Words by: Jorge Blacktop
Another Rock the Cradle for the Johnny Romano kicks cancer Foundation is under our belt, and this one lived up to the hype. The skate full event raised $25,000.00 and had enough blood donations to save 75 lives. A huge TEXAS shout out to all the sponsor’s that supported the event. Congrats to Ben Johnson, Steven Pineiro, Juan Pineiro, Ken Fillion, Todd Prince, all the Embassy riders that represented Loud & Proud. Highlight of the day was TP in the bowl shirtless. Double D said it, “It’s been 20 years since I’ve seen Todd Prince on a board”. Actually TP has been ripping it up on Old man night @ Southside for sometime now. Can’t keep an old dog off his board!! Todd had fun with it. The Pineiro brothers, came into town on a mission. Steven has melon 5′s on lock. Steven landed his 720 on the big face wall. I think they said, it’s the 1st 720 in Bowl Riders comp, it was sick. I will say, when the brother’s gain some weight, and get a little bigger…LOOKOUT! Juan his younger brother (11 months younger) skates fast, smooth, and blast overhead backside airs at will, with style. These two young guns are going to be ripping it up for many moons to come. What can I say about Embassy Team Captain Ken Fillion, he brought his arsenal of inverts that would give anybody migranes. He did 12 inverts in a row, back-to-back-to-back-to-back, sadplant to eggplant to invert, he just kept on ticking. He also blasted higher than most, not bad for the OG. Tex Gibson was on hand as a celebrity judge, to judge the “Masters” division, and just hang out. Craig Johnson was in the house as well. Speaking of Craig Johnson, I think I saw half the crowd sporting the new Craig Johnson graphics T-shirt. His new model will be out for the holiday’s along with the Todd Prince! Embassy Street fighter Edward Sanchez was on hand to soak in the festivities, and give support. Really he was on hand to see if he could keep up with Craig & Tex @ the Lola’s after party. What happens at Lola’s, stay’s @ Lola’s, so that’s a different story. The Embassy Girls were in full effect, giving out Embassy swag through out the day. Chris Gentry is always a riot, he represented strong with his heel flip body jar and the Phillips 66. It’s always a party, it’s always a good time, it’s always a headache in the morning. Overall it was a killer day, like the old Texas comps of the 80′s. The 80′s were the blurry years. It’s rad to see the same cast of characters living it Loud and Proud. I want to thank Gibson and the Embassy heads for putting me on that Greyhound and bribing me to come out for the weekend. Until next time, nuff said. Below are a few pics. photo’s by: GROOVEHOUSE and Lee Leal

Craig Johnson & Chris Gentry

Ben Johnson

Ken Fillion, one of his 12 inverts in a row!

Lance Mountain, John Gibson & Edward Sanchez (whats in the bottle? Edward)

Steven Pineiro

Juan Pineiro, Blasting ,like a NASA rocket ship!

Ben Johnson, skating for the buck$ in the pool

Double D & Todd Prince

Craig & Ken, representing

Ben johnson, pic by GROOVEHOUSE

Ben Johnson, showing the style

The Embassy girls

New Craig Johnson Graphix

New Todd Prince t-shirt, hot off the press

Good Luck to Juan Pineiro in this weeks Dew Tour in Salt Lake City. EMBASSY PROUD, SKATE TUFF!!

Juan Pineiro, Kona Vert Ramp

Juan Pineiro, Kona Bowl. Pics courtesy of: busstopmag.com

New Jeff Phillips tribute model is here. From the Bryce Kanights photo collection. Featuring Todd Prince, The late GREAT Jeff Phillips, Ken Fillion and John TEX Gibson. this is a special collectors deck. Portion of the proceeds will go to the “American Foundation for Suicide Prevention” Only 200 made, 33″ x 8.5″ with a 15.5″ Wheelbase!! RIDE WITH PRIDE, EMBASSY PROUD, JEFF PHILLIPS PROUD!

Embassy is stoked to announce that Don “Lash” LaRue has joined forces w/ the crew. Lash is the Official Embassy Street Fighter!! Ride with Pride!!!

Embassy would like to thank World Cup Skateboarding, ESPN and FUELTV for inviting Steven Pineiro to this years Xgames 16 and The Maloof Money Cup. Steven took up the offer and accepted the invite although he would say, “riding bowls is more his arena”. He KILLED the VERT RAMP @ XGames & the Maloof. 4th place for the games on his first trip was RAD!! He did melon 5′s, indy 5′s, stalefish 5′s, eggplants, lip trick’s, huge frontside Alley-oop’s, big backside airs. He had fun with it! in the Maloof Money Cup, he finished 3rd, received a few bucks, and got a black cup w/ alot of bling on it. CONGRATS STEVEN!

Ben Johnson was on hand the whole time along with Priscilla Lee and her little brother Alex. We got to skate EVERYDAY, sometimes 3-4 different spots a day. Everywhere from Ben Butler’s backyard sickness of a Pool, to the Costa Mesa YMCA Vert Ramp, to the Venice Skatepark, (Thanks Dan and the crew @ JUICE), Dave Reul’s Skateranch, Volcom Skatepark in Costa Mesa, The Combi, and everywhere in-between. Thanks to all the people who gave a helping hand. The Lee Family, The Russell’s, Savannah & Gage Boan, Barry & Kelsey Millay. The trip was RAD. We’ll be back!! Now it’s off to Oregon for the Tri-Fecta!!

More News: The Phillips Tribute boards are getting shipped out. The New Todd Prince graphics are getting finalized,along with Craigs Johnson’s. We have the EMBASSY throw-back series with Lester Kasai coming out. And Dave Reul is onboard as well. Look for some KILLER graphics, some Killer shapes, and some Killer attitude to be released before the end of the year!!! RIDE WITH PRIDE

Steven with a stylish frontside air

Priscilla Lee shredding the Combi

The kids in front of JUICE headquarters

Steven killin the frontside airs

Steven on the XGames VERT RAMP, CONGRATS on 4th place finish

Ben Johnson on the CONVERSE blue ramp, during the “Coastal Carnage” in OC’s Huntington Beach

Alex Lee with a “Stylish” Frontside Rocker during Coastal Carnage

Ben Johnson killing the mini ramp @ the Skateranch, courtesy of Dave Reul

Ben Johnson doing it frontside over the steps @ Butler’s Pool.

Priscilla Lee, Venice skatepark

Pineiro, XGames practice

Ben Johnson, the Combi

Ben Johnson, slapping down a body-jar @ Venice Skatepark

Steven Pineiro scores 3rd @ this years Maloof money Cup

CONGRATS to Steven for ripping the Vert Ramp and the Mini-Mega. It was the first time Steven ever rode a Mega. He handled it like a seasoned vet. He did 3 variations of his 540 and had an arsenal that would make the Taliban jealous. Right on Steven!!!

New Todd Prince Model. 8.5″ Width, 33″ Length, 15″ Wheelbase

Embassy Skateboards will do a Limited Edition of this “Classic” photo by Bryce Kanights. “Don’t Mess With Texas” The deck is 33″ length, 8.5″ Wide, 15.5″ Wheel Base. Portion of the Proceeds from this Series are going to the “American Foundation for Suicide Prevention”. “Ride With Pride”

Tribute to the Late Great Jeff Phillips.
Limited Edition Collectors series