TUCTO
SLAP
Regane
AIRWALK
AIRWALK
FAR EAST
HE
new plora Element
EPIC Element
Element an
ZERO PICK
411VM
Left: Contrary to his
name, Steve Bailey
executed bail-less runs
which included solid
stalefishes such as this.
Seq: Last year's pro-
comp champ, Andrew
Reynolds, steals valuable
practice time from the
ams with this kickflip over
the whole tomato.
1230
ZERO
2350
AIRWA
AR EAST
SAP FAR EAST
on my Kostons.
"Yeah, and you wore headbands and shit too.
Old School."
After the exile in Gayville, some dudes decid-
ed to start trying tricks off the roof of a U-Haul
Ivan that was parked on the street course. I
expected to see the Zero dudes up there regu-
lating shit, but instead I spotted Lil' Tim's goofy
ass. There were camera dudes swarming
around the bottom and like a five foot square
patch for kids to land in. Next thing you know,
Tim does some trick we later named "the flying
donkey" off the top. He might as well have
rollerskated off the thing.
"I thought I had it," was all that stupid kid
I could say when we reached him. He took his
shoe off and his foot looked like Mickey
Mouse's. "Do you think they filmed it?"
"Stupes!" I couldn't help wondering though,
if maybe I should have been up there trying
some shit. I mean, 411 is 411, even if you get in
by busting your ass off a van.
Sunday was finals-the top 30 in street and the
top 10 in vert battled it out to finish off the
long-ass weekend. Vert was first and Anthony
Furlong kept up the lead. If I could skate that
shit, that's how I'd want to do it-big airs and
some of that tech stuff too. Steve Bailey got sec-
ond with smooth airs and a mix of older and
newer tricks, but especially 'cause he never fell.
The other dudes were all good too, so don't
think I'm leaving them out. Science Fair kept his
clothes on and got fourth, and Rodney Mead
did mad handplants to snag sixth.
On to the street! Too many people were good,
so pros look out! First place was Nathan Smith
who I hadn't even really noticed before, until he
busted out a flawless, technical run that had a
big 360° flip over the pyramid and a switch 270°
frontside flip over the hip. Sickness! Second was
Danny Gonzalez who pulled a fuckin' 360° flip
to backside grab over the pyramid! That kid can
go big and get tech. Kerry "as good as it" Getz
got the number three only because he fell a lit-
tle bit. Watching in practice, I figured the guy
was fall-proof. Check the videos to see all the
crazy shit he did. Other good stuff was Bam tail-
dropping off a rafter 6 feet above the curved
quarter-pipe, Tony Trujillo rolling in from the
deck of the vert ramp into the tight quarter-
pipe, J.R. Nieves kickflipping to grab over the
snowboard jump and Brandon Turner unload-
ing the switch hardflip! After watching those
dudes skate, I almost wonder if I really deserve
to be co-sponsored by C.R.P. Shoes.
Right after the finals, the best trick event
started with the snowboard gap as the focus.
Some of the fools that entered were living in a
fantasy land thinking the tricks they were try-
ing would happen. Luckily, most of the other
dudes were legit. Ali Boulala started things off
by kickflipping to melon over the 12-foot gap.
Then Ed Selego ollied the whole thing to lip-
slide down the Hubba wall. Alex Chalmers did
360° indy over the gap as well as a kickflip to
indy. And you know Getz was in there! I guess
they couldn't decide who was best, 'cause the
judges made it a four-way tie, and split a pot of
cash between them.
Before the awards, Clyde Singleton, Bill
Weiss, Greg Carroll and Brian Schaefer auc-
tioned off a bunch of stuff that companies
had donated to raise some cash for the med-
ical bills of two skaters-Craig Johnson and
Ruben Orkin. I'm not sure who they are, but
it's cool to see skaters helping each other out.
I bought a new deck for fifteen bucks.
Lil' Tim kept saying.
"Maybe we can take you in as our seeing
eye dog," Filthy offered.
We laughed as we left him in the Winnebago
and filed in to check out the smut.
"I'll be in in a little bit," he said.
"Yeah, OK, dork," I said.
I'm not saying I don't like the ladies, but it
good comes on HBO.
We were cruising around, checking out the
action for a while, and then the craziest shit
I've ever seen occurred.
Riley starts cracking up and pointing, and I
turn around to see fuckin' Lil' Tim cruise past
the doorman with this crazy fake moustache
stuck to his face.
"HOW MUCH FOR A LAP DANCE?"
On a side note, Clyde called Riley a "big
foreheaded freak" over the microphone
when he offered a measly buck for a Thrasher
hat. It's a name we have grown to love, and
use on him with the quickness.
That night we all decided to go to a strip
joint called Mons Venus where everyone said
the hottest girls shook their shit. Even better,
you only had to be eighteen to get in!
"Maybe you can let me in the back door,"
was kind of weird to see a real live naked one
doing that freaky shit right there in front of
you. Filthy acted like an old pro and was shov-
ing dollar bills this way and that. He'll make a
real good dirty old man some day.
"You gotta' make 'em work for it," he said
while waving a buck in front of one of the
girls. This coming from a man whose work
ethic includes sometimes opening the Board
Ranch three hours late because something
"What the fuck?" I yell. The shit was way
past ridiculous.
"I convinced 'em I'm a midget," he told us,
acting totally serious. We were dying on the
ground laughing. Ignoring us, Tim walked
over to a dancer seated by the stage.
"How much for a lap dance?" he asked, his
face as sincere as Abraham Lincoln's. I guess
after facing the stump, he thought he could
handle anything.