LINCOLN, Neb.-Someone said it was
"The Midwest Ramp Clash," and someone
said it was "Rich's Ramp Jam," and
someone else said it was "The Midwest
Melee" (which turned out to be the official
version), but whatever it was, it sure was
fine.
A good time was had by all, EVEN this
rather scruffy looking freelance writer, who
happened to be the sponsoring skater's
older bro'. While expecting to be under-
whelmed by the hassle of bringing a total of
some 300 skaters (pro and am), groupies,
friends, family and curiosity seekers
together for this rampjam thing, while
trying to operate out of my parent's house
in Lincoln, Neb. (whose front and back
yards had hatched this halfpipe out of
plywood, sweat and cybernetic youth, and
which already housed half a dozen
skaters) I was surprised by the pleasant
high of 85 degree sunlight, crowd-buzz
(replete with oohs and ahs), media interest
and (lest we forget) whirlygig and daredevil
youth on wheels.
MIDWESI MELEE
My perspective is unique in that, since
1978, I had watched a homemade halfpipe
grow out of a 4' x 8' piece of plywood set
up against a picnic bench at the bottom of
my folk's driveway, into a ramp termed
"state-of-the-art" by Melee coordinator
Fausto Vitello. Later he described it as
"one of the top five ramps in the world." In
Lincoln? In my parent's suburban rec
center of a backyard? Built by little brother
Rich and fellow skate buddies? Right
under our noses? What kind of scene is
this anyway?
Rich (Flowerday, 19, student at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln) explained
that his commitment to the sport accom-
panied his many additions and renovations
of the ramp. Many skaters were saying that
backyard ramps are the future of the sport,
primarily because they're made from
relatively cheap wood by self-educated
skater-engineers who know the demands
of this kind of vertical choreography.
Smooth, consistent transitions are the key,
Mike McGill said.
While the sport's history and reputation
peg it squarely as aWest Coast phenome-
non, Fausto explained, "Now, the Midwest
probably has as many good skaters as
anywhere." The buzz among a few of the
pros was, as McGill put it, "Since about
January, there's been a revival (of interest
in the sport)." Board manufacturers have
recently reported a sevenfold increase in
production, he said, "but everyone's afraid
to say, 'It's back."
Fausto introduced the skaters at the
start of the jam, and he would review each
skater informally, he said, but perhaps
because there were no formal awards,
many of the uninitiated may have won-
dered: "Who are those guys anyway?"
For the record, they were:
Mike McGill, Steve Caballero and Lance
Mountain, for Powell Peralta; Christian
Hosol, for Alva; Micke Alba and Rob
Roskopp, for Santa Cruz; Billie Ruff, for
Gordon and Smith; John Gibson, for
Zorlac; and sponsored ams, Craig Johnson
and Dan Wilkes. -Charles Flowerday
22
HAPPINESS 15
NEV
Billy Ruff
19 MINNEHAHA
IOWA
Christian Hosoi
MAH SEDRADKAMAY
BOB THOMAS
KILLINOIS
ORK938 DEW:026 CVM 472-AG 36 JSF 764 KP 210
SOUTH
DAKOTA
42
A
SEP OREGON
BEND. OREGON
NOT ANYPLACE ELSE, OR,
SOME TIME IN NEBRASKA
"Just write a story about Nebraska for
Thrasher Magazine, do it now...it's just
that simple." the words of Gnit rang
throughout the hallowed halls of the much
dreaded mag. Words are meant to be
broken. I strongly suspect there are some
things about which nothing should be
written or said and that skating is one of
them. Skating is skating while words are
just words, and for the record a fool is
usually a fool.
Even while I was standing in the grease
pit of Omaha's Union Pacific rail station the
new improved even more effective
Cornhead offered input as to just how this
very same mag portrayal should be
recorded for history. Cornhead, who in the
enclave of a prestigious university is also
known as Craig Williams, was my unofficial
guide into the intricacies of life in the
Combelt, in the center of Amerika, the
Great Plains, theHeartland, this most basic
unit around which the fabric of contempo-
rary civilization is based. In a more orderly
society they would elect Cornhead
president, he's the type of guy you could
parachute nude into a remote African
jungle village and three days later he'd
walk out dressed as a king and owning the
place. At a milli-seconds notice 'Cornhead'
will dispense a mind numbing assortment
of info such as: (a) Cliff notes are published
in Lincoln, Nebraska; (b) Lincoln has the
highest number of cops to population ratio
in the U.S.; (c) On game day the stadium at
U. of Nebraska is the third largest popu-
lated city in the state; (d) The average yield
of a field of corn; (e) The location of the
most desirable truck stops; and, most
importantly, (f) Every secret skate spot for
two hundred miles. He also skates with
style and knows lots of local betties, all in
all the right man to know.
What we were all doing in Nebraska was
attending a world class skate session in
Rich Flowerday's backyard. The session
was held on Rich's highly renowned ramp
and had drawn top pros and ams from all
points. How we all got there was another
matter. What happened while we were all
together was a history lesson for the new
age. Over the four days of super sessioning
at least five hundred people felt free to
come and go as they pleased, there were
TV crews, newspaper reporters, radio
rappers and a host of skate hotties.
My own personal voyage began as !
arrived four hours late for a party in L.A.
There I encountered Mr. Ivan Hosoi, a
member of a prominent skating family,
after a few moments of brief social
discourse, he revealed that Christian, Billy
Ruff, El Fausto, McGill, Lance Mountain,
Micke Alba and Rob Roscopp had left for
the Midwest Melee hours before in a
rented van. A couple of phone calls later I
reached an exhausted female car rental
counter sales type person at a Frisco firm,
"skateboarders renting a car? They were
here, animals skating on the counter,
making weird noises and eating, always
eating. Could this disjointed rap be