"The death of skateboarding" - a question for the old guys

[Tarela]

Skateboarding won't die again, Companies have no problem puttin on kids with nothin but park footy these days so kids don't mind spending all there time at parks an still wanna pursue it or whatever, the clothing does well the shoes sell well, boards are kinda in a decline but that probably is the economy like previously stated...It's kinda interesting now when companies have a ton of shit they cant move in shops or wherever, regular clothing stores or department stores buy em as opposed to wondering wtf that company was years ago as long as motherfuckers is relevant to the fashion world they'll be ok...im more concerned about how jaded shit is, back then you saw another skater you guys were homies now people purposefully dodge each other cause there's so many dudes everybody wants to be somebody an cool guying you is the norm, skateshops give off that just business what can you do for us vibe its no longer give an take, not all shops though...that kinda saddens me, I cant expect something to grow without change i guess, but it's got me thinkin who's more core the kid skatin the spots with a ccs board or the shop rider basically living at the skatepark....not that it really should matter as long as your skating right?

[shit_for_brains]

i think it's gotten to the point where skateboarding can't die like it did in the early 90s again, there's too many people with big wallets involved. when i think of the death of skateboarding now, it means more that it's changed to be almost unrecognizable to people who have been skating for a long time.  i started in 94, and it is a completely different monster than it was then. i think of it like basketball or football before there was an NBA or NFL.  those dudes all had day jobs and shit like that, drove their own cars to away games, there just wasn't enough money involved to do it for a living. now everybody's a millionaire before they play their first game. that's where skateboarding is going to be very soon. it's not a sport for disaffected youth who don't fit in to all the other shit.  part of it will always be that, but that part gets smaller and smaller every year.  that's what the death of skateboarding is to me, anyway.

[radcunt]

Skating has been normalised and assimilated into our culture now, there's no going away.  Back in the mid 80s to early 90s it was a newly born thing for a wider audience to be adopting,  growing & dying whilst it found its feet.  It never truly got integrated into peoples every day lives and accepted by society in its earlier days being lumped with more faddish pursuits like rollerskating and the like.  Those days are gone.  Sure, it's popularity will ebb & flow, with corporate success & support coming and going but it'll always be there, like riding bikes and snow sports.  It's also got a lot to do with corporate involvement finding ways to properly monetize such 'sports'.

[BlackEye77]

Expand Quote

Since I started skateboarding in 2000, people have prophesied its death, when we'll revert to pressure flipping, crack smoking, underdog superheroes who get beat up for wearing big pants. But in that eleven years, I haven't seen skateboarding's media attention slow down. We have a few video game franchises, TV contests, drink sponsors (even drink team switches), and more skateparks than ever, with more on the way. My question for you old guys is, was there ever a period where skateboarding was "alive" for this long? I know the 80s had some bizarre shit which led to a Gator-sized collapse, but was that era as long? And did it have as much pervasive mainstream attention?

[close]

1. It was popular in short spurts during the '60s and '70s.
2. Judging by the thickness of Thrasher over the years, I'd say '86-'90.
3. The '80s had Back to the Future, Thrashin', Gleaming the Cube, but very little T.V. coverage aside from a few music videos and commercials. I did once see an am contest on cable in '89. It was strange.

It will never die completely like it has before. Back when Nike dumped its rollerblade division and concentrated on skateboarding, they realized only a small percentage of the population is willing or able to fruitboot but they can sell skate shoes to the whole world, whether they skate or not. Today also seems like a more robust version of the '70s (though it may never be as big) with the skateparks and contests, but without the coaches and ice skating type mandatory runs (though we're getting there).

Can't leave out Skate TV, the best 1/2 hour of 80's television outside of Pee Wee's Playhouse and Alf.

[tobal]

"Back when Nike dumped its rollerblade division and concentrated on skateboarding"

[Magic Pizza]

I just miss when skating was more inspired by hip-hip, graffitti, just causing mischeif, or also punk rock and gnarliness and now it seems like it's like high fashion, and everything is real clean, or I don't even know what.

In a way skating right now is kind of like the early nineties. Ridiculous tech combos, crazy progression, controversial gear, but as people have been saying there's lots of money involved now, that's the difference. Instead of "big pants small wheels" it's "small pants big bucks"

[Tufty]

  Some random thoughts this has no structure i was just brainstorming and writing.


 Well skateboarding has died the way older guys knew it. Young kids are psyched with skating right now but it wasnt like this jock shit back in the day. I dont mean tricks i mean skater's attitude. Back in the day tricks mattered as much as attitude.

 
 Skaters were the misfits, the rebels, a true underground subculture. I was lucky enough to start skating in that era and those guys were a great influence. I have million stories from back then. We were a family back then there was real solidarity because we were few and we had to defend ourselves. I mean we didnt care just about tricks we just wanted to be in the streets together and have fun NO sponsoring bullshit nor care about the fuckin industry whatsoever. Skateboarding was like something cool back then but everyone was afraid of it because of our looks and our attitude if you werent one of us, if you didnt think like us you wouldnt even think of starting skating and we liked it that way. The cool skaters back then were not the guys who would do a crazy trick oh no. The cool guys were those who would steal beer and give you one, who would pick up a fight even with cops that try to kick us out of a spot, guys who would listen to the same music as you, guys who have the same view with you in politics and society, guys who would spend time teaching you a trick, guys who are funny, guys who have that cool punk band or that did that crazy graffiti, in general guys who are interesting and that you wanted to be friends with. If they were good at skating this would add up but just that wouldnt stand a chance back then. There were some good skaters that where dicks and they would always get discouraged and then quit. NO DICKS ALLOWED was the number one rule.

 Now skateboarding has become literally a sport and MOST skaters are pretty much like athletes. The attitude element is gone. Individuality is gone. The only thing that matters is tricks. The coolest guy is the one that skates better... Now skateboarding is cool because most of the skaters fit the mainstream and no one is discouraged to start skateboarding, even dicks are welcome if they could skate good. Skateboarding nowadays lacks of personalities. Almost Everyone is too clean cut, predictable, boring,marketable and pretty much the same. When i talk to kids they cant form an opinion about anything except skateboarding, because only tricks matter to them, this pisses me off. 

 Well skateboarding hasnt died for me i still look at it the way it was but now i am a minority back then i was a majority. I miss that. There are less interesting people in skateboarding right now. Kids that havent lived back then wont understand....

[barkeep11]

I don't think there are less interesting characters in skateboarding.  In fact I think that there are more.  It's just that skating has gotten SO BIG that they're harder to see.  Who those people are is a matter of opinion but they're there.

For me I just keep doing it because I love it.  It's my favorite thing to do and I'm not gonna stop until my body won't let me.  I don't give a shit how big skating gets.  When I'm pushing down the street... it's all about me.

[finknoos]

I just miss when skating was more inspired by hip-hip, graffitti, just causing mischeif

[BlackEye77]

I sometimes yell at skate kids from my car, just so they know it feels like to be shunned. There was a time where you couldn't walk down the street w/o some jock yelling "skaterfag!" or something like that.

I guess I'm one of the "old guys" but I have stuck with skating through thick and thin, and my love for it has never faded even a little. I have fought extensively for skateboarding. Like a lot of us who've been around for a long time I got harassed in high school, fighting with and jumped by jocks regularly, wrestled with security guards, all that. Today's generation of young skaters haven't dealt with being the scourge of society that skaters were once perceived as. It wasn't just that we weren't accepted, in the early-mid '90's we were absolutely hated. That's why I yell shit at kids sometimes, to keep the angst going.  

Much of what needs to be said on this topic has already been said, so sorry if I reiterate any points.

I've fought for skateboarding in a lot of other ways too. Arguing with city hall to get a park built, then encouraging them not approve a shitty design and to hire a decent skatepark design/build company instead of the lowest bidding cement contractor. I've volunteered my time and labor to build ramps and parks, made DIY spots, whatever.  I haven't done any of this for recognition and don't want a pat on the back, I just love to skate. The skateparks are a mixed blessing to me. I've always loved skating tranny as much or more than I like traditional street skating. Any good street spot or well designed park is visually appealing in a way I can't explain. I'm not way into paintings, but I imagine the feeling being similar to and art aficionado looking at a Monet. However, they don't just do it because they like skaters, the city sponsored parks help keep skaters off the streets. I say screw them, hit the streets, tear shit up, fight with security guards and any boneheads that give you shit, don't let the city segregate you.

Will skating ever be what it was in the 90's? No. Times have changed. It makes me sad that the sense of brotherhood and community isn't what it used to be but it's still there, you just gotta deal with all of the imposters and a lot more attitude and competitiveness than before. Whether skating "dies" or not is irrelevant to me in a sense, I will still be doing it no matter what.

[1dxxxx]

Skateboarding is here to stay, its too big to die now.

[Tarela]

Skateboarding is here to stay, its too big to die now.

Nothing's ever to big to die

[ORGANIKARL]

skateboarding as an act will never die...


the business may go through slumps...


but the "community" as of now, is on some jock schit straight up...   

[pinche gringo]

I don't think there are less interesting characters in skateboarding.  In fact I think that there are more.  It's just that skating has gotten SO BIG that they're harder to see.  Who those people are is a matter of opinion but they're there.

For me I just keep doing it because I love it.  It's my favorite thing to do and I'm not gonna stop until my body won't let me.  I don't give a shit how big skating gets.  When I'm pushing down the street... it's all about me.

I agree completely.

[manbergur]

Expand Quote

I don't think there are less interesting characters in skateboarding.  In fact I think that there are more.  It's just that skating has gotten SO BIG that they're harder to see.  Who those people are is a matter of opinion but they're there.

For me I just keep doing it because I love it.  It's my favorite thing to do and I'm not gonna stop until my body won't let me.  I don't give a shit how big skating gets.  When I'm pushing down the street... it's all about me.

[close]

I agree completely.

to me pushing down the street or carving/cruising in regards to transition is what its all about. i know one day i wont be able to do the tricks i often take for granted - one day when im 75 i wont be doing that stuff, but i plan to still be rolling.

[sixpackoftablets]

fuck yeah old guys telling it like it was.

being a skater in my high school 89-93 was downright dangerous. dodging jock gestapo and corrupt small-town police left and right to an NWA and Metallica soundtrack.

adversity built the "sport." being an outcast was the "lifestyle."

now all the oldbros reap the benefits of jock-Nike-former-littleleaguer money: thousands of concrete parks whilst bitching about the old days of no parks. in Norcal we had 3 in the entire state: Derby in SC, HP dish (yeah right) and the "new school" Benicia park (so great, yet so wack). When we got licenses we would literally drive from san fran to santa barbara and la to skate 2 ft' banks to benches at elementary schools.

I just had an old dude session at Miley the other week. a 20 year anniversary for me - a magical spot - and it didn't look like many kids bother with it anymore. I used to take the bus for nearly 3 hours each way to get there on a Saturday and skate all day.  And yes, we butt boarded that bumpy ass blacktop back to the parking lot after the session.

[manbergur]

did you ollie that gap at the top into the bumpy blacktop hill after each session at miley? first time i went there my local guide told me that everyone used to ollie that shit into that gnar hill and bomb as far as they could before bailing and running it out.. i think i did it once and pulled it, then ate serious shit after i hit a rock or chunk of blacktop haha.. after that i just figured hey i did it once thats enough lol

[layzieyez]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with skateparks.  I have learned a lot of tricks and had a lot of fun actually skateboarding in those parks (along with meeting some good people who became friends). 

All the real adventure I've experienced in my life on a skateboard though was found when I left the safe confines behind and ventured into the world with everyone else in it.  Random weirdos, makeshift/short lived spots, getting injured and using my skateboard as a wheelchair pushing miles to a bus stop, and other crazy happenings are the memories I carry with me from skating in the late 80's. 

I'm proudest of the mileage I have traveled just taking in the scenery and making sudden discoveries I would have missed if I was just traveling to the skatepark.  I chased Animal Chin around half of the world.  Dude is slippery, but there's nothing more fun than trying to seek him out at every opportunity even if you fail each time.

If you stay in the skatepark, Animal Chin isn't going to come to you.  Remember that.

[1978]

i remember in the late 80's and into the 90's being a skater was as bout as cool as being a paedophile 

and girls would even look in your direction let alone wanna smash.

now days skaters GET pussy.

[layzieyez]

i remember in the late 80's and into the 90's being a skater was as bout as cool as being a paedophile 

and girls would even look in your direction let alone wanna smash.

now days skaters GET pussy.

As a boy in highschool in Hawaii during that time period, I was part of a dance group as my cover (it was either that or join a fucking gang).  You wouldn't believe how bummed out girls would get when they found out I skateboarded.

[barkeep11]

Expand Quote

i remember in the late 80's and into the 90's being a skater was as bout as cool as being a paedophile 

and girls would even look in your direction let alone wanna smash.

now days skaters GET pussy.

[close]

As a boy in highschool in Hawaii during that time period, I was part of a dance group as my cover (it was either that or join a fucking gang).  You wouldn't believe how bummed out girls would get when they found out I skateboarded.

Haha!  Secret agent dancer-man!

[Mouth]

I remember being laughed at by old ladies in the street for my XXXXL 1993 flare.

My friends and I were banned from buying the biggest sizes from Factory Outlet, because we were reducing the local fatties to nudists.

[grimcity]

I'm one of a ton of skatepark advocates for the south east areas of my state... we have the parks we used to dream about as kids, which is sick.

I think the weird part is when they're seen as cages by the police and local government... like the equivalent of free speech zones during a political event. Regardless, the parks are great but it's important that we teach the groms the importance of spot hunting.

[barkeep11]

Yeah, spot-hunting... and NOT pushing mongo.  There is an alarming trend toward the front-foot push.

[marginal way]

the key to killing mongo is to not only heckle the mongo kid, but to also get the offender's friends to heckle it out of them.

"hey, that's your buddy over there, right?'

"yeah."

"are you really gonna let your friend grow up pushing shitfoot? friends gotta look out for each other."


because they're not gonna listen to the weird old dude anyway, you gotta shame their friends into shaming the shitfoot out of them.

[layzieyez]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

i remember in the late 80's and into the 90's being a skater was as bout as cool as being a paedophile 

and girls would even look in your direction let alone wanna smash.

now days skaters GET pussy.

[close]

As a boy in highschool in Hawaii during that time period, I was part of a dance group as my cover (it was either that or join a fucking gang).  You wouldn't believe how bummed out girls would get when they found out I skateboarded.

[close]

Haha!  Secret agent dancer-man!

Dammit!  Blew my cover again.

[annoyedwithskating]

skateboarding was perfect in the 80s and 90s. normal people didnt like us, and we didnt like them. never had a problem finding chicks either. I hope it dies again. i hate all the mainstream bullshit.

[Canuck]

I started skating in 1995, so I don't know if I qualify to post in this thread. Skating to me seems like it has only gotten bigger and bigger since I started.

street skating > park skating

[manbergur]

I started skating in 1995, so I don't know if I qualify to post in this thread. Skating to me seems like it has only gotten bigger and bigger since I started.

street skating > park skating

i dont think you need to qualify to post in a thread. i started skating in 95 as well. or at least i got my first board then. thats almost 17 years. so id say that qualifies to an extent. but street skating isnt necessarily greater or better than park skating. skating for yourself, by yourself, for fun, is greater than skating for a sponsor, for the joy of others, and to gain any sort of status.. but do what you want. thats the best part about all this shit - there are no rules

[lampshade]

i remember in the late 80's and into the 90's being a skater was as bout as cool as being a paedophile 

and girls would even look in your direction let alone wanna smash.

now days skaters GET pussy.

Too funny.  I went to a super preppy college in the south during the late 90's-early 2000's.  Definitely had to keep skating on the DL in you want to talk to any girls that weren't fat with piercings and dyed hair. 

The thing with skating now is that the soft goods have blown up and are here to stay.  Same thing with surfing back in the day.  Think about the number of people who actually go surfing vs. the number that buy Billabong/QS/Roxy/Oneill/Reef gear.  Now the same is true with skating.  The kid across the street from me has never set foot on a skateboard, plays lacrosse and runs track, yet dresses like he's flow for Black Box.