Converse Shoe Company Is Something To Talk About

Snuggled inside the US Open of Surfing was mega-sponsor Converse and their Coastal Carnage skate park; built for speed, intense tricks, and professional talent. The bowls and ramps were steaming with skate talent—both young and old. And, just as their name suggests, Converse was something to talk about during the nine-day surf, skate, and bmx-fest held on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier.

Throughout the event, Converse debuted many sturdy and stylish shoes along with a glimpse of what is to come in their 2012 skate shoe product line. Converse skate ambassador’s Rune Glifberg, Tom Remillard, and Kenny Anderson each have inspired shoes that carry their name and are functional, sturdy, and stylish.

Converse has been part of skating history in the US from the beginning. Converse is dedicated to making the finest products, which are inspired by today’s professionals along with advanced skateboard shoe technology. Converse convened so much talent at the event and the mega-crowd responded.

Seats were a precious commodity as fans had to stand in long lines, wrapped around the park to see these top named professionals make skater history. Security forces had their hands full as some fans climbed through scaffolding, scaled lumbered railings, and tried to “crash” the event to get a seat at the Coastal Carnage skate park.

The skater talent climaxed on Sunday when pro skaters and longtime rivals Tony Hawk and Christian Hosoi faced off at the Converse Coastal Carnage finals. Almost 20 years ago, Christian Hosoi emerged as one of the top competitors of vertical riding and Tony Hawk emerged with his finesse riding; a rivalry between Hosoi and Hawk developed.

Their contrasting styles in both skateboarding and lifestyles—Hosoi, known for his flair, graceful style, and late night antics, and Hawk raising the bar with his technical ability, difficult tricks, and business acumen. Today, Hosoi, his life completely transformed, dropped into the bowl in the midst of fan pandemonium. The announcer quipped, “Christian, it is so nice to have you here with us,” and the maxed out crowd cheered Hosoi with love, admiration, and appreciation as he skated brilliantly.

And as you can imagine, the fans were in full throttle as the one and only, Tony Hawk, with his entire family in tow, showed everyone he still has it at age 43. Tony spun, flipped, stalled, sped, and nailed every trick and attempt he wished upon. After the original field of 40 skaters, these skaters made it to the finals and finished in the order listed: Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi, Lance Mountain, Tom Remillard, Kalani David, Ben Hatchell, Robbie Russo, Curren Caples, Kevin Kowalski, Pedro Barros, Div Adams, Kyle Berard, Ben Raybourn, Josh Mattson, and Andrew Langi.