things:
You have given up skating street
You have given up skating switch
You basically gave up on skateboarding
Ain't nobody learning tricks on those fuck ass shapes, and the influx of kids riding them aren't good. Hipster rainbow graphics doesn't help their cause. Just get a normal board so you don't back yourself into a wall.
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It would be too easy to retort with examples like Evan Okeson and that Mango dude. I'm sure any of us could adjust to a shaped board and not lose tricks but since I personally haven't ridden a shaped board since all boards were shaped, I'll just vicariously discredit everything you said through this dude because I like watching the clips anyway (surely there are many more examples):
Can switch 360 flip better than I ever could, even when I rode 8" decks:
Dylan Jones - 'Hand Drags & High 5's'As most skaters know, it's what you make of it. Welcome isn't my favorite thing out there but someone else's skateboarding isn't anyone else's business. If they're stoked than good for them, they're probably getting more out of each session than trash talking little turds like you.
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Ya I'm sure people can rip on welcomes, but people also rip on sector 9 and longboards.
There's no steezy kickflips or big stairsets, this is what skaters crave[/quote]
Did you watch the videos? There's ledges, manuals, flip tricks, rails, switch skating, big stairs, tranny, ditches; just about everything. The gap the dude backside flips at the end of the 2nd vid is hefty, that clip could fit into any pro/am part and not look like throwaway.
I don't remember all the exact tricks in the linked videos, but it's hard to argue that kickflips and switch ollies over double sets isn't "steezy." It's goofy comparing gimmicky longboard tricks with people out ripping up the streets on a normal length skateboard. So what if a person's deck is not a popsicle shape? I don't see how that takes away from the skating.
Yeah, some of the kids who bite the while Welcome image might seem like try-hards, but are they really any different than the masses of Gilbert Crokett clones, with their form-fitting long sleeve button ups and pants rolled up 3" above their low top vans? Seems like the only difference is that one group choose a style that more people find palatable.
At the end of the day, this whole conversation goes against everything that's rad about skateboarding. Skaters aren't confined to any set of rules and we don't all "crave" the same shit so if someone is riding any shape board, having fun and shredding on their own terms, then it's beyond lame for another skater to hate on what they're doing. That mentality is no different than the high school jocks who'd call us "faggot" for wearing SkateRags and Vans instead of polo shirts and Nikes, and because we spent our own free time riding a skateboard in lieu of basketball or wrestling.
You don't have to buy into it yourself or even like it, but just go about your own business and if they're not hurting anyone the let them have fun in their way. Being bothered by such superficial rubbish is just a shitty way to be.