Gravity Games
What are the Gravity Games?
You have never heard of them? Tell me you are joking!
In it's fourth year running the Gravity Games include seven sports: skateboarding, biking, freestyle motorcross, inline skating, wakeboarding, downhill skateboarding and street luge (both which weren't held in Cleveland this year do to the lack of significant hills, though I am sure the mayor has seen to it, and has a plan to build some for next year), this was the event of the summer, and to my luck, it Actually Came to Cleveland!
First and foremost, you might be asking yourself how much do these dang newfangled things cost? Well surprise surprise, they were actually charging only $12 dollars for one-day admission. This extremely low price is most likely due to the over advertising of the sponsors.
In Cleveland, the Gravity Games ran from July 31 - Aug. 4, and were held in Voinavich Park which you may or may not have heard of (it is very new in fact) at the North Coast Harbor. For all of you non-Clevelanders, it was right next to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the shores of the lake. It was really awesome, they set up Four arenas to host most of the daily activities, One skate park for the biking, skating, and inlining; One dirt arena for the motorcross, and Two tube like arenas for the skate boarders. In the Games area, they also had what they called an "Interactive Village", what this really means is that they had a lot of sponsors who set up booths and handed out free stuff while trying to get you to buy more of their wares. Though, two of the redeeming values of the "Interactive Village" were all the free samples of things like Sobe drinks, Corn Nuts, Duck Tape, and Clearasil samples. Some other stuff I got includes free stickers from Amp (a Sobe energy drink), Dirty Industries, Duck Tape (oh How I love thee), Corn Nuts, Verb, Airwalk, Lee Jeans, and Free Gravity Games stickers. Dodge was also a Huge sponsor, but alas they gave out no free samples. Besides that, I also walked away with four wristbands; three Sobe (which I won in their paintball challenge), and an Airwalk one that was being given away. In addition, I convinced the guys that the Duck tape stand to give me a roll of green duct tape (I sang The Star Spangled Banner for ten seconds to the people who were walking by the tent on the top of my lungs; they were impressed); and I also received a Myachi original hand sack game. Ooo, I am impressed with all this free stuff! The other redeeming value was the free rides that you could participate in if you had the will, and the health insurance. What happened was you went to a tent, signed a waver, and got your hand stamped. Then, providing that you are over five foot tall, you could ride this stupid bike thing, which you peddled in circles (vertically), you could climb a fake rock tower, Or, you could ride the gyroscope. =), my personal favorite was the gyroscope; in fact I rode it four times and was on first name basis with the operators. They were impressed by my devotion, by my motivation, by my obvious stupidity. I am a sucker, I came back for more, and more, and more punishment, and today I feel the pain…the pain in my legs and arms; since you had to move the gyroscope yourself, and that takes a lot of effort.
The Games admittedly had it's problems too, like coordinating location; that was a major issue. When they (who ever they are) laid out the plans for the arenas, no one took into account how mobs move. So, what we were left with was this awful traffic jam if you wanted to get from one arena to another. It was bad, but not impossible. The other problem, was water….well, drinks in general. On the way in they stripped you of any food and drink (aside from water) that you may have been carrying (which is understandable). Then, they had the nerve to charge $3.25 for a 20 oz bottle of water. It was outrageous. I am surprised more people didn’t pass out of dehydration (since it being hot in Cleveland this summer). The food was also really expensive, which wouldn’t have been bad, if it had been worth the money; and if you had had a choice of whether or not to buy it, or bring your own. My last complaint is about seating. For the Skateboarding vert finals they had one of the tube arenas set up, but they didn’t have enough seating around it. Needless to say, I ended up on the ground trying in vain to look in over the heads of the people in front of me. But, enough of the negative, and On with the Show!
WED JULY 31- SUN AUGUST 4
Festival Village hours: 11:00 AM- 8:00 PM
FRIDAY JULY 26
Location: ALLEGANY STATE PARK -- SALAMANCA, NY
8:30 AM - Noon: Downhill Skateboarding Practice
12:30 PM - 5:00 PM: Street Luge Practice
SATURDAY JULY 27
Location: ALLEGANY STATE PARK -- SALAMANCA, NY
8:00 AM - 10:00 AM: Downhill Skateboarding Practice
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM: Downhill Skateboarding Qualifying/ Competition
11:45 AM - 1:45 PM: Downhill Skateboarding 2 Man Competition/Finals
3:15 PM - 5:00 PM: Downhill Skateboarding 4 Man Competition/Finals
SUNDAY JULY 28
Location: ALLEGANY STATE PARK -- SALAMANCA, NY
7:00 AM - 9:00 AM: Street Luge Practice
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM: Street Luge Qualifying/ Competition
11:15 AM - 1:30 PM: Street Luge 4 Man Competition/Finals
3:00 PM - 5:30 PM: Street Luge 6 Man Competition/Finals
TUESDAY JULY 30
Location: North Coast Harbor -- Cleveland, Ohio
1:30 - 4:30 PM: Skateboard Street Session
WEDNESDAY JULY 31
Location: North Coast Harbor -- Cleveland, Ohio
11:00 am - 8:00 pm: Festival Village Open
11:00 am - 2:00 pm: Bike Street Practice
11:00 am - 12:45 pm: Bike Dirt Practice
12:00 noon - 5:00 pm: Wakeboarding Practice- Men and Women
12:30 pm - 3:45 pm: Inline Vert Practice
1:00 pm - 3:30 pm: Bike Dirt Prelims
3:00 pm - 9:00 pm: Skateboard Street Practice
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm: Inline Vert Prelims
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm: MUSIC - The Color Red, Trapt, and Stroke 9
6:30 pm - 9:45 pm: Skateboard Vert Practice
6:30 pm - 9:45 pm: Bike Vert Practice
7:00 pm - 8:15 pm: Bike Dirt Practice
8:30 pm - 10:00 pm: Bike Dirt Final
THURSDAY AUGUST 1
Location: North Coast Harbor -- Cleveland, Ohio
11:00 am - 8:00 pm: Festival Village Open
11:00 am - 12:30 pm: Freestyle Motocross Practice
11:00 am - 12:45 pm: Skateboard Street Practice
12:00 noon - 4:00 pm: Skateboard Vert Practice
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm: Skateboard Street Final
1:30 pm - 3:45 pm: Bike Vert Practice
2:00 pm - 6:00 pm: Wakeboard Prelims- Men and Women
3:00 pm - 3:30 pm: Skateboard Street Best Trick
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm: Bike Vert Prelims
5:30 pm - 8:00 pm: Freestyle Motocross Practice
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm: MUSIC - Default
6:00 pm - 9:45 pm: Bike Street Practice
6:30 pm - 8:15 pm: Inline Vert Practice
8:30 pm - 10:00 pm: Inline Vert Final
FRIDAY AUGUST 2
Location: North Coast Harbor -- Cleveland, Ohio
11:00 am - 8:00 pm: Festival Village Open
10:00 am - NOON: Freestyle Motocross Practice
12:00 noon - 6:00 pm: Bike Street Practice
1:00 pm - 3:30 pm: Freestyle Motocross Prelims
1:45 pm - 3:45 pm: Skateboard Vert Practice
3:00 pm - 6:15 pm: Wakeboard Semi's & Finals - Men & Women
4:00 pm - 6:30 pm: Skateboard Vert Prelims
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm: MUSIC - Wyclef Jean
6:30 pm - 8:15 pm: Bike Vert Practice
8:30 pm - 10:00 pm: Bike Vert Final
SATURDAY AUGUST 3
Location: North Coast Harbor -- Cleveland, Ohio
11:00 am - 8:00 pm: Festival Village Open
11:00 am - 12:45 pm: Bike Street Practice
1:00 pm - 3:30 pm: Bike Street Prelims
3:00 pm - 3:30 pm: Freestyle Motocross Practice
3:30 pm - 6:30 pm: Inline Street Practice
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm: Freestyle Motocross Final
5:15 pm - 5:45 pm: Wakeboard Best Trick
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: MUSIC - Filter
6:30 pm - 8:15 pm: Skateboard Vert Practice
8:30 pm - 10:00 pm: Skateboard Vert Final
SUNDAY AUGUST 4
Location: North Coast Harbor -- Cleveland, Ohio
11:00 am --8:00 pm: Festival Village Open
11:30 am - 2:00 pm: MUSIC - DJ Challenge Spin-Off with Run DMC
12:00 noon - 1:45 pm: Freestyle Motocross Practice
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm: Freestyle Motocross Challenge
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm: Inline Street Practice
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm: Inline Street Best Trick
4:00 pm - 5:15 pm: Skateboard Vert Best Trick Practice
5:00 pm - 8:15 pm: Bike Street Practice
5:15 pm - 6:00 pm: Skateboard Vert Best Trick
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: MUSIC - Busta Rhymes featuring Flipmode Squad
8:30 pm - 10:00 pm: Bike Street Final
The only real information I can give on who won what, is for the night of Sat, Aug. 3; that was the only day I attended. But! I cantell you who won the Skateboarding Vert Finals. If you don’t want to know, and wish to watch it on TV for yourself, I suggest you don't read this part. Third place went to Pierre Luc of Canada, Second went to Bob Burnquist of Brazil, and First went to Bucky Lasek GO USA! It was great competition, and really exciting to watch the guys take fall after fall after fall, and still get up and skate. Wow.
If you missed it and just HAVE to see it, I know if was live on Pay-Per-View; and I know that NBC is planning on airing them soon. Make sure to watch it, I know there are some lovely shots of Downtown Cleveland in it (since the way the Games were set up, to film it, you had to have the city as your backdrop), and the games were cool too. =) NBC will be airing the Gravity Games:
NBC (All times EST - check local listings)
Sunday 10/6 4:30-6:00 pm
Sunday 10/13 4:30-6:00 pm
Sunday 10/20 4:30-6:00 pm
Sunday 10/27 4:30-6:00 pm
Sunday 11/3 4:00-6:00 pm
Saturday 11/9 4:30-6:00 pm
Saturday 11/16 4:30-6:00 pm
The Gravity Games are over for this year, but, they are most likely going to be in Cleveland again next year (I hate to start rumors, but this is what I heard)… So, if you didn't make it this year, I hope to see you there next year.