You Are Viewing Skateboarder Spotlight

Every Wednesday the folks over at Shred or Die buy a skateboarder some lunch in exchange for an interview. Some weeks you never know who you are going to get and what they might say. This week’s lunch was with Duane Peters, The Master of Disaster, almost 50, and one old guy you don’t want to mess with. Thanks to some free food Duane was nice enough to share some stories about his life (although I’m sure these are quite PG compared to what he might have shared prior to being sober). I’d like to wish him the best of luck in his sobriety also. Duane, you don’t want to be the guy with no teeth.

Zac2595 hit his first handrail, went nuts, posted the video on YouTube, and now it’s made its way into Oliver Barton’s Top 5 YouTube Videos Of The Week. I remember the excitement the first time I landed a boardslide. Overcoming the fear of hitting a rail, especially down some stairs, isn’t to be taken lightly; you need to commit yourself or risk injury. For me it was a totally new feeling I hadn’t had on my skateboard, and I knew I had to come back for more. It’s that rush that keeps us skating, and you can see it in this kids eyes at 25 seconds into the video. Congratulations on your boardslide, keep skating, and keep wearing your helmet.

Source: Transworld

Nike has a new ad campaign which boasts that the air in their shoes is collected from the fine athletes who wear those same shoes. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but I really like how they pulled this all together. Personally, I have always wondered exactly where all that air was coming from. All this time I imagined a special air factory located high on a mountain top in some remote part of the world. I guess I was wrong on that.

As for the P-Rod fans, there is no need to worry, they haven’t forgotten to collect his air for your Nike SBs. Check out the video of Paul Rodriguez skating with his respirator backpack, and next time you skate your Nike shoes don’t forget you have a little piece of P-Rod with you.

There seems to be a lot of hate directed at Arizona right now.  It’s pretty understandable considering the nutty Arizona immigration law (sb1070) which somehow found its way into existence. There are even some people calling for boycotts, and it feels like the Martin Luther King day incident all over again.   Rather than talk about all the crap coming out of Arizona let’s talk about Marty Murawski who grew up skating in Arizona.  Not too long ago Marty was picked up by a British skateboard company, Blueprint.  The folks at Blueprint have been working on a video called “Make Friends With The Coulour Blue” (notice how I spelled ‘color’ like an English person), which premiered in April.

All I have to say about Marty is that this guy can manual. I’m amazed it took this long before he got picked up for sponsorship, but it looks like Blueprint has a good eye for skateboarders. Some folks are saying Marty Murawski is like Kerry Getz with a twist, which I’m sure any skateboarder would be happy to take as compliment. Expect to see lots of great things from Marty in the future regardless of any sort of boycotts you hear about.

Skateboarder Felix Cooper Robinson was recently killed in a bus accident in Thailand on May 11th. It’s a shame to see someone with such talent pass away at a young age, and Felix was special. If you happen to be near Brighton this weekend there will be a memorial skate jam being held at The Level in honor of Felix. If you are interested in attending reply at the Facebook event page, and if you can’t attend you could still leave a message on his Facebook page. My heart goes out to his friends and family. May he rest in peace.

That’s right folks. Jereme Rogers has announced he is coming back to skateboarding, and it’s not without many wondering if he is entirely serious. Chris Nieratko interviewed Jereme Rogers for ESPN Action Sports where he asks him about why he retired, his car payments, and even if his skateboard decks will come with a CD of Jereme rapping. It’s hard to tell if Neiratko is joking when he asks about the CD, but Rogers says that his deck will most likely include some sort of iTunes gift card. I must say that after hearing Jereme rap in his recent video release “Rogers Back” that I hope that any kid that buys the board doesn’t have to download Rogers music.

I’m curious what your thoughts are about his comeback. I’m thinking he shouldn’t have retired and kept the music as a hobby, but he certainly deserves a shot a carrier in skateboarding.

If you’ve already seen Gou Miyagi in his 6 minute video hit titled “Overground Broadcasting” you know what you are about to see and are probably already clicking the play button. I can’t blame you, I would do the same thing. When I first saw his video I couldn’t stop the urge to watch it again, and it isn’t often I find a video that makes me hit the rewind button this much, but Gou Miyagi has an original style that should make even the seasoned skater’s jaw drop. He has technical skills and he shows them off, but his skating centers around having fun, expressing himself, and skating how he wants to skate.

Slap Magazine has an interview with Gou Miyagi that is definitely worth taking the time to check out. After watching the video it wasn’t surprising to discover that he was first inspired to skateboard after reading a comic book where a skateboarder escapes police by grinding down rails (notice some of the comic book effects in the film). Miyagi is 32 and Japanese so I can’t imagine Bart Simpson was his inspiration, but he doesn’t say. Some things you might be interested to know more about are his special carpet grip tape and signature “Go Miyagi” wax.

Source: Slap Magazine

Maybe you caught William Spencer’s part in the video Hollarado which sparked such youtube comments as,

“how the fuck does he do half that stuff man”

“i dont know what the hell he is doing but its awesome and unique”

“fuck circus skating”

If you’ve already watched the video then you understand what’s with all the comments. Spencer does unique skateboarding tricks, and he seems pretty humble about the attention his skate antics have brought upon him.  He skates for fun and not for a sponsorship.   The negative comments haven’t stopped his fun either, and by the looks of it may have inspired him in the release of this newest video.

Oh, you’re a legit skater and you don’t like circus tricks? Oh well!

I caught wind of this video via Skateboarding Magazine, and I have to say they hit the nail on the head when they said that this is what makes skateboarding better than any other sport.  I’m with the with William Spencer on this one, if you don’t like circus tricks, oh well.

I have a thing for old school skate videos. It’s probably because I grew up in the 80s when skateboarding was at its awkward phase in its history. This Neil Blender video from 1985 is a perfect example of what was so great about the time. In a two minute skateboard session the legendary Neil Blender starts out with what looks to be a typical flatland routine, riding up some mini ramps, when out of nowhere he is lying on the ground with the board resting on his leg. I’ve honestly never seen a skateboarder do this in my life as far as I know. Then again this was a video of the guy who invented the lien air. Needless to say, I couldn’t help but wonder where this going. Anyway, I’m not one to spoil a good video, so click the play button and watch for yourself.

Source: DGAF

Fallen skater Garrett Hill shares with us 10 of his favorite tricks. If the tricks weren’t sick enough by themselves, the music and camera work on this short clip really are a treat from the typical short and sloppy promo clips. I can’t blame him for wanting his favorite tricks to look as good as they can. Hopefully you’ll appreciate them as much as I did.

Source: GrindTV