HARA ARENA
Previous Page: Guaranteed to give you recurring
nightmares-1988 NSA vertical champion Tony Hawk
pulls a fake 180o-fakie (spread) and a no-handed
fakie blunt (sequence). You figure it out, buddy.
Above: All the news that's fit to shred-Dayton televi
sion coverage of the vertical event at Hara Arena.
Right: Runner-up Tony Magnusson hangs a high indy
tuck-knee air.
yell for your favorite ramp rippers. That's what
over 3,500 skate fans did one Saturday night
in February at the Hara arena.
After an admittedly long five-month layoff,
the National Skateboard Association's vert-
ical circus landed with a gasp in rubber town,
Dayton, Ohio. Having been denied a venue
in Baltimore, Maryland, the final vertical
event of the 1988 season ended up at Hara
more out of desperation than desire. Cow
Skate impresario Jyme George knew he
could count on a strong local skater base and
a history of annual skate-downs to pack the
house and pay the bills.
Although skater turnout was strong, in-
cluding three busloads of skate rats from
Tennessee with a sign on the lead coach
reading "Knoxville for Underhill," by all ac-
counts, the take at the gate was short of
breaking even. The pro skater roster was a
bit thin, as well. Two top ten favorites, Lance
Mountain and Steve Caballero, were nurs-
ing injuries, and several ever-present
challengers-Jason Jessee, John Gibson
and Jeff Phillips-were also in various stages
of disrepair.
While the mercury dipped into the twenties
and black ice formed on Ohio's byways,
temperatures flared inside the arena during
the three days of practice.
On Thursday night, the big money players
in the Hara Pub adjacent to the arena were
talking Hawk, Hosoi, Magnusson and Miller.
McGill was there and Gator was picked to
show. Down on the plywood, those in the
know were gassing about the obvious talents
of several skaters not ranked in the top
twenty. Joe Johnson, Reese Simpson. Bod
Boyle, Alan Midgette, Ben Schroeder, John
Schultes and Adrian Demain all skated tough
enough to advance from Thursday's
preliminary qualifying melee. It was come-
back kid Allen Losi, however, who showed
everyone up with the high scoring run of the
night. Al wasn't impressed, however, exclaim-
H-STREET
NSA
ing, "So what? Now I'm ranked twenty-first
in the contest."
The Dayton locals and the good ol' boys
in the pub knew the big names. However, at
this contest the final jam looked to contain
some fresh faces and new moves. Reverts
from every grind and slide were the rule. The
boys were skating the big half-pipe like it was
a mini-ramp.
The chop down from forty to twenty before
a half-filled house on Friday night proved to
be business as usual for the heavyweight
favorites. Hawk, Magnusson and McGill's
high-powered routines placed them in the top
three respectively. Ken Park worked one-,
two-and no-footed airs to his advantage and
skated into fourth. Losi stayed on the come-
back trail with Smith grinds and locked stalls
all over the uneven metal coping. Although
the ramp wasn't Christian's cup of tea, the
rocket man flew to sixth. Craig Johnson hung
on for a hard-earned seventh. Reese Simp-
010
son worked the rail and the revert for eighth..
Mark Anthony and Joe Johnson rounded out
the top ten. The remaining ten skaters still
in the hunt could be counted on to apply the
pressure Saturday night. Micke Alba (11) and
Monty Nolder (12) would skate to the death.
Ben Schroeder (13) had even the usherettes
flushed, with ramp sweeping power moves
that started backwards and ended up
reverted Tom Groholski (14), Adrian Demain
(15) and Nicky Guerrero (16) were on their
best behavior, while Schultes (17), Midge (18)
and Buck Smith (19) were showing signs of
maturity amongst the talent-flooded pro
ranks. Hugh Boyle squeezed into the semi's
in 20th, but his skating during practice had
the intelligentsia betting big that Bod would
hang on for a top ten finish. Most surprisingly,
newlywed Chris Miller bailed in both runs and
missed the cut entirely.
By the time the doors were thrown open
and greater Dayton's skate populace was let
in from the cold for Saturday afternoon's
main event, most of the finalists had warmed
up to the ramp. Complaints of a "plain".
design with no variety and "bunk" coping.
were being shoved aside as Jyme George.
laid out the trophies and Sonja Catalano
readied the checks.
As will happen with cash on the line, the
cream rose to the top. The gnarled got
gnarlier and the well-seasoned got spicy.
Twenty skaters assaulted the ramp in a two-
heat battle royale. The field would be cut to
eight for head-to-head with cash prizes for
the top fifteen.
Despite causing several heart attacks in
the crowd. Ben Schroeder's alley-oop slide-
to-backward 50/50 to Smith grind wasn't
enough after he bailed a backside air in each
of his runs. Reese Simpson stalled in a front-
side axle-sit then ollied 270° to revert. Even
in combination with eggplant-to-fakies, he fell
short of advancing. Skaters who either
couldn't hang on or didn't have enough tricks
in their bag were left behind.
Going into the eight, Hawk, Magnusson
and McGill were still neck, neck and neck
at 1, 2, 3. Christian was running fourth and
Losi was skating hellbent in fifth. Bod
regained his composure, board-slamming
the lip and locking into sixth. Gator and Craig
Johnson rode to seventh and eighth on the
leader board.
Head-to-head was the call by Frank Hawk
during his last riders' meeting as president
of the NSA, and head-to-head it would be.
In the first round. Losi couldn't keep up
with Christian's floating McTwist. Likewise for
Left: Mike McGill hurtles back down from a trip to the
stratosphere. Allen Losi on the cutting edge of slack-
jaw fashion.
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