The beef between skateboarders and inline skaters, Part 1.
My brother would watch the X-Games and I'd swear every time an inline event was shown, “M*F'in fruit booters!� was my battle cry. Yet he couldn't figure out why I was that way. “Don't you like Jet Grind Radio? That's about inline skaters.� He'd ask. I'd say, “That is just a game and it's not just about inline skaters.� Then I'd have to try and explain the whole history of skateboarding and he'd just tune me out. Then I'd have to start all over with my friend Gilberto.
Gilberto is a fitness trainer and chef, he's got a kid that's into skateboarding and he talks to me about it. He knows tons about boxing and other sports but very little on skateboarding.
One day Gilberto made a bold statement “Tony Hawk is the best skateboarder ever because he did the 900 and won the most medals at the X-Games, isn't that right?� He looked at me for confirmation.
My mind was reeling. There were so many things wrong with his statement that I didn't know where to begin. “Um well Tony Hawk is one of the greatest skateboarders that has ever lived and his impact has forever changed the face of skateboarding, but you can't just rank him because he won some medals on TV.�
“But the X-Games are like the world series of skateboarding right?� There is some confusion in Gilberto's eyes.
“Skateboarding doesn't have ‘rules' or a ‘season' in the traditional sense of sports. Contests are generally jams put together by sponsors and medals don't mean much in the actual world of skateboarding. The X-Games hasn't been around that long and it was invented just to group, market and sell all of these events together that had nothing to do with each other. Tony has a gold medal from the same people that gave gold medals to bungee jumping and speed climbing on an artificial rock wall, what the hell do those have to do with skateboarding?� Gilberto's concept of skateboarding and competition was slowly dissolving.
“But there's a few inline skaters that can do a 1080° that means they're better than Hawk right?� At about that time I had to kick Gilberto out of my house and calm down. First order of business was to start writing an overview of the whole “action sports� culture, in particular I had to define the beef between skateboarders and inline skaters and explain why skateboarding is not a sport. Then I had to dig deeper into society's views on cultures they may not know anything about. If you've ever had a question or a doubt on what's up with the “extreme culture� then this is your chance to learn.
Let's start by taking it back, way back and figure out some history or at least the roots of skateboarding. Before Tony Hawk, Ryan Scheckler and Shaun White. Before the 900, the bluntslide, stalefish or Fred Blood (you'll find out who he is later). Before inline and skateboarding. Even before metal skates were nailed to the bottom of wooden planks. Before modern “action sports� as we know it there was surfing!
It can be argued that surfing is the oldest know “action sports� or “extreme� culture on the face of the Earth. Pacific Islanders, in particular Hawaiians have been participating in some sort of surf activity for hundreds if not thousands of years. Only in the past half a century has it spread all over the world. Surfing begat skateboarding begat snowboarding. We'll leave BMX and skiing out of the equation for a moment as they also have roots.
Pacific Island culture dictates a close relationship between man and nature, surfing was one way to connect to a higher state of being. The origins of surfing were not in seeking sponsorships or winning contests but in spirituality. Ask any person that is a life-long surfer or skateboarder and they will say that there is no feeling compared to what they do. There is no word that describes the state of mind when pursuing the perfect wave or carving down the street.
The state of innocence and the ideals of surfing were quickly squashed by Western Culture in the past few decades. Competition and territory became the forefront of (modern) surf culture. While surfers are generally portrayed as laid-back, easy-go-lucky individuals, a select few can also be some of the most violent and territorial people around. Younger surfers or those from broken homes lend truth to the “surf gang� mentality that caused rifts in parental and authority figures in the 1950's and 60's. Even today many surfers have very strong territorial feelings and many-a-friend has been beaten up or had their tires slashed for surfing in unfamiliar waters.
But I digress, back in the 50's and 60's when the waves were flat (in Hawaii as well as California) surfers would look for ways to entertain themselves. The skateboard as we know it was born when the steel wheels from roller skates were nailed to the bottom of 2x4's. These inventions were also the basis for scooters. Just watch the movie “Back to the Future� to see the relationship between early scooters and skateboards.
Early skateboarders adopted the surfing moves into street riding and begat the basis for a whole new culture. Surf companies began making skateboard decks and a whole new industry soon followed. Following the format of surf, skateboard competitions began to arise based around the tricks and terrain available at the time. This included things like slalom racing, freestyle and bowl competitions.
A group of talented surfers began to show the world what was capable on a skateboard, enter the Z-Boys, members of the Zephyr surf/skate team. Skaters like Stacey Peralta, Shogo Kubo, Jay Adams and Tony Alva shaped the modern state of skateboarding some 30 years before Tony Hawk hit his stride. In the 60's their aggressive style and willingness to try all terrains turned a lot of heads. For the first time skateboarding was recognized not as a substitute to surfing but a discipline and a culture in and of itself.
Slowly but surely surfing and skateboarding began to drift apart and it came to a point where there was only a few things that both cultures had in common. Top skateboarders became virtual rock stars and the amalgamation between pop culture and skateboarding soon began. Skateboarding has always fallen in and out of popularity, but during one peak between the late 60's and early 70's, films and television appearances helped spread skateboarding like wildfire to the furthest reaches of the US and the world.
Youth culture quickly adopted skateboarding as their means of self-expression. For the first time in the modern world there was a physical activity yet not quite a “sport� that could tie people together. Sports had rigid rules and regulations and while pre-WWII America thought that baseball was all a kid needed to make friends and grow into responsible adults the counter-culture dictated otherwise. Rules were out and self-expression was in. Unlike surfers that share common cliques and territories, skateboarders could go wherever the roads were paved and make instant friends. The skateboard had become the ultimate form of self-expression.
According to Dictionary.com the definition of a sport is:
1. a. Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
1. b. A particular form of this activity.
2. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
A broader definition of sport includes leagues, seasons and other regulations that separate a sport from just play, games or exercise. Skateboarding was not founded on rules, regulations or seasons. Anyone can pick up a skateboard and skate, there is no need to keep track of points, figure out if the season is right for skateboarding or any other such nonsense. Skateboarding is broader than the act itself. A person that skates adopts the mentality, language, music, art and history of skateboarding is engaging in a culture. While there is sports culture, skateboard culture does not fit the same mold.
Skateboarding has history and tradition in both the visual and music arts. Working and Powell/Peralta graphic artists like Vernon Courtland Johnson and CR Stecyk forever changed the medium of skateboard art, turning early board graphics from surf and tattoo-inspired into something unique. West coast punk music was inspired by the aggressive attitude skateboarders had on all terrains. Thanks to the outlaw image that skateboarding was given many a punk rocker was either a skateboarder or was friends with one.
Since skateboarding was still young there were many moves, tricks and innovations yet to be discovered. Part of the fun for early skateboarders was naming the tricks they invented. In the 1980's the more wacky the name the better it worked. Thus names like Benihana, Madonna, Boneless, Feeble and Stalefish were born. In other cases tricks were named after people. Darryl Miller invented the Miller Flip, Alan “Ollie� Gelfland invented the Ollie, Mike Smith invented the Smith grind, Dave Andrecht invented the Andrecht, Steve Caballero invented the Caballerial and the Mute grab was invented by a skateboarder (whose name escapes me at the moment) that was really mute.
Tricks were progressing at an alarming rate in the late 60's. Skaters began riding bowls and pools at a feverish rate. Grinds and tricks at the lip or pool coping were becoming more and more gnarly. One day Tony Alva defied all logic by launching a frontside air out of a pool and then landing back in. It turned out to be one of the benchmarks in skateboarding history. The first air was the moment that skateboarders realized they were barely beginning to explore the possibilities of skateboarding. That first air, although only a few inches above the pool coping, begat the quest for more air and more technical tricks.
Companies began sprouting up and sponsoring talent on the quest for a slice of the skateboard pie. Teams and competitions began forming and evolving following the success of the Z-Boys. The competitions were simply ways for sponsors to parade their talent in front of other companies and occasionally the media. Almost all of the competitions were held by and for skateboarders. Frank Hawk, the father of Tony Hawk, even helped with founding and judging for both the California Amateur Skateboard League and the National Skateboard Association. For the skateboarders it was just an excuse to hang out and meet up with old friends. Competition in skateboarding has rarely been seen as serious. Trophies and medals did not earn respect in the eyes of other “pros.� Ability and innovations have always held more importance in the culture of skateboarding than any “world ranking.�
New terrain opened up from the streets to the skate parks and skateboarders early on learned to ride all of them. Only decades later, in the late 80's and early 90's, skateboarders begin dedicating themselves to one “style� of skateboarding, like vert or street.
The industry surrounding skateboarding grew with the times. Clothing and shoe labels associated with skateboarding opened up in the late 60's and many are still around today. Several magazines appeared and two of the longest running, Transworld Skateboarding and Thrasher are still the default magazines for skateboarders. Possibly the biggest impact the associated industry has had on skateboarding and rest of the world has been through videos.
Skate videos progressed faster than surf films of the day based on the emerging VHS technology. The videos by Powell and Peralta set the standard, the skateboarding was top notch in the videos, but more often than not there was also a theme and several comedy skits that went into the videos as well. Eventually other skateboard companies made variations on the videos by adding their own flavor. Some videos were based on road trips and tours while others were part punk rock concert and part documentary.
Since the late 80's 411 Video Magazine has been the longest running skateboard series out. The formats (edits, skits and music) used in other skateboard videos as well as 411 are the same format used in all present-day action sports videos. Many a director working in the film industry on television, music videos and motion pictures has gotten their foot in the door thanks to skateboard videos. People like Stacy Peralta and Spike Jonze are two of the most respected filmmakers to make the transition.
The format used in skateboarding videos was so popular than other genres began copying them for their own releases. BMX, inline, moto-x and mountain biking are some of the disciplines that have borrowed the skate video format. Videos based on everything from illegal street racing to graffiti follow a similar format. By their own admission the street basketball “Mix Tape� series by basketball soft goods manufacturer AND 1 was based on skate videos of the time. Today there is a global streetball tour and a series of videos from AND 1, all attributed to the skateboarding format.
This is a microscopic history of skateboarding; there are so many riders, stories, tours, videos, innovations and legends that I have not even brought up. There are the tragedies and comedies, from Mark “Gator� Rogowski, Jeff Phillips, Simon Woodstock to Christian Hosoi. There are riders that left too soon like Keenan Milton, Phil Shao and Tim Brauch. There are those whose longevity and artistic talent are aw inspiring like Lance Mountain and Mark Gonzales. There are those that ride their own way and do their own thing, contests be damned like Danny Way and Mike Vallely.
Skateboarding itself goes through cycles of trends not unlike pop culture. One day a skateboarder is defined by how he “pressure flips� his board while wearing 5XL pants and skating on a board with microscopic wheels. The very next day a skateboarder absolutely has to be wearing a basketball jersey and a do-rag and listening to rap while occasionally skating when not going to clubs.
There is much history in the industry itself, from a tyrannical micromanager George Powell to a megalomaniacal Steve Rocco. There are even great stories surrounding the skateboard graphic artists and the art they have produced. There are conflicts in and around the industry that are as fascinating as they are sad. Skateboarding (as a life-long skateboarder knows it) has no parallel. History is made on a day-to-day basis and all of the words above just capture a glimpse of everything that's gone down. I wish I could invite everyone that's ever had a question over and just go through all the skate vids books and magazines I've collected over the years. But that would be information overload for anyone. So I have to whittle it down to a few paragraphs.
This is why I get mad when somebody watches the X-Games and then assumes that it is the be all and end all of skateboarding. Skateboarding was around more than a half a century before the X-Games and it will still be around long after skateboarding falls out of favor. This is only part of my complaint; in the next half I will try and explain why skateboarders have a beef with inline skaters.
The beef between skateboarders and inline skaters, Part 2.
The rivalry between skateboarding and aggressive inline hit its peak in the mid 90's, thanks in part to the exposure both events received on TV. Seemingly overnight inline was put on par with skateboarding and a generally uninformed mainstream audience assumed that their kids could grow up to do either-activity and A. Become successful athletes or B. Switch to another discipline once the “season� was over.
This type of mentality compiled with blatant commercialization and exploitation of skateboarding was a slap in the face to skateboard culture. Skateboarders demanded to know how it had gotten to this point and began taking out their frustrations on the inline community. They demanded to know where the history, legacy, culture and tradition from aggressive inline had come from. Or was it simply assumed that skateboarding would gladly partner up with any “extreme� event just because television contests had dictated so. I had many questions over the next few years and I've begun trying to make sense out of the skateboarders distaste for inline.
The first questions skateboarders have is where is the history, culture and tradition for inline? Did they just take the names of tricks and adopt the identity of skateboarding as a parallel to what they did? If so how dare they disrespect skateboarding and the legacy that skateboarding is founded on! But let's dig a little deeper and try to figure out how it got to this point.
Aggressive inline is a very young activity compared to other cultures like surfing, skateboarding and BMX. But inline skating does have some roots by looking at its godfather the roller skate.
Roller-skating does have an extensive history. Roller skating goes back before the 50's, before Gene Kelly tap danced in metal roller skates in “It's Always Fair Weather.� After all it was the steel roller skates that were first taken apart in order to invent scooters and skateboards. So the roller skate predates the skateboard, how do you like that? But surfing predates the roller skate so it can't be a circular argument. The history, culture and tradition of roller skating were the foundations for inline skating, it was only in the past decade that aggressive inline took more from skateboard culture than pre-90's roller skate culture.
An innovation that helped both skateboarding and roller-skating take off in the late 60's / early 70's was better wheels and bearings. Pre-60's steel wheels broke often and did not go very fast on asphalt. Clay wheels in the early 60's and loose bearings worked betted on both skateboards and roller skates, but clay did not provide enough grip at high speeds and would break on high impact stunts. In the late 60's urethane wheels and sealed bearings helped skateboarders and roller skaters push the limits of their riding as finally they could get grip, go fast and not have to worry about their equipment failing them.
Urethane wheels helped both skateboarding and roller-skating explode in popularity. Pop culture embraced roller-skating as it was deemed to have less punk or rebellious qualities as skateboarding. For better or worse roller-skating was tied into disco. The gymnastics and dance of the streets on roller skates made its way into trendy clubs and roller disco was born. When disco died out in the late 70's / early 80's it just about took roller-skating with it.
Those that pursued roller-skating as a discipline did so actively. They went to skate parks and ramps with the same fervor as skateboarders. Roller skates are tricky on ramps, the braking mechanism for skates is awkward and at best roller skates are squirrelly in transitions and at high speed. Try and find footage of a roller skater on a ramp or see if there are any at your local skate park, you will notice that their stance in unique to just skating forward. To help control their speed and stability a roller skater will point their toes out from their hips and line up their torso and skates to go side to side. An aggressive roller skater always has to be looking to the side to see where they are going not unlike a skateboarder. This is opposed to aggressive inline skaters than can skate facing forward at high speeds and on transitions. This difficulty in skating transitions caused there to be far less roller skaters practicing this form than skateboarders. However the best of the roller skaters managed to catch air on ramps and bowls and progress their discipline at near the same pace as skateboarders.
In the early 80's the Bones Brigade was traveling though Europe and they stopped in Sweden for a skate camp. At the camp pro skateboarder Mike McGill was watching a demo from Fred Blood, an aggressive roller skater. On a backside air Fred managed to twist himself and sort-of spin sort-of flip a 540-degree revolution above the coping. Mike studied the position of Fred's feet and the way he shifted his weight, rotated his shoulder, tucked in and made the spin/flip complete. The 360 and fakie (backwards) 360 (Caballerial) had already been done on a skateboard. The frontside 540 was already possible but just below the coping of a ramp or bowl. Mike wanted to spin backside and above the coping of the ramp in the way Fred Blood had, so he practiced and practiced until he threw down a backside 540 or “McTwist� one day in competition.
The bar had once again been raised. Just as when Tony Alva caught that first air out of the pool, almost 15 years later the McTwist had set a new standard. Skateboard “purists� favored style and air over going fakie or technical tricks like those that Mike McGill, Steve Caballero and a young Tony Hawk were throwing down. Older skaters feared that unless they too learned the 540 they would soon be put to pasture. Little did they know that it was only the beginning of technical vert progression. Tony figured out McTwists not long after Mike and had even figured out the 720 a few months later. The seed for the 900 was planted in the late 80's but the trick was very difficult and Tony didn't commit to a landing for years after.
In 1989 Danny Way began pulling consistent kickflip indy's and the flip in/flip out progression in vert took off. In 1994-95 Anti Hero brought a young Brazilian named Bob Burnquist to the US to show the world that riders could go super-technical and switch as well. More veterans bemoaned the speed at which skateboarding was progressing. I mention this in the vert world but street skating had also evolved at a tremendous pace. From the time Tommy Guererro, Mark Gonzales, Natas Kaupas and Mike Vallely first came onto the scene, to a young Guy Mariano, Mike Carroll and Eric Koston who took the torch. There were the big gap roof jumps, flip in / flip out ledge and rail tricks (that you have to watch Rodney versus Daewon videos to appreciate). The rail killers arrived on the scene in the early 90's spearheaded by Pat Duffy in Plan B's Questionable video. From that moment on skaters realized they didn't have to board slide rails but could lock their trucks into grinds. But I digress; I was supposed to focus on one of the pivotal moments in vert skating…
Fred Blood, a pioneer of aggressive roller-skating, sparked the evolution of skateboard vert progression. Other aggressive roller skaters like Tim Altic, Daniel Knopf, Mike Vail, Duke Renie, Lee Ettinger and Brian Wainright established the moves, tricks and style that predate modern vert aggressive inline by decades. Modern inline riders are barely rediscovering some of those moves. Flips into handplants, off-axis rotations (flatspins) and big spins were all being done on roller skates in the late 70's and early 80's.
The vert faction of aggressive roller-skate had grown but there was not a “street� version of it. Roller skaters did not attack rails or big gaps in the street the way modern skateboarders and inline skaters do. Hence aggressive roller-skaters were a very small part of the overall number of roller-skaters around the world. The roller-skates, the skaters and their style of riding was eventually weaned out by the introduction and popularization of inline skates in the late 80's. Yes there are still hardcore roller-skaters out there keeping the vert style alive, but it's tough to train the next generation for lack of exposure.
In the same way that wheel technology helped make roller-skates and skateboards take off in the 70's, inline skate construction helped start a new craze in the late 80's and early 90's. The longer wheelbase allowed for improved stability, which is always better for beginners, and better at high speeds for advanced riders. People that skated inline could go to skateparks and not fear transitions since they could ride facing the direction they wanted to go in. Some inline skaters began jumping on handrails and ledges similar to skateboarders and invented “street� aggressive inline in a few years. Street hockey was just one of the many inline sports and contributing factors to those that took up inline skating for exercise and recreation.
A whole new industry was formed around all that practiced inline skating. There were clothing labels and magazines popping out of the woodwork. Aggressive street inline videos began appearing using a similar format to skateboard videos. Television competitions spread the inline sport all over the world. The mainstream audience was treated to exhibitions whose tricks, vocabulary and fashion were heavily borrowed from skate culture and assumed to be “on-par� with skateboarding.
Television turned out to be a great platform for the emerging inline scene to take off. The Extreme Games (later shortened to X-Games) and Gravity Games were conjured up by the ABC and NBC networks to help promote the lifestyle. Televised competitions had sponsors lined up around the block to reach the young and trendy audience. Both games turned out to be great marketing platforms for Right Guard, Mountain Dew, Taco Bell and the Army.
Skateboarders seemed to be on the losing end of everything that came out of the X-Games. The exposure was great but skateboarders did not get fairly compensated for their early appearances and the eventual videos that came out. Skateboarders did not have to give up their rights in video productions and at competitions organized by skateboarders and for skateboarders. The X-Games run by ESPN and ABC forced skateboarders to unionize. The collective of vert skaters almost boycotted the X-Games in Philadelphia 2001 because IMAX was also filming for a movie without the prior knowledge or consent of the riders.
In a very short amount of time aggressive inline was given, rather than had earned “street cred� thanks to the exposure of television. Pop culture and mainstream America accepted television at face value and this was a blow to the legacy of skateboarding. From a skateboarders perspective it seemed that everything leading up to the X-Games had never happened. Surf, punk, wheels made from steel, clay and urethane, the Z-Boys, Tony Alva's first air, the Bones Brigade, the McTwist, 411VM… all of that history was ignored and from the X-Games on it seemed that skateboarders should be focused on securing sponsors and looking cool for the cameras.
This new attitude and emphasis on competition was counter to skateboard culture. Worse yet, those same skateboarders that had worked hard to survive the rise and fall of skateboarding from the 80's and 90's (like Tony Hawk) were now placed alongside other events and riders that had never had ties with skateboarding. Sport climbing, sky surfing, bungee jumping and barefoot water jumping were some of the events that the X-Games organizers grouped together with skateboarding. Putting those other events under the same umbrella as skateboarding gave them all “street cred� and the mainstream audience followed along. The skateboarder had been burned worse than they had ever been burned before. Only time would tell what the fallout would be…
The beef between skateboarders and inline skaters, Part 3.
From a skateboarders point of view aggressive inline is not as difficult as skateboarding. A skateboarder has to constantly try and control his board and balance not only over terrain but also when attempting tricks in street and in vert. The aggressive inline skater is always attached to the skate and can concentrate more on balance during grind tricks and vert tricks. Inline skates are also more stable at high speeds than roller skates and hence performing vert aerials and flips is "easier" with inline skates than with either a skateboard or roller skate.
Tony Hawk first met his ex-wife at a fundraiser in the mid 90's. Action sports athletes from inline, BMX and skateboarding were performing to help raise money for charity. Tony made fast friends with one of the ladies doing the inline skate demo and she later became his wife. Tony had a son with her and ever since there has been peace between the inline and skateboard camps? Okay so maybe that isn't how things turned out and maybe you didn't know Tony has a son born of an inline skater. Blows your mind huh? Anyhow one day she bought Tony some inline skates to test out while he was practicing on a ramp. Tony tried them on and within a half hour he was already pulling handplants and aerials with them. Granted Tony is a skateboarding genius and could probably learn to ride anything with wheels, but given that he had no experience on inline skates or roller skates Tony was able to perform tricks in a half pipe in a short amount of time because the learning curve with inline skates is shorter than that with a skateboard.
What about so-called "pro" inline skaters, about how long did it take them to go from learning to skate to going pro? Taig Khris started riding and competing in the same year (1996), Sven Boekhorst did the same (1995) by 2000 he was the #1 ranked street skater according to the ASA, Shane "The Tazmanian Devil" Yost started competing a year after he learned to skate (1995), Eito Yasutoko started competing three years after he first learned to skate (1992). Mind you these skaters went from competing in amateur to pro events in a fraction of the time it would take a talented skateboarder or BMX rider to do so. Even the skateboard or BMX riders with supernatural abilities took years to go from flow team to sponsored am to fully-fledged pro. Ask any pro in another field how long it took them to get there and they will tell you the same.
During the first X-Games in 1995 pro riders like Tony Hawk and Mat Hoffman which had 15 years of professional skating/BMX experience and more than 20 years of riding were competing on the same stage as people that had picked up inline boots just the summer before. Both disciplines saw the inline pros as spoiled brats that were riding the coattails of other hard-earned cultures. Aggressive inliners did not give credit where credit was due and were blatantly using trick names from skateboarding and selling it to the cameras.
From a skateboarders point of view the entire aggressive inline culture was stolen from skateboard culture. Almost every aspect of the culture from trick names to terrain was pioneered by skateboarders and had been incorporated into inline culture only in the past decade. Doing this to an existing culture is an insult to those pioneers and the legacy they have established in skateboarding.
Skateboarding has rarely gotten along with the other modern action sports disciplines. Since skateboarding predates the street and vert styles of both BMX and aggressive inline, they carry a grudge whenever they hear about how much they have in common. Thanks to televised competitions (and the first XXX movie with Vin Diesel) the myth of all action sports coexisting peacefully has only perpetuated.
The real world does not fit the mold that TV would have you believe. In reality the streets are more akin to skateboarding vs. inline vs. BMX. Skateboarding has become very territorial, not unlike how surfing became. There is a-two part reason for this; the first being that many of the skateboarders spots have become legendary (at least in the eyes of the skateboarder). Ask any veteran skateboarder about Mt. Baldy, the Sadlands, the Leap of Faith, the Nude Bowl, Embarcadero, 7th and Army, Love Park, Skatopia and Burnside. Their eyes will gloss over and they will recount the riders, tricks and history associated with those places. Whenever BMX or inline skaters films their parts (assuming they haven't been torn down) at these spots it is an insult to the legacy they have established.
The second reason that skateboarding has become territorial is that "skate proofing" rails, ledges and benches in the city are not always the result of only skateboarder's actions. Skate wax is applied to curbs and sometimes rails so that skateboarders can perform slide and grind tricks easier. When liberal amounts of wax have been applied to a rail, ledge or curb then often times it is the result of an aggressive inline skater. This excessive wax (sometimes even applied to marble) can make a curb slippery for pedestrians, a handrail slippery for people trying to use it to descend stairs or a bench greasy enough so that it stains clothes. [Author's update: I should be more accurate about the skate wax, early generations of inline skates were never meant for grinding so inline skaters had to find ways to lock into grinds, wax was one way but eventually the skaters experimented with removing the middle two wheels from the skates or replacing them with smaller wheels. Today some inline skates feature custom grind plates, and even wheels built with rails and ledges in mind. Just as skateboards evolved to meet the progression of flip tricks (shape, construction and weight) so have inline skates evolved and now skaters can liberate themselves from the wax.]
According to the Skatepark Association of the United States of America "We have been surveying parks for several years and have not come up with any evidence that they [BMX bikes] cause anymore wear & tear than skateboarders or inline skaters." However BMX bikes being somewhat heavier (and the pegs used for grinds rougher than either a skateboard truck or an inline boot) can often cut chunks out of concrete curbs and benches as well as strip paint off of rails in urban areas. This is because ledges and curbs in the city don't have the luxury of metal coping as skatepark ledges and curbs do. When a skateboarder goes to a favorite ledge or bench and finds chunks taken out and making it un-skatable they know that it has been "sessioned" by a BMX bike. The damage caused by BMX bikes and excessive wax from aggressive inline skaters is more than enough to cause a city to skate-poof a site and place all the blame solely on the shoulders of skateboarders... Is there any question now why skateboarders in general have a dislike of BMX and aggressive inline skaters?
Okay so maybe I am being a killjoy. I know that not all skateboarders hate all inline skaters and all BMX riders; it's just a gross generalization. But a generalization based on some real history. So why do I care? Why am I so passionate about the subject? At the root level I am passionate because skateboarding is worth fighting for. The ideals of identity, community and culture have always been worth fighting for. Fighting for what we believe in is one of the most basic human rights. After all how do you identify yourself as opposed to how others would label you?
Ask yourself "whom am I fighting?" Do I have a beef with inline skaters and BMX riders? No, it is actually a little more complicated than that. "Don't hate the players, hate the game" as the saying goes. I fight and I always ask you to fight against those that would exploit a community and culture.
This is about the time that I turn many people off, being labeled "anti-establishment" for my thoughts against "the industry." Hold off for just a sec and hear me out. You should always be skeptical of the media or anybody that sponsors televised competitions or "seasonal world championships" whenever an "action sport" like skateboarding, inline or BMX is involved. Ask yourself "what is the message and who is sending the message?" whenever the X-Games, Gravity Games or other such event rolls around. Are those competitions really celebrating the culture of the disciplines involved or are they holding the events so they can create a venue that captures both sponsors and the target demographic of "anybody with disposable income but especially teens and pre-teens." Ask yourself "how long has this competition been around?" try and validate the message that TV is sending by seeing how long they have been active in the community.
After all, how many skateparks have ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox or cable built? How many parks have any of the sponsors associated with the X-Games or Gravity Games built? Last time I checked there was not a Mountain Dew, Taco Bell, Right Guard or US Army park anywhere near me. How many scholarships have the networks and their sponsors established in memory of fallen riders? How much money have they invested in keeping the skateboard, inline and BMX scenes alive and healthy? Did these sponsors and networks ever fight to make skateboarding, inline and BMX "legitimate" activities free from political or public persecution? Did they ever form committees or set funds aside for public education about the events they sponsor? Are these sponsors here only to ride the culture and take my hard earned money? Only you can answer those questions. Only you can create your own questions. Only you can question my motives.
I fight against huge business like South Korean-based LG Electronics (producers of everything from cel-phones to refrigerators) for creating a fictional "Season-ending Championships" for all of the action sports. Since when did skateboarding have a season? Do skateboarders get fined for skating out of season? I fight against the media and sponsors exploiting the cultures without giving back to the community. Sorry but padding the wallets of a few select riders doesn't count. I fight the ignorance that sells skateboarding to the mainstream. I fight those that "borrow" from cultures without giving credit, this even goes out to snowboarding and skiing groups for taking skate names and inventing a whole new lingo to try and sound cool. What ever happened to Jonny Mosley and the Freestyle Ski movement that was going to usurp snowboarding? What the hell is "amplitude" all about? Skateboarders have always caught air, not amplitude! I fight to keep the history and culture alive. I fight to make the riders communicate with each other and try to build bridges between the camps.
Believe it or not I have respect for BMX and aggressive inline riders, even if I did start my tirade by calling inline skaters "M*F'in fruit booters!" That was just a hook to get your attention. I rarely call them that today. Heh-heh-heh.
Seriously though, I do have tremendous respect for BMX riders. I ask that they give a shout out to skateboarders Ed Templeton and Mike Smith whenever they do a Feeble or a Smith grind though. BMX on street and on vert is very gnarly. A rider that bails on a bike does not have the luxury of performing a knee slide like a skateboarder or inline skater. BMX bails are usually a sickening combination of flesh, bones and steel. BMX riders (a few approaching their 40's), and some of which should be put in a mental institution, have broken more bones and suffered more injuries than Evil Knievel and the NFL combined. The pain and injuries all done in the pursuit of innovation and evolution, just as in skateboard culture.
BMX bikes are not cheap and that accounts for a level of dedication that rises above the average "recreational" athlete. The blood, sweat and tears put into BMX goes way back to the actual bicycle moto-cross of the 60's and 70's. Not content with just racing, and borrowing a book from skateboarding many an early BMX pros rode every terrain available, inventing vert, freestyle and street versions in their wake.
Mat Hoffman is a long-time rider that is the equivalent of Tony Hawk in many regards. Not for television appearances mind you, but for how he elevated and progressed the form of riding faster than anyone before. Mad respect for riders like Hoffman and Dave Mirra for putting out the tricks ahead of their time, the 900 and double backflip? Just some of the moves pioneered on a BMX bike! Even the ramps that are used today in the majority of competitions are an amalgamation of skateboard and BMX ramp design.
Skateboarders are responsible for most of the early ramp designs from launch ramps to, quarter and half-pipes. The materials used in their construction went from plywood to a special form of treated wood (like Formica) that was better in indoor skateparks called Masonite. An even better version of Masonite known as Skate-lite followed and set the standard for ramp construction. BMX riders that toured with skateboarders in the mid 80's were used to more vert on the transition and no coping. Skateboarders were used to coping from grinding the lips of pools and had started out by using PVC tubing on their portable ramps. BMX riders had to adjust to this just as skateboarders had to adjust to more vert on the transition. Eventually steel replaced the PVC coping and BMX riders began learning grind and stall tricks on the lip of the ramp. Vert skateboarders became more used to larger ramps with more vert on the transition and eventually they struck up a middle ground between the perfect skateboard and BMX ramp by the mid 90's.
It should be obvious that I have tremendous respect for skateboarding. However I always think that we can always help to improve the current situation of skateboarding. The next generation is rising through the ranks of flow, amateur and professional sponsorship; some of them have no foundation in the "basics" of skateboarding. Many a youngster is taught to throw himself or herself down a 20-stair rail before they have even learned to ollie. Those same youngsters think that sponsors have always been there, willing to send ridiculous amounts of cash their way. The lure of cars, fame and houses is a myth that very few skateboarders, pro or otherwise, will ever see. For every one Shaun White ranking against athletes like Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant, there are tens of thousands that will never get a chance to snowboard. They will settle for skating on a second-hand skateboard from the thrift store. Yet still that dream of going pro and hitting it big seems as real as anything else in their world. I want to know who sold them that myth instead of just letting them skate for the sake of skating?
The hardest sell for you might be the amount of respect I have for aggressive inline skaters. I am not, and probably will never be a fan of aggressive street inline skating, but that doesn't mean I don't respect the people that do it. Any person willing to throw themselves down a handrail or over a gap time and time again (with no thought to injury) simply because they believe they can takes guts.
In general I have more respect for riders that do "real street" as opposed to learning how to ride in a park. Park riders are akin to flavorless robots; in skateboarding they are the competitors that have the same flip, same set of rehearsed tricks in competition. This is why there is a flood of pro "street" skateboarders that many people have never heard of entering competitions. They have been raised in skateparks and only know how to ride skateparks and not really streets. They lack creativity when presented with new obstacles and such. In respect to inline and BMX park riders they go through the motions but don't add any "style" or personality to the trick to make it unique.
I do have marginally more respect for vert aggressive inline than street. Inline vert is akin to skateboard vert, it's great to watch on TV and real life but it only represents a small fraction of all riders. Riding inline may be "easier" by skateboard standards but the evolution and progression still hits at an incredible pace. The 1080, 1260, 1440, triple backflip and off-axis rotations and flips are very gnarly for any rider.
The sad part for all aggressive inline riders is how little the mainstream audience knows about them or even who the top riders are. Ask the average person to name some pro skateboarders and chances are they can at least name "Tony Hawk, Bam Margera and Andy Macdonald." Ask the same person to name pro inline skaters and chances are they'll say "that Brazilian girl (Fabiola de Silva) and those Japanese twins" (they aren't twins but brothers Eito and Takeshi Yasutoko). Chances are the person would not be able to put an actual name on pro inline skaters and this is because many have come and gone in such a short amount of time. The Yasutoko's are the sons of a professional roller-skater Yuki Yasutoko. Yuki was so much into roller-skating that he named his first son after his trademark trick, the Figure-8. Eito is the Japanese pronunciation of "Eight." It should be no coincidence that a roller-skater raised two of the most progressive inline vert riders in the world.
The exposure to inline is progressively declining as ESPN pulled aggressive inline park in 2004 and will pull vert in 2005, only to be replaced by a short inline demo in the 2005 X-Games. Skateboarding, BMX and aggressive inline were marquee events in the early X-Games and this is how the organizers return the favor once the X-Games becomes a larger venue? How is that for gratitude?
Aggressive inline pretty much now has to build its own means of survival. Dedicated riders have found that sponsors are no longer knocking down their door, they are becoming more and more discriminated against and continuing to pursue their discipline is an uphill battle. They should not be surprised. Skateboarding and BMX came and went in popularity many times from 1960 to today. Each time there was a bust companies and sponsors dried up and many riders disappeared. The dedicated ones stuck through the hard times, continued to progress and often had to get day jobs to make ends meet. During the hard times they learned to rely on their fellow community to keep spreading the word, holding the contests and making the videos. Eventually they would fall back in favor and re-introduce skateboarding to a new generation.
I have a feeling that aggressive inline is in one of those recessions right now. Only the dedicated members of the community are still active. The internet and 'zines are hooking up like-minded individuals. The riders are organizing and creating their own competitions without relying on corporate America for backing and exposure. A recession is exactly what aggressive inline needs right now. Those that are dedicated will learn to appreciate what they have. Those that are dedicated will be prepared to handle themselves when pop culture decides that inline skating is "cool" again. Hopefully a recession can also demonstrate to more BMX riders and skateboarders that the aggressive inline riders are not part of a fad but rather the youngest new culture in "action sports." I doubt that it will happen any time soon. Maybe in 15 years when a skateboarder and a BMX rider can see the same inline pro still competing will they know that they have "paid their dues" then the beef between skateboarders and aggressive inline will disappear.
- Noe V.
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