Topic: Got rid of my 550K... and replaced it with a 550F and a 350F

[seanbarney41]

Scottly, I started skating about 1984.  There were no skateparks.  But even in Michigan, we skated lots of embankments and ditches.  Backyard ramps were a thing but you had to know the right people to skate 'em.  At the time it was a rebellious, underground activity.  By 1987, that all changed for a few years, and then in the 90's all the hype kinda died off only to gradually build up again...seems like skateboarding has become a stable, growing, acceptable sport? now.

[scottly]

I got my first board about 20 years before you started, Sean. The next wave came in the '70s and thanks to urethane wheels really took off.

[carnivorous chicken]

...seems like skateboarding has become a stable, growing, acceptable sport? now.

It's in the Olympics, after all. But the bifurcation of skating started in the '90s with the X-Games and the Dew Tour and that stuff, leading to the Maloof Money Cup and Street League (where first place for a weekend of skating was $150,000 -- I DJed the first Maloof Money Cup with some friends). But there has always been the other side -- skating in the streets, pools, ditches, backyard ramps, etc. We (Thrasher) don't cover any of those big contests -- they're on ESPN or whatever -- but just cover raw stuff.

That being said, skateboarding is in a slump period despite its seeming popularity, and the industry is going through a cyclical downturn.