50
NSA
SA
Left: When "How high can you offie?
becomes a thousand-dollar question,
Matt Hensley has all the answers
Above: Christian dominates the
highest wallride event with a scream-
ing 16'6 thruster. $60.60 a foot!
saying? To gain some added perspective on
the situation, let's look at a few names who
weren't invited to Honolulu by virtue of their
qualifying performance at Del Mar the month
before. No Tommy Guerrero, no Mike Vallely,
no Mark Partain, no, nay, ninny, nada, nix,
nyet, nien. Should not the winner of the first
street contest ever held and the subsequent
major champion of several big ones
(Guerrero), and an innovative, influential,
avant-garde skatist like Vallely be allowed an
exemption (like for the next ten years)? Don't
they deserve an invitation to skate amongst
their peers and their fans without having to
prove their mettle?
Welcome back. It looks like they're
doing the highest ollie event first, then the
street finals, then after that, a real treat:
the highest vertical wallride event. The
street course is looking good, it's all duct
taped up and ready to go. For an in-depth,
up-close, personal view of the goings on,
let's go down to the floor and talk to some
of the competitors waiting in the wings.
I've got Steve Saiz over here. Steve, who
is busting the high ollies tonight and how.
do they measure?
See, they got a broom stick between two
stakes, right? And they move it up each time
they make it, right? And, like, my man Matt
Hensley did a 2'9" ollie over that thing, right?
And that's fat. Know what I'm sayin'?
Right, Steve. Tom Knox, what are you
thinking right now?
Some of the wood was sort of thrashed
earlier but I'm just going to have fun, stay
on and try and do some hard moves.
Good luck, Tom. Jeff Kendall, Steve
Caballero and the San Jose warehouse are
well represented here today. Jeff, you
made the cut in another street event and
yet you're such a vert addict.
I don't think I should have made it. There's
too much waiting involved with the two-day
format. I'd rather come here and get it over
with. I can't take it seriously.
Steve?
I think they should have had a vert con-
test here because the Hawaiians have never
seen a pro vert event.
Well, okay. Eric Dressen is tuned and
ready. Eric, what's your strategy?
I'm going to go off as hard as I can and
show Hawaii what's up. Basically I'm just go-
ing to skate like I skate every day.
Rip it up D. Steve Rocco, the Rock man,
what's happening?
Look at this picture of this girl, she is so hot.
Hey, is that Hawaiian porn star
Kamanawanalaya?
Do you think she'll go out with me?
Keep tryin', Steve. What about the side
events here?
The high ollie is probably the most stupid
thing I've seen in my whole life. Jason (Lee)
will probably win it, but he's just doing it to
get a stereo for his new car. Don't you think
they could have made the stakes higher than
four feet. I mean, somebody might clear that.
I think they spent about five bucks on that
set up.
Okay, settle down Steve. Jason Lee,
what's the controversy over here?
I'm totally sore from practicing all day and
the highest ollie thing is now and I want to
save all my energy for the major competition..
Rocco: You just bought a car and there's
no stereo in it. If you don't win this competi-
tion you'll be coming to me for money.
Jason: I was 2'8" and Matt was 2'9", I just
don't think I can hang.
bowl, the crew at Puni Nani will make weekly
checks to assure your pool stays clean and
dry. Call today at 1-800-DRY BOWL.
Okay, we're back. John, Randy, do we
have any incidents to report?
Well, yeah, T-ed, as a matter of fact we do.
Let's recap some of the incidents that have
gone down during the course of the week
here in Hawaii. First off, let's just say there
are lots of girls walking around with sin in
their eyes. Team managers have been
screaming at their teams because of this
distractive influence. Ramps have been.
rebuilt because they were either un-
negotiable or the wood just sucked and fell
apart. At one point they had to tear the tran-
sition of the big ramp all the way out and
replace it. Randy Jansen, my cohort, was
spotted laying cable in the shorebreak at
Waikiki and then swimming bare ass above
water for all the touring beachgoers to see.
Mark Heinzman was punched once in the
head by a local as he and Hensley walked
to their hotel. They were then allowed to stroll
on. The Pink Cadillac once again proved to
be the gathering point and watering hole for
the disco dance-inclined skateboard set.
Many people were seen hustling and bus-
Cab: And when the kids ask me I'll say 1 tling about. Some lambada was done. MTV
showed up and videoed everyone.
Here's Matt right here. Matt what about
this side event?
What's a side event?
Rocco: Do you have a car stereo?
What are you talking about? Yeah, I have
one and I don't even know how high I can
ollie.
Well, when the kids ask you how high
you can ollie, now you'll know.
don't know. I didn't enter.
Christian, what is your strategy for the
street event?
Stay on my board and try to go as fast as
I can. I'm trying to work out some little street
maneuvers here in this last minute practice.
Okay, Christian, show what you know.
John Hogan and Randy Jansen are ready
to call the ollie event.
I'm John B. Hogan, the B. stands for
beautiful, and with me is Randy Michael
Jansen. Is that your real name, Randy?
Well, it'll work right now. My mom used to
call me Ozzy Osbourne but somebody com-
plained so we had to change it to Jansen.
Okay, the ollie event. It's amazing. I always
thought people could ollie higher than this.
I've seen people go over trash cans for free.
I was thinking more like 55-gallon drums
here. Anyway, Tom Knox, Tony Hawk, Mark
Heinzman, Mark Hostetter and Matt Hensley
have cleared the 2'4" mark and are going
for more. Heinzman drops out at 2'6". It's be-
tween Vista boys Hostetter and Hensley now.
Mark misses at 2'8" while Matt Hensley goes
on to clear 2'9" again for a handsome thou-
sand frog skins. Stay tuned for the streetstyle
finals after this message.
Hello, folks. Does your swimming pool have
water in it? If you answered yes then you
should call the good people at Puni Nani
Pools. They would be happy to drain that un-
sightly liquid out of your pool, and their rates
are totally reasonable. Just think-no more
maintenance, no chlorine smell, no loud kid's
swim parties. In addition to emptying your
There's been some heavy skating going
down at the Paolo Valley mini-ramp by pros
and ripping locals, as well as some heavily
guarded pool sessions with Gary Owens and
his staff. Supposedly some surfing has been
going on, but nobody has actually seen
anybody surf. Rodney Mullen did a demo
Primo and Diane are here to demo, And Peter
Bill is here giving me a beer right now, aahhh,
best three dollar beer in the islands. Randy?
The contest doesn't look to be as well pro-
moted as last year's mini-ramp event, but
about 1,000 to 1,500 kids have made their
way out here tonight. The weather has been
beautiful, off and on bits of rain, while the
warm waters off Hanauma Bay and Waikiki
call to everyone including yours truly. Maybe
later on I'll go take another dump in the water.
Randy, let's talk about people who have
totally ripped this contest so far. Omar
Hassan, Butch Sterbins, Heinzman, Hensley
and Ed Templeton have all looked very
strong. Jeff Kendall and Reese Simpson.
ripped. Jason Lee and Tom Knox were amaz-
ing at times and then flattened out. Mark
Gonzales looked brilliant at times while Tony
Hawk looked almost awful at times. Hosoi,
what can you say, he's looked powerful all
weekend. Upstarts Colby Carter, Ron Chat-
man and Justin Girard have shown they can
trade with the big boys without getting.
flustered. All in all we've seen some of the
hottest skating on what has to be the most
complicated street course of the last couple
years. It's a small floor with a lot of stuff on
51