84 THRASHER
Sheffey
és
A
LTHOUGH
no one likes a bully, it's hard
not to find Sheffey's brand
of refined belligerence if not
endearing, at least enter-
taining. Shef was on a ram-
page in the European
events, skating hard and let-
ting his presence be known
with his powerful moves,
completely switch runs, and
random outbursts of comedy
and/or violence. He also
changed outfits several
times daily and could, at one
point, be seen wearing a
total of three hats. At
Dortmund, fans made a
"Sheffey for Skater of the
Year" banner. Something to
think about.
S
redeemed and turned into the highest-
scoring 45 seconds of the day. Switch
crooks on the flat bar, frontside pop-shove
to boardslide, and a long jump to feeble
grind set the place ablaze.
1. Diego Bucchieri
The Butcher blasted the course, mix-
ing solid moves like the dreaded switch
frontside flip with off-the-cuff tricks like
a frontside 360° over the handrail. His
energy, good looks, and fearsome attack
won over the crowd and the judges, and
a chant of "Butcher! Butcher!" followed.
him from the park all the way back to
his first place winner's suite.
"These guys are skateboarding's
dinosaurs!" Dave Duncan proudly
announced as he pumped up the crowd for
the vert event. "He almost broke his leg on
that one!"
Vert was a brief affair, with several
people getting taken out by the ramp's
small size. Regardless, Ali Cairns killed
it with a local's flair, as did Sean Goff,
who whipped out frontside 540's to
complement his varied and masterfully
executed handplant variations. Lincoln
repeatedly hit the ceiling on lien airs
and Bucky took the 'grand prize with a
myriad of frontside gay twist
variations. The whole thing
ended with best trick. I'm not
sure who won, but the best trick
I saw was Brian Anderson's
backside tailslide biggy on the
waist-high ledge.
The next few days were spent
at Preston's mom's house in
Basel, Switzerland. We got
rained out at the Sattel park, no
girls would talk to us, and we
primarily relaxed. High comfort
level, no complaints.
It's always hard to finish these
things without sounding hokey. An
easy way to do it is to introduce the
story with an idea or a theme, and
carry it throughout, reemphasizing
it at the end, perhaps learning a les-
son. My theme was complaining,
which I'm sure I did plenty of, even
while enjoying a month in Europe.
See, I told you it was hard. It would
sound stupid no matter how I
worded it. God, I hate writing these
things. Go to Europe! It sucks, but
it's fun too!
carnati
red pored
3 23 232 233
Sdewalk
es
Sidewalk
Clockwise from top left: Sheffey went toe to
toe with the big box and came out a champ. Big
backside 50-50. Mike Maldonado sticks the trick of
the '90s, with blazing board-flapping commitment.
The Butcher gets grilled.
ATOMIC
ATOMIL
METHO
85