50
A pack of wild dogs converged on the city of
Encinitas to ravage the townsfolk and piss on
all the fire hydrants at the NSA national finals.
NSA AM
SLAM
FINALS
Story by Brian Brannon Photography by Bryce Kanights
Ruffians from across the nation descend-
ed on the street, mini and vert arenas at
the Encinitas YMCA on July 24-25th. The
East Coast boys looked like a heavy threat,
combining fast lines and technical trickery,
so a few interviews soon came down.
Haroid Hunter, 18, was out from New
York. He was seen working 360 big spin
tailslides and says the difference between
New York and California is that nobody
vibes in the Big Apple. "Everybody has fun
because they're rollin'," he says.
Ricky Oyola, 22, was down from Phila
delphia to spread the word on spoed lines.
"Roger Browne told me that skill," he said.
"Going fast is where it's at." Oyola's
favorite color is black and he came out with
Fred Gal and Matt Reasons. When Oyola
went to EMB last year, he had a falling out
with the locals. "I screamed 'nigger 'cause
I was pissed off," he said. "They took it the
wrong way and Jovantae got in my face.
Me and Jovantae, one on one. I'll fight that
dude. He had like thirty back-up dudes."
Oyola smokes herb to stay calm and likes
natural terrain. "You've got to have a con-
test some place like Love Park so you don't
have to put out no props," he says.
Clyde Singleton, 18, is from Jackson-
ville, FL. He has been riding for six-and-a-
half years and says the sport is in a weird
state right now. "It seems like everyone
wants to be like someone else," he says.
Born in Pittsburgh, Matt Reasons, 20,
has skated for five years and makes Love
Park his home. He liked the wedge pyra-
mid, but prefers junk. "That stuff is more
like real street," said Reasons.
The Encinitas pigs busted a group of
kids for curfew at the B of A curb Friday
night. Rachman Chung, 16, from Tigard,
OR, was caught up in the fray. "A bunch
of cops drove up, and if you weren't eigh
teen, you got taken to the station, finger-
printed and photographed," he said. At
least the 5-0s have their priorities straight.
Skating for six years and riding hard with
homeboys Matt Beach, Jamie Fortune and
Brad Satler, Chung's favorite modus op
orandi is going fast and doing technical
tricks down gaps. "I like to fly," he says.
Phil Shao, 19, dropped down from Red-
wood City, CA. Shao has skated since he
was five and describes himself as an "un-
deserving, jacked, worthless, no one."
Shao's advice is: "Do it for yourself"
Ryan Aningalan, 19, from San Jose, likes to
ride switchstance. His favorite terrain is steep
banks and he says the worst injury he ever had.
was a sprained ankle (knock on wood).
Santa Barbarian George Nagel has been rid-
ing ever since his dad found a board under a
bush, Nowadays, Nagai is working on splish-
splash maneuvers. "Santarossa's teaching me
how," he says. Skating the hood with Ricky
Higgins, Dillon Gardner and Jeff Cham
lay, Nagal says he'd like to take poli
tics out of skating. "And even though
technical skating's really good." he
says, "I'd like to see skating get
more consistent, give people
more style instead of watching
people flip around and fall."
A town called Sewaren, NJ,
is where Fred Gall makes his
home. Skating for five years,
Gall has progressed to the
The man to beat was
Matt Beach (opposite
top) with moves like
this big heelflip, but
nobody stayed on
enough to take him.
Love local Matt Reasons
(this page, for left)
unleashes a nolle 180
Smooth operator Roger
Browne (left) was seen
in the company of two.
fine fräuleins. NYC resi-
dent Harold Hunter
(below) looked like a
threat in practice with
fast 180 nosegrinds
down the rail. Def comic
Oscar Jordan took the
mike and called 'em
like he saw 'em.