3.17.98

So why another web site dedicated to skateboarding? I guess I’m just really frustrated with the state of skateboarding coverage on the web in general. One person summed it up pretty nicely for me. I was sending out e-mails to various people whose web sites I thought contributed something to the skateboarding community, and I received back from one person, and I quote, "Everyone is putting together an on-line zine and they all, for the most part, SUCK!" You know what? I couldn’t agree more.

The average skateboarding web site will have sections claiming pictures and video, both of which will be mercilessly ripped off of, or worse yet, straight out linked to the original images/video from the few large skate sites (tumyeto, enternet, etc.). There will generally be typos, broken links, and all kinds of other good stuff. Oh! So I don’t forget, my favorite part of most skating pages, the ubiquitous Product Review. Here you get some heartfelt comments about the construction and workmanship of skateboard decks among other things. Some of my favorite lines from sites include: "World Industries makes nice boards. They are just good overall decks. I like all of World Industries brands" and "invisible decks suck. there [sic] ugly and a pro couldn’t ollie one."

Alright, enough of the negativity. What I’m saying is that there’s vast room for improvement. People don’t need to be technically proficient in HTML, they just need to be both creative and dedicated to what they’re doing. My biggest goal in this web site is to consistently have new content for people who visit it, whether it be new columns, scene reports or pictures. I’m hoping people will come forward and help me with this, I know I can’t do it alone. If you’re interested in writing a column, sending me some pictures, or doing a scene report, go for it, you’ll get a little bit of recognition, and a bunch of people to bounce your thoughts and ideas off of. That’s about it, until next time. -Steve