The Nine

It started out as a simple favor. You see, Alex Perelson asked me if I would be willing to take him & Josh Stafford out pool skating as they had to shoot a few photographs for Lowcard. I said - “Of course, dude…. no problem.” I like skating with Alex and Josh anyway. I arranged a few things but then received a phone call from Brian of Lowcard. He asked if Bucky could come too. I love Bucky and so I figured…  sure! I phoned him & Bucky filled me in on the deal. He would be bringing Paul Wisniewski & Owen Neider as well. I started doing the math. Dang! Too many… Then, my good pool pal Sean Mazza was in town with our friend Nick who was celebrating his 40th birthday…. my pal Al Brunelle was staying at the house too! I just decided that we would wing it and let the chips fall where they may. I even phoned Lance and he came along. Funny thing is, Alex ended up bowing out that morning, so in my mind we became - ‘The Nine’.  Like in the ‘Lord of the Rings’- “Nine rings of power were gifted to the race of men…. who above all else, desire power.” Well, aside from being a Tolkien fan, I knew that with such a wrecking crew of skateboarders, we were going to see some ‘power’ on this day! The crew didn’t disappoint. Being as it had rained and we had so many guys, I decided to keep it – pretty much– ‘permission’ pools only. This way, we were safe from hassles & the guys could get their photographs and all.

At the first pool, Bucky chunked his way into some FS Smith action & conquered his first shallow stairs. Well done! Sean Mazza ripped like crazy. Boardlides  & FS 5-0  over the stairs made him MVP at that stage. Birthday boy–Nick–put his trucks on the coping, Al Brunelle crushed it with tailslides & FS rock slides. Everyone else got in & got busy and that is that.

Our next stop was a local permission favorite. Lance joined us and threw down as only Lance can. Everyone was hyped and the session grew heated.  We hit three good pools and then at dark, we all drove & had a feast together. After saying our goodbyes, I headed home. I thought of ‘The Nine’. These nine pool pals that I spent the day with.  Good people. I often see a great number of folks that are quite the opposite. The worlds cities are full of them. Primitive. Ugly. Self-concerned & unable to show empathy…  it’s enough to make one sick. We seem to be moving backwards on the evolutionary plane… That night, I put the DVD -  ’Lord of the Rings’ into my MAC and watched for awhile. The fantasy world that some people live in can be quite attractive. There is a comfort that comes with denial… avoidance of problems and the stress of life. Watching the DVD, I thought that the world of the Hobbits seemed pretty awesome. Valor, love, sacrifice, allegiance, brotherhood. Then I realized that I had experienced those very things that day with my nine friends. I went to sleep happy. Thanks to the Nine and Brian Shamanski for the images. Skate- Ozzie