NATAS KAUPAS
CRAIG JOHNSON
CHRIST HOSO |||||
KEN PARK
LK
JIMI SCOTT
After I found out I didn't make the second cut, I went out in the parking lot, drank brewskies,
had a pizza slice from the pizza-weenie wagon and listened to Pink Floyd playing in the stadium
across the street.
JEF GROSSO
sorry for him. A stewardess bandaged his
head and I turned to look out at the Great
Northwest. Turbulence always makes me
perspire. I scratched myself as my skin
began to crawl. The year was 1988, the
month was May, and it was the weekend of
Friday the 13th.
TORONTO AIRPORT CUSTOMS
Customs Agent #1: "Passport please. How
long will you be staying in Canada?"
Me: "Not long."
Agent #1: "How long
is 'not long'?"
Me: "Probably till
Sunday."
Agent #1: "Is this a
business trip, sir, or are
you here on holiday?"
Me: "Business. A
photo assignment on a
skateboard competi-
tion somewhere in
downtown Toronto."
Agent #1: "Are you
travelling alone?"
Me: "Uh-huh."
Agent #1: "You are
not travelling with the
gentleman who just
passed? He is also at-
tending a skateboard
contest."
Me: "Oh, yes."
Agent #1: "But you
just said that you are
travelling alone."
Me: "I am travelling
alone."
Agent #1: "Do you
know that man?"
much bloodletting. The town was siezed,
public buildings were burned and private.
residences were looted. Less than a week
later, the occupying force returned to the
American side of the the lake. Toronto was
reinvaded on the thirteenth of May, 1988.
If you're at a loss for things to do while
visiting Toronto, you could go see Nana
Mouskouri sing at the Roy Thomson Hall or
maybe Ben Vereen at the Imperial Room.
If bad music isn't the cream for your coffee,
then maybe bunches of roachy drama will
"The corner ramp was like the shallow end
of a pool."
"The launch was falling apart."
"How come Cooksie threw his board at
Gonz while Gonz was ollieing over the mid-
dle ramp?"
"Christ didn't fall. He just stayed on."
"I would've been embarassed to fall on
that course. It made a lot of guys look better
than they are. Who designed that course,
anyway?"
"All the bruddah's be catching the toe
carve action on the
corner ramp."
"Neil Blender skated
against reality."
"How did Jef Hartsell
get mixed up in the
board throwing inci-
dent?"
"Do you think there
were enough Airwalk
stickers on every-
thing?"
"What was that
flourescent deal hang-
ing from the ceiling?
Some kind of tiger dog
or somethin'?"
"After I found out I
didn't make the second
cut, I went out in the
parking lot, drank
brewskies, had a pizza
slice from the pizza-
weenie wagon and
Imagine the potential of being indoors with a few thousand listened to Pink Floyd
screaming pre-post-past-and-present adolescents, over six hun-
dred of whom have had their skateboards taken away from them.
Me: "I know him, but he's not my friend."
Agent #1: (Stamps passport and entry
document, then hands them back) "Here.
Follow the blue arrows and hand these to the
agent you encounter at the exit."
FREEDOM OR DAMNATION
Agent #2: "Is this your camera equip-
ment?"
Me: "Yup."
Agent #2: "This wouldn't be company
equipment, would it?"
Me: "Yup!"
Agent #2: "Well, is it yours, or is it the com-
pany's?"
Me: "The company's, but I always use it."
Agent #2: "Follow me, please!
Today's Lesson: It is usually not very dif-
ficult to enter Canada.
TORONTO, ONTARIO CANADA
Early day Toronto was called the town of
York. Fort York was the scene of a bloody bat-
tle in the War of 1812. On April 27, 1813, 1,750
American troops landed two miles west of
Fort York, on the banks of lake Ontario, and
engaged a 700-man defending force com-
prised of British regulars, Canadian militia
and Indians. The outnumbered defenders
submitted to the overwhelming attack after
ABOVE PHOTO AND LANGE PHOTO ON FACING PAGE BY MFO GORDERING
PHOTOS BY BRICE KNIGHTS
perk your pot. Hang out with the highbrows
and go see Joanne Woodward star in Ten-
nessee Williams' "Sweet Bird of Youth" at
the Royal Alexandria Theatre.
But if all of the above still lacks the glitter
your appetite desires, Pink Floyd is playing
the stadium out at Exhibition Place. Across
the street from the stadium, the National
Skateboard Association is conducting two
major events, a professional streetstyle com-
petition on Friday the Thirteenth, and a pro-
fessional half-pipe competition on Saturday.
FRIDAY THE 13th-NIGHT-THE STREET-
STYLE CONTEST WAS OVER
There had been a field of fifty-three pro
street competitors, who, after being cut to
forty, to sixteen, then down to eight, had a
jam with two runs apiece. Christian Hosoi
had claimed $2,500 for first place, Mike
Vallely $1,500 for second and Natas Kaupas
$800 for third.
It was 11 p.m., and in a smoke-filled room
deep in the recessive hallways of the
auditorium, an elite, albeit ragtag, pro skate
crew recapped that evening's engagement.
"There wasn't enough stuff to ride."
"The rail slide was too low."
"Who designed the course, anyway?"
"Natas ripped hardest. He and Vallely did
frontside grinds on the bank-to-wall ramp."
playing in the stadium
across the street."
"Gonz didn't make
any of those ollie-
to-50/50s over the middle ramp, did he?"
"The street guys really came on strong.
The spectators got a rare look at Natas
harder, more gnarly tricks."
"Some of those newer street guys are
coming up the ranks pretty damn quick."
"I thought the streetstyle was pretty tacky."
"Jimi Scott slid down a rail, out of the
bleachers, onto the course and blew some
minds."
"Mark Partain just tore that shit up!"
"Who designed this course, anyway?"
"They should change the name of this
contest from 'Streetstyle' to a 'Gladiatorial
Arena Obstacle Skating Event."
"I don't care what they call it, as long as
the next one is held outdoors. I'm tired of this
arena bullshit. Skating belongs outside."
THE SAME NIGHT, AT OTHER POINTS
Chris Borst lost his wallet before attempt-
ing to depart from LAX. You need ident-
ification to go from one country into another,
so he wasn't allowed to board the plane to
Toronto. Mr. Borst convinced an accom-
panying Mr. Mountain to stay behind and help
him think. Four minutes later Mr. Todd
Hastings arrived along with Mr. Schroeder.
They paid $100 for someone to bring Borst's
wallet with I.D.
During the five-hour wait for the next
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