today there's such little difference in skill level between sponsored ams and full pros that whether or not somebody turns pro just comes down to two scenarios: if somebody is hot at the time and the company can capitalize on that buzz, or if somebody has "paid their dues" for a long time and created a more time-based demand for their board. i don't think one way really makes for a longer-term pro or more legit pro, it's just different ways for it to happen- you might think the "paying dues" route makes for a more legit pro, but somebody like pat duffy came out of nowhere to turn pro off one video part and is still at it almost 20 years later, and then somebody like drake jones paid dues forever and then once he turned pro was done in like a year. so for somebody like mike mo who kinda came out of nowhere and turned pro pretty fast and then somebody like rojo who paid dues for a long time to do it, who knows, we'll see who's doing what in a decade or two...
jon choi moved to portland and isn't really trying to be in the sponsorship game, and jon nguyen has been getting toy machine flow for awhile now. both of them are in credible, that part is definitely one of my favs in the bonus round. however, nestor is one of my all-time favorites in any situation.
Topic: Pros Paying Their Dues (Read 4045 times)