I’m old and pretty much a hack and what I’ve seen is there are some really good skaters that wanted to do it.. they did it..and they aren’t about to accept anything less…..so they are out. Then there are people like myself that just genuinely enjoy skating the way we skate and are more or less just happy to be there. I think this is pretty common in a lot of things….most pro athletes don’t leisurely keep playing the same sport…..skateboarding is the culture, the community and the activity….everyone puts a different emphasis on what they get out of it, and it changes….
SOLID post. Yeah, we are getting way off topic for this thread, but here is something akin to the above I wrote on a facebook group some time ago:
What is skateboarding? It’s an experience. A subjective experience. What follows from that? Simple. No one owes anyone any kind of justification or explanation about what equipment they use, how they skate, why they skate, what they skate, what they wear/don’t wear while skating, or why they do ANY of those things. Skateboarding is a mirror that reflects the intentions of the skater. It is what ever they want it to be—Olympic aspiration to social insurrection. Anyone who dogmatically says what skateboarding is, or is not, is only seeking to justify their own insecurities or manufactured standards. No one’s Stoke has to meet anyone else’s standard or criteria. There is a path out there. It’s always been there. It always will be. It’s your path, and yours alone. Go follow it to what ever end it takes you…just try to have some fun along the way.