#devon smillie

For the longest time, the tired argument that X-Games Street can’t judge street has been around. In the early days a single handrail on course comprised of a bunch of a spines and box jumps hardly felt worthy of being called a street event. 

The term street was a more or less exchangeable with park back then, as was being called a street rider. Very few real street riders existed back then and the ones that did weren’t gonna be invited to the X-Games. Then and now the most technical riders were able to ride everything. Being multi-disciplined allowed for different skills to crossover, different tricks to be learned, and just creating an overall better skilled rider. In the early days there was no difference between a street rider and a park rider(sometimes even dirt rider). Most of them were one the same. Jimmy Levan, George Dossantos, Van Homan, Josh Stricker all very different riders who are capable on both disciplines. 

It didn’t seem like there was ever gonna be a need to differentiate the two truly back then but riding evolved and a divide between the disciplines grew. I’d like to think it involves the greater trend of society’s need for specialization but who knows it’s bike riding. It’s probably not that serious. Regardless riders delved themselves singularly into one aspect of riding and became masters of it. 

Of course the mainstream media caught wind of this late like they always do and for the first time the X-Games divided itself again into two different park/street categories. Park becoming more bowl like with steep transitions and   retaining the qualities that made it famous the years before while street was adopting the newly formed skate plaza, a skatepark that is adapted towards looking like obstacles found in the streets in a highly idealized form. 

Even with the new found street aspect that closer resembles real street riding, even then people found reason to criticize. This isn’t street riding, this is park riding done on a street formula that lacks all the purist qualities of street like finding spots, making most of what you have, and having real individual style that can only be translated into video form. As amazing and at one time prestigious someone like Ian Schwartz is, he isn’t ever gonna be an X-Games rider or ever place. The formula valued consistency and quantifiable tricks rather than style and creativity that can be best utilized in the actual city, someone can do a trick for hours and as long as its done, it was A ok. Even though the name was street, it never felt like that way. 

Being a few years late to everything the mainstream media has finally found a balance to satisfy our industry’s growing trends towards actual street riding vs. the ease of satisfying the TV consumer’s needs of something show worthy. A battleground like park format is easy to judge and watch but is also slowly becoming a bit of an aging format in current times. Dirt, vert, and traditional park riding is not where the money is anymore unfortunately and the ESPN execs know this. They found a way to show the grittier nature of actual street riding with the ‘Real Street’ segment. Showing actual video sections that allowed for more creative freedom than ever before.

This should be it though? This fixes everything that’s been wrong about street since it’s inception on this cable TV giant. Even then I can’t find it truly right. How can I judge someone like Devon Smillie who rides California style all over the world vs. someone like Van who seems to still be Jersey the whole section. Throw in Colt Fake and who can truly be voted best? It’s hard. Each and every rider brings in their own individual flavor that can’t be put against competition with someone else so easily. 

BMX ins’t like every other sport. There is no real winning and that’s what makes it so hard to truly judge. Put all these sections and throw in Ian Schwartz’s old System section with Chad Shackleford and I’d probably chose the later but that’s just my individual taste and probably not shared by the majority. Maybe that’s why they did the whole open voting system, so it can be quantifiable. The masses are always right.

I enjoyed them all but at the same time was put off by it all. It seemed like every rider has done better so your left kind of wanting more. This is supposed to be highest arena of competition in our sport, a lot of it seemed no better or worse than you’d see for someone’s signature frame promo. You can’t compare what someones been working on for years compared to a few months but you can’t help but somehow relate the two, this isn’t the Super Bowl one would come to expect. True riding just can’t be quenched into a standard format and even with more openness then ever with their own filmers/editors, spots, music, and everything that should make it perfect, it’s god but falls short to what really is going on. It’s just judging who made the better web video, not who is the better rider. I honestly don’t think there is format short of something like NORA for best rider that can truly show what street riding is but that’s ok cause this is ESPN and not riding, and it’s still mad entertaining. Better than idk, something short of a minute long Instagram video some riders seemingly fully adopted. ESPN don’t get any ideas.