52 Тиклан
Field Reports
CHRIS SENN (Lost in the best trick
contest because the cameras
weren't turned on for bis run but
came back to tein the street) 1
think pretty much everyone who
came here could've done good.
Some people fell, some people
didn't. Everyone was trying hard
stuff, as usual. It was pretty much
just luck. But it seems like the way
they show it on TV is they're just
showing who got first through
eighth when they should be show
ing all the rad stuff that happened
WADE SPEYER (All-terrain mas
ter) What I like about the whole
thing is that all of the top guys are
here and it makes the whole con
test so much easier. Instead of sit-
ting around watching bails all day.
you're watching people ripping.
LANCE CONKLIN (A judge along
with Brian Schaeffer, Moose Men
duto, Steve-o and Sasha) After
Danny got hurt and everyone
wanted to fight the cameraman for
shoving the camera in his face the main guy
apologized to all of us in a meeting and said
he didn't want it to be us against them. The
skateboarders are showing what's up, that's
all I can say. Hopefully people that see this
won't think their kids are just ruining some
benches downtown, maybe more skateparks
will pop up because of this. Everybody is
skating amazing. It's hard to judge
TOM BOYLE (Had a mobican baircut for
the event) Everybody settled into the grind,
there was a little static with some roller
bladers, but Tas kept them in line. If Greg
Carroll told us to stop skating, we'd stop
skating, but if this big idiot tells us to stop
skating, it's like, "Who are you? The BMXers
do stuff like skating but they have those big
monsters to crash with, we can sort of buil
a little easier, so I respect those guys. There
are some hot rollerblader girls
Chris Senn (above) lost the "best trick" competition
even though he cleared the big wall with a death
drop, then pulled it again for a vengeful street win.
Neal Hendrix (right sequence) is built for moves
like this big 360 Indy. There was a little arm twist-
ing by cops and security figures (opposite middle),
but otherwise the violence was usually committed
in the sporting arena. Tony Hawk (right), flying by
wire and gliding into a first in vert with allie 540's.
Danny Way (left) took it over the top in the high
air. Geoff Rowley (left sequence), kicksnap grob
over the box. Photos by Kevin Thatcher.
OMAR HASSAN (Slammed out of the high
a
air contest) The medics were doing
good job of getting ice and all that stuff,
but then they were saying that if I didn't
wear this pad over a bruise on my leg I
would be disqualified. They were trying to
make me wear this elbow pad on my hip.
They seemed a little out of touch with
what's really going on. Some of the rules
are a little jacked, but maybe they'll get it
right next year. Everyone's getting along
because we have to stick together.
MAX SCHAAF Frazier is totally sick. The head-to-head format is bullshit
though because the skater that skated six runs goes against the skater that's
skated two. The Rock got the crowd moving harder than anyone, he's the
best. The judging might not have been so fair but there was even a case
where that worked for the best. Everyone would've like to see Danny Way
out here on the vert.
RUNE GLIFBERG: I didn't really expect to do this well when I got here. I
didn't even get a chance to skate the ramp that much because I hurt my
knee the other day.
NEAL HENDRIX (Only had one board stolen)
It gets to be like mental exhaustion when you're
sitting for so long. The whole thing of waking
up this morning nervous, practicing nervous and
then after I lost in the first round, I had to wait
fifteen or twenty minutes and that's just as
exhausting as the skating in a way, like, "What
am I gonna do? Am I gonna do the same line?
I forgot my line. I didn't have nothin' for Hawk
Cablecam
here, I knew I didn't, so I tried to pull out all
the stops. You can't feel good about anything
unless you know you've tried your best.
TONY HAWK (After winning the vert and rip-
pung bis number bib off) I'm really stoked. I felt
kind of stupid just trying to stay on and be con-
servative, so in the last run I tried to throw some
stuff I wasn't too sure about. I'm stoked that
someone is giving this kind of recognition to
skateboarding all across the country, and
it's accessible to so many people that don't
ever see it. I haven't had to spend any
money all week, that's cool..
WILLY SANTOS (Almost beat bis boss) I'm
going home and going to Europe. I wish 1
made that frontside flip. It's cool that every
body is together, rollerblading, biking...
everything. Matt Hoffman is awesome.
STEVE CABALLERO (Clutching a fistful of
dollars): Yeah, I came out with some good
money. I didn't really care about the
money. I just cared about being on TV.
When you come out here telling everyone
you're going to be on the ESPN games, they
expect to see you on TV. They only cover the
top eight, so I was really stoked to make the
cut. I think a lot of skaters maybe don't under-
stand what is happening right here. This is for
them, even though ESPN is sort of clueless on
the whole situation 'cause they haven't really
studied what skateboarding is all about, but
they're trying. But this is a chance for the skaters
to make a lot more money in the sport, which
they deserve. The big sponsors have the money
to do that. I hate to say it, but the more trendy
the sport is the more money the skaters will
make
GREG CARROLL (Proved bis leadership capabil
ities both on and off the court): No one got out
of hand. I mean, I had to tell a couple guys to
put their helmets on, but that's just normal shit. Otherwise, the contest ran
totally smooth. The guys were all stoked that they got like four days to
practice before anything happened. Everybody was relaxed, it seemed like
everyone got along, there weren't any little cliques running around, every-
one hung out together, everybody raged, partied and skated together.
DANNY WAY (Won the bigbest air, dirt jumped a BMX bike, and raged hard
all week long) I'm very glad it's over. I'm completely destroyed-physically
and mentally. Actually, I might just get out of here and go home. Gershon
should've won street because all he did was skate the handrail; that was the
best thing. Actually, I think the rollerbladers really took over the show. The
skateboarders just were holding out too much and the rollerbladers
deserved it. I'm going to have to start rollerblading. I think.
Special thanks to Sid and the Water Brothers crew-the rulers of Newport.
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