By
Brian Brannon
Summer On-line Forty-Niner
The Golden Era of skateboarding was revisited
Saturday at the Philips Fusion Soul Bowl
Grand Masters near the Huntington Beach
pier.
Tucked between the finals for the Masters
age 30 and up, and the Young Guns today's
professional bowl riders, the Grand Masters
36 and older pitted the top skate stars
of the 80's against one another in an all-out
battle for first place.
Many of the skateboarders in the event never
thought they would survive to see age 30,
much less compete at a
professional level when they were pushing
40.
But there they were the top skateboarders
of the past who today are not missing in
action, dead or in jail. Duane Peters, the
legendary Master of Disaster, was on hand
proving, as always, that his nickname is
well deserved.
Peters invented a slew of skateboard maneuvers
including the layback rollout, the acid
drop and the Indy air. But his skating was
never about tricks, it was always about
staying on edge, riding the fine line between
all-out abandon and staying in control.
It is a style that he has perfected and
demonstrated well at the Soul Bowl.
Peters' arch-nemesis from the eighties,
Eddie "El Gato" Elguera, showed
up to give him a run for the money.
Elguera was also known for inventing a few
moves including the reverse 360¾ Elguerial
and the frontside rock 'n' roll. Where Peters
was and is known for his punk rock attitude,
Elguera is a born-again Christian.
Announcer Dave Duncan called it a battle
between good and evil, but though it wasn't
quite as dramatic as all that, the two did
have their moments.
Other competitors included tall Texans Craig
Johnson and Ken Fillion, pipe and pool voodoo
man Steve Alba, Mike Smith -- creator of
the Smith grind and Smith vert, style masters
Chris Cook and a host of others.
But when it came right down to it, the talent
involved was only half of what the Grand
Masters an event like no other, the catalyst
that sent the contest into overdrive was
the jam format.
Instead of traditional contests where each
skater is allowed a 45-second run, the jam
format is more like a snake session with
every rider for himself. The only rule is
there are 15 minutes to impress the judges,
beyond that, you're on your own.
Chaos was the operative word during the
15-minute finals with two, three and sometimes
five skaters in the bowl, each going their
own way. The close calls were many as the
skaters went all out to show they still
had the magic they possessed twenty years
ago.
"Man it was just one hell of an exciting
session," said World Cup Skateboarding
judge Bryce Kanights. "I lost my voice
from screaming and cheering at the hijinx,
energy and near collisions. At times during
the session it seemed as if the session
was more based on survival than final rankings."
But somehow amid all the chaos, the athletes
not only survived but also performed incredible
maneuvers with skaters flying over other
skaters grinding on the metal coping.
"Close calls were the word of the day
– doubles nightmare, bad moon rising
for sure," Alba said.
One near miss occurred when Johnson rolled
into the bowl while Virginia Beach local
Henry Guiterez was coming straight up the
transition from below.
In the preliminary heat, Peters and Jon-Jon
Bryan seemed destined to smash into each
other. "During one run, Duane's backside
50-50 was interrupted by Jon Jon's handplant,
and Duane plowed his inverted torso into
the transition below," said Kanights.
"DP was sick and tired of some rookie
getting in his way."
For former Santa Cruz rider and Peters'
teammate Alba, the contest was like old
times. Only in this one, he got to come
out from under the shadow of the Master
of Disaster.
"It was great to see the Elguera versus
Peters battle once again," Kanights
said. "And finally Salba beat Duane
and got the monkey off his back."
Results
1. Eddie Elguera
2. Steve Alba
3. Craig JohnsonContacts
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