Jedi Grind Tricks: March ‘10

Scooter Newell

Article Category: Jedi Grind Tricks

Sometimes I just have to sit back and laugh at myself.

I mean it. I can seriously laugh at so many aspects of my life. From my looks and my goofy skate style to so many other things I do. Like when I stay up until the wee hours when I know I have a long day ahead of me the next morning. Or when I start a load of laundry only to forget about it until a day or two later and end up having to rewash the load again because of that brain burning odor. For some reason I never learn.

Anyway, on to something serious: The Olympics. I may need some help with this one because I don’t have a television. I mean no cable, no rabbit ears, not even the cumbersome modern, black box equivalent of rabbit ears. So I’m stuck with a DVD player and an occasional romp to the end of the world and back with Jack Bauer on HULU. I had the luxury of not seeing any of the openers or even the “cool snowboard entry to the arena,” but seeing snowboarding in the center ring at the Olympics leads me to foresee a very upsetting future for skateboarding.

It’s already been pitched years ago and the big money dudes who don’t skate at the top of our small food chain are the ones who are trying to pitch it. And you know, it will most likely happen. I can see it now: skateboarding in the Summer Olympics. In fact, “the Flying Tomato” can be the crossover media star who propels the vert discipline. We all know him and love him, and wouldn’t we just love to see him and Bucky maybe bring the Birdman out of retirement to make the Dream Team? Well, wouldn’t we? And we know that Brazil, Australia, Germany, GB, and tons of other countries would all have ultra-talented skaters on their teams.

Of course the formula is there for the “athletes.” And that is what will set it all in motion — all these great nations sending their best to compete. Even though it seems like a no-brainer, it just wouldn’t be right for skateboarding to become an Olympic sport. …Unless of course the Olympics were pulling less ratings than “The Chevy Chase Show” and they needed to make a dollar. And we all know that the majority of the TV audience share watched “American Idol” instead of whatever Olympic event was on at the same time. Well I know this, ’cause I saw it on Facebook, so it must be accurate. And it most likely is.

Let’s face it, the Olympics aren’t what they used to be, ratings wise. I’m sure the events are still as competitive and the athletes are just as talented as ever. It’s just, well… that whole Facebook-”American Idol” thing I read. So when it does happen, it will happen for ratings, not to promote skateboarding. Yeah, there may be an increase in local skate business for a short time, just like the X Games-era boost. But at what cost? Of course it will most likely go hand-in-hand with some corporate athletic shoe company that devised a small (on their scale) skateboarding division to try and win the back market share that was reduced worldwide when authentic skateboard footwear brands became the craze for kids in schools everywhere within the last 10 years.

It really boils down to using an image of an Olympic skateboard athlete to boost the revenues of corporations that don’t care about our parks, shops, and skaters. We don’t need the Olympic format to better the world of competitive skateboarding. Besides, it’s so insulting to watch the televised world-class athlete competition (the Olympics, if you’re just tuning in) and think that they got to be where they are because of a well-balanced diet of Big Macs.

News Rants

Annual “For the Love of Skateboarding”/Palm Bay 50-Year Anniversary Skate Contest to be held at two locations: Graffiti Skate Zone and the PBFB. Check www.graffitiskatezone.com for details, or call the Park.

Mike Rogers pulled off a nice event at Eastwood to raise money for Cancer. Check out www.grindforlife.org for results.

Words of Wisdom: “There are two types of skaters, those who skate and have fun, and those who don’t.” — Klover

Start Shreddin’ the News… You know, send all H8 mail and Sk8 news/events/info to: sk8scooter@gmail.com