7-RolleR
TRUCK
FISTFUL OF YEN
(From page 110) Tom Knox wailed away
at some tough stuff, but just couldn't
get a handle on things in his later
runs. Natas keeps getting better and
better. When it is thought there are
no more tricks to learn, he makes a
new trick out of an old trick so it's not
even recognizable. It was as if the
board was radio-controlled as he
ollied long distance. Eric Dressen did
everything at high speed, slashing
away crails on the lip of the big wall,
blasting long and high airs off the
bank-to-platform. After the runs were
completed, it was break time. The
results would be announced after the
end of the vertical portion of the day.
First Blood, a local rock band, per-
formed on the stage as the halfpipe
warm-ups took place. The holes in
the ramp had been repaired and the
wranglers began to mete out their of
ferings for contestual satisfaction.
HALFPIPE: By the time the actual
contest began, the ramp was again
suffering from the punishment being
dealt out by the gnarly pro skaters.
Some of the plys had begun to lift,
since the sheets had been stuck on
with glue instead of the preferred
screws or nails. By the time the event
reached the first cut, the structure
was in no shape for any sort of com-
petition. A quick huddle amongst the
riders and the JSA officials decided
the final placings would be deter-
mined by qualifying status. For the
benefit of those who had waited a
long time to see ball-busting profes-
sional vertical terrorism, the riders
agreed to do some spontaneous wild
stuff on the ramp-the way it should
have been in the first place. This
alleviated the grind of competitive
pressure and led to a blazing ses-
sion. It became a showcase of style
with everybody getting their own
share of the spotlight. The visiting
cowboys and the Japanese rode
together-many for the first time ever.
The energy pumped up as everyone
got into it. Chris Miller, who had raged
all day, flew into carefree flights of
abandon. Toward the end of the allot-
ted time for the exposé, most of
Chris' tail broke off, but he continued
riding. Jeff Grosso even amazed
himself. The burly Texan style shined
bright courtesy of Johnson, and
Murph showed how high speed and
the lip could be combined.
THE AWARD CEREMONY: The
award ceremony was a ritual, and the
visitors tried to loosen things up by
having a little fun with the winners
as they went to receive their awards.
They crowded the steps leading up
to the stage where the winners were
to receive their prizes. The biggest
114
and loudest competitors became a
BOSTON
(From page as) fall until winter came,
then hibernation would take control.
force to be dealt with. Rodney was
rowed onto the stage, then plopped
grabbed by the ankles and wheelbar
at the feet of the dignitary who was
about to put a medal around his
neck. The lights and cameras of na-ing with the Red Sox and you were
tional television looked on as the
behavior continued. Amazed or con-
fused, the hosts smiled and bowed.
figuring this was just some sort of
American hazing custom.
WIND OUT: Besides the fact that
there was a mix up in the street
results (a secretarial mistake put Eric
Dressen in first for a brief while) and
that the Japanese have a little to
learn about the virtues of ramp con-
struction, the JSA's treatment of the
week-long affair was nothing short of
a complete success. The sponsors
paid for everyone's flights, paid for
the best hotel and gave 1,000,000 yen
(U.S. $6,895) for first place in street
and vert, all the way down to 100,000
yen for tenth place. The venue was
the Tokyo Harumi World Trade
Center. The event was organized by
the JSA, supported by the Nikkan
Sports Press and sponsored by Lotte,
Converse Inc. and the AIU Insurance
Company, in cooperation with the
Tokyo International Trade Associa
tion. It was produced by Plus One
Products Co., Ltd., Sozo Kikakusha
Co., Ltd and operated by Aki Akiyama
Enterprises. The hospitality went far
beyond that of any other skating
event ever held in the world, and the
JSA promised to repeat the competi-
tion, complete with adjustments in
problem areas. The group boarded
the plane back to the U.S., feeling
good about the whole affair. In fact,
they were so excited they almost
repeated the performance of the
flight over.
OFFICIAL JSA RESULTS
FREESTYLE
1. Rodney Mullen
2. Kevin Harris
3. Pierre Andre
4. Per Welinder
5. Don Brown
6. Daryl Grogan
STREETSTYLE
1. Christian Hosoi
2. Butch Sterbins
3. Tom Knox
4. Scott Oster
5. Natas Kaupas
6. Mark Partain
VERTICAL
1. Christian Hosoi
2. Chris Miller
3. Mark Anthony
4. Micke Alba
5. Reese Simpson
6. Jim Murphy
7. Eddie Reategui
Of course, before you knew it, winter
was over and it was like spring train-
trying to make the team. Sessions at
Sean's ramp were like meetings. We
would hear of a far away ramp and
road trip out to skate, or they would
hear about our scene and come to
Sean's. Everyone we met seemed
surprised that there was someone
else who read Thrasher and stuck
with skating. As this network of
ramps and people grew, we knew it
would never be the Stone Age again.
Fred Smith, Jeff Thompson, Dave
LeMieux and Tom Putnam are all
names that have to be mentioned in
a Boston article, because even
though they never lived in town, they
were part of our scene. The first con-
test was at Freddy Smith's ramp in
November '83, and it brought so
many skaters out of their tombs that
no matter who won, we just got down.
Sean McLean actually won the con-
test, his Mr. Smooth style edged out
Fred's crowd-pleasing home-style
ramp attack.
Street skating in Boston is quite
frustrating if you are used to shop-
ping malls and drive-ins-try cob-
blestones and potholes. Boston has
more than its fair share of hot street
spots however. There is "Turtles" out
in Allston and Boston City Hospital,
two banked walls for the urban ter-
rorist. Cab drivers are the rulers and
peds are non-existent, so pay heed
to the stop signs and lights or it'll be
"Adios Muchacho." The roads are
bad, the drivers are worse and the
people look at you as if you are from
another planet when they see you
skating in the snow. Knowledge is the
key-if you know the right people, it's
easier to enjoy the town.
Spring 1984. The Cambridge pool
was empty and ready for the boys of
spring. The drains were clean and
the pool was dry. Few of us had jobs
and living was easy. Forester's
Liquors sold 16 oz. Knickerbockers.
for 550 (including 5e deposit). The
new kids on the block came on
strong with the exploding rebirth of
skating. It was good to see the pool
crowded again. Stoney, Nate, Rog-
Air and Piston were all ripping and
the sessions of that year will be
forever etched in the history books.
The ramp scene had died pretty hard
with no ramps around, so it was
rough streets or the pool, that simple.
In 1985, skaters in Rhode Island
called the ramp riders and the
weekend warriors were on the road
again. This meant a three-hour round
trip that could end in disaster every
weekend, but that didn't stop the
boys from skating through the winter.
1986-1988: Fred Smith was the
best from the Northeast and pretty
much summed up the attitude of the
area, "Fuck contests, let's skate."
When you ride with these guys they
want to see commitment, not tricks,
and they will hold dear "the one who
is fearless" not "who is the highest."
Frank Lannon, a kid who grew up in
the shadow of North Cambridge, now
knows the Cambridge pool like no
other in history, and when he rides
it, you watch a master at work.
Kevin Day, aka "The Victor," is a
fearless air master who has lived
through every generation of Boston
skating, from breaking his leg in the
pool in '77 and having to wait 8 hours
because nobody came by and he
couldn't crawl out, to winning the air
contest in the Egg Bowl at Cherry Hill
in 1978, to one-footed mutes in '89.
A one-man force at war with himself,
and he doesn't do fakies.
Punky Richards, who many would
call reckless, or dangerous, learned
at the instruction of Gluehead and
has never been the same. Punky has
his own spot in history. How many
people have a wall of a pool named
after them? Punky Revenge-rideit
and go to the hospital.
Seabass is the new kid in town.
Watch him rip the pool, ollie on the
Maximus ramp and see the light. He
rides smoothly and surely, something
he definitely didn't learn from these
other guys.
Rom, who rides a 44" longboard
is not afraid to ollie out of the ramp
and blast big airs in true Yankee
maniac fashion.
The most impressive thing about
Boston as a skatetown is it's clean,
non-jaded perspective of skating. Not
many people are sponsored, so that
friction is gone and the people truly
skate for skating's sake. That's
welcome news in this world of hype.
December '89: The pool is empty
and the air is cold. When you skate
in the winter, the wind and 20°
temperatures make you question
your very existence until the next run.
After the sun goes down, head
across the street to the Maximus
ramp where Ken is usually futzing
around on a go-cart while a heated
session rages on the big ramp. No
pros will be there, just some people
who will talk to you and tell you what's
up. These guys will skate forever.
Yeah, Boston, it's a hell of a
skatetown. A special thanks to all the
boys: Kev, Frank, Barry, Nate, Stoney,
Andy, Rog, Piston, Punky, Gluehead,
Freddy and J.T. You guys are the best
skate buddies anywhere. January 1,
2000-the Cambridge pool. It's a
date. Be there.
ZSKATES
BUTCH STERBINS
2nd PLACE
JAPAN
Z Products
PO Box 5397, Santa Monica, CA 90405
(213) 476-4857