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CALIFORNIA SKATE EXPRESS
5054 N. Blackstone (Suite 105) Fresno California 93710
by Mike Timble
Photos: Kevin J. Thatcher
"Rain, rain go away, come again another day," we
thought, prayed and mumbled to ourselves as we con-
templated the darkening Midwestern sky.
"It don't rain in Indianapolis in the summertime," mocked
Bobby Goldsboro on the car radio as we bypassed the turn-off
for said burg.
"The beer that made Milwaukee famous," chortled
someone from the backseat, reminiscing about our skate
sojourn to that city's "Summerfest" on the previous day.
Our nervous chatter was brought on by a combination of
stimuli: One, reports of monsoon clouds in St. Louis, our
destination. Two: a second road trip in as many days. It's not
uncommon for Midwestern skaters, but you never get used
to traversing several states every time you go to a contest.
Three: we hadn't stopped in over two hours..."Pull over
before I explode, will ya."
Once composure on the road had been regained, the con-
versation zeroed in on St. Louis and the big VP fair held on
the banks of the old Miss. The NSA was in town to sanction
another big pro ramp event, in conjunction with the
weekend-long 4th of July celebration.
If it wasn't going to rain water, it definitely was going to
rain money. A jaw-dropping $20,000, the largest purse in the
sport's history, had lured 43 professional skaters to town for
the fourth of July weekend. And some special person would
get $7,500 of it for first place. Zeltzer Seltzer, a new line of
naturally-flavored seltzers being marketed by St. Louis cor-
porate resident Anhauser- Busch, put up the entire wad of
cash for the contest. Vision Street Wear and local St. Louis
skate shop, Island Water Sports, also sponsored the event.
Island's Jerry and Judy Coombs had organized the same
event last Fourth of July when they brought most of the
sport's top pros in for a demo. This year it was a contest.
Rain on the Fourth, the day before the contest, had postponed
the qualification runs, forcing the NSA to run the entire con-
test on Sunday. And rain threatened the contest again.
Would it hold off for awhile? No such luck.
Just as the skaters in the fourth heat of qualification runs
finished up, the sky laughed at us, the ramp and the NSA,
opening its bladder on St. Louis, immediately posing a
dilemma of pro proportions: With Hosoi already having taken
a run and holding onto the highest score Hawk was still
waiting in the wings for his two runs. Not to mention
Mountain, McGill, Miller, Cab and any other eligible skater
who could bust out with a higher score given the chance on
a dry ramp. What do you do?
Meanwhile, the rain came down in torrents. Spectators
shrieked and fled for cover. Skaters sought protection under
the ramp. The wind overturned vendors' booths, and die-hard
skate groupies used skate banners as protection so as not to
give up their front row seats. Eventually everyone escaped to
the underground parking lot, confident that this would be the
first contest in NSA history to be postponed because of rain.
What do you do when you have a rain delay? When
baseball games are delayed, the tarp goes on the field and
the TV station shows Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoons
or footage from old World Series games.
Things are a bit different when a skateboard contest is rain.
delayed. Down in the garage, mayhem erupted around a few
pros who were hanging out. Skateboard toting kids begged
7
THRASHED
Working the lip in laid-back style Christian Hosol had his eye on
the large Zeitzer-sponsored purse.
70