This Makes Me Sad For Skateboarding

Street League, which is presented by Rob Dyrdek, initially looked to have some promise to be different. Setting itself up to be a skateboard contest by and for skateboarders. In theory it sounded good and then the backers started lining up and thus degrading the legitimacy in my eyes.At first it was DC and Monster, then it was ESPN as the media partner.  Now connecting the project with Justin Bieber is just suspect. Money has and always will be part of skateboarding, it is a business after all, but is this answer? Both pros and kids on the street deserve better than this from the industry. Money almost always derails projects that once started in a good place. “Writing paper” and wearing a “I’m A PC” shirt for Microsoft? I don’t know about all this. It is also sad to see many of the old guard looking the other way and not calling bullshit.

*After sitting on this and talking with a few people a new outlook has come through and its nothing new. East Coast vs. West Coast skateboarding is just different. The West Coast is all hype, glamor and money while the East Coast is raw and unsettled. Street League, X-Games, Maloof Money Cup all come the West Coast and it is not for me to understand. I have decided to purge that side of skateboarding from my view.*