After going skimboarding with Neil Blender, Lance came back to the park and tried to apply the techniques he had learned on this frontside roll-in.
What's your favorite trick that you're
trying to master right now?
My favorite trick. I learned lein 360's,
they're awfully fun, invert fakies, and I like
frontside inverts and backside airs.
Do you think skateboarding has dried
up?
Yeah, it's dried up, but not for me really.
Everyone on Variflex team just sort of quit
and skates every once in awhile, just like
everybody else out there. They only skate
once in awhile now. I skate all the time.
Do you think professionalism in skate-
boarding was just a joke to begin with?
I don't think it will work really. The people
that watch it are the ones that have to make
it professional. If they enjoy it, and want it to
be professional, it will work.
How about skaters' attitudes?
Some of the skaters act professional, I
don't think I do that much. Like I said, I just
skate for fun. If it becomes real profes-
sional-oriented, I'll try to skate real profes-
sional. I don't think it can be like that right
now. You have to skate for fun or it's not
going to be worth it. Most of the people that
quit did so because they didn't have fun at
it and they just did it to make money, or
whatever, and you really can't make money
at it. I've just skated for fun ever since I
started.
Do you do drugs at all or anything of
that nature?
No, they're stale. People that smoke and
drink are fake. They do it to avoid some-
thing. They do it to impress people or to
forget about problems. If you have prob-1
lems, you should just work 'em out, you
shouldn't drink, it just causes more prob-
lems.
What kind of music are you interested
in?
Any kind of music that I like at the time. I go
see bands every once in awhile just to go. I
don't like the bands necessarily. I wouldn't
say I like punk music. It's okay.
How do you feel about skateboarding in
general, contest, other skaters?
I just skate for fun, that's why I started and
I've always wanted it to be like that, and it
has been. If it gets too serious, I really don't
like it. I'm sort of serious unless I skate,
when I'm skating I'm not serious. That's
probbably why I enjoy it a lot.
You've won a couple of contests, haven't
you? As an amateur.
I just turned pro three contests ago. As an
amateur, I won some good ones. The first
contest I entered was a week before the
Gold Cup at Oasis, which was Whittier. It
took place in the keyhole and the clover, I
got first and second. I entered the Gold Cup
and did pretty good, I won the "Big O" Gold
Cup, which was my second contest after I
was sponsored. That was really good, no
one really knew me and like, I just acciden-
Lances' comment: "Well...it needs some work, but I think I can pull it off."
tally won. After that I won the Skate City
"Potato Bowl," amateur. I entered a lot of
ASPO's and CASL's and usually did pretty
good.
Who are your toughest competitors
now?
The people that have beat me in contests.
Names?
Names, let's see, Billy, Stevie...Craig John-
son's really good. Mark Rogowski is proba-
bly the best skater out there, 'cept that he
always has a tough time in contests. I think
he has good style.
One of your favorite skaters?
Yeah, skating wise, I like him. Otherwise
he's too much like the way people are now.
How are people now? In your view.
They're out to impress people, they do
things to impress people. When I do some-
thing that impresses people, it is really for
my own fun, I guess.
Where is skating going to go in 1983?
It seems like it's picking up. It's either going
to pick up or stay the same. I think it'll go to
just riding ramps and backyard pools like it
was and then it will pick up again like it did
before, five or six years ago, and everyone
will start doing it again. More parks might
open up again in a couple of years and all
the little kids will start skating again and a
whole new breed of kids will get good and it
will continue to progress. Or it will just com-
pletely die out. It seems like more com-
panies are interested now and into doing
things again. More people are getting in-
terested in it because they can just skate
ramps and streets now again. You know,
they stopped doing that for awhile, every-
one just entered contests. Now that they've
started riding streets again, their friends
around their house skate more and that
causes more people to get into it and they
sell more stuff. More companies get into it
and it keeps getting bigger.
What's been your worst injury?
A broken collarbone. I was riding my ramp
after we resined it one day. I fell on a fakie
ollie and broke my collarbone. Other than
that, I broke three ribs, but I never knew
about it until a year later when I went to get
X-rays on my collarbone, that's when I
found out about the ribs. But they didn't
hurt, so I guess that's not bad.
Neil Blender takes over...
NB: Now Lance. Do you feel that you've
had a hard time competing this year in
the pro ranks?
I suppose so, yes. I've had a hard time, I did
good at one contest, Whittier.
What about Florida?
Uhmmm...that was a problem.
We noticed. You had the potential.
GF: What do you do besides skate-
board?
NB: That's what we're trying to get at, I
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