For one weekend, Baltimore was all about the green extreme.
Forget the purple or orange; from Thursday through Sunday at the Camden Yards Sports Complex in downtown Baltimore, fans from across the region ? and the world ? stood among a sea of green banners, awed as world-class athletes at the AST Dew Tour?s Panasonic Open performed like magic.
Baltimore native and all-star skateboarder Bucky Lasek headed a list of extreme talent that brought cheers from thousands of fans as they watched the skateboard vert, BMX dirt and FMX competitions.
When compared with other big-name, mainstream sporting events, the Dew Tour outdrew them all. According to attendance figures obtained by The Examiner, on Monday the tour posted 54,907 fans for its four days in Charm City. That number is the second-highest ever for the tour. Compare that figure with the number of fans who came out to the NCAA lacrosse title game featuring Johns Hopkins (48,433) or the Orioles home opener (48,159).
Tourist officials estimated that fans dropped millions of dollars into the Baltimore economy. Awesome for Baltimore, and pretty darn cool for the event organizers, who already are talking about bringing the event back next year after being swept away by legions of fans who can?t get enough of dangerous performances that defy gravity.
Jim Richardson, of Ellicott City, brought smiles to his two boys? faces Saturday when they got up front and center with their heroes.
“The boys have been begging us to come down, and we finally had some free time to make it down here,” Richardson said.
And when Jim?s son, Christopher, a 12-year-old at Dumbarton Middle School, was asked who he was excited to see, it was a no-brainer.
“Bucky Lasek.”
All around Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium, fans swapped out their normal footballs or lacrosse sticks for skateboards and bicycles. In back of the Johnny Unitas statue at the entrance to M&T Bank Stadium, fans of all ages put together an impromptu skate park, with kids popping tricks on boards, spinning on bikes and looking for anything to ramp off.
Of course, there were plenty of tourists who had their boards stowed away and were hurrying to catch the live action. Greg Zartman, from New Oxford, Pa., brought down his 14-year-old son and his three friends for the day and were looking forward to seeing some of the motorcross jumping.
“I really wanted to see the FMX,” Zartman said. “There is so much excitement around here, it?s been a great event.”
The national exposure of the event brought fans even farther than Pennsylvania for the excitement.
Traveling Friday from New Town, Conn., Tom Fuchs and his son, Evan, 8, were enjoying the whole weekend as they, coincidentally enough, walked around to different events drinking Mountain Dew.
A little extreme sports star in the making himself, Evan said he practices plenty back home.
“I race BMX and have two skateboards,” he said. “I also love to go out in the field and ride my Yamaha.”
As for the chances of the family returning, count on it.
“Baltimore is a great city and a lot of fun,” Fuchs said. “We?ll be back.”
And it doesn?t hurt matters when one of the national stars still has locals recalling the days before he made it big.
In Dundalk, Joseph Flemke, 18, remembers a tale that has now become a neighborhood legend. A few blocks from his house, Flemke remembers Bucky Lasek, who as a child used to do tricks and practice on a neighbor?s half-pipe. Flemke, who had a skateboard signed by many of the tour stars,said his mom even claims to have bought Lasek a snowball when they were younger.
“It?s awesome to see Bucky compete on tour up close,” Flemke said. The only thing missing was a Baltimore snowball in the superstar?s hand.
