IT'S TIME
TO CAST YOUR
VOTE
FOR
THE
ORIGINAL
THRASHER
SKATER OF THE YEAR
1999
Ten lucky voters will win a
HUMVEE watch from TIMEX.
OFFICIAL 1999
1.
2.
THRASHER..
S.O.T.Y. BALLOT
My three picks for Thrasher's
1999 Skater Of The Year are:
THRASHER O
PO Box 884570
San Francisco CA 94188-4570
As I learned to ollie, they would sit
around and taunt me. When that
didn't stop me, they threw rocks
and chased me. Things got worse in
junior high. Everyone hated me, not
just the skaters. I got a little
smarter, though. I stopped skating
in front of people. Sometimes I'd
follow the skaters to see where
they'd hang out and try some of
their moves later on. If they caught
me I was in for it. Usually they'd
chase me until I was cornered, then
they'd trash my deck. The first one
they placed behind a garbage truck
as it was backing up; another was
doused in gasoline and BBQed."
Two decks were thrown into the
river and once my whole locker was
set on fire. On one of the last days
of junior high, the oldest of the
skaters pushed me down the stairs
at school, breaking my collarbone
and two ribs. I was devastated.
Before this, I had become some-
what proud of my loser-dom and
accepted it as my fate. But after-
ward, I felt vulnerable. For three
years my foot touched nigh a skate.
Eventually I met people who didn't
care that I'm a girl who wants to
skate. I met people who gave me
patience and support. This letter is
dedicated to all the "different"
skaters in the universe who are
faced with assholes like Brindle Pit
in SF; no one is alone until they let
the bastards drag them down.
BITTER GRAPES
Michelle
Vancouver, BC
Hey everyone at Thrasher! Great
mag. I want to talk about the whole
crap-filled, retarded campaign to
attract teenagers: crappy music,
stupid trendy styles, and dumb-ass
attitude. I saved up my patience,
trying to be positive and open-
minded, but now my patience has
KARL WOJCIECHOWSKI
107 DES PIVOINES
AYLMER, QUE
393 2M4
CANADA
NYHC
run out and I see that everything
sucks. Everyone is a puppet of
greedy businessmen who want to
get richer off airheaded teenagers,
and if you're not like everyone else,
you get picked on. I love grunge,
but all the guys in school make fun
of me and say, "Yo dog, you old
school." What the hell? You're
talking
white; why the hell are you talking
like that? When I go skating there
are all these posers acting all tough.
and they can't even skate. I watch.
TV and what do I see? MTV plays
the same thing over and over and
over. It's annoying. And the 1999
Teen Awards? All these "homies"
wearing skate clothing-that's
where the word 'poser' comes
along. I know this letter won't make
any difference, but it doesn't matter.
At least I got my anger on paper
and not on some little kid with a
board wearing a jersey and saying,
"What up, dog?"
LIKE COOL
Eliot Faytelson
Los Angeles, CA
I'm a 25-year-old real hardcore
skater betty; I've been skating 20
years, and I love to skate flatland and
goofy-footed. I like skateboarding; it's
fun and a howl. I suck but I wanna
skate. I like Jaime Reyes and Elissa
Steamer. They're good but sketchy.
What the hell is Girl Skateboards?
Who's Tum Yeto? Who's Megan
Baltimore? I'm from America. RIP
Sean Miller, Jeff Phillips, Phil Shao.
What's up skate world and non-poser
kook skater punks too. The new
school is lame. Legalize skating.
We're cool. Dudes, betties, beginners,
we're all just skaters. I love J-bone.
Skater 4 life.
Bryanne
Pittsburgh, PA
Do the world a favor and stay in
Pittsburgh. T-ed
Huntington
Beach
Hunting
3.
Send to: S.O.T.Y. c/o Thrasher
PO Box 884570
San Francisco, CA 94188-4570
MAIL DROP 6
THRASHER MAGAZINE
PO Box 894570
SAN FRANCISCO.CA
99188-4570
Bed
Envelope of the month:
Karl Wojciechowski, Aylmer, Quebec, Canada
12 THRASHER
SKATEBOAR
CARROLL/GONZALES/HOWARD/KOSTON/MARIANO/MCKAY/MILTON/REYNOLDS/SCHAFF
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