running into pros

[colt cannon lunchbox]

Julian Davidson once gave me props for a flat ground kickflip

[chillclinton87]

was in london last year and stopped by slam city skates where blondey and benny fairfax were hanging out on the front porch. Benny fairfax was wearing some palace tracksuit, a gold chain, couple gold rings and combined the track suit with some expensive looking gucci moccasins/ slippers.....kinda way over the top dressed  but still looked cool as hell. I said hi and everyone was friendly.

Couple years before i went to slam citys old shop and jerome campbell hung out there....he had a bet going with one of the shop guys and so he started to jump over people standing nearly straight wich was hilarious to watch!

at LES i ran into shane o'neill and sean malto cause there was street league in new jersey the next weekend. Malto stood right next to me on the top of the bank. when i realized that it was him i kinda looked at him for some time cause i thought he was just one kid dressing like him (there were a bunch of malto clones at the park that day). after a couple seconds he gave me the "yeah it is really me" look wich was kinda funny. we talked a bit and he was very friendly. he also did a stationary switch flip next to me for warm up....waist high! half an hour later he just ran out of the park and pushed away because the kids wouldnt let him skate. he was in the middle of what must have been 100 kids wanting to talk to him or sign autographs. poor guy was too nice to let them know he was here to skate...

the most random one was going up to jefferson skatepark from our airbnb only to see heath kirchart as the first person skating there. He looked like he was out to kill someone. straight psycho beam all the time....he 360 flipped up the euro gap, hung up with his back truck and ate soooo much shit where i started to worry- got up like nothing happened and did it next try. blindside flipped the quarterpipe hip waaayyy too high and ate it pretty bad 5 or six times.....psycho beamed at his board and just skated on like nothing happened!

[asakusa75]

Also got into an Uber one time and Chico Brenes was behind the wheel

This makes me sad, hope its not true.

[mynameisnotjeff]

Probably said this before but...

Had a BBQ at a friend's place and we started bombing the hill she lived in. I never fucked with a hill and my friend that has never skated bombed it and I tried...and ate massive shit. We chilled and then went to 7-Eleven, while there Johan Stuckey pulled up. i fanned out got a picture and he told me he was giving his sister a tour of LA.

I also saw Fabian Alomar at my local chatting with the guys that worked there. Didn't knwo who he was and at the time the shop had a mural of him. Pretty chill guy.

[Rein]

Ran into Sewa once at a local skatepark. His skating is insane in real life and he was playing games of skate with the little kids.

I've seen Daan a few times a year for like 12-13 years. His local skatepark is pretty close to where I live.

[D.O.T. DIY]

Skated with Fred Gall and Stefan Janoski a few times in Miami over the years. Fred is a cool dude, so is Stefan. Always was a fun session.

[UselessAsshole]

Was at a Skate more demo/premiere around 2005 at Krush skate park in Tinley Park, IL and Kalis showed up at random, skated more than the DVS team and did a burnout in the parking lot on his way out in a cool looking silver car.

Went to an arcade bar after the Propeller premiere in Chicago and after I was done playing a Playboy pinball machine a friend of mine pointed out that Heath Kirchart was playing the pinball machine right next to me. Later, I went outside to have a cigarette with my friends and caught him walking into the night, I ended up just kind of staring after him...

I went and visited a friend in Kansas City and stayed at said friend's house and they said Gershon Moseley lived in the basement. On the last day, I went to the fridge to grab my medicine and he was just there doing dishes. Said good morning and said what's up, but didn't want to bother him too long.

[artless]

Some good stories here. Love this thread.
I got a few...

Summer '95 in NYC trip with a friend, we had the Brooklyn Banks to ourselves for a good hour. We were resting and suddenly we hear boards rolling and around the corner comes most of the Girl/Choco team. Most memorable were Ben Sanchez snacking on Thermos with warm spaghetti, Mike York spoke to us for a while and cheered Carroll to FS flip the Jersey barrier, Sheffey... Saw Koston next day at some skateshop along with Lance Mountain and Gabe Rodriguez and some other guys.
Also at the banks two/three days later Consolidated team with Alan Peterson, Karma, the Paez bros. maybe, and Robbie Gangemi was with 'em.
Bought a FIT complete from Stevie W. at Astor Place one night. Billy Waldman sold me a stinky pair of Airwalk Jason Lee's. Shoulda pulled only $40 but for $60 I thought I was getting a deal.
Met Keenan briefly as we skated past Supreme one day. Stopped and said hi. He was super humble and approachable. RIP. That was a great trip. If I find the pics, I'll scan.

Dyrdek going to a photo lab I used to work at (sure there were other people along them Atiba maybe?) talking about a Blabac shot. Years later I ran into Rob Dyrdek again with AVE and Kalis in Miami. Talked for a bit and they were super chill and was waaaay before Rob D. did his TV thing.

Latest one was Renaud at a store in Miami. He had his new Rottweiller that had been abused. Lotta people were around the dog and he told them a great story about his father or grandfather and military K9 unit or something of the sort. Didn't say hi and be the awkward dude.

Edit: Found a vid of Carroll's flip. I am wearing my Consolidated smart monkey shirt. I am in the background at :07 sec mark. all navy blue.

[IamCircus]

I tried to get into the ASR show years and years ago. I couldn't get in so I just lurked around. I ran into Markovich at the nearby hotel. I walked right up and introduced myself. He was super cool and invited me to go with him and Don Nyguen to  a local music venue and he said he'd buy me a beer. I was so stoked but I was only 17 and decided not to get in the cab. The embarrassment of rolling with those dudes and getting denied once we got there just wasn't worth it. It was cool to meet him though and he was cool to me. Also ran into the muska that weekend but he was kind of a dick.

Another time I was rolling around downtown and I came across my high school football coach. We were chatting it up and outta no where big black walks up and they hug and start talking. The dc video had just come out and I recognized him immediately. I introduced myself and he was genuinely a nice guy. They all went to some club and again I was too young to!go at the time.

[tortfeasor]

ran into a shop with a friend and saw kenny anderson just standing around by himself waiting for some event to  start.  he  is the nicest dude you would want to ever meet.  he was totally cool about having two adults fan out on him, shot the shit with us and and took a picture with both of us. its currently hanging up on my friends fridge.

another time i mean mugged this kid who was totally jacking chaz ortiz' style.... turned out it was actually chaz ortiz.

[natenola forever]

Saw Chico in the CBD here about 5 years ago when The Super Bowl was in town, he was all 49ers out, he was mad chill, checked out his instagram and he was staying with a random very typical young southern Louisiana couple in Houma, never figured that connection out. I'm friends with him but i always see Duane Pitre after work buying craft beer at Whole Foods.

[BMCsteve]

Ran into Daewon yesterday at H&M.  Both of our ladies were in line buying stuff.  We talked for a bit, he showed me some skate clips on his iPhone, i snapped a selfie.  good times

[hateupton]

When the Vans team was in OKC, I ran into them skating this rail by my apartment. I was casually skating by drinking a Topo Chico and Rowan says hey and introduces himself. Also said whats up to Dan Lu, Kyle Walker and Elijah before I dipped because they were trying to film a trick.

[Big Baby Jesus]

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Also got into an Uber one time and Chico Brenes was behind the wheel

[close]

This makes me sad, hope its not true.

Agreed. I mean the dude has his own shoe for awhile and has been on chocolate for sooooo long. Idk hope they're still paying him more than royalties. You think he'd still be making some Money of his shoe, even though Its dvs. I know it's expensive now to live in the Bay Area, but damn...

[schralp pal]

Used to frequent bars in SF Mission District in my 20s. Once I was drunk and by myself for some reason. I saw Jake Phelps eating a burrito at a really random taqueria - not one of the popular ones. I just stood outside and smoked a cigarette and watched him eat his burrito. Kind of a "life is beautiful" moment.

I used to always see Eli Reed in SF mission too skating fast in and out of traffic. Always had my respect after those sightings because he seemed like a genuine skate rat.

[heckler]

I ran into Eli Reed a few weeks ago, and the moment I recognized him, that BTO guitar riff immediately got stuck in my head.

[childhood]

I saw this dude with a pack of skaters being drunk and obnoxious on Walnut street last Friday night, and I genuinely thought it was Ishod, but as I got closer, I saw the guy was wearing sk8-his.

Ishod on Vans? Or am I just vaguely racist?

I was also at Love when Ishod was switch flipping the four, before anyone knew who he was.
One of my favorite memories from that place.

[TheDraught]

Walked out of Amsterdam Central Station in the late 90s during the Euro contest season.

First thing I see is Chad Muska sitting on his board, smoking a spliff, drinking Heineken and listening to his boom box.

[TheDraught]

I saw this dude with a pack of skaters being drunk and obnoxious on Walnut street last Friday night, and I genuinely thought it was Ishod, but as I got closer, I saw the guy was wearing sk8-his.

Ishod on Vans? Or am I just vaguely racist?

I was also at Love when Ishod was switch flipping the four, before anyone knew who he was.
One of my favorite memories from that place.

He was in Copenhagen last weekend so I guess you're a racist 

[hateupton]

After a visit to San francisco I was at SFO about to board a flight back to Dallas and Jake Phelps (Trixie Trujillo was with him as well) sees me skate to my gate, comes up to me and introduces himself and we talk about the mag for a minute.

[CINCINNATI]

danny garcia showed up to my local like 6 years ago with castrucci. danny was dresed like prince, and some kid on a longboard was giving him shit that he couldnt land a kickflip first try. i think i was the only one to recognize who he was haha.

[RCB3]

I would run into a decent amount of pros growing up in Orange County and skating UCI all the time, but one of my favorite interactions happened on the phone. I started skating in 5th grade, and the summer after I started, my friend on my street and I would go through skate mags and call up the phone numbers and ask for free stickers. Surprisingly the majority of them said sure, and we got packets of stickers shipped to us all summer. It was rad.

So during this calling raid, I called DVS and they agreed, but when I gave them my shipping information and name, (my last name is Bacon), the person on the phone stopped and started going off on me. He said, "The fuck you talking about Bacon? Ain't nobody named Bacon. Man, you know who this is? This is Sean Sheffey!! Get out of here with that shit." And then hung up on me.

I was really confused because I just started skating and had no idea who he was or his legendary status. I called back later, and talked to someone else and he explained that Sheffey sometimes answers the phones for fun and thought I was prank calling him.

Anyways, I ended up getting my stickers from them and got to talk to Sean Sheffey as 10 or 11 year old. Fun times.

[bo golden]

me and some buddies took a road trip to SPoT in late 2001 and saw Andrew Reynolds in a nearby gas station.  saw him hanging in the shop the next day and he was pretty chill.

[thespacewolf]

Daewon Song: Daewon comes to my local park ever so often. I was in the park once when it was completely empty, then I see Chase & Daewon come in and they start filming. I've been trying to manual to manual from tranny to flat (I also didn't want to just sit there and watch them), so I was just doing something basic, couldn't really get a hang of it, but when I finally got it Daewon got so stoked for me and screamed "YES!" when i finally got it, I got super happy, caught me off guard that he was actually watching me. A little bit after, I asked Chase what they were filming for and he told me it was for The Berrics. Soon enough, a new video from The Berrics is up with Daewon and I'm in the background for a split second looking like a goof. Side note: I remember Daewon complaining about his Andale Bearings being too sticky, which is funny to me because I've never heard a pro complaining about his sponsors before.

Rodney Mullen & Louie Barletta: Met Rodney & Louie at Agenda Fest recently, I was completely shook when I met Rodney, because y'know its Rodney. I was stuttering my words and shaking, but I got a picture with him and told him he's a huge inspiration and he said thanks. Louie was apart of the whole meet and greet, but he was mainly hanging back because people were mainly there for Rodney, he got super stoked that people were still fanning out to Rodney. When i went over to him I shook his hand and asked him about KOTR, he said there's a bunch of twists and turns and to wait on it. Both cool dudes.

Random People & Random Instances: Saw Jason Dill once outside of Supreme, wanted to say hi, but he's really intimidating, at the same time he was getting mad at some kid for not knowing a certain skate brand or something like that. Saw Mike Carroll walking down Fairfax, but I wasn't completely sure it was him, so I yelled "MIKE" from my moving car, I see him turn his head and look confused.

[maxi-pad]

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Also got into an Uber one time and Chico Brenes was behind the wheel

[close]

This makes me sad, hope its not true.

[close]

Agreed. I mean the dude has his own shoe for awhile and has been on chocolate for sooooo long. Idk hope they're still paying him more than royalties. You think he'd still be making some Money of his shoe, even though Its dvs. I know it's expensive now to live in the Bay Area, but damn...

Talked to him for a good minute during the ride, dude was cool as hell and told me he was just doing it to stay busy and rake in some easy extra dough on the side before he went skating later in the day. Ride was at like 8 in the morning and he said he'd only be doing it until around 10 or so. Didn't really seem like he was driving out of necessity or anything

[CHONGO]

I ran into Eric Koston at the grocery store in Hawaii. It was the strangest thing ever.

[paraquat]

Ran into Danny wainwright in BCN a few years back. I startered reciting his 411 rookies opening dialogue. He was stoked and had 2 pints with me an my wife and proceded to listen to me fan out for about an hour.

[MintySandwhich]

Was at a skatepark one night around 2011 when the entire slave team showed up. Pat Burke walked in the main entrance and chugged the rest of his beer and threw it into the trash can. Everyone was destroying the bowl there, and I managed to talk to Pat for a minute. He ended up drinking quite a bit more and then he skated the bowl better than the rest of them. He was funny as hell, he would just eat shit, and laugh about it.

I also played a game of SKATE with Ronnie Creager up a euro gap... except he was skating switch. He beat me so bad. I think i got him to "S". He is super nice and insanely consistent.

EDIT:
I was at the Phoenix Am a long time ago when it was at a different skatepark. It was the best trick and I found a spot to sit at. This dude walks up and sits down right next to me, and starts chit-chatting. I was almost like.. Yo who are you man, why are you talking to me. He was going on about how this person was really good, or the park is rad.. just kinda rambling. Next thing I know he gets up and walks to the podium to get a trophy. Ended up being Ishod ahahaha

[quizzzze]

Went to Barcelona at the same time as the 2016 streetleague was there. Ran into Eric Bragg at night at placa reial, he bought bought us a sixpack of beer and talked to us for a while. Told us he was there to be some kind of mentor to Joslin.

Later at the club we also ran into Ishod, Evan Smith, KB and Nyjah etc. Most of the guys were cool and on fire but when we went to talk to Nyjah who was standing alone he looked pretty bored and only gave us short answers, did not seem very interested. Anyway it was cool to see all of those guys.

[dirty ol man]

When I lived in Atlanta, the restaurant I worked at was the hot spot for out-of-town teams. The Vans team, sans AVE, Dill, and Rowley, all came by on their last filming trip for Propeller in 2014; the New Balance team came in last fall; and the Quasi team came in several times last October.

Ran into Julien Stranger at a bar when the Vans team was in town in 2014 and I mentioned it to him (thinking he was with them) and he just said "yeah, I heard they were here, super random." So tight.

Bobby Worrest would spend random weeks down there, and one night I gave him a ride to trucker bar karaoke. He sat bitch, which I respect immensely.

Since moving to New York, beyond seeing people at the obvious hangouts, Alexis Sablone came into my work with a significant other the day I started; I saw Cyrus Bennett and Fat Bill cruising down Canal and Delancey, respectively; I passed Pete from Bronze trying to ride a bike with two girls on it last Friday in Brooklyn; and I walked by Popps in Union Square the other day.

what restaurant in atlanta? going down thursday.