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Shoutout to Becker Park, my old local back in Peoria, IL. People been robbed at gunpoint there, I’ve had about 2-3 phones stolen over the years (went to the ghetto ass complex next door and got em back too), and gave us this 9 million view youtube gem right here
It was in a shitty neighborhood and was all tiny prefab obstacles but that park raised me
That video was soooo sick. Wonder what those kids are doing now haha
Ones doing 8 to 10. The other is a tech startup millionaire
I saw the one who made the TapOut joke a few years later, within the last few months I was living in Illinois. Dude was in maybe 4th-5th grade and bad as hell. Sometimes you’d be at the park then all of the sudden like, 8-12 unsupervised kids from the apartment complex next door would flood that tiny ass park and it’d just be a free for all, kids running thru the lanes and sitting on obstacles being obnoxious n whatnot. Dude was like the loudmouth leader just cussing as much as possible saying all kinds of ratchet ass shit. Real sad to see honestly, like I said those apartments next door were hood as fuck.
The other kid & his yellow banana wearing friend were regulars so I actually saw them fairly often, and he was actually kind of getting into skating and would sometimes ride around n shit. Hopefully it resonated with him and he’s ripping the park but that’s probably not the case. The local shop there closed down a year or so after I left and that’s literally the only park in the city so the scene there is pretty weak at this point and was hardly ever big in the first place. I just hope some of those kids make it out of that cesspool but seeing as how Peoria was actually listed as #6 of the worst cities for African Americans in the entire country (based on poverty, employment, & incarecration rates), my hopes aren’t high. It’s tucked wayyy back in these woods like it’s its own 3rd world country or some shit separate from the city. I had s close friend who moved into another complex just down the road that was like govt-assisted $20/ month rent on some straight
status. I hated going over there even just to pick him up or smoke before skating the park. Place had me shook every time I went there, and I was even brave enough to go door to door to get my phone back from some kid who stole it at the complex next to the park. That’s the kind of shit that puts hairs on your nuts as a kid but going to that other complex down the road would make them same hairs stand up like the back of your neck
Still, I made almost all my skate buddies & spent hours upon hours there from 5th grade til I moved to AZ as an adult so I still hold that park dear to my heart, as fucked as it was. Becker Park raised me as a young skater, never forget