Ben Sanchez – Girl Skateboards Mouse (1997)

Ben has the best part in Mouse nobody mentions.

Mouse is such a phenomenal skate video. Girl’s third video just shits on everything else ever committed to tape. The skating, the skits, the music… Usually when people reference Mouse they talk about Guy Mariano ambidexterity or Keenan Milton’s switch kickflip over a picnic table at Lockwood. Real recognise real though and Ben Sanchez always gets a mention too.

Ben literally flies onto the screen via a kickflip into a downhill run. The action is accentuated by the blaring horn blast of Earth Wind and Fire’s Shining Star. The bass line and lyrics make sure you remember what you’re watching. This is something special.

Before Busenitz set the San Francisco streets on fire, Ben Sanchez was firing nosegrinds, half cab noseslides and nollies at maximum velocity. This was street skating but of a different caliber. Ben’s tricks are simple but effective. A lot of straight forward slide and grind variations (preferably nasal) and a few flawless flip tricks thrown in for good measure. The frontside shove-it and 360 flip at the rough-as-fuck hip spot are no joke. That bump fucked up more than one burly skater back in the day.

I think the real appeal of Ben Sanchez’s video part in Mouse isn’t just the speed of his skating or his ability to rock beige cargo pants and white sneakers. It’s also the physical weight he carries when skating. Ben’s got that chunk for your funk.

I’m pretty sure Ben faded out of the limelight after Mouse which is kind of wild when you think of the impression he made. The last I heard of him he was living a good life as a successful car mechanic.

Respect to one of the original big boys of skateboarding.