This month we heard about Sean Goff getting involved in SS20, Jeremy Fox getting back into the USA and Andy Ruffell getting more involved in running big events — all omens of things to come. Closer to the time were hints about a skater-owned distributor setting up near Southsea (the Abrook brothers, I think) and references to yet more things going on in Dundee.
BSA AND SOS TIE UP ’90 SERIES
The Skater Owned Shops syndicate are putting their money where mouths are. They’re finalising a deal with the BSA to sponsor a series of vert competitions next year. There should be six events between March and November, each one at a ramp near one of the SOS shops. Clan will back one at Glasgow, Soul Skates and Off the Wall would go for Liverpool/Manchester (Danzi’s got the Docklands Comp ramp), Stampy would take care of Birmingham, and SS20 would bring the festival spirit to a traditional venue in their area. An event at Southsea could well be backed by a Skater Owned Distributor (!) leaving only Swansea to be sorted out.
Each competition should have a minimum of #1,000 in prize money with points going towards an overall position at the end of the year. These will be open events so that any visitors will be welcome to enter. The BSA are also planning a separate series of three street competitions, although at places like Southsea and Swansea they might be combined with the ramp contests.
Administrative costs for the events should be covered by the BSA courtesy of sponsorship from distributors like Shiner,
Faze 7 and so on _ though who exactly is helping out there we don’t know yet. Dates will follow as soon as we get them.
BAN THIS PREMIERE
They probably will. The date: November 26th. The place: the Shaw Theatre just along the road to the East of London’s Euston Station. The time: 10.30am for 11. The reason: the British premiere of the new Bones Brigade Video, Ban This. Be there.
Tickets should be available in advance from main Powell Peralta dealers as well as on the door. They’ll cost about £2.00.
But better get your act together: the place only holds 500 so they’ll sell out fast, even if they run several shows, says
organiser, Andy Ruffell. Check in next month’s issue for last minute changes.
MADRID
Competitions in Madrid are always mellow, fun affairs, and the European Championships this year were no exception. This can be frustrating, for exmple if you’re a freestyler and you’ve just done your single qualifying run it doesn’t help if
the pa packs up and then everyone shrugs and says “oh well, we’ll run it all again tomorrow.” Mr Rouse suffered from that. The street-stylers had to contend with a course consisting of one fun-box hastily knocked together by Christian Welsh — it was all they could manage in the time.
The only other bummer was a high instance of skate crime: Steve Douglas had board his nicked, Tim Payne’s tools were swiped and Florian Bohm lost his passport and stuff. Fortunately he still had his board, so he could still pull the back to back Twists. Anyway, Bod won the ramp, followed by Nicky Guerrero, Florian, Anders Pulpanek, Danzi, Steve D, Soren Aby and Morten Tietzer. Find out more about the first European only contest this year in next month’s issue.
SHORTS
Jason Lunn managed to tot up $500 in fines for street skating on his recent trip to California. And you thought you suffered from harrassment? Lunk’s on Circle A by the way. + Meanwhile Dave Currey managed to talk his way on to a London bound 747 armed only with a LAX to John Wayne shuttle boarding card and no passport _ it was only when he was left seatless as they started the safety spiel that the cabin crew sussed + Sean Goff has now joined SS20 as a full partner along with Mon and Dave Furneau. Mon has taken the opportunity to convert his old ramp into a full (not mini) back to back ramp using the old ESA demo ramp + Talking of the old ESA ramp, Ruffle is moving ahead with plans for the return of Holeshot but this time, don’t panic, he hopes to employ Tim Payne to build a ramp worthy of the name + while we’re on ramps, the Dundee factory men are hoping to link up with Angel Lights at the Church to get some satellite style insurance cover + meanwhile Murph and Tom Groholski have moved to Dallas for the sake of the scene and Jeff Phillip’s ramp park + Pike, Jim the Skin etc spotted demoing at the ski show at Birmingham’s NEC. Even the snootier of the ski types were impressed + Strange tales: we’d heard tham Gonzales has taken to carting an Odyssey off-road fun cars everywhere on the back of his pick-up, but now he’s doing lip tricks in it — Nose-picks on sand dunes. What next?
HATE THE HYPE PART 15b
Back down to the newsagents with you _ there’s a new snack on the shelves: Krunchie OLLIES, Beefburger flavour corn and rice snacks (also available in Tomato Ketchup flavour). Yes, they exist; Rodga Harvey came back with a packet after a trip to Beast Manor. What more is there to be said?
WHAT? NO HEARSE?
Death Box Fox re-entered America in style on his recent visit to the Atlantic City trade show. He arrived at 4am to find no airport bus and no hire cars — apart from one: a full blown limo. He had no choice. He hired the limo at $150 a day and arrived in town behind at the wheel of the great whale. Buy those new style Death Box boards quick, kids: they need the money.
LEVINE RACES INTO FIRST AT VA BEACH
The boasts of the British slalom men about how they could blow the doors off anyone if they could all just agree on the
time, the place and the course (and get out of bed on the day) have finally been vindicated after the debacle when Jim
Corton trounced them on the joke course at Glasgow.
Santa Cruz flew Pig City racer, Simon Levine to Virginia Beach and he did just that. Yes, the race pedigree of some
competitors (messrs Way, Grosso and Hosoi for example) suggests that this was a fun event as well as a serious race — but the big boys were there too.
The main event at Virginia Beach, the NSA vert series comp was rained off, but the slalom wasn’t the only drama in an
otherwise wet weekend: top hooligans Pat Ngoho, Joe Lopes, and Ben Schroeder finally made it all the way to jail after a
couple of bar room incidents.