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Actually, real OGās would remember how fast that name(Lionel Drake) was invented by Johnnie Del Valle (more commonly known as JD or Professionally as John Steeleā¦.
The guys asked JD to give a Demo freestyle at the Redondo Beach Pier YoYo Contest, many years ago.
He had NO problem saying yesā¦. But didnāt want to be announced as himself, lol
several other high level players deliberately sat down on the ground, directly in front of the staging area, so they could provide the ācolorful commentary you hear as they scream in disbelief at what they are witnessingg, lol.
I think the most amazing deal about the whole thing was that JD kept that hitman composure through the whole freestyle without busting into laughter because of the clowns in the front kept screaming at him.
At the moment, I honestly donāt remember exactly who was sitting there screaming. But I do remember Spencer Berry and Seth Petersonā¦ Possibly Augie Fashā¦ And another guy that escapes me at the moment. They went a little over the top trying to outscream each other with > I canāt believe he did this> I canāt believe he did that trick > I canāt believe what Iām seeing, etc..
And JD just kept knocking out the tricks and keeping that straight poker face. You just had to be there. There are a couple videos showing different angles, including one taken from that overhead staircase that shows the other players in the front screaming away.
Iām pretty sure that on that busy pier that day a lot of people that werenāt aware of the inside joke that was going on, mustāve been quite fascinated by the antics of the guy during that freestyle.
ā¦. Thanks for posting up that video. After all these years JD still plays and heās still pretty darn good. Some of his videos are pretty much timelessā¦ Like the GrindSlave video. I think JD was one of the pioneers of producing well planned and well executed videos.
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I like his play style! Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for the additional context, JD and Andre were my favorites when I was first learning, and I still find JDās style extremely interesting.
I knew of this a little while after it happened but I think even then I didnāt know all the context around it.
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JD has always been one of my favorites. He never ceases to amaze me even today.
Hereās my current favorite video from him:
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Thats a sick vid. Totally my style/. I call it 4F.
BanG! , a moment in time.
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I wish yoyo contests still looked like this compared to the same 50 tricks over and over
Actually āLionel Sergio Drakeā was invented I believe far before that contestā¦
Lionel Sergio Drake (LSD) first started posting videos online - but never showed his faceā¦ Just a clip video called LionFlo and posting on forums under the Lion Flo nickname giving props to JD and said they were just friendsā¦
JD was always big into hints and secret messaging - if you look at the Lion Flo logo bottom left - you can also see it says āLion Is JDā. 
Then Lionel made his big appearance at the Redondo Contest. 
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We need LSD back
We are calling for a return
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Ah man! Making me feel old haha! Some of the greatest times in yoyoing.
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Hahaha, yes, this is a great memory!
I donāt think I was part of the heckle team, but I was definitely there.
That contest was one week before I started cross country performing on a traveling freak show alongside the Vans Warped Tour and Ozzy Osbourneās Ozzfest. Got the go from Steve Brown and boy oh boy was I not ready for it. What a wild summer!
Hung out on the beach at the kite shop for a week, stopped by Golden Apple Comics, went to a back alley underground throwdown hosted by Mark McBride and a few āSuicide Girlsā in Koreatown, then headed out on tour. Some of the best times of my life.
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That was a great time. I distinctly remember that you and somebody else (Huber?) did cool real freestyles and then Julius and I did joke routines (mine was all tricks I could do while drinking a beer). Then when the awards started Mark asked for 3rd place and the Suicide Girl judges were like āuh, we only have a top twoā and Julius and I just high fived and walked off the stage.
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