88 THRASHER
DVS
DA CO.
ONESSODA.COM
Hill yoursel
COLTS
CHAPMAN
KRUX
JOINT
Eme
Colt Cannon (far left) Cabs a nasty Tampa gap in the
middle of the night before his big day. (this page left
to right) First place and a personalized hatchback for
Mr. Cannon. Richie Belton was out of the finals despite
being one of skateboarding's hottest am properties.
PROFESSIONAL JUDGE
PAUL ZITZER
Can you give us some stats?
What kind of stats?
What are your qualifications to be a
judge?
You have to be on Schaeffer's good side.
But number one, you're a pro 'boarder
aren't you?
Yeah. I'm a pro 'boarder. The ams feel bet-
ter if you're a pro 'boarder and not some drop
out. But more importantly, you need to be
from around this area.
So you know to put Allen Russell in the
finals?
That was almost the case. Semis baby,
semis. What? You didn't think he ripped?
What? Are you crazy? He always rips!
He's a ripper. On another subject, be
honest, will a guy get more points for
pulling several OK tricks or more points
for pulling one spectacular trick?
That's a tough call. One trick isn't going to
get you anywhere. One really great trick and a
fairly decent run backing you up will get you
farther than a bunch of wack tricks. Or a
bunch of doggy doody flip tricks.
Can you get in the finals without hitting
them bars?
Yeah, yeah.
So you can just focus on the pyramid?
No. Pyramid, quarterpipe, bank-to-wall.
Can a bank-to-wall attack artist make
the finals?
Probably not a solely bank-to-wall attack
because you'll waste all your run pushing at
the wall and not have time for anything else.
You have to pack more tricks in there, too.
After a guy does a trick over the pyra-
mid, does he get more points for doing a
backside disaster or a blunt to fakie on
the quarterpipe rather than an axle sit or
a fakie rock or popping out and resetting
his tail?
Popping out and resetting your tail and axle
stalls and little 50-50s don't count for any-
thing. If you do a trick, you're going to get a
TEB
1
little better score just because you kept your
flow going better.
So is using the quarterpipes worthless?
No. If you do something good. If you do an
Andrew Reynolds chest-high kickflip melon to
fakie banging out of the quarterpipe you'll get
a great score. A backside disaster's not really
a point grabber. It's easy. Your mom
can do it. I've seen her. I'll tell you what; a
backside noseblunt would be great. Didn't see
any of those today.
What would it take to bribe you?
I can't be bought.
A bucket of chicken?
That would help me get through the finals,
but it wouldn't help your scores any.
Has anyone ever gotten upset with you
over your judging?
I hear a little through the grapevine, "Oh, no
West Coasters made the cut!" or some such
crying. If you grew up in the park you might
get an extra point thrown in at the end of the
day, but that's not going to get you to the
finals. You gotta rip.
Was there a conscious effort to take the
bad-mouthing out of the announcing
this year?
Yeah. It got toned down. I didn't like it. I
don't know. It got annoying after awhile. We
won't name any names, but yeah. What do
you think? Was it a good decision?
I just felt bad for the kids who were
really looking forward to it, probably
paid their own way out here, and then
got made fun of because of their
crooked grind or their high-top fade or
whatever. Speaking of which, can a guy
with a high-top fade make the finals?
He might get docked a few points, but yeah.
How about a pony tail?
Yeah. In vert. In vert he can.
Why wasn't Sheckler in the finals?
Well, we evaluated the situation. He had a
really good run. But in his best run he had a
big bail trying the same trick two times the
crooked grind across and down. He didn't
make it and that ate up like twenty seconds of
his run and it just took the juice out of his
run. He probably could have made the finals if
he had made it.
Does it count if the dude makes his big
trick on the fourth try after his run?
You know what? If the dude had a lame run
and then hucks something at the last minute,
it's more just for the crowd. But if the dude
had an amazing run and he's still ripping, I'll
pay attention to what he's doing. It's
not over as far as I'm concerned. He's got the
momentum. Keep it going.
I know we're a long way from the '80s
and Frank Hawk, but is it possible to get
disqualified from the Tampa am? What
what a dude have to do to get a D.Q.?
You'd have to assault someone in the crowd.
You'd have to do bodily harm.
Can you make the finals wearing a
Flyaway helmet?
Again, vert's probably your best bet. On
street, I don't see it happening.
What about shades?
Shades will probably get you bonus points
in the year 2000. (Editor's note: it's 2001)
89