Powell Team Fired

Yesterday's "Weekend Buzz" with Kyle Berard and Jordan Hoffart confirmed rumors that Powell-Peralta has fired pretty much their whole team.


I'm sorry to hear about this, and my gut reaction would be to get mad at Powell, but Jordan makes a pretty good case in the video for them just trying to survive. With that said, it's definitely a shame that guys like Jordan, Aldrin Garcia and Josh Hawkins all have to find a new sponsor now,  as I really liked all of those guys. I imagine it will be extra tricky for Josh, since it seems that he injured himself pretty recently and it will be a while before he's back in full force.

Some people have said Josh Hawkins would fit well on Toy Machine, and I tend to agree with them, I think that would be a really good fit. It also kind of makes sense, because Toy Machine's distribution, Tum Yeto, is also connected with Dekline, which is Josh's shoe sponsor. I like to think that Jordan Hoffart and Aldrin Garcia will end up on Birdhouse because of their relationship to various people on Bones (Jaws, Raybourn, etc.) but more than anything it would just make a sick team even sicker. I could also see Hoffart moving over to Darkstar.

In any case, a part of me hopes that the skateboarding industry, as it shrinks and goes through hard times, makes wise choices about where they trim the fat, but of course many of the guys on Powell probably won't ever have a proper sponsor again. I wish them luck though, and hopefully at least my two favorites, Hoffart and Hawkins, get hooked up, because I would be really bummed out if I never saw those guys again.

X Games 2013- Park+Vert

I know I said I would do a write up on the X Games Park and Vert yesterday, but life happens. At that, I didn't try that hard to get it done because I didn't think anyone would notice. I'm still at that stage where a lot of my page views are Russian spam bots. However, a real, human reader of mine did notice and called me out on it, so I guess I need to be more careful about promising things in the future. For now, I'm sorry for keeping you guys waiting, and with no further ado, I would like to start jib-jabbing and skatenerding like I always do.

First there was the park final, which I always love watching. It takes place in a concrete bowl, so it doesn't have the same sort of back-and-forth monotony that can sometimes happen when watching Vert or Big Air. For those of you who didn't know, Curren Caples managed to beat defending champ, Pedro Barros on his last run. Curren has apparently been skateboarding since age 4 and it really shows,  because although I usually like watching Pedro Barros or Ben  Hatchell (who got 2nd and 3rd,  respectively) Curren looks more comfortable on a board than just about any other 17 year old that I can think of. His run included lofty frontside flips which were totally on lock and airs over the channel that were absolutely textbook.

 Photo Courtesy of Mark Kohlman for ESPN

Double Video Breakdown: X games Real Street

The finals for the X Games Real Street contest are upon us. The finalists are two extremely heavy hitters: Guy Mariano and David Gravette. Both great skaters, and in my mind, both were practically robbed of a SOTY trophy. So which one gets it? Let's take a look at the submissions. After you've checked them out, you can cast your vote here if you haven't already.

Weekly "Why Haven't I Seen This"-4

With the plethora of skate footage that's out there, it can be easy to overlook things. And yet, so often we stumble upon a video that we've never heard of and find ourselves asking why we hadn't seen it before. Each week, I plan to post another lesser-known video that deserves more recognition, for your viewing pleasure.

Ryan Lay has been killing it for years. After spending some time on Rasa Libre, quitting, then eventually winding up on Enjoi, it seems he's finally starting to get the recognition he deserves. Even still, I don't think that many people have seen his part in what would have been the Ipath video (before they dropped most of their team). His part in "The Other Ones", with it's haunting song and high speed lines full of properly popped tricks that you wouldn't see anywhere else, is a sight to behold. That switch backside hurricane near the end gets me every time.

Happy Go Skateboarding Day

Today is Go Skateboarding Day, rightfully chosen to be one of the longest days of the year (The longest being yesterday). I know I'm off to go skate, but just as I was about to leave, I thought of all the people who can't skate today- those who are injured, or people who live in an area with bad weather for today. Let us salute our brothers (and sisters... as few as there may be) who can not skate today and remind them that there's always tomorrow. It is with you guys in mind that I will not rub it in too much that you can't skate and instead just post one of my favorite videos, "It's Time". Sierra Fellers' part remains one of my all time favorites, and the whole video is really good. I hope you enjoy it and some other blog posts of mine in your time of need.

EDIT: I wanted to preserve the spirit of this post by leaving my words, but the video that I originally posted got taken down. To replace it, I have embedded Sierra Fellers' part only, since I cannot find the full video on Youtube any more.

Skate Jams Vol. 1

This post is a little bit different in that it doesn't strictly have to do with skateboarding. With that said, skateboarding has always had a very close relationship with music. Ever since skate videos came into existence during the 80's, people have been making the link between rhythm and board seem both obvious and beautiful.

This relationship has proven to be especially true for bands with a punk/alternative/indie sound. Both punk and skateboarding are subcultures. Both subcultures share a lot of similar values, including the will to challenge things that are in control for some people, whether they be social norms or the government or the police. Both have historically also had an emphasis on individuality and have valued the creation of art.

Few groups better exhibit this harmonious crossing of cultures as well as the British indie rock group, Bloc Party. Ever since the release of Silent Alarm (officially released in the US in 2005) it seems that skaters dug them immediately. There was of course the beloved Daewon Song part in Skate More which featured "This Modern Love". Skate More, by the way, is still often praised for having a good sound track on top of the legendary skating. Then there's the part from the now seldom-heard-from Corey Sheppard in the Blind video, "What If?"  which used the song "Banquet". I still love that part to this day.

Bloc Party had broken up and then reunited late last year, and now their new album, Four is frequently on my iPod when I skate (but only when I skate by myself- wearing headphones during a group session is both dangerous AND anti-social).

Check out "Kettling" from that album and tell me it doesn't perfectly represent the quitter-hating, anti-authoritative streak that so many skaters share.

Tony Karr

Let the record show that I am backing Tony Karr. Great style, creative, and it definitely looks like he's having fun at all times on a skateboard. The photo of that 5-0 at 3:55 has been my desktop background for a while now, and the last minute or so of footage is seriously just stupid. It's stupid that he's that good at skating. Not in a bad way, I just mean it doesn't follow logic or wisdom. I've already said too much. Enjoy: