Last week I was at X Games. Next week I'll be back on the Dew Tour, this time in Portland. In between, I'm missing the series of contests that I always find myself wishing the others were more like: The Oregon Trifecta. Damn.

Here's my argument: The concrete skatepark revolution that has Portland and the upper northwest as its epicenter has had the effect of making skateboarding faster, more fluid, more technical, and more gnarly, incorporating everything the Dogtown dudes set down in the day, anything that was ever good about vert skateboarding, and everything cool and tech about modern street skating. I'm talking about huge, sprawling flow parks that are big, intimidating, and offer a little bit of everything for any skater and every style of skateboarding, plus some crazy things most skaters would never have dreamed up but are now making use of... and creating entirely new ways of riding wooden planks on metal trucks with urethane wheels while they're at it.

My summation of the general principles driving the way the guys at Grindline, Dreamland, and now the entire city of Portland are approaching skateparks: If you build it, they will come. If you build it better than any average skater could reasonably need, then everybody who rides it will rise to the occasion: The gnarlier you make it, the more spectacular the skating will be. Contrast that against the cruddy little park your suburb just commissioned from a playground equipment company, or even against the best park courses you're now seeing in the major competitions that have the letter X and the word "action" in their branding: One has been leaning towards more "authentic" street skating, or at least skate-plaza style courses; the other is sticking with big wooden parks. Both have their advantages and can be a ton of fun, but neither is really nailing what's marvelous about the modern skatepark era.

Here's what rules about the Oregon Trifecta contests and why, actually, this kind of skating contest might ultimately be MORE palatable to mainstream audiences than what's been previously showcased by the biggies: Concrete parks are big, tight, and -- at least the way Grindline and Dreamland are building them -- provide for infinite lines. Translation: The skating you'll see there has all the big air and technical trick potential of a vert contest, it's a lot faster, and you'll also see a much wider range of skateboarding -- and more creative skateboarding -- than is possible in any vert ramp or on most of the contrived competition park courses. If TV viewers could see Rune Glifberg, Benji Galloway, Bucky Lasek, (I'm only naming names those viewers will have heard from watching these events, to prove the point) barking grinds on pool coping and ripping lines in the best concrete parks, then everybody would understand why these people are among the best skateboarders in the world and why Shaun White, as great as he is, still has a lot of learning to do. And while my personal bias is clearly in favor of bowl riding and pool skating, the fact is that these parks now also offer all kinds of awesome street and skate plaza type stuff too. Frankly, I'm most impressed by skaters who can skate it all, which is precisely why the Orgeon Trifecta is so great.

Portland: I'm a few days late and bummed on the action I'm missing, but I'm on my way. Please don't rain too much on me.

Trifecta results update tomorrow!