For sure it felt like Cates didn’t stop traveling throughout the UK during that period of time. He was constantly going somewhere new. Take Sidewalk, based in Nottingham around then, so if you’re not willing to travel up past London a bit then you’re not going to get as much coverage (I’m not talking specifically about Rodney, just people in general). I’m glad Sidewalk didn’t trap itself in the London bubble.
Magazines have to fill their pages every month with something and some months would have been lighter than others, so a bit of filler was needed here and there. Cates wasn’t, isn’t stupid.
If something was going down he would try and get there, north or south, because he just loves skating too, as well as coverage, haha.
Many get embittered for the wrong reason though through no fault and knowledge of the media. Some feel that it’s their right to be known just because they can skate but put no effort in on their part. Not suggesting your peeps are these types of course.
I’m not having a go at Dan Cates or Sidewalk, as I’ve already said. I’m not trying to suggest anything malicious went on. I believe my observations are valid though.
Niall Neeson’s writing in Kingpin still stokes me out. up there with Gavin Hills and Dave Carnie
I can’t remember any decent writing in Kingpin, I know there was loads of mistakes for years but can’t remember much. Kingpin was all about the photo’s of crazy spots.
The I’ve got more subs than you crew kind of get a bit bitchy and whiny when the industry won’t play ball with them and realise they’re not a big deal outside of their YT bubble.
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Aww didums
Thank god thrasher has a filter.
See first comment Hugo.
Yeah, it’s funny.’ We see and we’re basically calling you out in a fun way, come back when you’re just being a skater’.
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Pretty much everything he says is true though. I don’t mean I want to sit and watch his pals do tricks on a skate park flatbar, I definitely don’t. But the ‘traditional’ industry is just a clique. Chris Roberts says all the time, “Well you wont get far in skateboarding if we don’t like you.” Which is more or less the definition of a clique. I read on here how there’s more to being a professional skateboarder than just being good at skateboarding, but is there? Or should there be? That might depend upon who a skater rides for. I don’t imagine there was ever much more to it for Gino.
I mind seeing some thing with Phelps, someone asking him about a pro and why they weren’t getting SotY, maybe Busenitz, someone I really admire. And he answered with, “Yeah but what’s he done for the magazine?” So essentially Thrasher’s no different from some Murdock rag, it’s just telling you to buy what it’s selling, it’s bullshit. Obviously it’s allowed to only like what it likes though, and if I were it I wouldn’t publish guys doing tricks on a skate park flatbars either. But it seems to want its cake and eat it too. It’s the ‘real’ industry, but it’s only acknowledging it’s pals.
When it comes to the actual act of skateboarding I’m a fucking effete snob of the highest order and I don’t give a fuck if people point it out. As far as I’m concerned if you’re doing it on something which was designed for skateboarding then you’re not really doing it at all, and I get annoyed when I hear the word sport. I cant stand the sight of so much modern skating (ledge to manual, cross locked 5050s, the whole new floppy kind of landing one footed Gucci style can just fuck off). I’m the fucking worst but I’ve never been okay with pretending skaters don’t exist or trying to shut skaters out. And I can recognise a group of elitist arseholes when I see one, they’re everywhere in skateboarding from the top down to the local level, they only ponce about with themselves and always seem very surprised when they realise you don’t think they’re great. It’s probably so common because skateboarding’s such a youthful thing, and it’s excusable when you’re a teenybopper. Not so much when you’re in your forties and still surrounding yourself with sycophants which is what they do at every level. It is just bullshit and I can’t see how it’s defensible.
By the way, every example i’ve used in this thread, they’re just random examples to illustrate how visible this has always been locally, nationally and internationally. I don’t have any strong opinions regarding, or dislike any of the people or groups Ive mentioned, quite the opposite. Although I do have really strong opinions regarding this subject.
Nah, they wanted to be anti-industry in a way, by going against it and forging a new path/way for skaters to make a career. Tearing up the rule book. You can’t start crying when it goes against you too.
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You mean the internet people? I don’t think that’s true at all. I think they could just see they weren’t going to be included.
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That back board down that ledge that Carlos guy?? does at that Braille park – cracks me up.
Why even bother doing that. (Apart from loads of wicked youtube views obvs).
Thrasher doesn’t need their money because I think I watched this video after the recent threads on here. We talk about gate keeping etc for the younger generation is that not what thrasher are doing by not wanting to publish YouTube skaters paid adverts. They’re making money off YouTube they’ve got lots of subscribers and followers etc. You can be good at skateboarding but if your face doesn’t fit you won’t go far in the industry. Look at the likes of Andy McDonald. Technically he is a very good vert skater, but he has always been a bit of a outsider. He’s had some weird sponsors and blew his own trumpet when he was younger and stuff. I’m surprised he doesn’t have his own YouTube channel peddling the boards he was selling on amazon
But Andy Mac is rad as fuck, he’s a perfect example.
I thought the industry consensus about Andy Mac ended up being, the yellow helmet aside, not a kook
I’m a bit unsure of the current definition of kook. I was under the impression a kook was someone with all the gear who didn’t actually skate, like the American for gromit, is that not right?
I think what I mean by a perfect example is that he’s not in the gang and therefore had to pave his own way via the X-Games.
Jamie Thomas and Chris Cole weren’t ‘supposed’ to have been allowed in either. I imagine there’s a few who’ve made it past the bouncers.
Andy Mac kooked himself. He wrote everyone in the industry a letter BITD announcing he’d soon be arriving in California and he was going to be the next big thing. Again he did it to himself.
I’m sure Jamie Thomas likes to tell the story that way but I’m not 100% sure thats true. He made a naked sponsor me tape iirc (Baker put in one of their videos that had to take it out later?). It’s not the coolest thing to do, if you want to be taken seriously. He had a TWS cover pretty early on and was helping run things over at Toy Machine within no time, so there must of been industry doors open to him. Cole is Cole.
I thought it meant mental or weird, like the normal sense of the word. Does it have a different “skate meaning”?
