WEAR
Word from St. Louis, the last stop on the Pro
circuit, is that these kids and their mob have
a lot of energy to burn. Keep a low profile
by Sunday night they should be skated out
and ready to vacate. I'm hoping that all we
have to do is hunker down, keep a close
watch on the proceedings, and weather the
storm.
Narrator: Storm was right. Not only were the
skies filled with rain and lightning in the days
before the big event, the agents were receiv-
ing continuous reports of turbulence caused
by skaters as they arrived at all hours. Espec-
ially hard hit was the O'Hare Airport, where
sessions were happening right off the plane.
It seems the huge V-shaped support columns
near the baggage claim area were perfect for
the activities these skate bandits crave. An-
other trouble spot was the Ramada Inn near
the contest site, where many of the more visi-
ble skate underworld were holed up by the
time Friday night rolled around. In order to ful-
ly assess the situation, another closed-door
meeting was held early Saturday morning.
Agent #1: Apparently we're getting more
than we bargained for this weekend. A
streetstyle jam, coinciding but not in conjunc-
42
tion with the NSA event, is going down in a
parking lot on Clark St. next to Windward
Sports today at 10 a.m. I want two of you on
the rooftops watchdogging that one. If things
start to get ugly, call for back-up.
We've now zeroed in on the location of the
NSA ramp meet. It's the Odeum stadium,
situated about 15 miles out of downtown in a
suburb called Villa Park. The Odeum looks
like a big warehouse from the outside, but it
has enough floor space for three small soc-
cer fields inside. A huge, masonite-covered
ramp has been constructed on the cement
floor of the main floor by Tommy (TK) Kay and
Timmy (Hammer) Payne. Keep an eye on
those guys. Now that they've pulled their job,
they could turn up anywhere. The rest of you
guys, go over and case the joint before the
Midwest Amateur qualifying rounds start at
2 p.m. Synchronize your watches. We'll meet
back here if everything goes smoothly.
Narrator: Meanwhile, across town, the Chi-
cago streetstyle classic went off without a
hitch. Skaters showed up from Wisconsin, In-
diana, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Iowa, Min-
nesota, Tennessee and Illinois to trade street
wits and gamble for product prizes. A twenty-
Rodney Mead,
frontside boneless
-ultra-tweaked.
foot steel l-beam was a major focus for long
board slides and double-trucked grinds, and
jump-ramp launches were extended into the
lower branches of a nearby tree. The fact that
over half the known skate world was on the
other side of town having breakfast mattered
little to the participants in this friendly session-
like event. Jesse (the Kid) Neuhaus, Randy
(Lawn Drop) Gawlick, and Mark (Ho-ho)
Hientzman dominated their divisions. Other
hot skating was performed by Dan Lichel,
Johnny Machine, Mike (Nimble) Timble and
Steve (Mr. Smoothness) Snyder. Surprising-
ly, many of the skaters and spectators at this
event had neither rides to nor plans to attend
the NSA proceedings at the Odeum, where
half a dozen agents were already in position.
NSA kingpin Frank (the Colonel) Hawk saw
to it that a V.I.P. area was set aside for visiting
heads of skate. While watching the amateur
qualifying were Art (Tom Thumb) Harris, Tim
(Martian) Piumarta, Tracker Larry, Peggy C.,
Fausto V., Jeff (Newtron) Newton, Thrasher
T-ed and Brad (Shoes) Dorfman.
The final jam for amateurs had shaped up
into a violent half-hour of skating. Somehow
Californians Chris Borscht, Eric Castro and
Above: Ground rules being
spelled out for the indoor
event at the Odeum
stadium. Right: Odeum
signage. Far right: The ramp
that Tommy Kaye and Timmy
Payne built. Below: Motor-
Ing into downtown Chicago,
the Sears shaft dominates
the skyline.
SPECIAL
EXPORT
ON TAP
Jeff Hedges and Floridan Bob Reeves were
able to claim residency status and join the
midwest amateur roster. They advanced into
the final 10-man shoot-out without much trou
ble. Rounding out the am jam were Bill
Ferguson, Peanut Brown, Ray Showalter, Bob
Umble, Blaize Blouin and Ray Underhill. Ap-
parently all of these guys have lived in the
midwest at some time during their lives.
However, birth certificates weren't checked.
The skating had to go on.
When the smoke cleared at jam's end Jeff
(Ffej) Hedges had nailed down first place with
multiple handplant variations, including
neons and gymnasts. Power-skating Bob
Reeves displayed clean style with Miller flips,
finger-flip lien-to-tail and air variations to steal
second place.
The most impressive am skater was Blaize
Blouin, from Virginia, whose wild yet smooth,
stylish lines startled the crowd. Having the
Cedar Crest ramp for a training ground sure-
ly didn't hurt this kid's ability. The remainder
ODEUM
SPORTS
AND
EXPO CENTER
of the am hit list included Underhill, 4th:
Brown, 5th; Ferguson, 6th; Borscht, 7th; Um-
ble, 8th; Castro, 9th; and Showalter, 10th.
By the time the amateur winners had been
announced, the first squad of pro riders were
ready to begin practice sessions, which would
last far into the night. Meanwhile, another
strategy session, which included the stad-
lum's security force, took place in the Odeum
parking lot.
Agent #1: It seems that illegal activities have
been kept to a minimum so far. Do you ment
have anything to report?
Agent #2: Not much sir. Two nightclub owners
downtown reported sightings of roving packs
of skaters. The Limelight and the Smart Bar
seem to be the hot spots, but nothing
unusual.
Agent #3: The night manager at the Ramada
called in a complaint a little while ago. Just
the usual skate groupers waiting in the hall-
ways for a glimpse of their favorites. The pro
skaters seem preoccupied with practice for
tomorrow's main event. Some of our boys did
flush out a large streetstyle session going
down in front of the motel manager's office.
Security Guard: Other than the occasional
rental car four-wheel drifting through the
gravel parking lot we've got nothing to report
It's pretty quiet out there.