Maloof Money Cup flips Queens fans

Whether you knew what an inward heelflip or a frontside 270 noseblunt slide was before attending the Maloof Money Cup, one thing remains the same: watching skaters that understand the physicality and physics behind performing street tricks will always be cool.
(Click here to see all the photos from the event)
Maloof – hailed as the world’s greatest skateboarding event and the premiere showcase for amateur and professional skateboarding – returned to Flushing Meadows • Corona Park on June 4 and 5 for the fifth straight year with a deep pool of talent ranging from first-time competitors to some of the world’s best pros. Approximately 25,000 skaters of all ages flocked to the grounds over the weekend to check out dozens of vendor booths, a mini-street course open to the public and the two-day competition on the main street course complete with nine stairs, hubba ledges, flat rails and other obstacles.
The Am Open final kicked off Sunday morning featuring the top 25 amateur skaters in the country; two of which – both first time competitors in Maloof – qualified for the final a day earlier in the hometown hero competition.
“It’s crazy skating in front of everyone,” said Matt Cartlidge, who called skating with the sport’s top amateurs very tiring. “I love skating in the city. There’s nothing like it.”
Cartlidge, 17, attends MacArthur High School in Wantagh and aspires to compete in the Tampa Am – one of the country’s most prestigious skateboard competitions.
He was joined by Pat Rumney from Mt. Sinai, Long Island who called his first Maloof a “good experience.”
“I would be here just to watch. The competition is just so good,” said Rumney, 19, who plans to keep skating in future competitions.
The day belonged to Evan Smith who walked away with a convincing victory after dazzling the crowd with rail combinations and a nose manual to firecracker, one of the most unique tricks executed over the course of the weekend.
The pro street finals were the first of its kind allowing a new head-to-head elimination format that is usually associated with team sports. With the brackets stacked with pros like Justin Figueroa, Dennis Busenitz, Greg Lutzka and Andrew Reynolds (who has been immortalized in the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series of video games), it was Lutzka who came out on top. It took three four-minute heats of linking together trick after trick with style and grace to take home $160,000 and the Maloof Money Cup championship.
Dozens of vendors from the country’s top skate companies like sponsors Vans and Vitamin Water lined the grounds of the 1939/40 and 1964 World’s Fair giving away free stickers, selling t-shirts, gear and raffles. A booth with one of the biggest lines was for Grind For Life, Inc. – a non-profit organization that helps people with cancer, especially those who travel long distances for treatments. Pro-skater Mike Rogers, who survived sarcoma cancer twice costing him his eye, cheekbone and the roof of his mouth, was greeting fans and raising money for the Grind for Life cause.
“When they saved his life at Sloan-Kettering, we started the organization to help people that are in a similar situation,” said partner Jill Gresko. “This is our second year at the Maloof Money Cup. Queens has been really good to us.”
For footage and full results of the Amateur and Pro Finals at the Maloof Money Cup, visit www.maloofmoneycup.com. To learn more about Grind for Life, visit www.grindforlife.org.