whats going to happen to skateboarding?

[K05T0N]

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2...=gifted&st=cse

"Bieber on wheels"

[Roccityroller]

Caption from the picture:

Photograph by Sebastian Kim. Fashion Editor: Andreas Kokkino. Hair by Andre Gunn at the Wall Group. Makeup by Steven Canavan at Jed Root Inc. Fashion assistants: Adam Ballheim, Jean Hall and Guillaume Harrison.
Topman Jacket, $280. Go to Topman.com. Hurley shirt, $49, and jeans, $25. Go to Hurley.com. His own hat, Hurley t-shirt and Vans shoes.

It's become more about the fashion... lol

this is scary but that's the price you pay to have your pros make tons of dough

[nolan1053]

I don't think Curren Caples or Louie Lopez are that good. I don't care if they're 14 years old. They do the same shit in every video.

[K05T0N]

this is scary but that's the price you pay to have your pros make tons of dough

can't they all just have reality tv shows so i can afford a shirt?

[fallingskyline]

"bieber on wheels" sucks. but on the other hand i'm not scared of this thing, 'cause trends just come and go, even if this little bieberclon is good, he's still 14 and time will show him that every trend has both sides, and tomorrow noone cares about it anymore. so what's the deal? skating had everything from short shorts, to pink, to emo, to hobo, to baggys and whatnot... if skateboarding isn't tolerant and openminded, what else is???

and btw, hasn't skateboarding been a fashionstunt all the time....

[Slamooh]

and btw, hasn't skateboarding been a fashionstunt all the time....

^ this... more now than ever... making it less tolerant and openminded than ever...

[knexzor]

To me this seems like an innocent thing, until the editors (I presume) added the line about bieber. I could bet a few dollars Caples isn't cool with that.

about the fashion thing... hate it. coming down to the skatepark seeing kids all dressed the same, trying the same tricks with the same 'steeze'. geez..

[adda89ldn]

what do you expect from the mainstream media?

[Cookiesupporter]

I don't care about stuff like that. Maybe skateboarding will be more present in the media (in europe, dunno how much skateboarding there is in american TV)...so what? It's still skateboarding, still fun.
The fashion thing is kind of strange I think, cause many kids look like clones but it's not a problem and not my business. As long as I can skate for myself and have fun with others, everything is good

[fallingskyline]

As long as I can skate for myself and have fun with others, everything is good

essence of what skateboarding is / should be in one sentence <3

[xI blisk Ix]

I like to call this the Sheckler effect.

It only seems to happen to kids that are really good at skateboarding. This is the trick part is that they also have to be good looking. Now the media looks at the little kid and sees a new Ryan Sheckler. Thus the name "The Sheckler Effect"

Our only hope now is that this little kid cries on TV so everyone hates him

[skHate88]

atleast we still have youwillsoon

[Roccityroller]

what's the hardest part about skateboarding....

[K05T0N]

snow... i live in buffalo.

[pawnluvguitarist]

honestly, who cares, what goes on in the mainstream has zero effect on my skateboarding, what i wear while skateboarding and what skateboarding means to me...

[Roccityroller]

I know this has nothing to do with this but i just thought i'd give some input.

for the past 5 years, i've been in school and haven't paid attn to the rollerblading community outside of my town. period. I didn't know any of the new companies, i didn't know any of the new pros/lil rippers, nothing. I bought skate parts from friends and made due with what i had laying around.

didn't stop my skating at all. In fact i think i've gotten better since then. Now i'm back and absorbing it all and it feels 'fresh' again. I think this is what skateboarding needs to get back to its origins. That's why people say "oh rollerblading is still around?" Of course it is, our community just shy'd away from the whole Zumiez/XGames/RightGuard scene, all the stuff that was ruining rollerblading, much like its doing to skateboarding.

Rollerblading isn't in the X-Games anymore, not because it's not cool (even tho its not), but because rollerbladers stopped showing up. the ASA (american skaters association) tried the same thing, bringing in big sponsors that had nothing to do with skateboarding and making it more of a concert than a skate comp. same outcome.

y'all motherfuckers need to stop worrying about what's going on outside your sport or, unfortuneately, at the top of your sport, and just do skateboarding.

[scharkey]

It's lame they are using skaters as selling points, but it's advertisement. They are leeches and will attach themselves to anything you enjoy and then sell the shit out of it. The trends get stale and the kooks move on, while we remember the real reason we skate.

btw, that was very heartfelt coming from a fruit boarder roc (jk ) <3

[Corpsey]

A lot of you are acting like this is something new. This shit has been going down since the 80s with Gator, Hawk, and the others.

[nolan1053]

I just think if companies are going to use skaters to sell their products, at least use someone that's good.

[Monk]

skateboarding itself is just going to continue to get more technically down and across larger stuff........ with or without the mainstream fashion shit tbh.........each year just continues to 1-up the last one and i honestly i dont see a plateau in sight

[PyR0MaNiAc225]

skating doesnt HAVE to be ANYTHING, it doesnt have to be super cool and underground, it doesnt have to be completely mainstream. some people just assume that if some people do something in a way they dont prefer, that that whole group of people should be disliked. if you enjoy getting wasted and shredding dirty ass bowls, youre doing it right. if you like doing slappies on curbs all day long, youre doing it right. if youre making tons of cash in front of millions of people while youre enjoying skating, youre doing it right. if youre just gonna suck the fun out of skating and start arguing about whos bad and whos good, youre the only thing thats fucking skating up.

and this^^ is coming from a little kid who wears skinny jeans

[HorseHead]

A lot of you are acting like this is something new. This shit has been going down since the 80s with Gator, Hawk, and the others.

This.

Every few years (or more often) someone will get a big sponsor (Target, Nike) and everyone sounds the alarm to alert everyone that "true" skateboarding will unfortunately be dead soon. Skating goes in waves of being cool and then being uncool. The people who love it will stick around. The people who do it because their friends do it right now will move on to unicycles or gator wrestling or whatever else is cool at the moment. It's a cycle that I've seen come and go. The Bieber comment is stupid, but so is mainstream advertising. They just need a common denominator that the non-skate world can understand and relate to.

Don't worry about it, it's going to happen no matter what you do. Just think "Am I having fun, right now?" and if the answer's yes, you're doing it right. That's a good rule for most of life.

[Corpsey]

I think of it like this: no matter what happens in the mainstream, it shouldn't affect you. Just because some kid has a big-name sponsor, or they dress him up like the hottest stars of today does NOT mean skateboarding is "dead", or it's "dying" or it's uncool. That's all on you. And like HorseHead said, it goes in waves. Skateboarding is big, then it's not, then it's big, then it's not. As long as you are having fun doing what you're doing, that's all that matters really.

[Slamooh]

skating doesnt HAVE to be ANYTHING, it doesnt have to be super cool and underground, it doesnt have to be completely mainstream. some people just assume that if some people do something in a way they dont prefer, that that whole group of people should be disliked. if you enjoy getting wasted and shredding dirty ass bowls, youre doing it right. if you like doing slappies on curbs all day long, youre doing it right. if youre making tons of cash in front of millions of people while youre enjoying skating, youre doing it right. if youre just gonna suck the fun out of skating and start arguing about whos bad and whos good, youre the only thing thats fucking skating up.

and this^^ is coming from a little kid who wears skinny jeans

I think you re awesome

[Roccityroller]

As long as you are having fun doing what you're doing, that's all that matters really.

I'm having fun, but i'm gay cuz i have 8 wheels instead of 4?


fluckit has the most level headed skateboarders in the world. If any of you guys are ever in NY, i would gladly take you guys skating.

that being said, i'm still saving skHate's picture for ammunition.

[fallingskyline]

for me skating is and always was for the sake of it. its always been just for that moment when you land a trick, roll away and have this feeling like "no, i did not do this!". for the fun hanging out with some buddies and at the same time you do your fucking own thing.

[MarcoPoloUSN]

Skating goes in waves of being cool and then being uncool

Exactly.

The same goes for fakeskating.

[Boxerman08]

skating doesnt HAVE to be ANYTHING, it doesnt have to be super cool and underground, it doesnt have to be completely mainstream. some people just assume that if some people do something in a way they dont prefer, that that whole group of people should be disliked. if you enjoy getting wasted and shredding dirty ass bowls, youre doing it right. if you like doing slappies on curbs all day long, youre doing it right. if youre making tons of cash in front of millions of people while youre enjoying skating, youre doing it right. if youre just gonna suck the fun out of skating and start arguing about whos bad and whos good, youre the only thing thats fucking skating up.

i don't there there's a better way to put it. Skateboarding is what you make of it. I know I'm not good, and I've been skateboarding for like 7 years I think now, more or less, and I still ALWAYS enjoy a really good session with friends, just cause it's one of the greatest feelings out there, imo

And about that picture, I guess it's sick for him that he gets some advertisement, but that caption under the picture was honestly unnecessary (article of clothing & price) and so was that "beiber on wheels, in a good way" bullshit.