V.13 with sinister eye contact and a lock on second place, Jesse Martinez blasts backside off a personalized jump ramp during the street-style comp
The night before the Pro ramp event. Tony Hawk had flown
into LAX from a video shoot in Hawail. From the air-
port in L.A. he went straight to a hospital for
emergency treatment of an infected coral cut. The
next morning he was on a plane to Arizona,
entered the contest and won.
and skate shop, this weekend. Most all of the top competitive skaters
will be there," I said.
"We shall attend and observe this ritual. Is this proper attire for
such an occasion?" he inquired.
"
"Perfect," I said of his punkwear. You look completely normal.)
"Peace and love," he said, flashing his two fingers in our direc-
tion With that everything disappeared and the stars once again
twinkled above. A mild breeze blew past my thoughtful gaze.
Tawoke late the first day of the contest. I ate and dressed slowly
anyway, not caring to suffer through the usual pre-contest pro-
ceedings. I slipped some JFA and THRASHER stickers into my
pocket, bearing them as gifts for my space brothers.
When Farrived, the pro street-style was already in progress. I could
find no evidence of the visitors' vehicles and thought maybe they
took a cab.
Having made no contact. I observed the course it was your typical
"street" scene a few jump ramps, a metal curb thing, a tire, and
a six-foot-high by 24 foot-wide banked ramp, which Mondo said
was really good because no one knew how to ride it."
The first dude I saw riding was taking a casual leisurely roll while
the fans screamed and shouted and jumped up and down "That
is a good display of earthly excitement." I noted. Since I wasn't pay
ing much attention, I can't say who that skater was. However, I
did notice Neil Blender's ride..
This guy is truly a man of the street His run showed a blatant
unconcern for pre-fabricated notions of street style As the clock
counted down from fifteen seconds he began a demonstration of
truly modern moves. He skated up to a vertical piece of plywood,
meant for wall walks and other nonsense, and pulled out a can
of black spray paint. He then rendered some original Amencan graf
fiti, a man's face casting a sidelong glance toward the freeway
The paint was still wet when Eric Dressen began his run. Eric flew
off the ramp set next to the wall and wheeled Neil's face
Next, Christian Hosoi made preparations for his run. He cued up
Madonna on the tape 'thang and set three, four, no five boards
sideways on top of each other so he could olie them...the crowd
screamed. But then cut of nowhere, Natas Kaupas appeared and
popped an ollie over them, thereby stealing Christian's thunder
Hosoi's ollie turned to folly as he missed and knocked 'em down
Eric Zepada abruptly blunted in off the top of the eight-foot night
wall.
Bryce Kanights shredded Wheaties with his run, which included
the move to end all street plants, the butt plant.
Alva Skates definitely got its money's worth on Mondo Beck's
last run. The whole team joined him in some abusive ripping. I
noring the rules with your bros, that's street skating to me
I looked around for my alien friend but could not find anyone
that seemed out of space. I saw some youngsters and punks scram
bling for some stickers and wandered.
Reflecting on the crowd, Mondo said, "It was a dead zone til
Jim Muir told them to start cheering.
The quote of the day came from Kevin of Jerry's Kids from Aibu
querque, commenting on Tempe's finest, who were roving the con
rest and street course "Cops should be props," he said
The nighlights of the finals included Chris Cock wailing and sad
ing, Roskopp skating smooth, fast and on it, and John Lucero, the
comedy king, doing a flippy, blippy, dippity, hippity foot-plant that
left at least a few people scratching their heads in wonder Eric