Mike McGill, first at Upland.
One of the hardest skating veterans on
the Pro circuit today. Mike was laying down
some damaging lines in the pool. His
performance in the combi-pool a week
before this event has boosted him out of
the winless column. It looks as if McGill
might have the momentum to blaze a clean
sweep of this mini-series and I think it's
going to be tough for the other skaters to
keep the rad hot Floridan off of the victory
stand this contest.
The major threat, Stevie Caballero.
Skater, skatepunk, bandleader, movie
star. Call him what you will but Stevie
remains as one of the most dynamic and
adaptable skaters in recent history. The kid
that has done it all continues to pile up the
mileage whether it be practicing bass lines
or air lines on his backyard ramp. Definitely
no stranger to the skateable L.A. environs
and certainly one skater whose presence
at a contest pushes everyone to go for
more bio.
Neil Blender.
The big guys powerful style combines
speed with finesse and critical craziness.
on the edge. Neil has a way of making
most skate terrain look smaller than it
really is, not so much because of his size,
but by his domination of the situation.
Especially the Whittier keyhole, which you
might say is Neil's home pool. Although not
suited up for skating yesterday, no one is
AIR WARS-Left to right, Lester Kasal, Billy Ruff, Kevin Staab, and Chris Miller demonstrate what it takes to
get bio.
doubting Blender's abilities, or disabilities,
to take this event.
Tell us about Lester Kasai.
Practically a resident of Skate City,
Lester has been tearing up everything he
skates these days, and the kid's only going
to get better. Certainly one of the favored
homeboys from the Whittier stables,
Lester has already stepped on some toes
in his rookie year as a Pro and it doesn't
look like he's ready to lighten up. One thing
for sure, the Lerter Kasai aerial show will
surely land him near the top of this battle.
The "Master of Disaster Duane Peters,
he's radical.
Duane has probably done more damage
to the Whittier pool than anyone in
attendance. Temporarily, I say that
because you never know where he's going
to show up next, residing in Sacto, D.P.
throttled southward, through the "Big
Valley in his classic Merc with co-pilot,
Tom Bixby. Duane is a favorite in this one
just by virtue of the fact that he showed up.
Add to that, he has won 'em here at the
Whit before. We'll be looking for some
board slapping, coping slides, sweepers,
and maybe a few "Acid Drops" from Der.
Christian Hosoi?
I stood and watched Christian pulling
chest high mute airs and backsiders where
he would kick the tail back out of the pool
at about fence levels. Hosoi is volatile and
he'll explode on you and rack up some big
tricks. He's dangerous.
John Gibson?
It's great to see "Tex" Gibson up from the
ramp rich skate fields of Texas. Look for
something new from J.G. Although he
didn't have much time to warm up to the
pool, John has skated up against the
Californians before. We'll look for some
wild Ollie tricks and H-plants from the
Gibber and see what happens.
Micke Alba.
Fast and smooth. Micke's solid style and
fast lines should sit well with the judges if
he can just hold on. Micke grew up on the
big walls of Upland in contrast to the fade
away vertical here at Whittier and the chop-
ped up condition of the lip. He can pull it off.
INDEPENDENT POWELL
WATHER
TAD
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