Expand Quote
Didn’t want to start a new thread, but this feels like an appropriate place to ask:
What’s everyone’s thoughts on skate fandom when you’re older? It just hit me that I’m a grown ass man and consider myself a “fan” of dudes who are 19, 20, etc. years old. It just struck me as odd. I don’t care for musicians that young (example, it’s really hard for me to listen Olivia Rodrigo - I know she’s talented but her lyrics are childish to me) and I don’t care for any actors that young. Skating is the only activity/medium where borderline teenagers “inspire” me, for lack of a better term.
don't need to be a "fan" to appreciate someone's craft. i never aspired to be one of those skaters i read about in the magazines during my youth. i just enjoyed watching them. Some more. Some less. Same goes for music or acting.
My take on it is this, especially after having similar conversations about it in the past, to which some others put up very different opinions like "I want to meet this guy and hang out with him for a day" or the old "best skater, worst dude" which I understand, but I find it irrelevant to me.
I like watching their skateboarding, but I don't want to hang out with them or even meet most of them, so from that perspective, it is amazing to see anything from some dudes, old or young, of which I get stoked on and enjoy seeing both things I could do as well as other things I know I could never do at the best of times, but it is still something I get stoked on watching, be it on a screen or right there in front of me.
Sure I have seen my fair share of pro tours, helped in various ways with in store signings and events, even had a good deal of tours and similar things "behind the scenes" so been around a good number of pro dudes and others and although some dudes handle things better than other dudes, they are all still human beings, often thrown in the deep end and expected to perform or whatever, almost like a live circus event for all the masses to see and all that goes with it, sometimes they shine, other times they crash and burn, have meltdowns, etc.
Some people / shop dudes get very jaded with the skate industry and skateboard pros in particular, but I think it comes down to the type of person you are - whether you really like the skater doing the tricks, or just like watching the tricks themselves.
I could watch someone with good style doing the simplest things all day, but I would be hard pressed to watch even a single miunte of footage of someone skatchy, pro or other, with that alone making me like or dislike a skater a whole lot more or less too.
Just to add to that, I am always down to skate with and watch homies skate, people I know more so than someone I don't know, regardless of how good they are, which is a totally different thing to watching a pro skate, who you think should be good, if they are at that level or status, but I know for other people, they just want to meet the person, more than anything else and some totally get their fan on, so really if they get stoked on someone, let them - we were all kids once with stars in our eyes. Some people still are, I guess.
Topic: Old Dudes Post Up Here... (Read 304430 times)