PLAYING the NUMBERS GAME
WE
An Index of Estimates, Guesses, Totals, Facts, Figures and Results
from the NSA Backyard Pow Wow at Powell Peralta's Skatezone in
Santa Barbara, CA, on Saturday, March 16, 1991: Total number of
spectators, contestants, skaters and hangers attending the Pow
Wow: 1,314. Total number of letters generated by spectators and sent
to Santa Barbara mayor Sheila Lodge demanding a public skate zone
in Santa Barbara: 728. Height of roll-in platform above the smooth
cement floor: 11'6". Height from floor to lip of huge vertical wall
"street" obstacle: 16'6". Number of sound systems blown out during
the two-day festivity: 2. Total power of each blown-out power system,
Clash of the Titans. Eric
Dressen (left) makes an
ollie tail grab nose grind
during semis but just
misses it in the finals.
Big backside ollie tail
grabs on the super vert
and new footwork earned
Christian Hosoi second
place. Mr. Clutch, Tony
Hawk came back from
forgettable qualifying
runs to inherit first with
moves like this large
frontside channel ollie.
in amps: 400. Total power of new replacement system,
in amps: 800. Number of rounds in bout between
George Watanabe and pesky bully in the parking lot of
Orchid Bowl on Thursday night: 3. Amount of chili sold
on chili dogs during the two-day event, in gallons: 56.
Total number of map/bucket combos needed to clean
bathrooms on the Monday following the event: 16.
Estimated number of sub sandwiches ordered by Todd
Hastings, from the Sub Base, over three days: 11.
Number of 12-ounce Pepsi servings consumed during
Saturday lunch: 643. Number of times Rob 'Sluggo'
Boyce barfed in Jim Fitzpatrick's office after his quali-
fying run: 7. Number of swings Randy Jansen got on a
rafter before it broke out of the ceiling of Jim Knights'
beach chalet in Isla Vista during a party on Friday: 3.
Estimated number of pro skaters expected to qualify
on Saturday morning: 73. Estimated number of pro
skaters attempting to qualify on Saturday: 53. Esti-
mated number of street pros who showed up to prac-
tice but never entered because it wasn't a street
course. 8. Estimated pros who showed up but were too
injured to skate: 3. Estimated number of pros sched-
uled to compete who never showed at all: 6. Unac-
counted for: 3. Number of black skaters in attendance
who had orange hair: 3. Number of white skaters in
attendance with no hair: 6. Estimated number of falls
Tony Hawk had during his two qualifying runs: 7.
Number of skaters in Hawk's ten-skater heat: 4. Num-
ber of skaters taken from each heat: 3. Rank of Tony
Hawk in his heat despite two disastrous runs: 2. Rank
of hot Skatezone local Tony Buyalos who was in the
same heat with two ripping runs: 3. Top twenty-four
qualifiers in quarter-finals broken into two heats for
one run each, by name: Jeff Kendall, Mike Carroll, Tom
Knox, Alan Petersen, Lance Conklin, Mike Taylor, Josh
Swindell, Tony Hawk, Jim Thiebaud, Jasen Rogers, Tony
Buyalos, George Watanabe, Christian Hosoi, Tommy.
Guerrero, Joe Gruber, Mark Gonzales, Wade Speyer, Max
Evans, Eric Conner, Omar Hassan, Eric Dressen,
40 GA