Millionaires Shaun White and Ryan Sheckler are among dozens of skateboarders who'll roll into the Orange County Fairgrounds this evening, seeking to enhance fortunes and fame during a weekend-long competition.
But the real star of this show, by far the wealthiest, and without doubt the worst skateboarder, will remain behind the scenes.
That's Joe Maloof, of the Maloof brothers. Joe and Gavin are president and vice chairman of Maloof Companies, a billion-dollar family enterprise. They own the Sacramento Kings and the Palms hotel and casino in Las Vegas, among other entities.
But through Sunday, thanks to an idea spawned by Joe, who assures that he is not experiencing a midlife crisis, they'll be embraced by a much younger set -- for producing the richest and perhaps best skateboard competition of all time.
The Maloof Money Cup, with an overall purse of $450,000, will help kick off this year's Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa.
A sprawling concrete street course has been laid. A smoothly beautiful wooden vert ramp has been erected. Both were designed by skateboarders, with input from other skateboarders.
"He's been communicating with the right people," says Bob Burnquist, a vert specialist from Vista, Calif. "It's never perfect and it never will be, but at this point I don't see any hiccups."
A one-hit wonder? Joe Maloof says no.
Is this an attempt to steal thunder from ESPN's popular X Games extravaganza, July 31 to Aug. 3 in Los Angeles and Carson? Not so, Maloof says.
"We appreciate the X Games. We're like a little dot next to them -- a little speck," Maloof says. "But we're going to grow it, and it's going to become big and get bigger, and the one thing I'm really excited about is the response we're getting from the skaters. We're getting the top skateboarders in the world."
The Maloof Money Cup, with men's and women's pro street contests, men's pro vert and amateur competitions, has lured the same pros who'll compete in the X Games, plus underground street pros -- stars of endemic magazines and videos -- who don't generally compete.
They're lured by big bucks, but also a unique design that duplicates a pure street environment and judging criteria that promote "innovation instead of mediocre consistency," says Rob Dyrdek, a Hollywood street skater who helped plan the course.
The Maloofs will award the men's street winner $100,000, the men's vert winner $75,000 and the women's street winner $25,000.
