TOP 5 North American Non-BAP Semi-unknown Shredders

Splint · Post by **Splint** » 11 Jul 2005 11:57

I was thinking that there are so many of these people that are SUPER good and I don't know who they are. Here're 5 that I do know or know of who I think are awesome.

In no particular order:

Nate Linscott
Jason Crook
David Clavens
Chris Kovacs
Loren Baum

jon · Post by **jon** » 11 Jul 2005 12:14

Johnny Suderman should be in that list somewhere and also andrew grant & derek vandall

edit:
ok heres my uneducated list

(in no order)
Clavens
Suderman
Crook
Vandall
(no idea about # 5)

edit # 2: got confused by the title saying semi unknown but if its north americans not in bap then I also have to include Moran and Risden

Splint · Post by **Splint** » 11 Jul 2005 12:30

See there are always those that I forget about. Vandall is fucking awesome. Make your own list....

HG · Post by HG » 11 Jul 2005 12:31

Risden!
Dave Clavens
Vandall
Grant
Moran
Rangel

Honorable Mentions:

Linscott
Dale

david · Post by **david** » 11 Jul 2005 12:33

chris kovacks is sick as shit and no one knows.

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 11 Jul 2005 13:47

jason crook any one?

Laroche · Post by **Laroche** » 11 Jul 2005 13:47

Brad Nelson
Juan Rangel
James Risden
Ianek Regimbald

EDIT: Johhny Superman, how could I forget?!

Splint · Post by **Splint** » 11 Jul 2005 13:51

hacksterbator wrote:jason crook any one?

Whadaya mean? He made it into both mine and Jon's lists.

Also... How the hell did I forget Brad Nelson... he's Slammin'. But who do I remove???

sampotter · Post by **sampotter** » 11 Jul 2005 15:05

I'm going to disregard the semi-unknown and just list some sick non-BAP NA shredders: David Clavens, Chris Kovacs, Juan Rangel, Justin Dale, Ricky Moran, Jane Zerbe, Caleb Abraham, Derek Vandall, Erik Chan, Andrew Grant, Brad Nelson, Nate Linscott, Jason Crook... I haven't played with all of them so there's no way I could make a top 5.

Nathan · Post by **Nathan** » 11 Jul 2005 15:08

Risden
Crook
Clavens
Vandall
Moran

That's my list but it's way too hard to actually choose. I mean Brad Nelson, Chris Kovaks, Caleb, Linscott, they could all make it, but I have no clue who is actually"better" than who.

Outsider · Post by **Outsider** » 11 Jul 2005 17:25

I'm going to disregard the semi-unknown and just list some sick non-BAP NA shredders:

MATT CROSS! Everybody knows Matt, I guess, though they don't talk about him that much (he talks about himself enough, I guess)
He's a bad-ass with lots o' style, plus he's got a whole posse of bad-ass shredders shredding bad-ass shred up in the unexplored wastelands of northern New York, guys like Aric McIntosh, the Brothers Digg (Diggs? Diggeses? [Josiah and Will]) Paul Agostinelli, the redoubtable Mike Anello, and many more.
Matt was already real good when I first met him about 4 years ago, and he's never stopped improving and spreading the shred.

Laroche · Post by **Laroche** » 11 Jul 2005 17:39

Oh Shit!!! Ricky Moran!!! Good call, he is a deity.

david · Post by **david** » 11 Jul 2005 18:28

first off, the people you mentioned jon are still like, just guitless solid shredders, not really busting crazy or BAP level, plus they have all been playing like, less then 2 years so who could expect them to?

anyway, heres my thoughts. ive played with a lot of these guys so i think i have a decent amount of legitamacy.

really its hard to judge whos "un-known" or whatever. ricky moran has a SECTION on a video alongside bappers, i wouldnt exactly say his skills are in the closet. Jason crook is on vortex and stuff, and a lot of high level players know who he is. If your looking for people who are undercover, you really cant becuase of the internet. Chris Kovacks is probably the best shredder no one knows abotu i would say. People know he placed high at worlds, but thats intermediate. Hardly any footage out anywhere, and he doesnt post much.

So if you just go by non-bap, then my view ends up looking like this
- Crook - obviously the videos are killer, plus a lot of people say he rips shit in real life, and is mad consistant. if you go by damons "all the footage is of him warming up" then hell, we dont know what hes capable of.
- Moran - sick as hell, duh, but does he still play?
- Kovacks - very good, maybe just skimming BAP, or close to it.
- Linscott - underrated. he goes for so long, every time. true consistency, but if your look for fearless all over, idk. He is totally killer though.
- Baum - hes really good and has a lot of unqiue tricks and hard shuffle.
- Suderman - i heard hes ridiculous, and the shit he posts is out of hand, but few have played with him.
- Andrew grant - the new footjam stuff looked solid, but i havent played with him since worlds so i have no clue where he is at
- Vandall - really good, but still, he plays like once a month now, how dialed can his links stay? he played just as well as some of the people who made bap in montreal when i saw him
- Caleb Abraham - just wait, i forsee big shit once he gets the spotlight for it.

I think i analyzed everyone who people have said. Ive played with all of them except crook and suderman (well, except suderman 2 years ago).

wow im really dumb, if i had to pick out of all those my top 5 (in no order) goes:

crook
suderman
moran
kovacks
linscott

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 11 Jul 2005 19:29

I think most of the players mentioned are fairly well known - rather than "semi unknown"

People like David Clavens, Derek Vandall, Andrew Grant, Ricky Moran, Justin Dale, Nate Linscott - I would defintily not call them "semi unknown".

Outsider · Post by **Outsider** » 11 Jul 2005 19:36

david said:

first off, the people you mentioned jon are still like, just guitless solid shredders, not really busting crazy or BAP level, plus they have all been playing like, less then 2 years so who could expect them to?

Yes, you are perfectly correct. I guess I was pretty much disregarding the whole "Top 5" topic. I just saw a good opportunity to heap some praise on a very worthy regional shred scene, that northern New York area. One could easily pick worse places to be a shredder than Rochester and some other cities not so far from there. Those guys have alot to offer to the sport even if they're not all pushing in on some "top five" group, and besides, several of them could well be on some such list soon.

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 11 Jul 2005 19:45

you seem to have missed one person on there dave...

david wrote: - Andrew grant - the new footjam stuff looked solid, but i havent played with him since worlds so i have no clue where he is at
- Vandall - really good, but still, he plays like once a month now, how dialed can his links stay? he played just as well as some of the people who made bap in montreal when i saw him

you can take me off all your list. although i'm flattered, i can name handfull upon handfull of players better than me! very kind words from dave, but we know that footjam footage is the best i hit on video for that tournament, and even then the longest link is -20 contacts. weak to say the least. makes me feel good though.

since derek's surgery he's been back with a vengance. playing multipul times a week. he has hit some sickness in the past few sessions and i think he could be up there. if the guy would school on his own the world would be in trouble.

if i were to make a top 5 it would include...
moran- his section in fourcast pretty much tells all
suderman- if this kid would travel...
crook- killer videos
clavens- "fearless is childs play" and a well rounded player
linscott- looooooong and unique
risden- he hits hard links
dale- i haven't really heard much about him since he was injured, but befor his injury he was going big.
vandall- he goes big and has cool links

vanderwax · Post by **vanderwax** » 11 Jul 2005 19:53

Johnny Suderman YA! So cool and maybe toooo modest for his own good

The kid is phat though and if you guys ever see his insanely stylish style youll be in awe.
Ryan Seath. This douche is hella good. Up until now hes only focused on shuffle but now since he wants incorporate more drifters, osis', eggbeaters, downtime stuff. I am sure people will notice how sick he is.
Tom Mosher. He gets better with every minute he shreds. So since he shred like 500 minutes a day he will be the best in the world in like3158931527859 more minutes of shred. Maybe less, maybe more, give or take.
I also really liked Willy Digges' style, and Chris Deans (soooo mellow), Matt +'s, and all those montreal cats (I guess they are all bappers though eh)

Funny that Ive only been to one event but can still mention all the people who I saw at it... Footbag rules.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 11 Jul 2005 20:17

See when I think of semi unknown players, I think of people who don't post on this forum and who don't turn up to lots of tournaments or feature in a lot of videos.

Maybe James Risden is a good one.

People like Aaro Wichmann (from Finland, not North America) - how many people know that he has hit something like 30 consecutive smogs or that he has hit a beast? How many people have any idea who he is? See that's a semi unknown player.

sampotter · Post by **sampotter** » 11 Jul 2005 21:05

I remember seeing footage of Aaro on various Finnish videos and was very impressed by his links and form... I'm excited to see what Worlds will yield. Jeremy, what beast did he hit?

About Justin -- I don't mean to talk him up or anything, but since worlds and his injury he's put a lot of work into his style and evening out the concepts he employs. He's doing a lot of spinning ducking now and he's much, much smoother. I dunno, he can still duck his steps easily and hits some sick shit out of it. Every session he'll usually play really well and go for long runs that aren't always incredibly hard for him, but are still hard. He hasn't been throwing nearly as many fives, but he's still going. Hopefully when he's no longer injured he'll be back stronger. There will probably be some footage of him from Northwest Fest.

About Ricky -- Honestly, he lives out in the boonies, so I only kick with him at most once a week, usually once every two or three weeks. However, when I kick with him he goes off. Trying to stay vague about their games as they're the only ones who really have the right to say what they're throwing down with any accuracy. I'm not sure if Ricky will be at Northwest Fest... Justin sounded pretty confident, but we'll see what's up. Here's hoping.

pill · Post by **pill** » 11 Jul 2005 21:56

they both should be at northwestfest but nobody push them to hit hard stuff, they're both still injured and have been doing good taking care of themselves and not pushing it too much so far. i don't much care for these threads and don't know much about other stylers so i wont be posting a list myself.