@tortfeasor - except I've been skating since the mid 80's and have seen pretty much every Penny clip when it came out, starting with the 411 part of him skating Radlands and rolling weed. What you described is the opposite of what I, and many others, are saying. We're let down because we know how good he looked on a board, and he is a mere shell of his former self. Frontside kickflips became my main go-to for many years because of Penny. It's clearly the drugs and alcohol that did him in. It's actually somewhat entertaining to hear people gushing over footage of someone looking so bad on a skateboard - kind of like swearing your local sports team is the best when they haven't won a game in decades. Everyone knows you're delusional and can't accept the truth.
Imagine if some golf pro showed up out of nowhere and did nothing but get hole-in-ones for a few years, only to disappear in the midst of his prime. Then years later, he returns to the spotlight, with much more media coverage than ever before, but he's barely making par... and he's very clearly an alcoholic/drug addict. There would be documentaries all about that downfall. Nobody would be saying 'he's still got it!'.
But anyway, I don't want to keep arguing this point because I'd prefer to just remember how dope Penny was.