sets him apart as he commits mean pogo
varial reverse handstand board flips. Now
let's move to the ramps and other devices
designed for today's streetstyle competition.
Here we have a lovely bank ramp sitting
about six feet high and lowered slightly at its
middle section. Next we have the ramp/hand-
rail/platform conglomeration with its harshly
angled sides and a launch ramp entrance.
to the rail. Note the controversial teeter-totter
slider thing. It humps, it bumps, it rises and
falls! How about those two quarter-pipes run-
ning up the tall vertical wall, separated but
connected by four feet of straight vert?
Wait! Who is that rowdy rider ripping now?
Yes, it's Ricky Barnes. There goes a nose-
pick to fakie. Now Ricky pulls a rock and roll
slide right across the side of the judgement
platform! Maybe that explains his low scores.
Paul Schneider is carrying Ricky's torch
with a frontside rock and roll slide upon the
judges' turf. Now check out his smooth and
clean Jetton (360°) slide upon the bank.
Here we have Ray Barbee. See him main
tain control and miss several potential shin
bites as he pops and shoves it around. Ouch!
He just purchased that one.
Foot stomping support is pounding from
the bleachers for Tom Knox. He rolls some
high speed jaunts like this slappie to lipslide.
He may just be the man to beat.
Tuan Nguyen takes the floor, shredding a
hot mix of kickflip variations. He is one of few
to fakie out of a handrail rock and roll slide.
Chicago local Jesse Neuhaus presents a
smooth surf-skate style and flings 50/50s on
the rail. There's a 360° lien and a tweaked
frontside air between the wall ramps.
Someone's pulling a slide and roll at speed
atop the high vert wall. It's Baird Bergenthal.
He dorks a little, but makes the ollie kickflip
on the bank.
Listen for a moment. Some members of
the crowd are yelling at one of the judges.
They're chanting the number "88! 88! 88!"
They are contesting a particular judge's deci-
sion to give three or four consecutive riders
the exact same scores. It looks like they might
WHO? Mark Heinzman, Fairborn, Ohio.
WHAT? I'd like to see different things at
streetstyle contests other than
quarter pipes. Maybe school-
yard, bank or curb contests.
WHEN? I started skating in August, 1981.
Mike Hill was a big influence, he
lived up the street. The Jay
Adams issue of THRASHER
was also influential.
WHERE? I want to finish high-school first,
then go pro. Skating will pro-
bably die down soon and it will
be make or break for the lame
companies.
WHY? I skate because I like to. It's fun.
Some people skate because it's
there, they're just going through
the motions.
get ugly. Uh oh, they already are!
There is hope for today's youth. Check out
little Bill Walderman and his slew of moves
that will surely improve with age. He beats
Danny Sargent in a tie-breaker, while Jesse
Neuhaus beats Baird Bergenthal in another.
Listen up, they're going to announce the
streetstyle victor... It's Mark Heinzman, king
of consistency and tricks such as high bank
bonelesses and backwards ollies to 50/50
along the rail.
Well, it's time to go burn down your motel
room or skate the local locales. Be careful
and don't get caught raging too hard. See
you tomorrow for the vertical finals.
Good morning! What a pleasant Phoenix
Sunday it is-not too cool, not too hot. Too
bad this contest is indoors. The seating has
been modified for maximum ramp viewing.
It is a standard masonite halfpipe with steel
coping connected right across the channel,
thereby creating a "bridge of death."
Sorry about the delay before practice and
preliminaries, folks. That pesky bit of graffiti
just isn't up to N.S.A. standards. Please wait
while it's cut out of the ramp and replaced.
Whew! What a sub-jam. The top five from
this battle now move on and face the five
champs of the opening round. It is worth
noting that five of the top ten finishers are
from the eastern coastline.
Each rider will get five runs lasting as long
as he does. Smiling all the way from Florida
is Mike Speranzo, with smooth, consistent,
lengthy runs. He throws some mean finger-
flip lien-to-tails, Caballerials, fakie ollies-to-
tail, frontside airwalks and frontside grinds
across the dreaded bridge.
Super fast runs are being had by Thomas
Taylor: frontside 50/50 to air in, crails over
the channel, alley-oops, fastplants and front-
side channel inverts.
Bio man John "Fab" Fabriquer blasts an
alley-oop over the channel, 50/50-to-fakie,
stylin' lien air, gay twist, smooth frontside
grind-to-revert and backside airs. Crash! A
heavy slam, but he's back up and walking.
Blaize Blouin is the picture of style and
HOW? Don't mess around in contests.
Do tricks you feel comfortable
,with and can make.
FAVES? Schoolyards with normal every-
day situations. Mike Hill, Rob
Dyrdek, Eric Dressen, Mark
Gonzales. The Columbus, Ohio
NSA Central Regionals. Led
Zep, Cream, Deep Purple, the
Buzzcocks and everything else.
QUOTE? "I don't like loud
clothes. I really
don't like people
who dress in skate
clothes when they
don't even own a
skate. As a matter
of fact, some of
my friends don't
know I skate."
confidence. He is a heavy favorite for the win.
No wonder, dig his Kiwi rock and roll slides,
clean Andrechts, tuck-knee inverts and big
boosted slob plants. That has gotta be the
highest lien air of the contest and that was
definitely the longest grind across the chan-
nel. Yes sir, he is on it.
Let's watch Tom Boyle, aka "the Rock,"
putting in lengthy runs filled with difficult
tricks: solid McTwists, a Phillips 66, frontside
disasters and double-boned frontside airs.
Gene Hare's preoccupation with backside
air variations may hinder his scores, but that
was an impressive sweeper with his foot
planted on the channel bar.
Am circuit veteran Jeff Hedges is opening
up his bag of tricks to display handplants of
numerous varieties: gymnast plants, varial.
inverts with hand on death's bridge, fingerflip
inverts, double varial inverts, frontside
inverts, Elguerials, as well as a frontside roll-
ins and stylish airs.
You can't miss Tony Chiala'a smooth and
bio style, nor his big airs and assault of the
deadly bridge with frontside 50/50 grindage.
Yes, indeed, Mark Roach is one of the
most inventive skaters in this contest, with
nollies and nollie-to-fakies, frontside disaster-
to-axle-grind, nose stalls and fakie board-
slides-to-Smith grinds, all the while working
off an injured ankle. He can barely walk, but
he sure can skate.
"Backwards Bernie," Bernie O'Dowd, is
indeed doing some sickly maneuvering.
What do you say about that backwards drop-
in from an axle stall, or the ice-plant-to fakie,
frigid air-to-fakie, backside Smith stop and
tweaked, tucked, slob air? Well, we'll see
what the judges have to say. Remember, go
easy on them when they announce the
results. After all, they're only human.
The tabulations are in, and, yes, without
a doubt, the winner and new amateur cham-
pion is Blaize Blouin, taking top honors here
at the home of the Phoenix Blaze indoor soc-
cer team. We hope you have enjoyed this
wild weekend. Remember, these guys are
amateurs, they skate for love, not money.
Mark Heinzman, king of NSA streetstyle.
G&S
WHO? Joe Humores, twenty-
three years old, born in Santiago,
Chile but my home is Manhattan
WHAT? Skating should stay an
individual expression, especially
freestyle. Kids into it for the right
reasons will keep skating.
WHEN? I started skating in the
middle of 1976, rolling down the
hill on my butt.
WHERE? I just finished school.
I'm going to the ESA champion-
ships in Florida, then I'll turn pro
WHY? Skating is in my blood.
I don't even know how to stop. It's
a great release from all the
pressures of work and school
HOW? Contests are judged
about as well as they can be. I
don't envy the judges.
FAVES? Anything skateable.
Henry Candioti, Rob Rodriguez.
Big contests. New Order, the
Cure, the Cro-Mags.
Joe Humeres, top NSA freestyle ace.
Op your own thing and shut (up)
Rector
RESULTS
1. Blaize Blouin
2. Jeff Hedges
3. Mike Speranzo
4. Tom Boyle
5. John Fabriquer
6. Bernie O'Dowd
7. Tony Chiala
VERT
9. Gene Hare
10. Thomas Taylor
11. Brian Mank
12. Josh Marlow
13. Bill Ferguson
14. Ross Goodman
15. Mike Youssefpour
8. Mark Roach
STREET
1. Mark Heinzman
2. Tom Knox
3. Jesse Neuhaus
4. Baird Bergenthal
5. Tuân Nguyên
6. Ray Barbee
9. Danny Sargent.
10. Felix Arguellos
11. Ricky Barnes
12. Thomas Taylor
13. John Fabriquer
14. Mike Chu
7. Paul Schneider 15. Barker Barrett
8. Bill Waldman
FREESTYLE
1. Joe Humeres
2. Sean Coons:
3. Cameron Martin
4. Jeremy Ramey
9. Mike Kinney
10. Matt Wood
11. Ken McGaugh
12. Henry Candioti
5. Tim Waldusky 13. Anthony Sedillo
6. Andres Camacho 14. Joe Ayers
7. Robert Rodriguez 15. Chris Clark
8. Daryl Grogan