This is really interesting seeing how many people share the same view of Ellington - myself included. For me, I was into cleaner skating and stuff like Girl/Chocolate etc during EE's prime, but when I look back at his parts I like them a lot. I know his dance after the bigspin down Carlsbad gap is legendary but if I had done the picnic table line with the switch flip front tail and amazing flip front nose fakie I think I'd be dancing for days. That's his best ever clip in my eyes.
While my first video was Misled Youth, I grew up mostly a Crailtap and Sovereign sect fan as I found the stylish tech ledge stuff more relatable than the big sets/rail Cali spots of Baker, Flip, Zero, etc, especially compared to the mostly east coast spots that make up a lot of Photosynthesis. Probably also helped I was a big 90's hip-hop fan.
Either way, I still really enjoy EE footage, and the longevity of his career is astounding. Very few have transitioned as well as he and Reynolds have from being known primarily as big gap and/or rail skaters.