Go big or go home..
Some things never change no matter how much skateboarding progresses and the fact that its progression moves at such a pace its hard to keep up with the instant one-upmanship of social media, the influence of top pros are not just seen daily but every minute there is a new post that gets lost in an endless stream of clips that are forgotten about as fast as they are posted and to stand out from the crowd its about pushing the limits of whats possible on a skateboard.
There is however the ones that far surpass what could ever be imagined.
Jeremy Wray is one of those that has gone down in skate history he has style, grace and has one of the longest ollies in history, when i first saw the footage of the water tower gap i thought it was fake and even today it stands up as one of the gnarliest gaps done even 24years later no one has one upped him, thats when you know youve done something truley gnarly..so feast your eyes on some unbelievable commitment..skate or die in the true sense of the word.
#jeremywray #gnarly #scsc #southcoastskateclub #watertower #thrasher #1997
Can skateboarding as we know it be killed?
Well, here we are 2021 and skateboarding is coming to the Olympics re-scheduled from last year because of the pandemic and the divide in option is very real, skaters are very welcoming of new people picking up boards and learning to skate, but we are very protective of our community and sub-culture, sometimes almost so much that we act with a guarded suspicion to anyone on the outside.
There are so many types of skating and types of skateboarders and you know why? (this will be controversial) because we are still just people, people that live in a sub-culture dedicated to rolling around on a plank of wood and from what I have learnt over the years..we are obsessive people at that, we want people to share skateboarding but on our terms but you know what, each of us as indiviuals have our own terms that we hold dear.
We have the kids that grow up with fond memories of rolling around on their knee and bombing hills but never take it any further, never learning to ollie or do tricks but their love for skateboarding is no less than yours and they will always have that as part of them.
You have the ones that I see as the hardcore skaters the ones that really keep everything going, they are either sponsorship material but dont want it or dont care if they lose it and the ones that have about a hundred old injuries but are still going because thats what they love.
The competition/career skater pushes themselves into the limelight knowing that there is a great opportunity to make a living while they can and why not everyones got to live and feed their family.
There is so many types of skaters out there that, yes advertisers and big companies may try to make money off of our thing but would it really matter?
Does it really matter if the Olympics has an image that we dont agree with?
Because if enough skaters dont agree with something it will eventually go ..shunned from our community and if not, when ive gone for a skate..just me and my board does it really matter what the rest of the world is doing?
Not at that time, you cant change skateboarding on a personal level and the enjoyment that people get out of it...but what do I know, I dont own skateboarding im just in it for the ride.
Cockroaches or Skate rats?
Here we are hoping we are coming to the end of this madness, well mother nature has truely had enough of our big size tens and our self destructive nature, she has thrown us a great big right to the jaw flooring most us in the process.
skateboarders though have taken a unique view on this just as we see street furniture in a different light i feel like most of us took our opportunity while we could with time off work, clear streets with little or no security.
I swear if there was a nuclear war the only thing left would be cockroaches and skateboarders fighting it out for the last bit of concrete.
Theres always a postive to everything..right?!
With the massive undercurrent of stress and anxiety having an effect on everyone,its in these times that im so thankful that ive got my board to keep me going when i really needed it the most.
