H
ow did you first become
exposed to skateboarding
while living in Canada?
Beginning with BMX and riding bikes
around the neighborhood, then one of my
friends at the time had a skateboard and I
picked up on it from there.
Who were your early heroes?
Nobody really famous, this guy Jay
McDermott, his buddy Clayton and some
other guys that I skated with back in the
jump ramp era.
Could you describe the average day in
the life of Rick Howard?
It depends what season it is. Lately I've
been trying to surf in the mornings then do
whatever I have to do in the afternoons and
when it cools down I like to ride my little
stuntwood along with my buddies.
How long have you been into surfing?
I've tried it no more than you can count on
two hands and I've gotten up as many
times to count on one hand. It's fun though
to experience.
What's it like living in the LA area?
BASKETBALL
JONES
HOWARD
How
is Vancouver?
It's much like SF, but
cleaner. Lately the scene has been
growing and getting better. There are
a lot of good spots downtown, but
security guards are usually there to
challenge you. There are also four
public cement parks around the
city. Then there is the wooden
skatepark for the Masonite pup-
pies like McKay and Sluggo.
How do you feel about video
footage in skateboarding?
Freeways, constant traffic jams and one
hundred degree weather. If you don't have
air conditioning in your car, you're pretty
much fucked. Besides not being able to
breath here it's not to safe to be out in pub-
lic skating where you please due to the racial
tension and crime around.
40 THA
The positive side is some
one consistent like Mike
Carroll can do his tricks on
call and put together his
segment in days when it
takes others weeks or
months. The primary neg
ative is that it takes the
fun away when you're
skating for a camera
and not for yourself.
Videos can be deceiv-
ing and artificial. It
can take hours or
days to film one
trick. It takes away
from the reality of
consistency
How do you like
to learn tricks?
It's usually oriented to
something that I'm already doing. I'll just
visualize the trick and go through it in my
head. I won't spend hours trying one trick
though, I personally cannot stand for that.
Drafted out
of Vancouver
by Blockhead
in 1989, Rick
played on the
team for three
years dishing out
nosegrinds, man-
wals, assists, etc. In
1992 he helped form
Plan B and was bon-
ored as MVP (Most)
Valuable Protagonist)
for that season.
Age: Early twenties.
Height: 6'2" (He's dive
tallest on the team besides
Coach Mike Terausky
Weight: 190 pounds
Shoe Size: 11%
Birthplace: Toronto, Canada
Favorite Food:
Czechoslovakian cuisine.
Middle Name: I don't have
one. I've almost been taken to
jual for not having one. The
cups didn't believe me. Maybe
we should make one up.
Years playing: Seven.
First set up: A Skull skate with
Thunder trucks while skating
in pleather high-tops
VANCOUVER
USTLERS
In the land of milk and honey, Rick Howard
skyhooks a nollie heelflip backside railslide