From flash-in-the-pans to lifelong skate luminaries, longtime visitors of the site know that I have a certain unexplainable soft-spot for Transworld's "Check-Out" amateur spotlights. These are a few of my favorites from the 80's and 90's... again featuring those that (I don't think) ever had their names bless the bottom of a pro board.
Basically the flipside of this
post.
...and while I know it doesn't go with the theme of the post, amateur week just wouldn't be compete without this:
Thanks to Sissi for his assistance this week.
Big up to Pat Corcoran for stopping by his
comment page and giving us his side of the story on things.
Congrats to my friends over at Scumco & Sons on a job
well done.
Interview tomorrow.
16 comments:
So many "Oh shit, I forgot about that dude"s were just had.
Two of these really stood out to me as a kid because of Chicago. First being Mike Cardonna's because his photos were shot in Chicago. Second being Chip Van Ham because it said he was from Chicago, but I had never seen or even heard of the guy until then. Had you posted Nate Lyons' check out you would've completed my Chicago related triology. All 3 had a spot on my wall.
Rest in peace Mike Cardona.
Leiv what about the first check out??????? thanks chops you the man I like how most of the guys from san fran had jobs and would still find time to shred and rest in peace Mike Cardona!!
I'm pretty sure my world revolved around hand me down boards, a Thrasher from 88, and a 3rd generation dubbing of Public Domain around that time.
I didn't get my mits on anything new until maybe 92.
RIP Mike Cardona
Nice to know what finally happened to Jed.
Great post Chops. Its weird how some guys turn pro while others that should get theirs do not. As for Pat Corcoran replying. It appears that Pat grew up fast and I commend him. Watching his Photosynthesis part its easy to see that he is being marketed as the "handrail kid" which was really starting to take off in that time period, which I am sure your aware of.
It's funny to see the evolution of Transworld's layouts and typefaces, especially in the mid-'90s.
Marcus Brown was really good. He might have had a Golden State ad before he disappeared.
And Bear Hughes. What happened to that dude? He faded within a year of that Check Out.
Pretty crazy list of lost guys.
Sam Devlin has been seen skating around the plaza this past summer. He looks pretty old and gray. He still shreds though. bs nb on a gnarly ass tight quarter is no joke.
I guess I only really heard of Archimedes and Mic-e back in the day because they were down with Natas, TG and Jim T. Always assumed they were good because of who they skated with. Then again, Hensley used to say he skated with Ned Hadden and then when I saw footage of him, I was like WTF???
Met Alyasha in Hong Kong in 99 when he was running Alpha Numeric. Super cool nice guy.
Also cool to hear what happened to Jed.
The dude on this list that I'm most shocked never went pro is Mccrooks. dude was amazing. Great style, technique and trick selection.
Love the older TWS check out format, good to see Tony Henry in there! I had Lettus Bee and lots of Wrench Pilot on my wall for years...
I'm predicting a bob mccrooks interview tomorrow
Saw Mega skate the Surrey park months ago. Still as gnarly as when he was a grom skating Thompson and the Skate Ranch. And still don't give a fuck. Just the way he should be.
Wow, Ned Hadden probably the worst pro skater ever.We also used to think Jed's kickflip was somehow a new late flip of some sort because we had never really seen a kickflip like that
haha yeah Chops! Thanks!
Leiv-was born and raised in the cornfields about an hour outside Chicago 'til I was 14, then moved to the burbs (Naperville). Took the train in every weekend and skated all weekend downtown. Maybe the best time of my life? Chicago will always be the best city to skate in.
Tony Henry...first backside nbs I ever saw.
Still have the Bryan Ferdinand pivot to fakie backyard patch ramp inset somewhere. One of my favorite photos. Chucka's...
Leigh Peterson...where the fuck did he go? We used to go up to Harris Skate Ranch on these weird supposedly Christian-motivated bus trips. Not the "Meanie Genie," it was called Radical Life. Leigh was better than everybody, and he pretty much acted like it too. He had a bigger brother (Cleon?!) to back up his attitude. Small wheels/big pants on the vert ramp. Wish I could find his last Foundation part. Super slow, super tech.
Skating with Robbie at the Courthouse was always sobering.
Chip- Thanks for replying.
I can't imagine us not skating in the city around the same era. You know the scene was pretty close knit back in the day. Anybody who was coming up or even got a little bit of shine (Jesse Nuehaus, Mike Rusczyk, Nate Lyons, Jonny Fonseca, Kiko Varela, etc.) was known even if you didn't know them personally. I also remember Chicago spots being featured quite a bit in "Come Together", and you rode for ATM, so this just fueled my curiousity.
Aj Mazzu is the shit, good to see him in here. If you watch Overground Broadcasting by Takahiro Morita, a Japanese filmer/videographer, AJ has some sick clips that may not haved appeared elsewhere. Second that on Robbie McKinley. Whatever happened to him, he went away too soon. Mike Cardona is a beast, I was a bit too young (as I am with most of the skaters on this site since I'm 22) to actual catch shit of his when he was alive, but he's become just as much of a skate idol as Quimtime. So rad how similar their style is but they ride opposite stances. Tag Team shit!
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