Weird Stories About Pros

[Lou Strux]

Necroing this aged thread for the sole purpose of getting to hear the Ethan Fowler story @Loady McGee has on tap.

Over to you, Loady.

[manysnakes]

Remember when this thread first popped off and like three days later, Jenkem just took the idea and posted it on this Instagram?

[Loady McGee]

Necroing this aged thread for the sole purpose of getting to hear the Ethan Fowler story @Loady McGee has on tap.

Over to you, Loady.

Alright, here goes.

In 2006 the Foundation team were scheduled for a demo/signing at my local shop in a small town in Sweden with a skate park just outside the shop. Unfortunately , it was raining so the whole team just sat inside the shop behind the counter. The shop owner had pre-produced a bunch of square sized flyers which the team members could sign for the kids.

The kids lined up from left to right by the counter getting their flyer signed by each team member and Ethan was sitting far most right, being the last one to sign the flyer. The ceiling in the shop was made of some sort of rubbery material and Ethan noticed this. When it was Ethan's turn to sign the flyer, he signed it, then he would just throw it straight up into the ceiling to see if it would get stuck (in the same way those card throwers can throw playing cards you know).

Luckily, Ethan failed to get the flyers to stick to the ceiling so the kids just picked up their flyer with all the autographs from the floor after he'd thrown them. This went on for a while and no one said anything but it sort of became this weird game that everyone in the shop was silently focusing in on. Which kid would be the unlucky one to have his flyer stuck in the ceiling too far to reach?

Then bam! One flyer got stuck in the ceiling. One chubby kid, maybe 10-12 years old became the goose in this duck, duck goose type game. The kid didn't know what to do. His friends laughed at his misfortune. Now, you would think that Ethan or the shop owner would simply grab the sticker and give it to the kid but no. Ethan just kept on signing and throwing flyers and the shop owner didn't seem like he could care less.

The kid realized he had to try to grab it himself. He started jumping up and down but wasn't even close to reach the ceiling. You could see how the kid became more and more desperate. His friends stopped laughing and instead tried to help him but they couldn't reach it either so they went and got a chair the chubby kid could stand on to reach it. The Chubby kid stood on the chair and was just a few inches from grabbing the flyer when Ethan noticed what was going on.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH THAT!!!", Ethan screamed right in the kid's face as he stood on the chair with his fingers hovering the flyer. The whole shop went silent. The kid just froze for a few seconds then just stepped down from the chair without getting his flyer. Ethan turned his head back towards the counter and continued to sign flyers and eventually the silence turned into to the usual murmur and the signing continued.

I watched all this from a safe distance and it was such a surreal moment. I found it hard to describe in text but it was truly weird and not good weird. You could touch the awkwardness in the air. There were so many adults there (the shop owner and a bunch of parents) and no one stepped in. Everyone (including the other team members) just went silent by sheer shock. I can only imagine how humiliating this must've been for the poor kid. All eyes were on him and his absolute helplessness in the situation at hand. If Ethan was his favorite skater before this event, I very much doubt he was afterwards.

[adam22savage]

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Necroing this aged thread for the sole purpose of getting to hear the Ethan Fowler story @Loady McGee has on tap.

Over to you, Loady.

[close]

Alright, here goes.

In 2006 the Foundation team were scheduled for a demo/signing at my local shop in a small town in Sweden with a skate park just outside. Unfortunately , it was raining so the whole team just sat inside the shop behind the counter. The shop owner had pre-produced a bunch of square sized flyers which the team members could sign for the kids.

The kids lined up from left to right by the counter getting their flyer signed by each team member and Ethan was sitting far most right, being the last one to sign the flyer. The ceiling in the shop was made of some sort of rubbery material and Ethan noticed this. When it was Ethan's turn to sign the flyer, he signed it, then he would just throw it straight up into the ceiling to see if it would get stuck (in the same way those card throwers can throw playing cards you know).

Luckily, Ethan failed to get the flyers to stick to the ceiling so the kids just picked up their flyer with all the autographs from the floor after he'd thrown them. This went on for a while and no one said anything but it sort of became this weird game that everyone in the shop was silently focusing in on. Which kid would be the unlucky one to have his flyer stuck in the ceiling too far to reach?

Then bam! One flyer got stuck in the ceiling. One chubby kid, maybe 10-12 years old became the goose in this duck, duck goose type game. The kid didn't know what to do. His friends laughed at his misfortune. Now, you would think that Ethan or the shop owner would simply grab the sticker and give it to the kid but no. Ethan just kept on signing and throwing flyers and the shop owner didn't seem like he could care less.

The kid realized he had to try to grab it himself. He started jumping up and down but wasn't even close to reach the ceiling. You could see how the kid became more and more desperate. His friends stopped laughing and instead tried to help him but they couldn't reach it either so they went and got a chair the chubby kid could stand on to reach it. The Chubby kid stood on the chair and was just a few inches from grabbing the flyer when Ethan noticed what was going on.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH THAT!!!", Ethan screamed right in the kid's face as he stood on the chair with his fingers hovering the flyer. The whole shop went silent. The kid just froze for a few seconds then just stepped down from the chair without getting his flyer. Ethan turned his head back towards the counter and continued to sign flyers and eventually the silence turned into to the usual murmur and the signing continued.

I watched all this from a safe distance and it was such a surreal moment. I found it hard to describe in text but it was truly weird and not good weird. You could touch the awkwardness in the air. There were so many adults there (the shop owner and a bunch of parents) and no one stepped in. Everyone (including the other team members) just went silent by sheer shock. I can only imagine how humiliating this must've been for the poor kid. All eyes were on him and his absolute helplessness in the situation at hand. If Ethan was his favorite skater before this event, I very much doubt he was afterwards.

that little fat kid grew up to be Benny Fairfax.

[Mr. Kamikazi]

Seeing Chris Cole outside of the shop I worked at at the time during an OMIT signing. He was going on & on about how easy it is to sell his products since “it’s like drugs”. He just kept saying that. He was laughing to himself.


Saw Marc Johnson right after he left Lakai at the Adidas premiere basically run off when some kids yelled his name. He was visibly pissed. Go outside to smoke a cigarette at the time & look over to see him smoking one furiously with Blondey. Blondey is also huge in real life. He’s very large & built which was kind of wild to see.

[adam22savage]

Seeing Chris Cole outside of the shop I worked at at the time during an OMIT signing. He was going on & on about how easy it is to sell his products since “it’s like drugs”. He just kept saying that. He was laughing to himself.


Saw Marc Johnson right after he left Lakai at the Adidas premiere basically run off when some kids yelled his name. He was visibly pissed. Go outside to smoke a cigarette at the time & look over to see him smoking one furiously with Blondey. Blondey is also huge in real life. He’s very large & built which was kind of wild to see.

Cole must have been larried up. pride goeth before the slam

[toe_knee]

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Necroing this aged thread for the sole purpose of getting to hear the Ethan Fowler story @Loady McGee has on tap.

Over to you, Loady.

[close]

Alright, here goes.

In 2006 the Foundation team were scheduled for a demo/signing at my local shop in a small town in Sweden with a skate park just outside the shop. Unfortunately , it was raining so the whole team just sat inside the shop behind the counter. The shop owner had pre-produced a bunch of square sized flyers which the team members could sign for the kids.

The kids lined up from left to right by the counter getting their flyer signed by each team member and Ethan was sitting far most right, being the last one to sign the flyer. The ceiling in the shop was made of some sort of rubbery material and Ethan noticed this. When it was Ethan's turn to sign the flyer, he signed it, then he would just throw it straight up into the ceiling to see if it would get stuck (in the same way those card throwers can throw playing cards you know).

Luckily, Ethan failed to get the flyers to stick to the ceiling so the kids just picked up their flyer with all the autographs from the floor after he'd thrown them. This went on for a while and no one said anything but it sort of became this weird game that everyone in the shop was silently focusing in on. Which kid would be the unlucky one to have his flyer stuck in the ceiling too far to reach?

Then bam! One flyer got stuck in the ceiling. One chubby kid, maybe 10-12 years old became the goose in this duck, duck goose type game. The kid didn't know what to do. His friends laughed at his misfortune. Now, you would think that Ethan or the shop owner would simply grab the sticker and give it to the kid but no. Ethan just kept on signing and throwing flyers and the shop owner didn't seem like he could care less.

The kid realized he had to try to grab it himself. He started jumping up and down but wasn't even close to reach the ceiling. You could see how the kid became more and more desperate. His friends stopped laughing and instead tried to help him but they couldn't reach it either so they went and got a chair the chubby kid could stand on to reach it. The Chubby kid stood on the chair and was just a few inches from grabbing the flyer when Ethan noticed what was going on.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH THAT!!!", Ethan screamed right in the kid's face as he stood on the chair with his fingers hovering the flyer. The whole shop went silent. The kid just froze for a few seconds then just stepped down from the chair without getting his flyer. Ethan turned his head back towards the counter and continued to sign flyers and eventually the silence turned into to the usual murmur and the signing continued.

I watched all this from a safe distance and it was such a surreal moment. I found it hard to describe in text but it was truly weird and not good weird. You could touch the awkwardness in the air. There were so many adults there (the shop owner and a bunch of parents) and no one stepped in. Everyone (including the other team members) just went silent by sheer shock. I can only imagine how humiliating this must've been for the poor kid. All eyes were on him and his absolute helplessness in the situation at hand. If Ethan was his favorite skater before this event, I very much doubt he was afterwards.

Man Ethan Fowler really sucks

[changed1]

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That was in Brazil in 94.

I was in Rio Sul Kidney and out of nowhere John Cardiel and Julien Stranger showed up. The guys arrived curious with the ramp without a skateboard and quickly left.

It was really cool because we had never seen pros at that level since Hosoi years before.

Later I came back and there were Julien, John, Jake Phelps, Joey Tershay and Bob Burnquist.

Bob lived in São Paulo and rarely appeared in Rio. He was always a very nice guy and we fere happy to see him destroying that day, the guy was possessed.

The Americans were wide-eyed and I remember seeing Bob receive a huge bag of spitfire wheels as a gift. I think it was there that he got sponsorship from Deluxe.

Julien and John were also destroying the session without any protective gear. At that time this was not common in bowls and everyone was impressed because the ramp was large.

I went to see Jake to see if he had decks to sell and he said yes, for 25 dollars. At the time, having products from the USA in Brazil was very expensive and I ran home to get the money.

I came back on the track with $ 20 and Jake didn't want to give me the $ 5 discount! He was in a bad mood and did not treat me well, I thought he was a douchebag.

I ended up pissed and left calling him cheap greedy motherfucker or something like that. Then he called me and scowled "Okay, give me the 20 dollars".

He took me in a car, opened the trunk and had a huge stack of decks. I chose a Keith Hufnagel model and left a little pissed off because I thought he was arrogant.

A few days later I was at another skate park and they showed up again. This time only Jake Phelps, Julien Stranger and Joey Tershay.

This time Phelper was totally different. Greeted me, made jokes about the previous day and was super nice. We had a session and ended up chatting with the three of them.

I didn't get to know Cardiel. I got to see him the other day on the park with the black eye.

A friend who was there said that Cardiel got involved in a bar fight with some jiu-jitsu jock and got beaten up.

When he passed she was making fun of him saying "This is Brazil" making punch signals with her hands. lol

[close]

You sure it's not the other way round?

[close]

Those damn greedy brazilians! >:-( they’re lucky Jake didn’t call them a slur

[close]

Lol yeah what the fuck?

One time Ben Gore helped me find the perfect fit in a pair of vans slip ons in FTC after checking for a size 9 in like 4 different kinds of shoes (they didn't have anything I was after!). Not weird at all and in fact, he was actively making it less awkward by cracking little jokes. Good guy!

[close]

Man the one time I ever went to FTC I got cool guyed so hard and the dude tried to charge me $80 for an FA deck. Just the deck. Really soured my view on that shop.

[close]

I went to the FTC in Barcelona about 10 years ago and asked the guy how to get to MACBA and he said it was close enough to his lunch that he could close up the shop and just take my brother and I over there. He showed us a few good food spots on the way too. I went to the FTC in SF a few years later and the people there were pretty normal. I don’t think I’ve ever really gotten cooled guyed at a shop but maybe I have and just didn’t notice.

More on topic, one time at the old LES park I saw an older guy show up wearing a half zip soccer short sleeve shirt that was like skin tight zipped up like a turtle neck with neon yellow sweat pants that said “Feelin It!” down the leg who cruised in and immediately ate shit super hard trying to boardslide the down rail. He got up and rode over to the side I was on and I realized it was the Gonz. It was like seeing big foot in the wild.

I went to FTC and they let me pet the dog first t

[The Mexican Nancy Chin]

When I was 12 I asked Ryan Gallant to sign my hat. It was a deathwish hat but Gallant didn't care. I later that year took this hat to a Supra signing and Greco immediately wrote just "Jim" in large regular style handwriting over Gallant's name.

[The Mexican Nancy Chin]

Seeing pine get into a heated argument with a child and lose was an interesting moment

[kook1234]

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Necroing this aged thread for the sole purpose of getting to hear the Ethan Fowler story @Loady McGee has on tap.

Over to you, Loady.

[close]

Alright, here goes.

In 2006 the Foundation team were scheduled for a demo/signing at my local shop in a small town in Sweden with a skate park just outside the shop. Unfortunately , it was raining so the whole team just sat inside the shop behind the counter. The shop owner had pre-produced a bunch of square sized flyers which the team members could sign for the kids.

The kids lined up from left to right by the counter getting their flyer signed by each team member and Ethan was sitting far most right, being the last one to sign the flyer. The ceiling in the shop was made of some sort of rubbery material and Ethan noticed this. When it was Ethan's turn to sign the flyer, he signed it, then he would just throw it straight up into the ceiling to see if it would get stuck (in the same way those card throwers can throw playing cards you know).

Luckily, Ethan failed to get the flyers to stick to the ceiling so the kids just picked up their flyer with all the autographs from the floor after he'd thrown them. This went on for a while and no one said anything but it sort of became this weird game that everyone in the shop was silently focusing in on. Which kid would be the unlucky one to have his flyer stuck in the ceiling too far to reach?

Then bam! One flyer got stuck in the ceiling. One chubby kid, maybe 10-12 years old became the goose in this duck, duck goose type game. The kid didn't know what to do. His friends laughed at his misfortune. Now, you would think that Ethan or the shop owner would simply grab the sticker and give it to the kid but no. Ethan just kept on signing and throwing flyers and the shop owner didn't seem like he could care less.

The kid realized he had to try to grab it himself. He started jumping up and down but wasn't even close to reach the ceiling. You could see how the kid became more and more desperate. His friends stopped laughing and instead tried to help him but they couldn't reach it either so they went and got a chair the chubby kid could stand on to reach it. The Chubby kid stood on the chair and was just a few inches from grabbing the flyer when Ethan noticed what was going on.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH THAT!!!", Ethan screamed right in the kid's face as he stood on the chair with his fingers hovering the flyer. The whole shop went silent. The kid just froze for a few seconds then just stepped down from the chair without getting his flyer. Ethan turned his head back towards the counter and continued to sign flyers and eventually the silence turned into to the usual murmur and the signing continued.

I watched all this from a safe distance and it was such a surreal moment. I found it hard to describe in text but it was truly weird and not good weird. You could touch the awkwardness in the air. There were so many adults there (the shop owner and a bunch of parents) and no one stepped in. Everyone (including the other team members) just went silent by sheer shock. I can only imagine how humiliating this must've been for the poor kid. All eyes were on him and his absolute helplessness in the situation at hand. If Ethan was his favorite skater before this event, I very much doubt he was afterwards.

My new copy pasta

[rocklobster]

Great video, I have a funny Alan Gelfand story I figured I would share. I work at a skate shop in a pretty small city in Canada, it's in a bit of a sketchy area so we often get homeless people coming in that used to skate or even sometimes trying to steal shit. Anyways one day this older dude barges in and right away asks me who invented the ollie, I figured he was out of his mind, the way he came in asking was really rude. I actually at the time didn’t even know who invented the ollie lol so I just said I dunno buddy rodney mullen? The guy gave me a dirty look and basically demanded I google the name Alan Gelfand and then he will be back in an hour. It was a weird ass encounter, but nothing really out of the ordinary for me. Once he left I was curious, so I googled it and found out it is Alan Gelfand who is credited with inventing the ollie, he also had a pro board on Powell at some point. Then to my surprise after a google image search it was the fucking dude! He never came back in, unfortunately, but I have told this story to a few friends, and it turns out this has happened to other people that work at skate shops too, and never in a cool way. Alan Gelfands a weird guy.

This one from the WKND Alan Gelfend thread was hilarious.

Also, Ethan Fowler does give off asshole vibes, the Benny Fairfax story is the worst. (https://www.freeskatemag.com/2021/06/04/the-american-dream-part-4-of-6-benny-fairfax/)

Okay I’m not too sure where this sits in relation to what we’ve just discussed but do you maybe want to do the Ethan Fowler story now so it’s out of the way… If you still feel comfortable telling it obviously.

Yeah ok fuck it, he deserves to get called out. So this is quite early on when I was over there…Actually maybe I need a beer for this, one sec (goes to the fridge)… Also before we get into it I want to make it very clear I met so many lovely people there, made so many good friends and overall had the best time. This is just one of the more negative things that happened to me when I was there…

I know…
Okay. So um… Obviously Ethan Fowler – OG Stereo legend – I looked up to his skating so much… Always thought he was a steez guy etc.

Yep. I mean… Tincan Folklore…
Yeah… But I was maybe not as aware as until I went out there just how much all those guys idolised him, how much he was like the fucking guy.
Anyway so I didn’t have a licence or a car so you know, once I was out on the sesh I was kind of at other people’s will… And one afternoon the guys I was with were all excited like: ‘hey dude we’re gonna BBQ at Ethan’s house and then we’re gonna go to his psychedelic rock show, it’s going to be fucking sick dude! Ethan’s the fucking coolest!’ You know like the sun shone out of his arse for them basically. Everyone loved him.
So we go to Ethan Fowler’s house, we have this little BBQ then it’s all ‘we’re going to the bar now like, Ethan’s band is going to play dude, sick’. So we were in some little basement bar in Downtown LA, and you know he plays his show – everyone’s had a few beers – whatever… It was really loud in there and so he just kinda cornered me like: ‘hey man, not too many n****rs in here is there? You must feel super out of place dude, look around.’ And I just, I just froze – like what the fuck? He knew that I was the little kid on the team, the new guy coming over here from England, and that he was in this position of power. Like I’m fucking Ethan Fowler, like I can say whatever I want to you. So yeah, ‘not too many n****rs in here, you must feel pretty out of place man.’ And I’m just like ‘errrr’ and I’ll never forget he looked me in the eyes smiling and said, ‘you probably want to punch me right now don’t you? But you’re not gonna are you?’ And then he walked off. I was left there frozen like, ‘oh fuck…’ I didn’t know what to do. I just left and got a taxi to wherever I was staying that night and that was kinda it.

[Yonnycage]

Seeing pine get into a heated argument with a child and lose was an interesting moment

I gotta hear more about this

[The Mexican Nancy Chin]

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Seeing pine get into a heated argument with a child and lose was an interesting moment

[close]

I gotta hear more about this

I think someone else who was there already told the story on slap, but basically like 7 years ago at Woodward a kid was mad that Jeff had cursed out the kid's brother previously and Jeff with a smug look on his face, was saying "I don't give a fuck he was talking shit" and making of the child. Kid ended up telling Jeff "go do a triple flip with your shitty style" and as the rest of us kids were giggling (I was like 13 at the time) Jeff, with a look of determination, goes to try a triple flip and falls as the kid yells "your raping my eyeballs!". Jeff did not respond and later got kicked out of Woodward (he was a visiting pro)

[backside_reacharound]

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Seeing pine get into a heated argument with a child and lose was an interesting moment

[close]

I gotta hear more about this

[close]

I think someone else who was there already told the story on slap, but basically like 7 years ago at Woodward a kid was mad that Jeff had cursed out the kid's brother previously and Jeff with a smug look on his face, was saying "I don't give a fuck he was talking shit" and making of the child. Kid ended up telling Jeff "go do a triple flip with your shitty style" and as the rest of us kids were giggling (I was like 13 at the time) Jeff, with a look of determination, goes to try a triple flip and falls as the kid yells "your raping my eyeballs!". Jeff did not respond and later got kicked out of Woodward (he was a visiting pro)

Imagine going to Woodward as a kid, being excited to skate everything and meet the visiting pro, and it's turns out to be Pine lol

[The Mexican Nancy Chin]

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Seeing pine get into a heated argument with a child and lose was an interesting moment

[close]

I gotta hear more about this

[close]

I think someone else who was there already told the story on slap, but basically like 7 years ago at Woodward a kid was mad that Jeff had cursed out the kid's brother previously and Jeff with a smug look on his face, was saying "I don't give a fuck he was talking shit" and making of the child. Kid ended up telling Jeff "go do a triple flip with your shitty style" and as the rest of us kids were giggling (I was like 13 at the time) Jeff, with a look of determination, goes to try a triple flip and falls as the kid yells "your raping my eyeballs!". Jeff did not respond and later got kicked out of Woodward (he was a visiting pro)

[close]

Imagine going to Woodward as a kid, being excited to skate everything and meet the visiting pro, and it's turns out to be Pine lol

Just remembered he technically wasn't even a visiting pro. Chris Chann was visiting for the video camp they had and brought pine as a guest. I remember being surprised to learn this just because Jeff was acting very cocky the whole time going out of his way to cool guy people and one up kids skating. The visiting pro stuff was often pretty random though. One time they advertised the vans team was visiting and it turned out to just be a couple flow dudes

[Mr.Jenkins]

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Necroing this aged thread for the sole purpose of getting to hear the Ethan Fowler story @Loady McGee has on tap.

Over to you, Loady.

[close]

Alright, here goes.

In 2006 the Foundation team were scheduled for a demo/signing at my local shop in a small town in Sweden with a skate park just outside the shop. Unfortunately , it was raining so the whole team just sat inside the shop behind the counter. The shop owner had pre-produced a bunch of square sized flyers which the team members could sign for the kids.

The kids lined up from left to right by the counter getting their flyer signed by each team member and Ethan was sitting far most right, being the last one to sign the flyer. The ceiling in the shop was made of some sort of rubbery material and Ethan noticed this. When it was Ethan's turn to sign the flyer, he signed it, then he would just throw it straight up into the ceiling to see if it would get stuck (in the same way those card throwers can throw playing cards you know).

Luckily, Ethan failed to get the flyers to stick to the ceiling so the kids just picked up their flyer with all the autographs from the floor after he'd thrown them. This went on for a while and no one said anything but it sort of became this weird game that everyone in the shop was silently focusing in on. Which kid would be the unlucky one to have his flyer stuck in the ceiling too far to reach?

Then bam! One flyer got stuck in the ceiling. One chubby kid, maybe 10-12 years old became the goose in this duck, duck goose type game. The kid didn't know what to do. His friends laughed at his misfortune. Now, you would think that Ethan or the shop owner would simply grab the sticker and give it to the kid but no. Ethan just kept on signing and throwing flyers and the shop owner didn't seem like he could care less.

The kid realized he had to try to grab it himself. He started jumping up and down but wasn't even close to reach the ceiling. You could see how the kid became more and more desperate. His friends stopped laughing and instead tried to help him but they couldn't reach it either so they went and got a chair the chubby kid could stand on to reach it. The Chubby kid stood on the chair and was just a few inches from grabbing the flyer when Ethan noticed what was going on.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH THAT!!!", Ethan screamed right in the kid's face as he stood on the chair with his fingers hovering the flyer. The whole shop went silent. The kid just froze for a few seconds then just stepped down from the chair without getting his flyer. Ethan turned his head back towards the counter and continued to sign flyers and eventually the silence turned into to the usual murmur and the signing continued.

I watched all this from a safe distance and it was such a surreal moment. I found it hard to describe in text but it was truly weird and not good weird. You could touch the awkwardness in the air. There were so many adults there (the shop owner and a bunch of parents) and no one stepped in. Everyone (including the other team members) just went silent by sheer shock. I can only imagine how humiliating this must've been for the poor kid. All eyes were on him and his absolute helplessness in the situation at hand. If Ethan was his favorite skater before this event, I very much doubt he was afterwards.

I took the team around Gothenburg on the same tour to spots skating with them - Ethan might be the worst pro I ever met. such a shitty attitude.

[Septa Bus]

nothing crazy but at a consolidated demo about 30-ish years ago my timid friend asked one of the pros he wasn't familiar with if they were selling any product. He really wanted to ask Andy, but was kind of afraid of him. With no other choice he went up to Andy and squeaked out a "Excuse, Mr.Roy -" before Andy whipped around and said "HUH?! Just call me Andy!!!!" My friend then asked if he had any of the hot new dare devil wheels to sell. "Awww shit I'd sell 'em if I had em!!!!!!" said Andy - i think he wound up giving him like a shirt or some hardware. seemed so awkward but Andy seems like a nice guy

[LebowskisRug]

In 2000 just before Enjoi started the then team came to our skatepark. Jerry just sat there stoned and my friend asked if he was going to call his pro shoe the Hsu-shi. Now, Jerry is Chinese and sushi is not Chinese but we were 14 and my friend didn't realize that he kinda said something racist he just thought the play on words was funny. You could see Jerry actually think this over and come to the conclusion that my friend was just a dumb 14 year old that was accidentally racist and he smiled and laughed and said "man, that would be amazing!" And gave us some Enjoi stickers. What a nice guy.

[Loady McGee]

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Necroing this aged thread for the sole purpose of getting to hear the Ethan Fowler story @Loady McGee has on tap.

Over to you, Loady.

[close]

Alright, here goes.

In 2006 the Foundation team were scheduled for a demo/signing at my local shop in a small town in Sweden with a skate park just outside the shop. Unfortunately , it was raining so the whole team just sat inside the shop behind the counter. The shop owner had pre-produced a bunch of square sized flyers which the team members could sign for the kids.

The kids lined up from left to right by the counter getting their flyer signed by each team member and Ethan was sitting far most right, being the last one to sign the flyer. The ceiling in the shop was made of some sort of rubbery material and Ethan noticed this. When it was Ethan's turn to sign the flyer, he signed it, then he would just throw it straight up into the ceiling to see if it would get stuck (in the same way those card throwers can throw playing cards you know).

Luckily, Ethan failed to get the flyers to stick to the ceiling so the kids just picked up their flyer with all the autographs from the floor after he'd thrown them. This went on for a while and no one said anything but it sort of became this weird game that everyone in the shop was silently focusing in on. Which kid would be the unlucky one to have his flyer stuck in the ceiling too far to reach?

Then bam! One flyer got stuck in the ceiling. One chubby kid, maybe 10-12 years old became the goose in this duck, duck goose type game. The kid didn't know what to do. His friends laughed at his misfortune. Now, you would think that Ethan or the shop owner would simply grab the sticker and give it to the kid but no. Ethan just kept on signing and throwing flyers and the shop owner didn't seem like he could care less.

The kid realized he had to try to grab it himself. He started jumping up and down but wasn't even close to reach the ceiling. You could see how the kid became more and more desperate. His friends stopped laughing and instead tried to help him but they couldn't reach it either so they went and got a chair the chubby kid could stand on to reach it. The Chubby kid stood on the chair and was just a few inches from grabbing the flyer when Ethan noticed what was going on.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH THAT!!!", Ethan screamed right in the kid's face as he stood on the chair with his fingers hovering the flyer. The whole shop went silent. The kid just froze for a few seconds then just stepped down from the chair without getting his flyer. Ethan turned his head back towards the counter and continued to sign flyers and eventually the silence turned into to the usual murmur and the signing continued.

I watched all this from a safe distance and it was such a surreal moment. I found it hard to describe in text but it was truly weird and not good weird. You could touch the awkwardness in the air. There were so many adults there (the shop owner and a bunch of parents) and no one stepped in. Everyone (including the other team members) just went silent by sheer shock. I can only imagine how humiliating this must've been for the poor kid. All eyes were on him and his absolute helplessness in the situation at hand. If Ethan was his favorite skater before this event, I very much doubt he was afterwards.

[close]

I took the team around Gothenburg on the same tour to spots skating with them - Ethan might be the worst pro I ever met. such a shitty attitude.

Yeah, it felt like he took pride in it too. Mike Rusczyk on the other hand was very nice at this event. Probably the nicest pro I've met.

[goodatmeth]

In 2000 just before Enjoi started the then team came to our skatepark. Jerry just sat there stoned and my friend asked if he was going to call his pro shoe the Hsu-shi. Now, Jerry is Chinese and sushi is not Chinese but we were 14 and my friend didn't realize that he kinda said something racist he just thought the play on words was funny. You could see Jerry actually think this over and come to the conclusion that my friend was just a dumb 14 year old that was accidentally racist and he smiled and laughed and said "man, that would be amazing!" And gave us some Enjoi stickers. What a nice guy.

This is beautiful

[manysnakes]

In 2000 just before Enjoi started the then team came to our skatepark. Jerry just sat there stoned and my friend asked if he was going to call his pro shoe the Hsu-shi. Now, Jerry is Chinese and sushi is not Chinese but we were 14 and my friend didn't realize that he kinda said something racist he just thought the play on words was funny. You could see Jerry actually think this over and come to the conclusion that my friend was just a dumb 14 year old that was accidentally racist and he smiled and laughed and said "man, that would be amazing!" And gave us some Enjoi stickers. What a nice guy.

Top tier Jerry story.

[HiltonPartinez]

Seeing Chris Cole outside of the shop I worked at at the time during an OMIT signing. He was going on & on about how easy it is to sell his products since “it’s like drugs”. He just kept saying that. He was laughing to himself.


Saw Marc Johnson right after he left Lakai at the Adidas premiere basically run off when some kids yelled his name. He was visibly pissed. Go outside to smoke a cigarette at the time & look over to see him smoking one furiously with Blondey. Blondey is also huge in real life. He’s very large & built which was kind of wild to see.

I refuse to believe this. You're a monster

[Welpok]

nothing crazy but at a consolidated demo about 30-ish years ago my timid friend asked one of the pros he wasn't familiar with if they were selling any product. He really wanted to ask Andy, but was kind of afraid of him. With no other choice he went up to Andy and squeaked out a "Excuse, Mr.Roy -" before Andy whipped around and said "HUH?! Just call me Andy!!!!" My friend then asked if he had any of the hot new dare devil wheels to sell. "Awww shit I'd sell 'em if I had em!!!!!!" said Andy - i think he wound up giving him like a shirt or some hardware. seemed so awkward but Andy seems like a nice guy

I used to see him very often honestly. He's always been really cool to all the local skaters here. Always encouraging and very nice. He won me over with how cool he actually was.

[French manicure]

In 2000 just before Enjoi started the then team came to our skatepark. Jerry just sat there stoned and my friend asked if he was going to call his pro shoe the Hsu-shi. Now, Jerry is Chinese and sushi is not Chinese but we were 14 and my friend didn't realize that he kinda said something racist he just thought the play on words was funny. You could see Jerry actually think this over and come to the conclusion that my friend was just a dumb 14 year old that was accidentally racist and he smiled and laughed and said "man, that would be amazing!" And gave us some Enjoi stickers. What a nice guy.

Jerry is great.

[mattchew]

Expand Quote

Necroing this aged thread for the sole purpose of getting to hear the Ethan Fowler story @Loady McGee has on tap.

Over to you, Loady.

[close]

Alright, here goes.

In 2006 the Foundation team were scheduled for a demo/signing at my local shop in a small town in Sweden with a skate park just outside the shop. Unfortunately , it was raining so the whole team just sat inside the shop behind the counter. The shop owner had pre-produced a bunch of square sized flyers which the team members could sign for the kids.

The kids lined up from left to right by the counter getting their flyer signed by each team member and Ethan was sitting far most right, being the last one to sign the flyer. The ceiling in the shop was made of some sort of rubbery material and Ethan noticed this. When it was Ethan's turn to sign the flyer, he signed it, then he would just throw it straight up into the ceiling to see if it would get stuck (in the same way those card throwers can throw playing cards you know).

Luckily, Ethan failed to get the flyers to stick to the ceiling so the kids just picked up their flyer with all the autographs from the floor after he'd thrown them. This went on for a while and no one said anything but it sort of became this weird game that everyone in the shop was silently focusing in on. Which kid would be the unlucky one to have his flyer stuck in the ceiling too far to reach?

Then bam! One flyer got stuck in the ceiling. One chubby kid, maybe 10-12 years old became the goose in this duck, duck goose type game. The kid didn't know what to do. His friends laughed at his misfortune. Now, you would think that Ethan or the shop owner would simply grab the sticker and give it to the kid but no. Ethan just kept on signing and throwing flyers and the shop owner didn't seem like he could care less.

The kid realized he had to try to grab it himself. He started jumping up and down but wasn't even close to reach the ceiling. You could see how the kid became more and more desperate. His friends stopped laughing and instead tried to help him but they couldn't reach it either so they went and got a chair the chubby kid could stand on to reach it. The Chubby kid stood on the chair and was just a few inches from grabbing the flyer when Ethan noticed what was going on.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH THAT!!!", Ethan screamed right in the kid's face as he stood on the chair with his fingers hovering the flyer. The whole shop went silent. The kid just froze for a few seconds then just stepped down from the chair without getting his flyer. Ethan turned his head back towards the counter and continued to sign flyers and eventually the silence turned into to the usual murmur and the signing continued.

I watched all this from a safe distance and it was such a surreal moment. I found it hard to describe in text but it was truly weird and not good weird. You could touch the awkwardness in the air. There were so many adults there (the shop owner and a bunch of parents) and no one stepped in. Everyone (including the other team members) just went silent by sheer shock. I can only imagine how humiliating this must've been for the poor kid. All eyes were on him and his absolute helplessness in the situation at hand. If Ethan was his favorite skater before this event, I very much doubt he was afterwards.

Definitely shitty behavior, especially paired with everything else about him, but reading this fifteen years after the fact it made me LOL as I envision it as a I Think You Should Leave skit.

[Loady McGee]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Necroing this aged thread for the sole purpose of getting to hear the Ethan Fowler story @Loady McGee has on tap.

Over to you, Loady.

[close]

Alright, here goes.

In 2006 the Foundation team were scheduled for a demo/signing at my local shop in a small town in Sweden with a skate park just outside the shop. Unfortunately , it was raining so the whole team just sat inside the shop behind the counter. The shop owner had pre-produced a bunch of square sized flyers which the team members could sign for the kids.

The kids lined up from left to right by the counter getting their flyer signed by each team member and Ethan was sitting far most right, being the last one to sign the flyer. The ceiling in the shop was made of some sort of rubbery material and Ethan noticed this. When it was Ethan's turn to sign the flyer, he signed it, then he would just throw it straight up into the ceiling to see if it would get stuck (in the same way those card throwers can throw playing cards you know).

Luckily, Ethan failed to get the flyers to stick to the ceiling so the kids just picked up their flyer with all the autographs from the floor after he'd thrown them. This went on for a while and no one said anything but it sort of became this weird game that everyone in the shop was silently focusing in on. Which kid would be the unlucky one to have his flyer stuck in the ceiling too far to reach?

Then bam! One flyer got stuck in the ceiling. One chubby kid, maybe 10-12 years old became the goose in this duck, duck goose type game. The kid didn't know what to do. His friends laughed at his misfortune. Now, you would think that Ethan or the shop owner would simply grab the sticker and give it to the kid but no. Ethan just kept on signing and throwing flyers and the shop owner didn't seem like he could care less.

The kid realized he had to try to grab it himself. He started jumping up and down but wasn't even close to reach the ceiling. You could see how the kid became more and more desperate. His friends stopped laughing and instead tried to help him but they couldn't reach it either so they went and got a chair the chubby kid could stand on to reach it. The Chubby kid stood on the chair and was just a few inches from grabbing the flyer when Ethan noticed what was going on.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH THAT!!!", Ethan screamed right in the kid's face as he stood on the chair with his fingers hovering the flyer. The whole shop went silent. The kid just froze for a few seconds then just stepped down from the chair without getting his flyer. Ethan turned his head back towards the counter and continued to sign flyers and eventually the silence turned into to the usual murmur and the signing continued.

I watched all this from a safe distance and it was such a surreal moment. I found it hard to describe in text but it was truly weird and not good weird. You could touch the awkwardness in the air. There were so many adults there (the shop owner and a bunch of parents) and no one stepped in. Everyone (including the other team members) just went silent by sheer shock. I can only imagine how humiliating this must've been for the poor kid. All eyes were on him and his absolute helplessness in the situation at hand. If Ethan was his favorite skater before this event, I very much doubt he was afterwards.

[close]

Definitely shitty behavior, especially paired with everything else about him, but reading this fifteen years after the fact it made me LOL as I envision it as a I Think You Should Leave skit.

Haha! In hindsight, that's exactly what it felt like. It was so awkward. The whole situation could've been directed by Tim Robinson or Nathan Fielder.

[georgethecat]

Oh wow, turns out bearded motorcycle guy with a couple good video parts 30 years ago is actually a racist dickhole who inexplicably used his time to shine to flex on children during rubber-roofed skateshop signings. I don't know where I'm going with this, but Hsu > Fowler, forever and always.

[HisNameIsntWarren]

Expand Quote

nothing crazy but at a consolidated demo about 30-ish years ago my timid friend asked one of the pros he wasn't familiar with if they were selling any product. He really wanted to ask Andy, but was kind of afraid of him. With no other choice he went up to Andy and squeaked out a "Excuse, Mr.Roy -" before Andy whipped around and said "HUH?! Just call me Andy!!!!" My friend then asked if he had any of the hot new dare devil wheels to sell. "Awww shit I'd sell 'em if I had em!!!!!!" said Andy - i think he wound up giving him like a shirt or some hardware. seemed so awkward but Andy seems like a nice guy

[close]

I used to see him very often honestly. He's always been really cool to all the local skaters here. Always encouraging and very nice. He won me over with how cool he actually was.

Met Andy at a Consolidated demo around 97ish right after his snuggle bandit interview and I can remember it like it was yesterday how polite and friendly he was. Tripped me out.

[Nanda Zinger]

About 10 years ago, Chris Millic was dabbling with graffiti under the name, "Frog4" (well before he started the brand), tagging around local Tempe skatespots. While I was pretty sure it was him responsible for the tags, a mutual friend I knew through graffiti confirmed it. Anyways, I was drinking in the little Safeway lounge area with the homeless cats, being bored one night, and see Chris buying groceries. As he's leaving, I rolled up to him, acted tough, and said "YO! You Frog4?" He got super shook (keep in mind, im a relatively small dude) and confirmed it was him. I proceeded to tell him to quit writing and kept up with the tough guy persona to my own amusement. He literally seemed like he was gonna cry/piss his pants. Then I broke character and told him I was kidding and that I actually dug the name Frog4. We chatted for a bit about skating and graff. Nice dude. I kinda felt bad for scaring him, but I was drunk and it was kinda fun at the moment.