Inebroation: Red Bull Manny Mania NYC August 17th

LES crowd.

LES Skatepark at the bottom of Allen St. in Manhattan was the setting for Red Bull Manny Mania August 17th. Manny Mania draws tons of pro skaters, many who don't compete generally. The contest format, legit judging (Steve Berra and Eric Koston were two of the judges), and mellow vibe make it a competition with a unique feel. This year the list of pros was ridiculous: Joey Brezenski, Eli Reed, Kelly Hart, Brandon Biebel, Kenny Anderson, Jason Dill, Chico Brenes, Jereme Rogers, Rob Welsh, Stefan Janoski, Dan Murphy, as well as a ton of other pros who were ready to skate all day in the NYC heat.

Lounging in the VIP area pre-comp.

Manny pad session.

From the very beginning of the extended practice the skating was nuts. Eli Reed started early, charging harder than almost everyone else, and skating with such good style. Koston was sessioning the up down before he had to start judging and Joey Brezinksi was nailing his typical tech combos.

Brezinski.

Manny.

Red Bull and Red Bull Cola was flowing, there was complimentary italian ice and free chili dogs--compared to Back to the Banks where it was mayhem trying to see the skating, Manny Mania was like a good house party with lots of seating. Jefferson Pang and Dave Ortiz were announcing everything they saw, but unfortunately if you were too close to them all you could hear was something that sounded like the teacher from Charlie Brown. It was ok, though, because the visual on the manny pads was enough to keep anyone's attention.

Joey Brezinski, product shot.

Memorable moments:
Dave Berra commenting how it's so exciting to see someone skating on your deck, and how stoked he was when he saw one of his in the crowd, and then realized it wasn't getting skated, it belonged to a girl taking pictures.

Rob Welsh, after skating for at least six hours straight, to another skater, "you're in finals? I would kill myself if I had to skate in finals right now."