SWEATIN' THE
COMPETITION
Gershon Takes Tampa
Tampa, Florida seems to have a huge num-
ber of fat people as well as a population that
could undoubtedly provide a healthy bounty
of potential talk-show guests (should New
Jersey exhaust its supply). So, in the interest
of a more interactive form of touchy-feely
journalism, my photo editor decided we
should live as the locals do, and therefore
we took almost all of our meals at a local
chain restaurant called The Cracker Barrel.
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"I'll have the gravy, please." "Wait, does
this butter platter come with a side of
gravy?" "Excuse me, may I have more
gravy?" "Ma'am, where is the gravy?"
And so on.
Situated in a giant faux log cabin, the
restaurant portion of The Cracker Barrel
comes only after you meander through a
pastel-tinted and oppressively plush-toy-
packed gift shop. The smell of potpourri
stinks the air while bizarre human-faced
rabbit and chicken creatures stare
brazenly from tree-like gallows.
"Take me home to your grandchildren,"
they seemed to say to the delighted eld-
erly women who roamed past.
"Get out of here, fucker," they seemed
to whisper to me.
Each day in Tampa began with a visit
to the Barrel. This alone might not
explain why the trip seemed to drag on
forever, but it certainly contributed to the
overall trudging feeling of a week spent
in a dusty warehouse in a bad neighbor-
hood in a swamp
of a state.
The Skatepark of
of Tampa (SPOT) is a
leftover vanguard of a skater-owned
warehoused tradition that began in the
late '80s and early '90s, before the emer-
gence of city-sponsored public concrete
and strict adherence to street-only skate
style. The park good, and its owner
Owner
Brian Schaefer is cool. This, plus tradi-
tion, keeps the SPOT contests (am and
pro) going, and gives them the distinc-
tion of being the only legit, results-
watched, and enthusiastically attended
contests in the United States.
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Clockwise from upper left: Gershon looks
content with his conquest. In the crowd,
Mike Crum downshifts a fat tailgrab one-foot
on the lonely vert battlefield. You can study
the technique, but you'll never match the
style. Eric Koston, nollie heelflip noseslide.
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