Alex Broskow - BCSD Winner Miniview - 08/03/12

Rob G: I’ve noticed at contests, most people plan out 4 or 5 hammers and try them again and again till they land them. I noticed that you usually start off gradually, and do lines, and build up to hammers. Is there a purpose behind that?

Broskow: First round style you keep it basic, do some lines. Not everything easy, you gotta do some cool stuff in your lines. If it’s a cool park it’s pretty easy to put that shit together. If the judges are good, they will know skill, not just single hard tricks. That’s one good thing about Bittercold, is that the judges were actually noticing lines, rather than just jumping out of the ceiling into a ramp or something.


Alex Broskow - True Topsoul during the Bittercold Kansas City downtown park session

Rob G: Even when they announced that Shima got 4th, people were boo’ing. I think he did a lot of really hard tricks, but I think people are conditioned to look at one hard trick and scan the park for another hard trick, and had they kept their eyes on you like the judges were doing, they would have seen a lot more come out of that. It’s interesting to think about now with skaters like you and Stockwell.

Broskow: Jeff always does good at contests for that reason, because he’s always doing lines and he doesn’t stop once, just killing. That’s how I’ve always skated, I’ve just never been into contests. I’m still not into them, I don’t even know why I won this contest, it just happened.

Rob G: You’re doing what you’re doing when you skate skateparks regularly.

Broskow: I probably would have 540’d that if it were just you and me skating it. Maybe not, I don’t know, I would have aired it though.

Rob G: A little more incentive?

Broskow: Yeah, I mean, I don’t know if I would have 5’d it on a 2 man sesh but I would have aired it on a 2 man sesh for sure.

Jero: Do you have a favorite trick from the contest?

Broskow: The 540 of course, I guess it was what put me on the peak of Bittercold Everest or whatever. My favorite would probably be the Fakee 5 topsoul, actually not even a favorite trick, I actually think its stupid, but I’ve never done that trick before. It was the funniest I did… stupidest, funniest, hardest, never done before, did it 2nd try kinda thing.


Jason Hicks, fishbrain during the downtown KC session

Rob G: I could see it building up, the progression of the tricks.

Broskow: I was trying to skate some of the other shit there, but there were a lot of people. That place is called the flow, but it didn’t really flow if you think about it. Maybe on a bike.

Jero: I heard you got a statue that night as well.

Broskow: I received a statue at maybe 2:30 in the morning. It was a giant Jack Daniels statue that was stolen by Ben Wies, BJ, and Jeromy Morris. It was huge, it would have fit on our van but there was no roof rack to tie it down to. We weren’t able to take it home, I wanted it, it looked cool.

Jero: Any plans for the 5 G’s?

Broskow: No, I want to buy another Vespa. It’s not really a wise idea, I just something I want for no apparent reason. I’m going to buy a new bicycle sometime, but I’ve been planning on that for a long time. Maybe open another bank account, make some interest.

AJ: We were talking about how it’s cool that you won MTL Classic, 3rd in LG Action, and now Bittercold. It’s pretty sweet that people are noticing the kind of skating that Alex does at contest. He skates the other shit, and people are starting to turn their heads.

Jero: Do you think you got overlooked at contests in the past?

Broskow: I used to a lot. Then I just completely stopped caring, and there was a short period of time where I would enter contests just to make fun of the contests. This was the first Bittercold I actually competed in, all the others I wasn’t going to 720 kindgrind transfer to the ledge, so why should I compete in that. Once people got tired of skating a ledge and a rail for a contest 4 years in a row, I think everyone realized you can’t have the same shit over and over. It depends on the park really. If the really good people don’t show up then I have a chance.

Rob G: It’s almost like a new way is being paved for ways to look at how contests are skated, not just the one trick win.

Broskow: The best trick contest thing is dead I think, or should have died, or should be dying as we’re speaking, and go onto who ripped the hardest all day. Who had the most badass tricks. That’s what they did this year at this contest, and at MTL classic. The whole LG thing is wack, but I got a free phone and some money, and hopefully somebody saw some cool rollerbladers that compete because they need money. Hopefully soon we won’t have to skate in that. The real professionals should be making enough money that we shouldn’t have to skate in that. Money is the only reason

Rob G: It’s kind of a win-win, since people like you and Jeff are skating the way you would normally skate, and people are getting to see a real side of skating.

Broskow: It’s fun to do a contest like that, it just sucks the whole corporate background of it all, and how much they all hate us and don’t want us there. You feel it when you skate there, and the crowd is really digging it, but you know everybody else isn’t digging you. The whole run thing is fun, made me feel like I was 15 again trying to turn ASA pro.


Rob G, Fakee to Topacid, 360 out

Rob G: Did you ever go ASA pro?

Broskow: Yeah, I think first try actually. It was 2000 or 2001 in Las Vegas, I got 3rd, Ben Weis got 1st, and Ian Brown got 2nd. I met Rachard there, it was cool. He was just coming up in the FP game.

Jero: Would you change anything else about the format of most contests?

Broskow: Well I definitely wouldn’t make it like Winterclash. They got crazy things, the head to head battle in the end. That’s way too intense, I wouldn’t be able to do that. It isn’t a boxing match. Also at contests, 15 people in a heat at the beginning is too much too, but I know they have to do it because of so many people competing. It made sense but it sucked. With so many people watching too, it was just overrun with people.

Rob G: It seems like warm-ups aren’t even really warm-ups, just fighting off not to get destroyed by somebody.

Broskow: Yeah, to warm up you have to skate the corner of the park that nobody is skating, just so you can get warm, but then you have no idea what you’ll actually do in the contest.

Jero: Whats the story behind the fortune cookie?

Broskow: Yeah it was snowing one night, and me and KC were hungry and ordered Chinese food. I got my fortune cookie, opened it, ate my cookie, read the fortune, and was like shut the fuck up. I kind of threw it. It said “nothing will stand in the way of your success this month”, something like that. This month? It said “this month” and everything. I had people already telling me that I was going to win Bittercold and this was a week before, it was insane.


Alex Broskow with his fortune cookie prediction

Rob G: Did you feel very confident before the fortune cookie?

Broskow: I knew I’d just skate with a smile on my face. That’s when you have the most fun and do the coolest shit, that’s how I feel anyways. That’s how I won MTL Classic, and that’s like what I was doing there. I would do something and look over and see Brandon or Michael Garlinghouse and they’d be like ARGG and I’d be like ARGG haha, just having fun. Just a session.

Photos by Jero


Additional shots:


Alex Broskow - BS Torque


Alex Broskow getting some clips


Alex Broskow - BS Torque


AJ


AJ filming Rob G's Sweaty

Tags: 4x4 alex broskow bcsd ground control jero rob g valo vibralux vx