(FORTUNE Magazine) – THE BIGGEST BRUISERS in sports manufacturing battled each other (and a backfield of peewee-size competitors) at last month's Super Show in Atlanta--the biggest sporting goods show in the world and the second-biggest U.S. trade show of any kind after the computer industry's Comdex. For four days starting February 4, some 3,200 exhibitors crowded inside the Georgia Dome and adjacent buildings to pitch balls, bats, shoes, pucks, bicycle tire sealants, and groin protectors to a trade-only audience numbering almost 104,000. The biggest boys weren't any too friendly. Nike (1) and Converse, fearing spies might steal their latest shoe designs, turned away anybody lacking formal appointments and proper credentials. Smaller fry, though, were happy for attention. A proud father demonstrated the Pocket Shaper (4), a glove-tenderizing mallet invented by his son; promoters of reVISOR (2), "the first real advance in headwear design in over 40 years," showed off their hat's ventilating properties; and a feral, leather-clad young woman struck the correct pose for surfing down a mountainside atop her Outback Mountainboard (5): "two parts roller coaster, one part skydiving, and a splash of chariot jousting." Sadly, ButtMaster's Suzanne Somers (3) was not personally present, but another 114 celebrities were, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammad Ali, O.J. Anderson, Mario Andretti, and Denise Austin. (That was just the A's.)

"EXTREME" was a word tossed around a lot at the Super Show--meaning daring, risky, unboring, cutting-edge. And nothing was more extreme than the Roller Cycle (6), which, even when seen, can't quite be believed. An in-line skater leans into a yoke around his hips. Behind him, and attached to this yoke, is a small gasoline motor driving a wheel in contact with the ground. A tug or two on the starter cord, and vrooooom!--the skater, looking like he's being chased down the street by a rototiller, is off, propelled forward at speeds up to 25 mph. He can, if he likes, tow one or more unmotorized skaters behind him. "Grunge" was a second word heard often, denoting sports whose appeal was gritty, aggressive, down-market--viz., grunge golf, played not at country clubs but on municipal courses and equipped by such outfitters as Death Stick (7), whose credo reads in part, "Always kill the ball; never lay up; hit your driver wherever possible; scream at those who play slow; pray for the death of conservative golf." Not all products had attitude; most were just utilitarian, such as Earz (10), warm, socklike pockets that grip the ears, and the Krane Sock (9), a breakthrough in basketball hygiene for players who, until now, have had to use their sweaty palms to wipe dirt and dust off shoe bottoms during play. An athlete wearing the Krane Sock need only do a little jig, deftly wiping his shoe bottom against the circular cleansing pad on the shin of his opposite leg. Functional, too (but kinda scary looking), was a protective suit of armor for hockey goalies made by Franklin Sports (11), and a combination watch-siren called ArmAlarm (14) for persons concerned that their unstinting devotion to regular, wholesome outdoor exercise might get them beaten up or raped. Perfect Curve (8), a sort of dental retainer for baseball caps, ensures that a brim left overnight on its curved form will emerge fresh and springy the next morning, its jaunty curvature restored. And Richlee Co.'s line of Flag Wear (12) was enough to assuage anyone's fear of ever having his patriotism questioned. "Yes, that's our whole thing--the American look," said a spokeswoman. Not Uncle Sam in all his glory, however, could have gained entry, uninvited, to Converse's Albert Speer-esque pavilion (13), where the most highly sensitive sneaker secrets were being kept under lock and key. We tried beating the secrets out of a guard, but he sounded his ArmAlarm and we escaped on a Roller Cycle.