THE SKATERS CHOICE!
200
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JEFF GROSSO
(From pege 74) feel bad that someone I
loved is never coming back. Some
times the events and the repercus
sions are so intense I won't ride a
skateboard for weeks, even though
it has nothing to do with skating, but
it affects me. That affects my skating.
Most of it's self-inflicted. That's
what's really a drag about it. I know
what I'm doing to myself, but it turns
into a mess. I get confused.
What is 'making it, Jeff?
Making whoever is involved with
you
happy is fine. I can be flat broke,
but if I have a girl who's all the world
to me and I'm all the world to her and
world and I think they're the world.
I
then I'm all right. I don't need any-
thing else. I don't care. I can live in
a grass shack. But that's not so easy.
Do you go to clubs?
No. I don't dress cool enough.
How do you feel about music?
Music is just music. You can listen
to George Michael's "Faith" and get
something out of it. I like Elton John
Music is art. Art is making people
feel. It's influencing people's
thoughts and feelings, making them
react a certain way. Just the state
ment "I'm an artist" makes people
react. It has nothing to do with
tragedy and drama and tragicness
and drugs. That categorization is
what screws everything up. It just so
happens that those people indulge
themselves in those things because
they're disillusioned. Haven't you
ever felt like, 'It's all coming down on
me. You have no right. You have no
right to feel like you've been burned
or cheesed on or taken advantage of
because you're eating cheese-
burgers at Astro Burger on Melrose
and shopping for creepers and Sham
69 stickers. I'm sorry to use the old
cliche, but there are people starving
in Ethiopa. Self-pity is stupid.
Do you have anything to live for?
The hope that maybe I'll meet
somebody who really enjoys my com
pany and that I can give them some
thing in return.
Is your heart empty?
No, my heart's full.
Are you lost?
To an extent. You can be lost, but
still have a purpose. I don't know
where I'm going, but I have faith that
I'm going somewhere. I'm going to
do something for somebody. Some-
body is going to appreciate me some
where along the line, I hope.
Tell me about skateboarding-it's
direction, things you've seen, the
changes and phases in the scene
both socially and economically.
Everybody's trying to make a buck.
They could do so much, but every
body is so critical of each other and
so worried about the next guy that
they can't come through with their
own thing. Therefore, we end up with
stupid videos like Animal Chin.
Animal Chin was originally an ad
moant to burn Kevin Staab and mo
Skateboarding is
me...and I can't even
make a lipslide. Ha!
But you do because you've lived it.
I have lived it. I burn it. I sweat it,
I lick it, I snort it, I'll shoot it. Skate
boarding is me and I can't even
make a lipslide. Ha! I'd like to have
an ad in a skateboard magazine
doing a frontside slide and roll down
a handrail and have never actually
done it. I want to glue the board to
the railing, crawl up onto it and look
reaily gnarly. That's all skateboarding
is. It has lost its feeling
Is there anybody in your life right
now you feel close to or are you
missing something?
I'm missing good women. I want
a woman so bad. I have no girl-
friends. All these beautiful girls that
I'd like to have an ad school had the potential to bo
in a skateboard
magazine doing a
frontside slide and roll
down a handrail and
have never actually
done it. I want to
glue the board to the
railing, crawl up onto
it and look really
gnarly. That's all
skateboarding is. It
has lost it's feeling.
when we quit Powell. It was about
how any amateur could have a
model. It was meant to be a cut-down
toward the new wave of pros. Kevin
and I were let go from Powell be
cause we expected too much, sup-
posedly. I think that judgment was
highly out of their league because
Stacy Peralta can't do jack compared
to what I accomplished. I don't care
who made up what trick. Someone
would have made it up anyway
Some guy in Brazil would have done
it. They made up mute airs in Flonda
at the same time they made up mute
airs here. Who cares what Shogo
Kubo did? Do people nowadays
know about Shoga Kubo and the
Dogtown Airbeam?
Are you saying that there's a gap
in skateboarding because nobody
knows history?
I don't know history
that be
so great, just brought themselves
down. They're still bringing them
selves down. 'On I got this guy and
he's got a limo service. I'm going to
have his kid in a couple years and
we're going to get married in a year
and a half and I do 35 Quaaludes a
day to mellow myself out Given the
right guy they could shine. Given the
right situation these guys could shine
too. But I can't do anything for these
people. I can just see it. I can see
what I can do for myself, but I can't
get myself there. I know what it takes
to do something really 'neat. 'Hey
pilgrims, let's do something fun!
Give me a break Duane didn't do.
layback rollouts for fun, Duane did
them because he was in pain. That's
the bottom line. One night Duane
Peters told me, 'My life is filled with
pain. I wish I could get out of it. I was
blown away.
What about Keenan and Castro's
efforts to keep you off the edge?
When I was quitting high school,
they were the only ones telling me
not to. They did it because they were i
my friends. They were letting me live
with them at their parents house.
Eric Castro had recently graduated
from high school and he was trying
to work and skate. He'd work till three
and I'd wake him up at six, ask for
a ride to school and he'd do it. He
was paying for my food-he was
keeping me alive, playing parent. He
was only nineteen years old and I
was seventeen. They told me, listen,
if you screw up now you're not going
to be able to come back later. Look
ing back, I realize they were right.
How has everything affected you?
It all comes back to Tiffany Lopez
Tiffany Lopez ruined my life. Tiffany
Lopez is what makes me want to fly
out nine feet high and slap my tail
really loud. I learned loud lien-to-tails
one day at Nash's house because
Tiffany left and I was pissed off.
MELBOURNE
(From page 56) Pennington was im
pressing until he threw away his final
run, costing him a spot in the finals.
The final jam came down in the
following order from tenth to first:
Sergie Ventura, Reese Simpson,
Adam Luxford, Ken Park, Gary Valen-
tine, Jeff Phillips, Bod Boyle, Chris
Miller, Jeff Kendall and Tony Magnus-
son. During practice Magnusson
wasted his knee, dashing his hopes
for the win but bravely skated on
rather than pull out. Injuries took a
toll on this one. If you're wondering
what happened to Hosoi: tweaked
toe in practice, out of the contest. Ben
Schroeder: possible rib fracture.
Allen Midgette: never even made it
to Melbourne. Even so, the jam did
go on Valentine continued to apply
pressure from the Aussie side easily
pulling his McTwists although he did.
slap hard on a half Cab-to-nosepick
attempt. Phillips, Bod Boyle and
Chris Miller began to dominate the
proceedings with speed lines and
giant air maneuvers, making the
ramp look tame. Miller's 360° ollies
and backwards 50/50-to-boardslides
raked everyone over the coals. But
it was Jeff Kendall who was silently
ripping along in his smooth way with
half Cabs and stylish but difficult
pivots-to-fakie, vollies of air and lip-
tricks galore. Reese seemed to be
pulling out everything with fast-to-
fakies, eggverts, stalefish and more.
but slapped hard early in the jam.
When the final placings wore an-
nounced some were surprised, but
probably no one more than Christ
Miller, the winner. In typical Miller
fashion he pointed to Kendall and
Bod and Phillips to take some the at-
tention away from the fact. None of
the crowd was uptight about the final
outcome. They had seen a show of
talent that doesn't get all the way
down under but once a year. The rest
of the standings read as follows:
VERTICAL RESULTS
1. Chris Miller
2. Jeff Kendall
3. Bod Boyle
4. Jeff Phillips
5. Gary Valentine (Highest Placing
Aussie award)
6 Tony Magnusson
7. Ken Park
8 Sergie Ventura
9. Reese Simpson
10. Adam Luxford
11. Jason Jesse
12. Bryan Pennington
13. Brent Fellows
14. Jason Ellis
15. Allen Losi
HIGHEST AIR CONTEST
1. Sergie Ventura
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