42
Neil Blender executes a 360 eggplant under
a cold coastal sky. Sequence by B.K.
The "Yoda" of freestyle, Rodney Mullen
shows complete control during his
return to competition.
Meanwhile, a drive back to Huntington
produced a party in every room. A radical
sticker pasting on all skater doors showed
where the action was at. It got louder and
more wild by the moment. I felt a little sorry
for the tourists in the other rooms but it was
their fault to choose a vacation at this time.
In the parking lot, a rental car was being
put through virgin tire slide and spin
experiments. A quick examination of the
contents of the car produced Billy Ruff,
Steve Cab, and Jeff Grosso. The torrents
of rain produced large puddles which
brought equally gnarly chassis tweaks and
Chrysler 180's. Everyone was partying to
certain hilts and the lack of rain had the
stoke level up.
In one room, a large concentration of
skaters gathered to witness Jeff Grosso's
new friend the Lance Jr. pillow. It had real
facial features and a lot of eyebrow.
Grosso had it greeting people and drinking
beer, as well as doing airs off the ceiling
and other bodies, funny guy....
The next day, 9 o'clock to be exact, the
ground was dry and the sponsored ams
were ripping. Chris Cook added to the
hectic runs with a bomb drop off the trailer
unit. It yielded him a broken board but he
quickly borrowed one and continued.
Spidey and Grosso pushed high airs off
the picnic table ramp. Tommy Guerrero, a
crowd favorite and expert streetstylist,
blazed around the course with hops,
sliders and boneless maneuvers. When
the dust had cleared Tony Chiala was in
8th, Sean Goff from England in 7th, Dave
Crabb in 6th, Spidey captured 5th, Jeff
Grosso blazed into 4th, Eric Jeuden in 3rd
and upset to 2nd place, Tommy Guerrero.
Mark Gonzales took first with assorted
ramp aerials and street plants off of the
picnic table.
The Pros were up next and they domi-
nated the street set-up. John Lucero
styled/flailed on the small platform and the
curbs. Caballero blasted high airs, couldn't
land one of them but he made up for it with
various boneless ones and 50/50 grinds.
Rob Roskopp and Steve Steadham were
their usually burly selves exhibiting power
around the course. Neil Blender pulled off
one of the best tricks of the day in his last
run. A perfect 6' board slider off the front
row bench seat of the spectator-less
grandstand.
Christian Hosoi and Billy Ruff were the
ones to watch on this day. Christ combined
insanely high airs and footwork to gain two
nearly flawless runs. Billy Ruff, however,
with style and versatility and perfectly
executed tricks, ollies, handstands and
one thing which would only be described
as a butt plant 720° body pivot, claimed the
crowd and the judges.
Billy Ruff took 1st and it made him $350.
Christian netted $250 and 2nd. Steve Cab
captured 3rd followed by John Lucero, Neil
Blender and freestyle master Steve Rocco
in 4th, 5th and 6th. Rob Roskopp and
Eddie Reategui finished in 7th and 8th.
Billy Ruff sits and spins to victory
among the Pro streetstylists.
Since the events had to be jammed into
one day, the unsponsored and sponsored
am freestyle events were held right after
the end of the pro streetstyle. In the
unsponsored amateur class, Tony
Haworth, Henry Sarrio and Ball Sahota
battled to a very tight 1,2,3, finish in that
order. Unsponsored? Not for long.
Bay Area local Ray Meyers flipped spun
and rail worked his way into 1st place in the
sponsored am event. Andre Walton, Lynn
Cooper and Anthony Sedillo all shredded
in their routines for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. The
5th through 8th places went to Fabian
Kravits, Greg Smith, Dave Tucker and
Sean Coons.
The pro freestyle was held in the fast
fading-sunlight and all eyes were on The
Mutt. Rodney Mullen, coming out of
retirement, took his practice along with
everyone else. Just his presence brought
awed audience response. Precision has to
be his mark. Blazing footwork combining
super-fast space walks and kick flips plus
effortless ollie pops gave Rodney a near-
perfect first routine and an absolutely
flawless second run. At one point during
the second run it seemed as if Rodney was
stuck on auto pilot during a super fast flurry
of footwork, and couldn't get out of it.
Camera flashes were popping on either
side of him as he pulled 540° shove its and
"double" ollie rail flips. Finally pulling out of
it Rodney clutched his head and finished
off his run, leaving no doubt about his
status as the top freestyler in the world.
The real battle came with the 2nd and
3rd place sports, Bob Schmelzer and
Steve Rocco were tied after two routines
each. By the time the results were an-
nounced, the sun had set and the contest
site was fairly dark. Rodney took 1st,
Primo Desiderio styled his way into 4th,
Jason Catalano, Kevin Harris, Mike Foster
and Per Holknekt took 5th, 6th, 7th, and
8th.
Bob Schmelzer and Rocco wanted to do
full runs to break the tie. Rocco, inventor of
many of the modern day freestyle moves,
was first. He got through half of it before he
lost his footing in the darkness of the
parking lot. Schmelzer, in his first pro
contest, didn't let up for one moment and
he raged through his two minutes worth.
The judges unanimously gave the second
place spot to Bob Schmelzer.
The lot was now very dark and cold. I
wondered what I was doing here, 400
miles from home, with a 7 hour drive
ahead. The answer lies in the quality of the
skating performances. There is nothing
like the total aggressive stylings of the
body on a skateboard, doing tricks that, to
the pedestrians, seem to defy the laws of
gravity.
Back to the "Yellow Screamer" and back
to the grueling cow dung scent of 1-5 and
back to Skaterville. As I drive, I think about
that pedestrian attitude of defying gravity.
If you've been skating you know what I
mean, if you haven't you've got something
to think about.
Bill Christman
Accuracy and timing is the key, Ball Sahota
styles a one footed rail drop
English slalom ace Martin Sweeney
polished his technique throughout the day.
Bob Schmelzer
results
FREESTYLE
OPEN AM
1. Tony Haworth
2. Henry Sarrio
3. Bali Sahota
4. Victor Starr
5. Marc Hostetter
6. Michelle Sanderson
7. Paul Sunmar
8. Bob Staton
SPONSORED AM
1. Ray Meyer
2. Andrew Walton
3. Lynn Cooper
4. Anthony Sedillo
5. Fabian Kravetz
6. Greg Smith
7. Dave Tucker
8. Sean Coons
PRO
1. Rodney Mullen
2. Bob Schmelzer
3. Steve Rocco
4. Primo Desiderio
5. Jason Catalno
STREET
OPEN AM
Tony Haworth
1. Brad Broadman
2. Marc Hostetter
3. Natas Kaupas
4. Harry Jumonji
5. Dave Duncan
6. Brandon Murdock
7. Stephen Wyeth
8. Jim Theibaud
SPONSORED AM
1. Mark Gonzales
2. Tommy Guerrero.
3. Erik Jueden
4. Jeff Grosso
5. Rick Demontrand
6. Dave Crabb
7. Sean Goff
8. Tony Chiala
PRO
1. Biff Ruff
2. Christian Hosoi
3. Steve Caballero
4. John Lucero
5. Neil Blender
6. Steve Rocco
6. Kevin Harris
7. Mike Foster
8. Per Holknekt
7. Rob Roskopp
8. Eddie Reategui