Steve Olson: How To Judge A Cluster F***

Fanning the flames of the imminent 5^th Annual Pro-Tec Pool Party, it’s time to check in with skate legend Steve Olson. As a Pool Party judge, Olson draws on more than four decades of his own sideways ride through life to make the calls that have some competitors cashing checks and others licking wounds. Here’s how Olson sees it:  

FUEL TV: How do you keep track of everything during the final jam?
Steve Olson: I keep my awareness level at extreme red alert. I use a technique called Split Eye. I can watch the right side of the pool with my right eye and I can watch the left side of the pool with my left eye. It’s a technique they taught me at the Skateboard Judging School before I got kicked out.

FTV: How do you decide what’s radder?
SO: Let’s see, Ben Schroeder’s doing a 50-50 through the corner at 635 miles per hour and at the same time Rune Glifberg is doing a stalefish six-and-a-half feet out. I just hope they don’t collide in the middle. But you know, Ben just doesn’t do a normal 50-50. Some guys use the 50-50 as a set-up trick, but Ben does it faster and makes it look like he could die at any moment. That’s exciting. Then again, Bucky’s kickflip around the corner is a bit more technical . . .  

FTV: What do you look for?
SO: Execution. Speed. Control. Style.

FTV: Does the crowd’s reaction affect you?
SO: Not at all.

FTV: So what’s it boil down to?
SO: You can tell who is ripping. It’s as simple as that. You can really tell who’s killing it and who’s killing it second best. I’ll tell you what I don’t want to see: I don’t want to see guys hold on to the same line they’ve been doing every year.

FTV: Who always surprises you?
SO: Rune. Bucky. Omar is a machine. And Burnquist is always a nutbag.

-PoolSnob