Difference between revisions of "Skateboarding"
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:* '''Property Damage''' - Most skateboarders are proud vandals. The act of ''sliding'' or ''grinding'' an obstacle such as stone or concrete stairs, or handrails, is known to cause serious damage very quickly. Skateboarders who cause such damage typically will vacate the vandalized area in search of another piece of someone else's property which they might be able to destroy. | :* '''Property Damage''' - Most skateboarders are proud vandals. The act of ''sliding'' or ''grinding'' an obstacle such as stone or concrete stairs, or handrails, is known to cause serious damage very quickly. Skateboarders who cause such damage typically will vacate the vandalized area in search of another piece of someone else's property which they might be able to destroy. | ||
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:* '''Graffiti''' - Skateboarders are known to often spray graffiti in places where they like to frequently skate. Skateparks are often covered on all surfaces by graffiti usually depicting satanist or antisocial imagery or offensive slogans and captions. | :* '''Graffiti''' - Skateboarders are known to often spray graffiti in places where they like to frequently skate. Skateparks are often covered on all surfaces by graffiti usually depicting satanist or antisocial imagery or offensive slogans and captions. | ||
Revision as of 17:19, March 15, 2007
Skateboarding is by some considered a sport, by others an art.
Invented in the early 1970's skateboarding became a way to practice surfing in the off-season. From there it only progressed to become what it is today.
In 1998, the New York Times reported that skateboarding was "the fastest-growing sports in America."[1]
Contents
Skateboards and the public
Skateboarding is usually regulated by local ordinances; "the laws" governing skateboarding vary from town to town.
Unfortunately some believed it is an unlawful thing and therefore was despised by so many. However, it is quite the opposite being one of the most common sport/art practiced today.
The first mention of the word "skateboard" in The New York Times is a 1965 story, "Montclair Official Plans an Ordinance to Ban Skateboards"[2] calling it "the latest juvenile fad on wheels" and quoting an official as saying "These devices are most dangerous... because of their speed on inclines and the difficulty in controlling them."
The early skateboard was referred to as a "banana board" for it's shape and bright, yellow plastic deck. Stacy Peralta was a pioneer of skateboarding in the Cailfornia Bay area in the 70's. He later teamed up with George Powell to create Powell-Peralta, the legendary skateboarding monolith that cultivated early skating powerhouses such as Mike McGill, inventor of the McTwist, and Tony Hawk, who ultimately propelled skateboarding to the commercial success it eventually became.
Through touring and local "demos," professional skateboarders cultivated a massive following and utlized varying media, including magazines such as Thrasher and Transworld, in addition to SK8 TV (which aired for a brief time in the early 1990s on the cable channel Nickelodeon) and the 1987 cult classic film "Gleaming the Cube," starring christian Slater as a rebellious teen, who uses skateboarding as the vehicle to change himself, while locating his brother's murderer.
Mike McGill is Mr. Slater's stunt double and Tony Hawk, among several other skaters, makes a cameo appearance as a Pizza Hut truck driver.
Upon the first wave of commercialism to hit skateboarding, the introduction of public skateparks became increasingly common. With the new terrain available to a wider populous of skateboarding youth, more and more amateur skateboarders entered the scene and challenged the monopoly of skateboarding companies such as Powell Peralta, World Industries (headed by Skateboarding mogul Steve Rocco) H-Street, Santa Cruz and Vision.
From these larger companies sprang subsidiaries and off-shoots such as Blind (a subtle jab at Vision) headed by Mark Gonzalez and Jason Lee as well as Plan B. In 1992, these two companies arguably changed the face of skateboarding forever with the release of two skate videos entitled "Video Days" and "The Questionable Video". These videos featured professional skateboarders defying the very laws of physics and popularized the use of music other than punk, hard-core and heavy metal. Skateboarding then became what the iconoclastic founders feared the most "trendy".
As skateboarding remains no exception to the rules of free market economics, the 1990s saw hundreds of companies enter the trend and subsequently die out.
Currently, skateboarding has entered the mainstream of youth pop culture with video games and televised commercials featuring the art. Public skateparks have sprung up, especially in the North East, where it was never dreamed they would. Skateparks are generally comprised of several concrete "mini-ramps," as opposed to "vert ramps" (or those ramps, which contain a vertical section beneath the coping).
Skateboard Culture
Skateboard culture has been known to revolve around figureheads from the MTV show Jackass in which a performer named Bam Margera does irresponsible and immoral acts for cheap laughs. Skateboard culture has adopted this attitude as their own.
Nuisances
- Skate Wax - Skateboarders have been known to apply layers of slippery wax to surfaces to facilitate their boards sliding or grinding over the surface. This has been known to cause accident and injury to innocent pedestrians who have slipped on surfaces made hazardous by inconsiderate skateboarders, often to the amusement of those who created the hazard. Skate wax is also notoriously difficult and expensive to clean from porous surfaces once applied.
- Property Damage - Most skateboarders are proud vandals. The act of sliding or grinding an obstacle such as stone or concrete stairs, or handrails, is known to cause serious damage very quickly. Skateboarders who cause such damage typically will vacate the vandalized area in search of another piece of someone else's property which they might be able to destroy.
- Graffiti - Skateboarders are known to often spray graffiti in places where they like to frequently skate. Skateparks are often covered on all surfaces by graffiti usually depicting satanist or antisocial imagery or offensive slogans and captions.
Safety
Helmets should be warn. Skateboarder Tony Hawk notes
- I wear helmets for protection after being knocked unconscious more than six times in my career. You never know what can happen, especially when you're starting out. I could have easily died without one.[2]
The National Safety Council notes:
- Never ride in the street.
- Don’t take chances. Complicated tricks require careful practice and a specially designed area. Only one person per skateboard. Never hitch a ride from a car, bus, truck, bicycle, etc.
- Learning how to fall in case of an accident may help reduce your chances of being seriously injured. If you are losing your balance, crouch down on the skateboard so that you will not have so far to fall. In a fall, try to land on the fleshy parts of your body. If you fall, try to roll rather than absorb the force with your arms. Even though it may be difficult, during a fall try to relax your body rather than stiffen.[3]
