The Cash Jam at Mirra's King Of The Animal House. By Sean Hargraves

Feb 05, 2016

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 6060 times

Day one of the 2009 King of the Animal House is officially in the books and it was one to remember. Being a completely new contest concept, nobody knew what to expect or how it would play out. Although it started off a little slow as people were trying to figure out the system, once it got going, it blew up quick. The overall vibe was incredible and full of positive energy with each rider throwing out their bust stuff hoping to get a cash callout and get paid. If the judges saw something they liked, and they saw a lot they liked,

they called it out and Dave Mirra would assign a dollar value to it. The bigger the banger, the bigger the payout. I think the biggest single payout was around $300 and it went to Enarson who was just shredding the course with back to back sickness. Although the jam was announced to be a “trickfest” rather than putting together a complete run, it was clear that the guys who were linking a few hits together were raking up the $$$ quicker than those who were just working on single tricks.

There were around 4 basic components to the format. First was a 20 minute open jam. Bring ur best stuff anywhere on the course. Then it moved to best trick on the Winkelman wall, followed by a quick best invert, then finished with another open jam. Although originally planned as an $8k cash jam, it was so intense that Dave decided to throw in another $2k to keep the progression going. All in all, the riders seemed to have a great time watching each other throw their best stuff and see if it got paid. Some did, some didn’t, but it sure as hell was fun to watch. The only thing that would make it better next time would be $25k, and HEAT, since it was only around 35 degrees inside the Animal House for the contest.

One of the highlights of the night had to be the Morgan Wade, Ben Hennon and Rob Darden mini battle to find the biggest transfer line. Typical Wade stuff. HUGE. Wade ended up winning Best Trick (and a custom surfboard) for his monster turndown transfer from the jersey barrier to the quarter wall. He also tried the biggest flair I’ve ever seen, out of the huge pocketwall. Had to be at 30 ft or so out. He also did huge flairs off of the jersey barrier and even survived a couple of super high bailouts.

DC $10K CASH JAM $$$ PAYOUT

-ENARSON $1150
-NYQUIST $900
-WADE $900
-DHERS $900
-WEBB $825
-HENNON $800
-BYRON $700
-GUETTLER $650
-MAST $650
-SMITH $500
-HUGHES $450
-MAIN $425
-DARDEN $400
-PERRY $350
-MAD DOG $300
-LAIRD $100