Sonny Miler
FREESTYLE
excuse to shade my mindlessness.
On with the show!
What was to come down, was one
of the most intense get down ses-
sions ever witnessed by the common
spectator. Through incredible leaps
and bounds, the young men flew
through the air, resembling nuclear
projectiles enroute to their destina-
tion. The sixteen qualifiers were slow-
ly but methodically cut down to eight
finalists. A lot of sweat and, yes, even
a little blood have gone into making it
this far in the proceedings. Yes in-
deed, it isn't just luck that carries you
this far in this kind of competition,
although I could be wrong., I believe
the finalists were, Serafin, Gibson,
Magnusson, Hosoi, Mountain,
Rogowski, Kasai, and Hawk. And in
that order. Hosoi went straight
through the competitors like a knife,
slicing and slashing the higher
altitudes in the immediate environ-
ment surrounding the skating arena.
Magnusson, although losing the first
bout with Hosoi managed to gyrate
his way up through the losers
bracket, earning himself second place
honors, while Tony Hawk grabbed the
number three spot. All they got for
their effort was a trophy. But that's
because they are amateurs and
they're not supposed to have money.
Now on the other hand, there are the
Pro's who do get money, and they
were doing their damndest to get
some. Bill Ruff, Steve Caballero,
Duane, Dave Andrecht, Mike Smith,
Fred DeSota, Al Losi and Mike.
Seigfried were the surviving
gladiatiors in this ring of fiery sensa-
tionalism. It was not long ago that it
was just a little two or three feet of
air that made people think that there
is no way that anyone could do any
better, but we all know how wrong
those people were.
Mike Seigfried was doing the
strange looking limbo handplant ex-
tension variable manuever, holding
off the descent for as long as possi-
ble. Dave Andrecht came out of semi-
retirement to skate this contest and
he skated it mighty powerfully. At one
point in the flow of eventfulness,
Steve Caballero and Mike Smith had
to skate against each other for pro-
gress sake and Steve ended up falling
into the losers bracket. Steve, not one
to be brushed aside so easily, clawed
his way through the losers bracket to
finish in the big number two spot and
150 bucks wealthier. Al Losi and
Duane had a standoff and had to
skate an extra round. Al, thinking that
he was beat after two scored runs,
retreated to the parking lot for who
knows what, Then, when the scores.
were tallied, they were the same.
Identical. So they had to call Al back
from the lot and have a decision mak
ing tie breaker. As it turned out, Al
prevailed and Duane did not.
Mike Smith was my pick to rip this
contest to shreds, but I guess I was
wrong. Not that he didn't shine as the
rest of the skaters did, but it is just
that only one guy can win this thing
and it aint always who you want it to
be. He would go into a handplant
situation and just hold it there,
twisting and contorting his body and
then drop back in as if nothing hap-
pened. The cowd spurred him on,
each time he came to this part of his
routine and he would just hold it up
there longer and contort more. It was
great. Everyone loved it. For all of his
efforts, Mike captured the third place
spot and 100.00.
When you say Bill Ruff, you say,
Fly like an eagle and leap like a pan-
ther. Agressiveness and spunk. Bill
commanded the whole scene that
came down on this day and I think
the judges knew it, or else they
wouldn't of scored him into first place
and into $200.00 bucks. First place
overall also went to Bill along with
another $100.00. Second overall and
$75.00 went Steve Caballero and
third and a gift certificate went to
Duane.
I was pretty exhausted from being
entertained so much in the last few
days. I think I will try and get some
R.& R. and then try and make it back
home.
RESULTS
PRO AWARDS - BOWL
1 Bill Ruff
2 Steve Caballero.
3 Mike Smith
4 Allen Losi
5 Duane Peters
PRO AWARDS
1 Steve Rocco.
$200.00
150.00
100.00
50.00
gift cert.
FREESTYLE
$150.00
100.00
75.00
2 Stacy Peralta
3 Mike Folmer.
4 Bruce Logan.
50.00
gift cert
5 Bill Ruff
OVER ALL
1 Bill Ruff
2 Steve Caballero
3 Duane Peters
-
AMATEUR AWARDS BOWL
1 Christian Hosoi
2 Tony Magnusson
3 Tony Hawk
AMATEUR AWARDS-FREESTYLE
1 Brian martin
2 Lance Betson
3 John Gibson
OVERALL
1 Bob Serafin
"Duane did something."
2 John Gibson
3 Christian Hosoi
"Stacy skates the blues."
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