ISSA - International Slalom Skateboarding Association

This is the Down South forum. Those of you from San Diego looking for some local info, sorry, wrong South. Before things get carried away around here, let me lay down a few parameters that will make the Down South forum a little different:

1. We will on occasion discuss collegiate football. Now, you might ask, "what does college football have to do with slalom skateboarding?" Well, if you asked that question, then it's obvious you ain't from around here. To put it simply, let's just say that collegiate football has something to do with EVERYTHING. Therefore, around here it's always appropriate.

2. We will on occasion discuss NASCAR. I have no idea why. If you ask me, there hasn't been a good ride on a Sunday since Cale Yarborough and David Pearson retired, but that's just me. I'm sure every once in a while we will see names like Stewart, Dale Jr. and Waltrip in this forum and that's just fine.

3. We will on occasion discuss collegiate basketball . . . specifically on those occasions when Kentucky LOSES. That's always a great day for talking trash and letting the dogs out. (Sean Dawkins lives in Louisville, so it's kind of hard to guess which side of the fence he sits on?)

4. WE WILL NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON TOLERATE RE-HASHING THE RECENT UNPLEASANTNESS. We know what happened in the South, we know the consequences of the past 138 years and we are all well aware of all the peculiar institutions related to Southern Culture. We don't need no blue-belly yahoo to come here and tell us slavery, the Klan, segregation and high humidity are all bad things. We know that. We know it better than you will ever understand. So just keep it in your hat and save it for a discussion with someone who gives a damn. We got over it a long time ago.

Now that that's out of the way, I hope everyone this side of Maryland and the Mississippi will find this a good place to talk about practice sessions, grass roots get-togethers, coordinating travel to distant lands and maybe even sharing a good recipe for iced tea or Shrimp and Grits. Personally, I like mine with the grits mixed with a little cheese and chopped onions, pan fried like a potato cake and then smothered in sauteed shrimp and mushrooms in a really rich butter and garlic sauce.

That's good eatin'!

I reckon y'all will have a good ole time jawin 'bout slolem skatin...

Seriously.

My second "home" is Northwest Tennessee. I quite enjoy most all things "Southern" except PREDJUDICE.

Anyway, good to have y'all aboard, hope to see this forum getting used and not abused.

What's for dinner? Can you fry me up some okra? How 'bout some taters and some country ham and gravy and oh, Buster cut the pigs, we got some mountain oysters fer a whole heepin helpin of folks round here.

YEE HAWWW!

After supper, we can listen to some *fiddlin music.

*Blue Grass is some of my favorite music. I was listening to the sound track on Kelly Slater, Pro Surfer for Game Cube (Janes Addiction, Jack Johnson, etc.) the other day and I hear a bit of banjo/guitar picken in the background on TV. It sounded sooo good, it was Lester Flatt I think. Anyway, my girl tells me she has this Blue Grass CD and I borrowed it and listen. Oh sickenly sweet. I call up my ole Mother, "Mom, did I listen to any Blue Grass when I was young?" My Mother tells me (she knows I have a diverse musical taste), "Adam, you watched HEE HAW and Laurence Welk all the time with your GranDad..." and that kinda woke me up.

I like the South, a lot, no joke.

Thanks for the forum Adam and Wesley. I will try to keep it on the narrow twisting and turning gravel road between the ditches.

I do reserve the right to spell like it sounds (Phonics).

More pictures of the Luna Slalom Jam are up on SkateMS.com

Check'um at:
http://www.skatems.com/gallery/LunaSlalom01

Thanks Tate!

I'm only here to inspire fear.

My only fear is that 66 is here.

South, anything under Canada?

Ricky, thank you for a great time at the L.S.J. cant wait for the next one.

Jeff Goad asked, "Anything under Canada?"

Let's put it this way: "Down South" is an attitude. Anyone who has it doesn't have to ask, anyone who doesn't will never understand.

Grits anyone?

I lived in Crystal Springs, Mississippi as a young child. My younger brother was born in Hazelhurst.

This looks to be a great forum. I just want all of you to know that Bahne-Cadillac is committed to helping slalom grow in the south.

We're proud to have Ricky and Josh Byrd as team riders.

Thanks Jack!

We are working hard down here. Our skatepark reopened this past weekend and many of the kids there were at the LSJ. I since more of an understanding and respect of slalom now than ever before. We should have a nice turn out for our next small local race.

I should probably schedule one very soon to keep the fire burning bright. I remember running cones alone for the longest time. Now I amagine I could announce a race and expect to have a full round of 8. Cool! Jack told me the local skate shop has ordered some Bahne equipment.

My work here is done...NOT!

Ja, das Zouth got zom hozdility! I meen hospitality! We, forane skaters, like go South! Very vorm velcum and very vorm girls too (deir cheers at da race dat iz)! Muhhn’ guut!

So much for my Southern accent!

Congrads on your new forum from Northern Virginia (technically Da South too, but we have “the right coast” label already)!

Vlad.

Hey, Vlad,

I've been jawing in the DC forum since you started it and y'all made me a "DC Outlaw" at the race in July (I even got in the picture for CONCRETE WAVE.)

You live in Virginia (where I was born on a chilly morn' all them years ago,) and so far have raced in Georgia and Mississippi. I don't think anyone would question your bona fides if you ambled into the Down South forum now and then.

Besides, not many folks around here ever seen a real-live commie pinko bolshevik russkie! You'd be quite the conversation piece if you ever made it to Gatlinburg or Myrtle Beach!

Wesley said: "If you ask me, there hasn't been a good ride on a Sunday since Cale Yarborough and David Pearson retired, but that's just me." Hell, boy, you see the finish of the Darlington race a month or so back? Best finish I EVER seen...not that that's saying much, but I bet it was the best finish anyone who's seen 10 times as many races as me has ever seen, too...maybe even 100 times as many races! There weren't much left of them 2 cars after they went over the line...anyway I'll let it slide since you look to be a man that knows how to enjoy some grits! Other than the shrimp part, anyway...there ain't no squmps in grits!

ps...I know Florida...Flahrida...ain't the South (at least not Florida south of, say, Vero Beach...confused?), but my folks are from Tennessee, and I went to school in Georgia (To Hell with the Bulldogs! Something I'm sure we can ALL agree on...well except maybe Rick), and I grew up on Johnny Cash and Hee Haw, so there!

Where, oh where are you tonight?
Why did you leave me here all alone?
I searched the world over and thought I found true love,
You met another and Pppppptttt you were gone!

Hey, no one prohibited Commi propaganda anywhere on this forum! 3DM just came out with red Avilons and I asked for hammer and sickle impressions in them! My boards have Commi symbols on them and most people who want one ask for the Commi plank! I actually never had a problem with any of the Commi stuff! You know, the last banked slalom race at the Vans park…
I had never done any bank/park slalom/ridin’ before that race, so I knew I would suck. To make myself look good, I signed up for the race in a separate class (LBK let me do it). I called the class GAY COMMUNISTS. I thought- no other sane person would dare to sign up with me. I won my class by finishing not too far away from the last place. And the fun part is that they made a printout of the race results to hang at the main wall at the park for everyone to see. The list was hanging there for about 6 months after the race. There was GAY COMMUNIST class mentioned right by my name. Northern Virginia is Tight-Ass Overly-Political-Correct prison of freedom-loving slaves, yet only one part was scratched out. Interestingly, it was the GAY part. They left out the COMMUNIST!
I believe on a serious level, when people get naturalized in this county, they go through a series of interrogation-like questions, such as their association with any of the Communist Parties and intend to change the order in the States (implying via a Bolshevik revolution). And it’s Ok to be gay in US. Yet, GAY was scratched out “because Vans is a family place and will not tolerate homosexuality” (Vans employee)

Vlad.

"Hey, Stringbean, you get a letter from home?"

"Sure did. Got it right here next to my heart . . heart, heart, heart!" (Then he'd always pull it out of his back pocket!)

Hey, Chuck, don't sweat it. I hear these damned yankee doodles who moved to damned Dade County do their damnedest to convince the rest of the world they ain't "southern," but that's their own damned negligence! (Four well-placed and erudite "damns" in one sentence. Beat that!)

I guess Florida is pretty much like everywhere else around here is getting: too damned cosmopolitan when you're within 10 miles of the interstate, but as soon as you get off I-95 and head out that way, you find yourself as close to down home as the rest of of us!

Besides, where else but the American South could you find a place like Weekie Wachie Springs or Palm Harbor's "Sponge-o-rama?" I'm tellin' 'ya, you just don't grow that kind of stuff nowhere else!

Whatcha mean south of Vero ain`t south?

Dems fighten words (oops, wrong slalom website)..

S`bout time the south rise agin... Way t`go Wesley!!

Oh, and keep an eye out for them `Canes!!! heh heh !!!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Brady Mitchell on 2003-04-21 22:03 ]</font>

Just for the record, if anyone yells, "hey, Grandpa, what's for supper?" I'm gonna start kicking everybody's ass!

It's one thing to revel in your heritage, it's another one entirely to perpetuate stereotypes for the ogling mob!

Now, we got a thread going for Bar-B-Que and Fried Chicken. Someone wanna have a go at a good fish fry recipe?

how ya'll doin? ok, i said my peace.

We are all about some good eating but Wesley is so right about the stereotypes laid on Southerners. Let's get it out of our system and then move on please.

Breck is looking bad for the Byrd's all the sudden due to some new additions to the family. No not more kids just more puppies and Lisa will be in DC that week. I may have to puppy sit. Lame I know but such is life.

Will Team RCR be making that one?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Rick Stanziale on 2003-08-31 17:32 ]</font>

I feel free to post here, because I live Down South too!
Down South Germany that is! Yes dudes, there is such a thing as South Germany. We can do anything except speak proper german.
We have the best weather, the most lakes, the highest mountains, the largest woods, the best kitchen and the best wine. The only thing that lacks is the ocean. We border to Switzerland, France and Austria.

http://www.dasan.de/katalog/d/regionen/ ... chland.htm

Thanks for listening, at least you learned something! Have fun in the forum.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Chris Eggers on 2003-04-22 10:10 ]</font>

You've never had shrinp until you head down south.

We all get frozen shrimp up North. The only way to get real shrimp in Boston is to go to a Chinese restaurant that has a tank of them swimming......and they don't taste very good either- because they feed those shrimp some awful fish food.


You can have shrimp for breakfast lunch and dinner down south for less than a trip to McDonalds.

What made me excited about the possibility of having to go to Charleston again wasn't the skating....it was the shrimp. No kidding. The skating was great but the shrimp was the draw. We would never get Ed Economy out of the retaurants.

So Wesley- when are you going to train a shrimp fed team of slalom skaters to race us Northerners? Take a skater under your wing and your gas/toll costs will be cut in half.

And if skateboard slalom is poor man's forula one, then what will it take to make slalom popular in the South? Will they have to take a kickflipper deck- machine the trucks, change the ride height, and groove the wheels to soften them to make it poor man's nascar?

Or is poor man's nascar redundant? Now I've done it.......incoming!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: John Gilmour on 2003-04-22 12:26 ]</font>

We had Great Gumbo at the LJS, the last race Lisa Ricky's wife made some GREAT red beans and rice. That is the way to keep us racers comming back.

A bit of history:

Unlike F!, which started back before WWI with almost immediate factory support (Mercedes, Rolls Royce, etc,) NASCAR was indeed a poor man's racing endeavor. Little factory support, hardly any real sponsorship and a very limited popular appeal outside of a few location in the Southeast (sound like any other rolling sport we know about?)

What brought NASCAR out of the woods and into the daylight of Madison Avenue brilliance was two things: an incredible marketing strategy that emphasized NASCAR's strength and Bill France's indomitable will to see to it the sport didn't sell it's soul in order to make money.

50 years later, teams are beating away with a stick sponsors with multi-million dollar bankrolls. All three American auto makers are in the sport again and weekly attendance for a NASCAR event measures in the hundreds of thousands, not to mention millions watching on TV.

Is there a lesson in this for us tiny band of slalom skaters? I think so. Let's remember who we are and what we are and not try to sell ourselves as something other than what we are: hell-bent for leather racers with a desire for speed. We're not a circus act and we aren't going to skate for the sake of a corporate shill waving money in our face. Secondly, let's "market" ourselves to like-minded ATHLETES, not just other people who ride skateboards. I've said this so many times it's beginning to sound dry, but I'll say it again: our future is not kick-flippers. It's surfers, downhill skiers, snowboarders, windsurfers and alpine skiers who understand the thrill of the flow. Sure, some kid with a popsicle may decide he'd like to race, but let's not kill ourselves trying to convince new schoolers to give up rails and take up cones. I just don't think it's gonna happen.

If we build it, they will come (so to speak.) No, I don't think we'll ever draw 250,000 fans and have a 22 share on television. But I can see someday our sport having the same coverage as maybe international surfing events, World Cup Skiing and certainly a lot of extreme sports that to me are just organized stunt shows. And I don't think we'll have to PAY to get on TV, but will get PAID for our efforts to get on cable or maybe even network air time.

Let's just do what NASCAR did and never forget it: we are who we are and always will be. Eventually, we'll be accepted for what we are and let's not panic and try to convince the money changers we're something else. That's a sure-fire formula for making everybody miserable.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Rick Stanziale on 2003-08-31 17:32 ]</font>

Yes, send it to me in e-mail with what you want it to say below.

St. Louis is my only committment right now. Would like to go to to The Gathering but could only do one day.....

A southeastern event between now and St. Louis would be the ticket, even if it's outlaw.

Street monkeys to slalomers? Oh yes, its happening! Like van Stanziale said, Byrddog's scene in Mississippi is living proof of that. And in my tiny scene here in middle Ga, two of my town's most talented kickflippers join me to run cones every now and then. One of 'em is even wanting to go to some races with me. My belief is it's all about making yourself visible in your scene and giving gentle nudges when a street monkey shows some interest in what your doing.

Another thing, I left Ricky's race convinced that at least 90% of those kids would be back for his next race.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Rick Stanziale on 2003-08-31 17:33 ]</font>

Yeah, it ain't bad considering I did it all manually. Did I remember to dub in your voice when you asked me if I got that kid's slam on tape? I did it on some, but not all.

Lets talk about the new school scene. 80% of the St. Louis crew consists of kickflipers. Most of the boys can kill street and a mini ramp. I think you NEED all around skate skills to excel at slalom, the more different type of skating you can do the better. I’ve had no problems converting new schoolers in to slalom skateboards. My next mission is to get all the longboard guys in town to start slalom. I think when I smoke everybody down the hill for the first time this year, on my new 36 pocket pistol super g all the longboarders will want to check out the new slalom technology. That will be all it will take, and we will have more pimps playing.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Rick Stanziale on 2003-08-31 17:33 ]</font>

Tom, Thanks for the video. It IS good. Shows the race as it was, extended break and all.

I had a tough time getting people to come out at first. I gave away 5 of those early slalom starter kits (none of which are in use now), a 7-ply Fluid Stinger complete, Fibreflex response complete, a Bahne Classic, various wheels, trucks, bearings, risers and whatever. I found I had to get slalom equipment in there hands. You don't catch the bug slipping and sliding through a course on a flipper board. Maybe, I shamed a few into showing back up. Oh well... Once I got them there, with a board, they soon learned how fun it all can be. The timer helped get the competitive sprirt in the street guys going.
I must also say SkateMS.com has done more for me than anything. A tool like their message board is very vauable to bug the hell out of your skate community. Talk about slalom, then back it up with positive action, be it recycling used gear, having regular sessions at a regular spot or throwing a very small clinic/race.

See you in St. Louis...

Tom...Did you really have to document the race? Just Kidding, I love it. I see so much I can do better next time. It will be a great tool for me. I saw a few occasions where we had the wrong racers on the ramps, racers in wrong lanes, announcers with wrong names, what a mess. I'll do better, I promise.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Ricky Byrd on 2003-04-24 10:15 ]</font>

Byrddog - It was all great!! I speak for everyone when I say that!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Tom Thompson on 2003-04-24 15:08 ]</font>

How can I get my hands on a copy of the L.S.J. tape?

Wes, The south has always been exploited and we seem to thank the exploiters. I guess you have gotten used to it. I won't accept it.

First it was the cotton industry, then the timber industry, then the turpentine industry. Now the developers. They come from somewhere else and take what we have and make us thank them for it and the jobs.

Kind of like the people who sell us stuff and take the money and run, then brag about how much better we are for having it, to convince others to buy it.

Ok- enough of that. I live in what has to be the last bastion of southern redneck culture- Okeechobee, Fla. At the top of Lake Okeechobee. Where the men know how to beat their women and the women love it. Go figure.

They practice safe sex be marking the cows that kick with X's. They put astro turf on the football field to keep the chearleaders from grazing.

Ok,Ok,OK.

:lol:

Mark,

Between three and four hundred years ago, the South was settled by EXPLOITERS. The South was founded on the philosophy of EXPLOITATION. Unlike the frozen north, the purpose and virtue of settling and developing the South was PROFIT. There were no grandiose notions of religious freedom or political reform. The Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia and points west were always grounded in a solid attitude of profit, return on investment and developing available resources for financial gain. The Spanish didn't come to Florida looking for redemption, they came looking for gold and naval stores. Later, the British found Florida a rich land for growth and we were on our way from Key West to Arlington.

The South hasn't "allowed" itself to be exploited by others. The South today is the result of a long, proud and civilized tradition of exploitation. I see no reason to look at the South today and decide our heritage is somehow flawed or in need of revision to some modern expectation.

I know what we are. I have no intention of excusing or disclaiming what my home reflects historically or culturally. Profit is a noble venture that not only has made the South what it is today, but has made every civilized nation on Earth a better place to live.

This is the down south forum, take your beefs to the no criddle zone.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Rick Stanziale on 2003-08-31 17:31 ]</font>

if'n you read your histree books, you'll see the truth...
The Manatee was a gentle creature that grazed in the sawgrass fields and orange groves, walking around, munching...these were the creatures that ruled the south.
then came the Spanish explorers who took the feet from the Manatees, they used them for boots and umbrella holders.
The footless Manatee was driven from the land into the sea.
This is where they live now, having become the viscious, blood thirsty, teeth-gnashing creatures we fear so much.
Then King Richard Petty came along and took control of the south and sent all the fat shrimp to Calabash.

Shoot...it`s those stump knockin` peach eatin` feral wild jawja boars we`s down south (the REAL deep south) be a skeer`d of.

Times to go gets some eats. I`ll be sticking some crawfish an throwing dems up on the baw-B-Q an dipping dem in sum drawn butta. Oowee zat good. And then wash it down wit sum Jamaican rum and cola (Kik Check Colas the cheapset). Anybody gots some Uncle ray chips???

P, leave dems manatess alone. They ain`t nothin` but a bunch of low life vegans.

How 'bout them stinkin' Braves?

Down 5 in the 8th, all but given up for dead with the fans streaming for the parking lot and BLAM! Javy hits a 3-run homer and the Mets display all the composure of a naked nun in Times Square. Braves do the deed 11-8.

Ain't it hot out there?

Wesley, you were missed at the post race dinner. Red Hook and The Mean Bean always treat us right. Anyways....after dinner, we all headed back to the hotel to hit the bar, and I kid you not - this guy sat down at the bar, introduced himself as "Dalv" and ordered a Warsteiner.

Rick,

So did this guy Dalv LEAVE the bar or get THROWN OUT on his ass by a big guy named "Horace?" There's always one way to tell if it was the REAL Dalv.

Do me a favor: either here or in the GRS Slalom forum, let me know what happened after I left

I got out of town just as it was starting to rain and y'all were scrambling around to get stuff covered up. What happened next? Did you get to run the parallel slalom? Did you use qualifying times? How long did it take for the road to dry and did Parsons get plenty of rest before running the hill again?

Just wondering about the details.

Dalv was again spotted in downtown Athens, must be the Warsteiner.

He was complaining about his pants, apparently they weren't tight enough.

Here's a small snippet, introduced solely as evidence.....
<b><i>
Female Bar Patron: So who are you guys?

Dalv: I'm Dalv, and I'm a professional skateboarder.

Female Bar Patron: I thought you were in real estate?

Dalv: I dabble in real estate.

Female: Dabble?

Dalv: Did I say dabble? Damn these loose pants!

</b></i>


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Rick Stanziale on 2003-09-05 06:59 ]</font>

18-5 Filthydelphia

I have to admit that today is a day I feel some remorse towards being a Braves fan. I'll get over it, but today I have to say is a very sad day indeed.

In other news, longtime Moo U. play-by-play man Jim Phillips is dead. In response to this tragic news, Klempsun Kow Polyteknikal Kollege has decided to end all broadcasts of their athletic events.

After all, what are the odds of finding TWO people who can make the Tigers sound good on radio?

And the Braves recover to get Philly 4-2. What a way to come back from what could have been a crushing blow. Padiila's winning streak against Atlanta is history and the magic number is down to 6.

Gotta love 'dem Braves!

I'm fixin to get some gumballs.

For a live view of tway practicing for the worlds...follow link below and click on "live cam"...
http://www.nola.com/oystercam/