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So I was checking Twitter seeing what was happening in the world of skating when I see Mike Valley saying,

@Skateparks Seriously. 12 people living on a bus for 5 weeks need to eat. It is quite common for the hosting venue to feed them. Grow up.

It looked interesting and I was kind of curious what was up so I checked out @Skateparks page which posted a list apparently sent to them from Mike Vallely’s manager. I’ve read a few of these lists that highlight some of the outrageous things that performers will ask for, but if you look at this Mike Vallely list you’ll have a hard time finding anything to gasp at. It lists a few drinks (Coke, Dr. Pepper, Red Bull), some snacks, and some pizza. Really nothing to strange to ask for, and I can’t blame Mike for getting a bit pissed after being called out like this.

What do you think? Is Mike asking for too much or is @skateparks being cheap when it comes to making sure the skateboarders have everything they need? If it only takes spending 150 bucks to make sure the skateboarders are happy and skating well seems like a no brainer to me.

Skateboarding Magazine just posted an article titled “Ten Skateboarders You Don’t Want To Mess With.” At first glance I wasn’t very interested in reading it. My knee-jerk reaction from the title was an incoming article glorifying violence, but Skateboarding Magazine tries to make clear in the article that they aren’t encouraging fighting; although I might argue in some ways they are condoning it. As for the article, its aim is directed at skaters who don’t back down from a fight and stand behind their friends. The following quote regarding Jesse Martinez would be what I call the stories highlight and not Mike Vallely taking on four frat boys (tell me that doesn’t sound gay don’t beat me up Mike!) which appears much earlier in Skateboard Magazine’s lists than Martinez.

This article isn’t about highlighting tough guys for the sake of glorifying violence. Rather, it’s about saluting dudes who stood and fought when it came time to hold our ground. I saw Jesse throw a crew of gangbangers out of the Venice Pavilion circ ‘95. He called every skater over and we lined up behind him. There was no violence, but we showed we had some backbone.

I’d love to see Skateboarding Magazine follow this article up something along the lines of “Ten Skateboarders That Will Inspire You To Be Better,” but I’d assume that doesn’t drive in traffic as well as articles about fighting. I think Skateboard Magazine really missed an opportunity to write a really cool and well thought-out article.  If skateboarders hope to change gain respect in our communities we need to show them it is not because we can outnumber (or the opposite in Mike Vallely’s case) them or could physically hurt them, but because we actually deserve to be respected.

Public Service Announcement:  When riding your skateboard in public you will encounter angry people who have nothing better to do than give you a dirty look or take their problems out on you. Personally, I tend to walk away from these people, but I have friends who think it is a game. I understand the mindset. You want to land the trick you’ve been working on.  I skate too, so trust me when I say this, you will find other cool things/places/objects to skate on and in front of. It is also likely that the person yelling at you doesn’t even own the building/store/pueblo/whatever, and is just trying to do their job so they can go home and relax.

From my own personal experience I find that if you treat your aggressor with a little respect they might just not be as bad as you think.  One of the easiest things to do when asked to leave is find out if there would be an OK time for you to skate there.  Sometimes people just don’t want you skating on certain things.  It is all about how you present yourself, and being realistic.

One of my favorite skate spots was in front of a middle school.  We were there skating one day as school was just letting out and were asked to leave.  I specifically remember how angry the lady looked when she asked us to leave.  She was rude at first, but later discovered she was rather nice, and that dealing with the parents during pick up time was often more stressful than working with the kids. Had we been impolite the first time we were asked us to leave I can’t imagine they would have been happy when we would have been allowed back for very many sessions.

Feel free to use the comments section to tell me how wrong or right I am.  I know there are always exceptions to every rule, and I’m happy to hear others opinions.