This Page, Top to Bottom: Christ
drops in while the Peppers crank it
out. Jeff Jones navigates a switch-
stance thruster in a hectic fashion.
Red Hot bassist, Flea, warms up and
watches Tony Hawk skate on the first
day of competition.
and Mark Rogowski rounded out the top eight,
respectively. The rest of the 16-man field for Sunday's
program was a mixture of: power skaters-Jason
Jesse (9th) and Monty Nolder (10th)-rookie.
upstarts-Eric Nash (12th) and Nicky Guerrero
(15th)-veteran skategists-Eddie Elguera (13th) and
Neil Blender (11th)-and the pure but injured style
of Chris Miller (14th) and Steve Caballero (16th).
Chili Cook Off
By the time the Chili Peppers began to strut their
stuff for the still lingering crowd, Don Hoffman and
crew's problems had only just begun. The MC team
of Skatemaster Tate and the Poorman were taking
heat for a lackluster job of calling the play by play.
Due to a last minute flop of the masonite, the skating
surface itself had come under fire from competitors
anxious for more speed and higher air capability. The
local fire marshall had come in and almost shut down
the entire proceedings because of a few minor code
violations.
The Finals
Sunday broke with clean and crisp weather, making
it a damn shame to have to go inside to watch a skate
event. With all the confusion surrounding a contest
of this caliber it's only right that we cut into the
dialogue of our roving, on-site reporters Dr. Blackhart
and Kevin Thatcher:
"Well, Kev, we seem to have snuck into a restricted
area here. That seems to be the key today, to see
which areas you can get into without authorization."
"From where we are behind the rollout deck we're
pretty much just seeing butt shots of the skating, and
it's not the kind of butt that we like to look at."
"Well, most of the fine maneuvers are being done
by the scantily clad women backstage."
"You mean on the mini warm-up ramp Paul Schmitt
donated to keep the skaters tuned between heats."
"Well, yeah, that too, Kev!"
"Well, Rick, earlier we saw the 16-skater cut whit-
tled down to eight for the final head to head battle.
There were really no surprises. Mike McGill is situated
in eighth place right now and he'll be battling with
Chris Miller, Mark Rogowski, Steve Cabellero, Micke
Alba, Tony Magnusson, Christian and Tony Hawk.
Hawk is practicing on the ramp right now to roars
of approval from a nearly packed house here at the
Bren Center. The 8-cut head to head will take its toll
on these guys. How do they put up with it, Rick?"
"Well, I'll tell ya, they have to pace themselves.
Skating is a contest of attrition, and if you can't hang
tough for the whole duration, then you're not gonna
make it."
"Okay, ah, Tony Hawk, you look tired after that run."
"Yeah, it's really hot under these lights."
"It seems a little bit stuffy up here on top of the
ramp."
"Yeah, when I was practicing the other day, I was
getting sick. I almost threw up a couple of times."
"Thanks, Tony, ah.."
"Hey! This is a restricted area. you can't stand
here. Those are my orders!"
"Well, Kev, once again we're getting kicked out of
an area."
"Okay, we're back. Rick. If this goonhead wasn't.
in our way, we could see a lot more. Rick, how about
this coliseum staff here?"
"The Bosworth crop with the no-neck look seems
to be the overall trend here on the Irvine campus."
"And here's Steve Schneer. What do you think,
Steve?"
"I think Chris Miller fell in the first round on pur-
pose to come back in the ioser's bracket and win
against another skater. Tony is ripping. I saw him in
practice and he's just toying with everybody."
"Okay, let's go to the next round." ►
STREE
Oposite Page, For Left: Mike Smith
slices through the air with the fierce
concentration of a fighter pilot.
Left: Tony Magnusson sequentially
airwalks, while an Image of the Red
Hot Chili Peppers is flashed upon the
wide screen.
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THE