A city sketch
Houston
SHUT
UP
RSUAS
AND
SKATE
OR GO HOME
Detta Air Lines
Never fails...damn Lowboy. Happens every time. Sit down to
pull together my notes into a cohesive report on the latest contest
and sure enough here comes the new THRASHER in the mail with
this trashmaster spewin' all the latest slime and dirt regarding the
very same event. They must have the presses stopped to spread
that swill. I had to admit, though, any pursuit of skating action that
finds one travelling to the big state of Texas is going to have a lot of
both involved. Lowboy's trashy accounts were pretty accurate
regarding the Nov. 8 Shut Up and Skate pro ramp duel held in
Houston. My own account of this annual skate destruction of Texas
began with some in-flight travel brochures that fell into my lap as
we approached Houston Intercontinental.
HOUSTON: A CITY SKETCH
Counterpart to Dallas in a high stakes battle for domination of the
Texas skyline, Houston looms big on the Lone Star horizon. The
pamphlet boasted Houston as one of the five largest metropolitan
areas in the U.S. A little more promising than last month's ramp
venue, Little Rock, Arkansas. Although if the skating this weekend
was to be anything like that seen on Paige's ramp I was in for a
mind blower. I took the quote "energy capital of America" as an
omen to the possibility of some rabid night-life to be had. On a
historical note, Houston's namesake, big Sam, lead Texas in its
battle for independance from Mexico at the site of the San Jacinto
monument, world's largest monumental column, mind you, a site
that I shouldn't miss, claimed the literature. I missed it. Other
missed must sees were the moon rocks at the LBJ Space Center,
the parties on the Rice U. campus and the Blue Bonnet Bowl held
in the "eighth wonder of the world" the Astrodome. If skating
continues to rage like it has been, it might contain next year's
S.U.A.S. contest ramp, who knows.
It was nice to drop into Texas somewhere other than Dallas,
which by all rights has been the reigning skate capital for the last
five years. A description of the sub-tropical weather situation in
Houston was confirmed as Mo and I burned onto the freeway
headed downtown, eager to get the lay of the land in a new town.
Houston is near enough to the Gulf Coast to merit the sighting of a
cartop rack full of surfboards headed coastward. There's not much
to be said about the surf along the Texas shore, or anywhere in the
Gulf for that matter, except for inconsistent 1-2 foot lakelike lappers
on oily beaches and occasional swells kicked up by passing
hurricanes, of which there have already been several. Good year
for surf, bad year for property damage.
(Opposite page) Once again Mike McGill worked his way to the top of the
order with antics like this fast plant over channel... only to be bested once
again by Tony Hawk (left) shown in mid-channel Madonna. All the while,
Craig Johnson (above) was garnering masa crowd approval with moves like
this very facial frontside handplant.
I scammed a paragraph telling me that "parks abound in
Houston before tucking the Delta Air Houston bio in my pocket for
after-hours recommendations later on, We were pulling off the
freeway on our way to a park that definitely wasn't on their list, the
Skatepark of Houston.
A SKATEPARK SKETCH
Dennis Eppinette's Skatepark of Houston was the latest stop for
a somewhat off-season (in N.S.A. terms) pro ramp jam circuit. The
Zorlac crew headed by Jeff I'm easy' Newton were in cahoots with
Harmony Surf and Skate on this one, taking the annual S.U.A.S.
blowout away from the blue ramp in Dallas for the first time. Lucky
for us we had flown a night into Friday morning and were getting a
chance to check the skater-less contest ramp at 7:30 a.m. Texas
time, before any skate rats were stirring. Bitchin'. I could tell Mofo
was excited, he dropped off to snore a few Z's while I got out of the
car to take notes on the ramp. I didn't realize it then but it was
Dennis, the only other life-form evident, pushing a wheel barrow
around the grounds preparing for the day's activities. Not just a
figure of speech, the S.P.O.H. actually existed as a cement
covered skate facility called Texas Twister in the park hey-days of
the late Seventies. Now the rural/suburban site has been reduced
(or improved, depending on who you ask) to its present status; a
metal shack serving as the Pro shop/snack bar/club house/game
room, one small and shaky Fiberider half pipe and the main
attraction and a super deluxe ramp measuring 30 ft wide x 11 feet
tall x 9 ft. transitions x 2 feet of true vert. Multiply that by a coping to
coping 1/8" steel covered skating surface welded and tacked to fit
snuggly into the sturdy wood framework. The grass covered
acreage surrounding the ramp was plenty suited for expansion in
the form of more skate structures, pieces of which were already
laying in wait of hammer and nail. We bailed for the nearest bed
and breakfast, knowing that the unbelievably incredulous ramp
would be seeing plenty of skate action too soon for our tired selves.