By: Paul Zitzer: Getting knocked out is a strange thing. Because when it happens, [and for vert skaters it’s more a matter of when, not if] a lot of the time it feels like it happened to someone else. Because, despite its being all traumatic to the dome and everything, the person getting knocked out doesn’t even really remember any of it happening in the first place. And I speak from experience. I’ve been knocked out pretty much all over the world. The time in Germany was my favorite. I only managed to get released from the hospital after assuring the doctors that if I didn’t leave immediately with my friends, they would surely be leaving with out me, where I’d be left alone to fend for myself in their fine but foreign country, as my so called friends continued on to Switzerland, France, and other places where it’s not uncommon to see people riding bicycles with loaves of bread slung over their shoulders. But I digress. Another strange thing about the times I’ve been knocked out is that the moment I come to I immediately suffer an extended bout of déjà vu. So, in the case of the knockout in Germany, I’m waking up on the flat bottom of the vert ramp thinking, “I can’t believe I just get knocked out in Germany again!” Even though it was really the first time. I think… Anyway, the German hospital ended up sending me on my way with a letter in my pocket, written in German by the doctor who was frowning at me over his Euro-styled spectacles, so that, should I be so unfortunate to at some point suffer a brain aneurism and die right there on the streets of Stuttgart or wherever, the unlucky German tasked with trying to determine the identity of my dead corpse could find a little peace knowing I’d brought it on myself for not following doctors orders. Fortunately for me though, I lived long enough to get knocked out quite a few more times. But this isn’t about me. Rather, it’s supposed to be about the Vert Prelims in SLC. Now, I could give you the old rigmarole of who did what and all of that, but I’ll save it for the finals. Instead, I’m here to tell you something that you don’t know. So I axed some of the dudes in the comp about some of their stories of getting knocked out. Here are my favorites.

Zach Miller
“One time I got knocked when I was little, I was pillow fighting and I dove face first into the wall. The other one was at Maloof two years ago. I did a McTwist and I woke up on the flat bottom. I had a seizure while I was sliding across the vert ramp and I woke up and everything was purple. Everyone looked like Smurfs.”

My comment: So. In Zach’s case, apparently pillow fighting is just as risky as putting down 540’s.

Andy Mac

“I honestly can’t remember how many times I’ve been knocked out. I’ve hit my head many many times and for some reason I can fight it off. I can count many more times when I’ve hit the knock-out button, like when you hit the back of your head, over rotating on a McTwist, and you’re laying on the flat bottom and you see your peripheral vision start to tunnel vision, and I’ll feel myself wanting to pass out, but I’ll concentrate on the whole and try to make it bigger.”

My comment: I like that Andy calls the back of his head “the knock-out button.” The way he says it makes it sound like it actually might be fun to give the old “knock out button” a good whack now and then.

Renton Millar
I think I’ve been knocked out about a dozen times. The record was three minutes. It was a frontside grind in Pizzey Bowl. And I caught a little hole in the coping and did Mr. Wilson on the vert. No helmet. I woke up, didn’t know what happened, and tried to fight the dude that was helping me. I thought someone had hit me on the back of the head with a baseball bat. The worst thing about it is that you can barely remember stuff that has happened in the last six months. And you don’t know if it’s going to come back.”

My comment: Renton has a knockout “record” of three minutes. The fact that he has a “record” is pretty awesome I think, be it three seconds, three minutes, or three hours.

Chad Bartie

(Yeah, he’s not a vert skater, but he’s been knocked out too)
“The worst one was when this guys elbow hit my temple and I started choking on my tongue and stuff. I woke up in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.”

My comment: After I finished talking to him about getting knocked out he walked off and forgot his phone on the table. Coincidence? Or concussion repercussion?

Jean Postec
“I’ve been knocked out twice. The first time I was really young, and I was skating with a shirt that was too long. When I fell on my knees, my shirt went over my knee pads and it just threw me forward onto my head.”

My comment: I usually wouldn’t condone skating without a shirt, but if it gets to the point where you’re getting knocked out because of your shirt, I say take the thing off already.

Danny Mayer

“I’d say I’ve been fully knocked out probably like five times. I think the first time I got knocked out was the worst. I was doing a frontside grind to fakie on an 8 foot. I didn’t really remember anything about it happening. I didn’t remember the whole day.”

My comment: About an hour after I asked Danny about getting knocked out, he came up to me and said, “Didn’t we do this same interview a few years ago or am I crazy?” At which point I indeed recalled hearing the same story about him getting knocked out, but we both failed to figure out when, where, or why we were talking about it…We’ve both been knocked out too many times I guess.

Rob Lorifice
I’ve probably been knocked out like eight times. The one last year used at Baltimore was the worst one (frontside air revert over rotation). I remember waking up in the ambulance and then I don’t remember anything after that until I woke up again in athlete medical.

Josh Stafford

I fishtailed out of a five and WHAPAUGH!!! I was out for like five seconds, and then I sat on top of the deck for like a half an hour and then fell asleep for two hours. I didn’t feel like doing anything for like three days after that.

My comments: Who needs sleep aids when you have 540s?

Adam Taylor

I’ve been knocked out once. I over rotated a 720 in Dallas two years ago. I’ll always remember that when I woke up everyone was in slow motion. Now that trick scares the crap out of me. I haven’t done too many of them since.

My comment: Maybe I should have told Adam that we were all just messing with him when he woke up. It was like, “let’s pretend to be in slow motion and really freak him out.”

Elliott Sloan

I remember doing this demo in Virginia, and the bikers did their stuff on the box jump, and then the announcer was like, “Let’s take it up to the top of the vert ramp!” And I dropped in, and the first wall I knew I was going to hang but I tried to hold on. Lights out man. I woke up with the dude over me, I didn’t know where I was, what happened, I don’t remember dropping in…it was pretty scary.

My comment: Lucky for Elliott the demo crowds love slams as much as they love proper tricks.

Lincoln Ueda

I’ve been knocked out four times. The last time, I remember I was on the Huck Jam, and we all had a bet about whether we’d make our tricks over the 40 foot gap on the mega jump. And all I remember was saying something to Andy, and then rolling in and then I woke up in the hospital.

Neal Hendrix

I’ve only been KO’d once in the modern era. I tried a three sixty indy like two months ago and got knocked out. It was one of those contest makes, I knew I was going to hang up but I went for it. I had to do Fuel TV after that and I couldn’t remember anything. It was kind of funny…it was terrible.

My comment: So Neal, is terrible your final answer?

Alex Perelson

I don’t think I’ve ever been knocked out. I’ve been dazed a few times. The worst one was a McTwist over rotation a few years ago. I just walked around like an idiot, that’s about it.

My comment: I think Mike McGill might have invented the 540 in an effort to kill off any and all future vert skaters. Just a thought.

Rune Glifberg
I’ve never been knocked out, knock on wood. The only time was probably from drinking alcohol…but I guess that’s called a blackout.

My comment: Yes Rune. That’s a blackout.