12th Annual TransWorld Skate Awards

SPoT's Brian Schaefer on the Red Carpet

The House went Hollywood last night to bring you all the action from the 12th Annual TransWorld Skateboarding Awards at the Avalon. The night was one of those rare occasions where none of the industry’s talent– be it skaters, photographers, videographers, editors or team managers– really have any work to do besides enjoy themselves. The recipe for rowdy yielded a theatre packed to the gills as standing room only  left many people hanging out by the bar or the smoking lounge.

The Skatepark of Tampa’s Brian Schaefer hosted the awards again, and his quick-wit was tested all night long, as you can imagine an evening full of skateboarders did not always go according to plan. The first award given out was for Rookie of the Year, and while Luan Oliviera had a strong peanut crowd in the audience, Brandon Westgate took home the honor.

Torey Pudwill and Andrew Brophy stumbled their way to the podium next to announce the Video Part of the Year. The best thing about this year’s winner, Mr. Grant Taylor, is that his winning part in Debacle is a free download, so you can save your pennies and still see the best tricks of the year.

Grant Taylor Accepting Half of the Awards He Won

It took Schaefer, Pudwill and Brophy a few minutes to locate Grant in order for him to accept the award and deliver his rousing speech (“Thanks.”) so when he backed it up by taking home the very next award no one really knew what to expect. He couldn’t have even gotten very far backstage before his name was called for Tranny Skater of the Year, but that’s also where the free booze was kept, so it took him another little while to return.

Dustin Dollin and Erik Ellington were to present the award for Street Skater of the Year, and after some funny Australian quips the whole crowd was shocked (not really) to find out that Mr. Chris Cole was the winner. Chris might have been the only one who didn’t see it coming, because he didn’t come to the awards. So Jamie Thomas graciously accepted on his behalf.

Jamie Thomas Didn't Win Street Skater of the Year...He Just Accepted for Chris Cole

…Check back later today for part II of the TWS Awards coverage from The House!