so it's very interesting to see his very concise weakness. But it's nearly impossible to be mad at that because of how the rest of the game plays out. Secondly, the frontside heelflip 360. The trick alone is worth so much to the BATB. Not only am I pretty sure that it was the only one ever done in BATB, but it was done against PJ Ladd himself. That's like trying to get The Boss a letter on a frontside flip or Jason Lee on a 360 flip. And lastly, what I'd like to call the caballerial section starting around 3:42 in the above video. While the front heel 360 is included in here, here are the tricks Moose sets: cab double flip, cab big spin, fakie bigger flip, cab big flip, nollie big flip, nollie bigger flip, nollie double heelflip, frontside cab kickflip, nollie back heel 360, and a little bit later a triple kickflip. PJ LANDS THEM ALL. And even after that, Moose matches PJ on a cab heelflip while on the brink of elimination. These are the gnarliest tricks in a game of skate, done back to back to back by both dudes. If that doesn't warrant this game getting praise for decades to come, I don't know what would. 

Recent No Complys #1: Wes Kremer

Closing off the week and the look at Recent No Complys is Wes Kremer with a trio of clips (but 5 trick variations) from his Real Street part. Traditionally the no comply is a play-around trick that keeps the flow going, so who better to utilize it than the man who's always having fun and flowing around on his board. Never passing up a moment to flash the 'Mafia sign, Wes starts things off with what I'd like to call a nose comply impossible. Just for the heck of it and because it looks so cool. Then, at a legit Chinese street spot, Wes scoops a non-compliant front shove down some stairs (how hard must it be to actually catch that trick?), keeps flowing with the David Gravette signature done as smoothly as ever, and then no comply frontside flips up the long 4 stair. Hold up. No comply frontside flip up? Has that ever been done? I don't even get how you can controllably flip the board when no complying up stairs, much less frontside flip as if it was a kicker. Even if it has been done, it certainly hasn't been caught a good 2 or 3 steps higher than it needed to be. Only Wes. And if that wasn't enough, Wes shows PJ and Moose that he's got the frontside heelflip 360 too by no complying with it down some stairs. Now Louie Barletta's non-flipping version from Bonus Round is still demonstrative of the fun you can have not only with some no complys but with a full part as well, and Albert Nyberg's version to lipslide is still one of the craziest tricks ever, but there's something different when Wes does the trick. Regardless of the technicality or the loads of fun with these tricks, Wes's skating is always pretty special.

Video of the Week: LEM VILLEMIN IS PRO FOR CLICHE!

It's about time! Lem's pro part is the one we've been waiting for since Diagonal, and watching it is nothing short of cathartic. From back in his Chocolate days to now with Cliche through Bon Voyage, everyone's been rooting for Lem to turn pro and that day has finally come. His majestic flick and catch have just gotten better in time and it's a really wonderful thing to see his name on the bottom of a board for one of my favorite companies. Congrats Lem!

This week was heavy in skate videos, so here are the other top selections:
Collin Provost's new Emerica MADE B-Sides are gnarly as expected and also feature essentially a full new part from him. I thought Clint Walker's kickflip was nuts, but Collin takes it to a whole new level with this ender.
Leo Heinert is introduced as the first rider for TORRO with a part full of quick-footed East Coast shredding like I've never seen. His addition (2:38) to the NYC Courthouse Ledge drop along with those recently from the Supreme kids' in Cherry [spoilers] pretty much give the finger to my older post, which is sick!
I've heard of Jaakko Ojanen before through random park clips, but this new street part is simply insane: skating fast, incorporating a huge bag of tricks, and hitting some of the gnarliest spots.
Two Up is a pretty heavy two-part video with ripping Australians Nick Boserio and Alex Campbell, each coming through with very unique styles to cement in your head if they weren't there already.
Joe Gavin's new video part for Grey Skate Mag shows him shredding the grittiest and roughest streets you can think of with some of the sickest pole jams.
Moose's "extra" footage is still full of casual hammers, a relaxing blend of chill vibes and gnarly tricks.
Bryant Chapo is killing it for FKD.

To get everyone hyped up for their upcoming video parts (two for Vans and one for Outliers), Chris Pfanner drops a mini part for Red Bull, Nassim Guammaz has a gnarly prequel Vans part, and Brad Cromer reminds us how naturally skilled he is by dropping a sweet iPhone part for Doom Sayer.

Some other things worth checking out:
Kingpin did a really nice article on 11 no-push lines that are definitely worth remembering.
Skateboarding Makes the World Go Round is full of incredible Brazilian skating at an assortment of locations around the world with some unheard-of guys mixed with some stars too.

Video of the Week: Yoshi Tanenbaum

Yoshi Tanenbaum's skill is surreal. The fact that the flick on his laser was perfect nearly every single try and he stuck all but maybe two attempts is incomprehensible. Making something so gnarly look easy enough to just run up and go for it like Yoshi did is beyond impressive, and then landing it twice in a row (what was wrong with the first one?) takes the cake for me.

For time constraints I will just list some other sweet videos from this past week:
Chaz Ortiz and his insanely consistent and buttery backside flips at the Berrics
The Expedition flow bros are extremely skilled
Always enjoy some new Josh Anderson footage, in this case via his Mag Minute
The ever-beautiful varial heelflips and variations from Willow in this Etnies feature
Moose's first pro truck via Thunder Trucks
Sweet new part from Aussie Jack Fardell
Always love some raw VX footage from one of my favorites, Walker Ryan
Connor Champion skating very poppy with this Quartersnacks remixed part
Loving the New Balance team lately, especially with edits like The Second Narrows
Waters and Army welcomes Marek Zaprazny with this awesome video part (fakie nosegrind switch tre!)
Introduction to Zero's Cold War video (so pumped to see it this week!!)

Next Week: Switch Backside Kickflips

Switch backside flips are probably my favorite trick to watch, mostly for the fact that I can't do them whatsoever. Some guys have them, and then some guys have them very very well with great flick and style. This week I'm going to highlight my top 5 favorite switch backside flippers.
But before that, I'd like to point out a few great skaters and moments with that trick.
Stefan Janoski is obviously one of the most fluid and skilled switch skaters out there with his graceful light footed style. Everyone knows his switch flip is unmatchable and he definitely has a great switch backside one as well.
Furby's got plenty of those 180 fliptricks, switch backside flips being one of them. His clean style makes any of his tricks look thugged out.
Moose definitely has a great switch backside flip, I just happen to see him throw down more nollie frontside flips, so I don't have him pegged as much for doing it switch. But I must shoutout his Santa Monica triple set nollie frontside flip: that was sick!
In the new Emerica Made video, Jeremy Leabres perfectly lands a switch backside flip down the second of two fairly large sets, following a nollie backside flip. That was easily one of my favorite lines from the video and I'm really eager to watch Jeremy blow up.
Figgys battle at the heavily guarded triple set (in LA I believe) for Bake and Destroy was one of the sweetest things about his skating. I knew he could skate switch on handrails like no one else but I had no clue he had a switch backside flip like that. Combine that surprising flip trick with Figgys desire to just attack spots makes the behind the scenes to that trick just wonderful to watch, pretty much what every skater dreams of doing at some point.
And lastly, for one of my favorite individual switch backside flips of all time, I give ultimate credit to DJ Gaudin (who I had never heard of but will always remember now) for doing this trick down the infamous Wallenberg. The switch roll in itself is super sketchy, but somehow DJ manages to get a proper flick on his switch backside flip and stylishly execute that tough trick down the huge 4 block. Again, the video shows how great the session must've been as him and Forrest tried their awesome tricks, so seeing the makes provides that feeling of excited relief and giddiness even (for me at least).

Dudes with Nicknames #5: Moose (Luis de los Reyes)

From what I've read and heard, as Moose was coming up he would always paint a different animal on his griptape. At a skatepark when some pros were around, they saw him ripping and wanted to get his attention so they shouted out "Moose!", since that happened to be the animal on his griptape at the time.  Ever since, that name has stuck and has basically erased Luis's original name for the skate industry. I'd say that he is a prime example of how a solid nickname can really stick and take over for a skater.
Now I don't need to delve in at all into how awesome Moose is as a skater, and I am beyond stoked that he is FINALLY pro now. (Just copped his new pro model from Deathwish!) I still love watching his Recruit part at the Berrics (above) and if you haven't seen his part in the Deathwish video, get on that ASAP.
And finally, watch this whole video, but just make sure to witness the stunning perfection at 3:51. That is all.

Next Week: Ams that Should be Pro

This is always a very heavily discussed topic among skateboarders.  There are hundreds of skaters that are killing it right now, of which some are in the industry's spotlight and sponsored by some well recognized brands.  Some have been killing it for quite a while but for one reason or another have not finally passed that last industry barrier into professionalism.  A lot of my interest in this subject over the past year or so was because of one guy: Moose.  I became a Moose fan ever since he came out of nowhere in Thrasher's Bust or Bail contest with that gnarly back 360 at 3:36.  Since then, he's consistently put out quality footage over the past few years including his Berric's Recruit part, a solid minute of footage for his Omit Apparel introduction (2:58) (RIP Omit), footage in Shake Junt's Chicken Bone Nowison, his Mag Minute, a super sick part in the Bones video New Ground (25:54), some more darn good clips in Ambig's Modern Art (4:52), and of course his nutty display of gnarly and technical skating in the Deathwish Video. Somewhere along that path of destruction that Moose left behind him I would have expected him to go pro, especially considering Neen went pro within a year of getting on Deathwish I believe and Jon Dixon getting on after Neen and going pro right after the Deathwish Video dropped. No disrespect to either of those two, cause I must've rewatched their parts at least 5 times, but I felt like they hadn't put in the time with Deathwish like Moose has. (Same thing goes for the 3 Trunk Boyz that recently went pro, but I digress.)  So when Deathwish finally took some hints and turned Moose pro a week ago, I was elated! Though I wouldn't be able to complain about him being am anymore, I was still pumped that he finally has his name on the bottom of a board.  Along with that, shoutout to Julian Davidson who I'd say also deserved professionalism after dropping 3 absolutely stylishly banging parts with his Cons x Thrasher part, his Future Nature part, and most recently his Perpetual Motion part.

While I can no longer use these two guys in this week's postings, I would also like to go through a few names that could definitely be in the running for professionalism pretty soon that I won't be dedicating a day to this week.  Youness Amrani's has had 3 key video parts (Welcome to Almost, SB Chronicles Vol 1, and Marrakesh Express) that are so ridiculous it's like playing a video game; but I think being on a legendary team like Almost requires putting in a little more time to turn pro.  Trevor Colden has been on a serious tear over the past couple years with stuff like his Color Theory part, tons of web clips like his Spitfire Wheels Introduction, and most recently his Stone Colden part for Thrasher.  However, it may just be me but Mystery is not looking to be in the best of shape, especially after losing Jimmy Carlin, so I have my doubts for turning Trevor pro for them just yet.  I also need to mention Madars Apse from this part I still don't know the full origins of, his Future Nature part, and most recently his shared part in Hold it Down.  With his one of a kind style that is quite possibly the most fun to watch and his infectious positive attitude, I would love to see him go pro for Element but I feel like his roots in Europe unfortunately do hold him back in that respect.

Now that I have finished my ramblings about some key guys in the skateboarding world that are either just over or just behind the line of professionalism, this week I present to you 5 guys that I think should be over that line already.