Phil Shao #15.

Modern freeway systems.

Emerica was running a team list in their ads up until the fall of 1997. The pros were Jamie Thomas, Marc Johnson, Chris Senn, Phil Shao, Donny Barley, Kenny Hughes, Dan Drehobl, John Cardiel, and Darren Navarrette. Tim McKenney and Mike Maldonado were the amateurs. I'm curious about Cardiel's time on Emerica. I don't believe he ever had an ad for them. He was wearing the shoes in his coverage from 1996-98 and did have a few tricks in the Yellow video from 1997. Has he ever mentioned Emerica in an interview? This is one of those curious little bits of trivia that I'd like to know more about. It reminds me of when Rick Howard was on éS for a couple months before he was on DC.

Slap - August 1997 Volume 6 Number 8

Mike Maldonado #7.

Brutalism.

I believe this was Mike's only ad for Emerica. I didn't remember that he even rode for them. It's sort of hard to tell what shoes Mike is wearing in a lot of his photos, but they look like something from Emerica or éS. He was added to the Axion squad in 2000. I miss when skate shoe companies had a line of assorted, somewhat generic in a good sense, plain cupsoles. I might as well make this the obligatory happy 30th anniversary to Welcome To Hell post. It seems like only yesterday the Toy Machine team was doing a demo in a Buffalo parking lot on the tour for the video.

Slap - October 1997 Volume 6 Number 10

Ed Templeton #36.

Description.

Ed was added to the Emerica team in 1998 after Sole Tech put Sheep Shoes out to pasture. He had previously ridden for Vans. He gradually faded away from Emerica as his formal pro career wound down. I think Ed assists Jamie Thomas with his WARSAW shoe project to some extent these days while cranking out the art for Toy Machine. Ed isn't really a backside tailslide guy and this bank looks so rough and bumpy.

Slap - April 1998 Volume 7 Number 4

Andrew Reynolds #21.

Balancing Emerica.

The Boss floats a frontside ollie back in the Birdhouse days. It's a little uncommon to see a skatepark photo of Andrew, particularly for an ad. Emerica has been fairly consistent with their graphic design from the beginning up until now. You seldom see any horrible missteps. Sometimes they try a different green or use fonts that are too small, but they always round back into form. I appreciate that effort. It's cool they have a good looking aesthetic that allows for variation while sticking to their overall image.

Slap - June 1998 Volume 7 Number 6

Jim Menscer #3.

Red Medicine.

Jim was part of the Phillie scene with Ricky Oyola, Matt Reason, and the rest of the crew. I wasn't sure if he turned pro, but this ad confirms that he did. He also rode for Sub Zero and Kastel. His music tastes in the 1990s included Superchunk, Sebadoh, and Fugazi.

I hope everybody has a good holiday weekend. Try to stay cool out there and party smart.

The photo is by Kelly Ryan.

Slap - April 1998 Volume 7 Number 4

Rob Pluhowski #8.

Frame grab.

Everybody's favorite Habitat amateur blasts a set of stairs to a small landing pad for First Division Wheels. Rob previously rode for Element before being an original rider on Habitat. His feet were sponsored by Vita and DVS. He came to the conclusion in the early 2000s that skateboarding wasn't going to be a stable career for him as he got older and peaced out from the biz at a good point in his life. You have to respect that.

It's been hot here and things are hectic with the holiday for work so I am worn out. I've been skateboarding in the driveway in the evenings when it is less hot. It keeps being hit or miss for me. I think I'm tired, even if I don't really feel tired. Adult life is grand. Maybe some new shoes will help.

I'm puzzled as to why they didn't include a credit for the photographer. Maybe they weren't sure who submitted the sequence when the ad was being designed.

Slap - November 1997 Volume 6 Number 11

Andrew Currie #2.

First division from UK Colonies.

Andrew hails from Queensland, Australia and has ridden for SMA, Foundation, Silverstar, Hoon, and probably a few other companies over the decades. I wanted to find some more information on him as I feel he had an interview in print somewhere, but I ran out of time to fully do the research. He got a lot of coverage in Slap in the 1990s so he's a familiar face you maybe don't know too much about.

Happy 125th, Australia! I apologize for being a few months late. Happy Canada Day!

Slap - October 1997 Volume 6 Number 10