Jessyka Bailey Pro for There Skateboards

[Lou Strux]

Superstar Deluxe Professional sounds like one helluva rad title.
Would love to have that on my resume.

[Hyliannightmare]

What a time

[Hedgehog In Da Fog]

I have a copy of a 1998 interview issue of a Transworld, where all these pros are giving their opinion of the current skate industry.

Almost every interview in that thing has someone complaining about how there's "too many pros these days", that the market was flooded, game was fucked up, "back in 1993 you had to pay your dues", "it doesn't mean anything anymore", etc etc etc.

people have been bitching about this since the beginning of street skateboarding. It seems like a dumb argument in 1998 and it seems like a dumb argument now. it never seems to actually "fuck up the game" or water it down the way people claim it will -- after all, it's 2022 and the industry is still here and the culture is still alive. I think it's a thinly veiled way of screaming into the abyss "i hate change" or "new things are scary" or maybe "i like the existing monopolies"

I think the only criteria to put someone's name on a skateboard should be that the company is stoked on them, and they think that person can sell a few boards to the target demo. Any other criteria for what makes a "real" pro are gonna be either jockish (how many inches high can you ollie) or impossible to define in objective terms (he/she/they paid their """d u e s""")

Yeah but the pros in 1998 (and many years after) were widely understood to be really, really good at skateboarding.

[Crailslideyoface]

if anything i can see this as being more relevant then all the other threads that are like “bip wafflehouse pro for Fishtank” and all the responses are people just going “oh weird. never heard of any of this stuff but that’s cool” and one guy going “southeast iowa represent!! skated with bip once for half an hour and we didn’t speak but he seemed cool”

Wafflehouse got 2026 SOTY smouthered and covered

[exlurker]

Skating will be better when all the people obsessing over "meritocracy"-based sponsorship get frustrated and quit

[Hedgehog In Da Fog]

I mean, clearly not.

[augustmoon]

Skating will be better when all the people obsessing over "meritocracy"-based sponsorship get frustrated and quit

Easily one of the dumbest things I’ve read on here, congrats

[goldenbullcow]

call me crazy but i just feel like you ought to be good at skating to be a pro skater.

[Fongstarr.]

call me crazy but i just feel like you ought to be good at skating to be a pro skater.

We just live in a different time in skateboarding. Youtubers are more famous than your legacy pro skaters, small companies are doing better than the big companies, skaters that suck can be pro and sell more skateboards than your average pro skater. It's just different than how it used to be.

On the flip side though, I do follow some of the people associated with There skateboards and I do dig how they are just like any other skate crew with their filmers, their photographers, their artist, etc. The following they have in the Bay Area is really strong and they do a lot with Skate Like A Girl which I dig as well.

[LebowskisRug]

I fully back an Arin pro model for Sci Fi.

There does a lot for the LGTBQ scene. One morning I was skating the spot and there were 2 trans skaters there. After chatting for a while they noted that they got flowed from Unity because their parents basically cut them off for being trans. Given that the Trans suicide rate is insanely high and personally, while I’m not Trans and cannot directly relate, being young and figuring your identity out is hard as fuck.

I think Corey Duffel said that he just couldn’t relate to tall tees and nollie nose manuals and I remember when he first came onto the scene he got tons of shit for “not being that good” compared to the rail chompers of the era. Clearly that changed and he provided a model for a lot of kids that felt the same way. I’m sure gender identity is a lot harder to sort out and a community for people to reside and feel welcome when they’re effectively shunned from most of society is fantastic. I’ll buy a There deck with anyones name on it if it’s good wood and the right shape because what they’re doing is probably more important for skating than most brands even if it doesn’t churn out cutting edge footy.

[somefucker]

ya, ima chuck my 2 cents in the "_____ turns pro for _____ skateboards est. this month" jar

congrats tho, bet ya mama's proud at least

[HatRemovalService]

that kickflip down the 3 earned it

[Fongstarr.]

There does a lot for the LGTBQ scene. One morning I was skating the spot and there were 2 trans skaters there. After chatting for a while they noted that they got flowed from Unity because their parents basically cut them off for being trans. Given that the Trans suicide rate is insanely high and personally, while I’m not Trans and cannot directly relate, being young and figuring your identity out is hard as fuck.

I was at Pier 7 months back and a whole crew of the There skaters came through. Didn't know who they were until I looked them up. Chico Brenes was there and then minutes later, Frank Grewer comes by as well as Dennis Busineitz. It was like something you would never see at Pier 7 back in the days.

[camel filters]

If there are people willing to buy the boards then it makes sense to turn someone pro. Just because you wont buy it, doesn’t mean others won’t. That is all there is to it and I can’t believe we are still arguing about this.

[Ignatius J Reilly]

Expand Quote

I have a copy of a 1998 interview issue of a Transworld, where all these pros are giving their opinion of the current skate industry.

Almost every interview in that thing has someone complaining about how there's "too many pros these days", that the market was flooded, game was fucked up, "back in 1993 you had to pay your dues", "it doesn't mean anything anymore", etc etc etc.

people have been bitching about this since the beginning of street skateboarding. It seems like a dumb argument in 1998 and it seems like a dumb argument now. it never seems to actually "fuck up the game" or water it down the way people claim it will -- after all, it's 2022 and the industry is still here and the culture is still alive. I think it's a thinly veiled way of screaming into the abyss "i hate change" or "new things are scary" or maybe "i like the existing monopolies"

I think the only criteria to put someone's name on a skateboard should be that the company is stoked on them, and they think that person can sell a few boards to the target demo. Any other criteria for what makes a "real" pro are gonna be either jockish (how many inches high can you ollie) or impossible to define in objective terms (he/she/they paid their """d u e s""")

[close]

Should everyone who's currently am or flow be pro then, in your opinion?

did he say that?

Expand Quote

I have a copy of a 1998 interview issue of a Transworld, where all these pros are giving their opinion of the current skate industry.

Almost every interview in that thing has someone complaining about how there's "too many pros these days", that the market was flooded, game was fucked up, "back in 1993 you had to pay your dues", "it doesn't mean anything anymore", etc etc etc.

people have been bitching about this since the beginning of street skateboarding. It seems like a dumb argument in 1998 and it seems like a dumb argument now. it never seems to actually "fuck up the game" or water it down the way people claim it will -- after all, it's 2022 and the industry is still here and the culture is still alive. I think it's a thinly veiled way of screaming into the abyss "i hate change" or "new things are scary" or maybe "i like the existing monopolies"

I think the only criteria to put someone's name on a skateboard should be that the company is stoked on them, and they think that person can sell a few boards to the target demo. Any other criteria for what makes a "real" pro are gonna be either jockish (how many inches high can you ollie) or impossible to define in objective terms (he/she/they paid their """d u e s""")

[close]

Yeah but the pros in 1998 (and many years after) were widely understood to be really, really good at skateboarding.

i guarantee you that i could grab almost any skateboarding magazine from 1998 and find plenty of mediocre skateboarding and ultimately forgettable pros for a number of back-of-the-mag brands

I fully back an Arin pro model for Sci Fi.

There does a lot for the LGTBQ scene. One morning I was skating the spot and there were 2 trans skaters there. After chatting for a while they noted that they got flowed from Unity because their parents basically cut them off for being trans. Given that the Trans suicide rate is insanely high and personally, while I’m not Trans and cannot directly relate, being young and figuring your identity out is hard as fuck.

I think Corey Duffel said that he just couldn’t relate to tall tees and nollie nose manuals and I remember when he first came onto the scene he got tons of shit for “not being that good” compared to the rail chompers of the era. Clearly that changed and he provided a model for a lot of kids that felt the same way. I’m sure gender identity is a lot harder to sort out and a community for people to reside and feel welcome when they’re effectively shunned from most of society is fantastic. I’ll buy a There deck with anyones name on it if it’s good wood and the right shape because what they’re doing is probably more important for skating than most brands even if it doesn’t churn out cutting edge footy.

very well said, this shit is very important to basically everyone other than straight white males and it's sad so many people are this bent out of shape about it

[roomservice]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

I have a copy of a 1998 interview issue of a Transworld, where all these pros are giving their opinion of the current skate industry.

Almost every interview in that thing has someone complaining about how there's "too many pros these days", that the market was flooded, game was fucked up, "back in 1993 you had to pay your dues", "it doesn't mean anything anymore", etc etc etc.

people have been bitching about this since the beginning of street skateboarding. It seems like a dumb argument in 1998 and it seems like a dumb argument now. it never seems to actually "fuck up the game" or water it down the way people claim it will -- after all, it's 2022 and the industry is still here and the culture is still alive. I think it's a thinly veiled way of screaming into the abyss "i hate change" or "new things are scary" or maybe "i like the existing monopolies"

I think the only criteria to put someone's name on a skateboard should be that the company is stoked on them, and they think that person can sell a few boards to the target demo. Any other criteria for what makes a "real" pro are gonna be either jockish (how many inches high can you ollie) or impossible to define in objective terms (he/she/they paid their """d u e s""")

[close]

Should everyone who's currently am or flow be pro then, in your opinion?

[close]

did he say that?

can you read?

[HeavyAndExpensive]

if anything i can see this as being more relevant then all the other threads that are like “bip wafflehouse pro for Fishtank” and all the responses are people just going “oh weird. never heard of any of this stuff but that’s cool” and one guy going “southeast iowa represent!! skated with bip once for half an hour and we didn’t speak but he seemed cool”

Bip Wafflehouse fucking shreds bro wtf are you on about

[PuffinMuffin]

In my opinion, it's great marginalized groups are getting embraced and are more accepted into skateboarding. A rising tide lifts all ships.

Besides, big online distributors are killing mom-and-pop skate shops. Coupled with the increased cost of renting a storefront and the ease/low cost of shipping direct to customers, I feel we're going to see a lot more small companies and pros pop up. It seems to be a successful business model these days.

[sfa]

I fully back an Arin pro model for Sci Fi.

There does a lot for the LGTBQ scene. One morning I was skating the spot and there were 2 trans skaters there. After chatting for a while they noted that they got flowed from Unity because their parents basically cut them off for being trans. Given that the Trans suicide rate is insanely high and personally, while I’m not Trans and cannot directly relate, being young and figuring your identity out is hard as fuck.

I think Corey Duffel said that he just couldn’t relate to tall tees and nollie nose manuals and I remember when he first came onto the scene he got tons of shit for “not being that good” compared to the rail chompers of the era. Clearly that changed and he provided a model for a lot of kids that felt the same way. I’m sure gender identity is a lot harder to sort out and a community for people to reside and feel welcome when they’re effectively shunned from most of society is fantastic. I’ll buy a There deck with anyones name on it if it’s good wood and the right shape because what they’re doing is probably more important for skating than most brands even if it doesn’t churn out cutting edge footy.

one of the only good takes in this thread

[planman]

Seems like a whole lot of people forget that being pro is largely a marketing decision? Not to mention there's been plenty of "untalented" skaters who've had pro models for companies you've never heard so why is this the specific time you decide to get your panties in a twist? Worms for brains, man.

I think Corey Duffel said that he just couldn’t relate to tall tees and nollie nose manuals and I remember when he first came onto the scene he got tons of shit for “not being that good” compared to the rail chompers of the era. Clearly that changed and he provided a model for a lot of kids that felt the same way. I’m sure gender identity is a lot harder to sort out and a community for people to reside and feel welcome when they’re effectively shunned from most of society is fantastic. I’ll buy a There deck with anyones name on it if it’s good wood and the right shape because what they’re doing is probably more important for skating than most brands even if it doesn’t churn out cutting edge footy.

This is one of the best comparisons I've heard and will definitely be using it in the future

[CossRooper]

Expand Quote

I have a copy of a 1998 interview issue of a Transworld, where all these pros are giving their opinion of the current skate industry.

Almost every interview in that thing has someone complaining about how there's "too many pros these days", that the market was flooded, game was fucked up, "back in 1993 you had to pay your dues", "it doesn't mean anything anymore", etc etc etc.

people have been bitching about this since the beginning of street skateboarding. It seems like a dumb argument in 1998 and it seems like a dumb argument now. it never seems to actually "fuck up the game" or water it down the way people claim it will -- after all, it's 2022 and the industry is still here and the culture is still alive. I think it's a thinly veiled way of screaming into the abyss "i hate change" or "new things are scary" or maybe "i like the existing monopolies"

I think the only criteria to put someone's name on a skateboard should be that the company is stoked on them, and they think that person can sell a few boards to the target demo. Any other criteria for what makes a "real" pro are gonna be either jockish (how many inches high can you ollie) or impossible to define in objective terms (he/she/they paid their """d u e s""")

[close]

Should everyone who's currently am or flow be pro then, in your opinion?

No. Why would you imply thats what I am getting at?

There are a thousands of no name Am and Flow skaters who have no name recognition, aren't quite developed, or haven't quite baked themself into a team or crew enough to be representing that brand. The people that run skate brands and who are fronting the money to make the boards, making the calls to get them distributed, and packing the UPS boxes with web orders, etc, get to define who makes sense to be Pro, based on the audience they are trying to aim towards. And there aren't infinite slots on a team: obviously you are limited by how many boards you want to drop in a season without wearing out your audience, and so many different graphics and board shapes you can press up in a season before you run out of money. So brand owners still have to be selective, and will be.

And this gets me to the main point : anyone is allowed to start a brand and test the waters. If skaters think it's bogus, they will not buy the boards, but if they think it's sick, and identify with it, they will. If skateshops think their customers fuck with a brand, they will order some boards for the wall, but if they don't, they won't. What makes skateboarding so interesting is this process playing out every couple of years, and legacy brands constantly having to re-prove why they are relevant and worth supporting.

Why does this completely normal (and to me, exciting) process get people so bent out of shape?