Adventures in slalom

I had been pitching an idea for a regular column in Concrete Wave to the editor Michael Brooke for a long time. He kept encouraging me in a vague sort of way, so I finally decided to write up the first installment as a way to help him decide whether to shit or get off the pot. I thought (and still do) that Concrete Wave had a lot of potential because it was still kind of blank slate, and Brooke wanted to provide coverage of all aspects of the sport, kind of like the early days of Thrasher. One thing I thought it seriously lacked (besides cohesion) was personality. Thrasher had it’s columns like Ask the Doctor and Skarfing Material that along with Thatcher’s and other musings gave the mag a real, uhm, personality. I was going to try and shake things up at Concrete Wave a little, help it appeal to people besides the old and the very young, which is ironic considering I run a web site that gets some Barney criticism of it’s own. What better way to make a splash than a somewhat facetious piece about slalom skateboarding, since you know, there’s not enough slalom coverage in Concrete Wave.

I thought my article would certainly raise a few eyebrows and probably even piss off a few people. It was not mean spirited, and I hoped that even slalom riders would have a sense of humor. I say that only half in jest. I went to a slalom even on Mt Tabor with a brand new setup courtesy of Pocket Pistols and Moska to give it a try. Most everyone there was really friendly and encouraging, but there were a few guys who seemed somewhat annoyed by outside intrusion by a newbie. I brought a friend along for moral support. Those same people seemed even more annoyed when he decided to enter the slalom contest on a longboard as a goof.

When I sent the article to Michael Brooke, he gushed over it. He said there were a few minor changes they would make in the layout, but it was just what the magazine needed. I was excited at first, but then issue after issue started to come out without the column. Whenever I’d ask about it he’d say maybe the next one. Finally I got tired of waiting and asked him not to publish it. I figured he couldn’t or didn’t have the heart to tell me it he wasn’t interested anymore, for whatever the reason. So you, the reader of Skate and Annoy get to benefit from the wishy-washy editorial decisions at Concrete Wave. I have decided to make it available as it was to be published in Concrete Wave. Enjoy.

Oh yeah, the column was going to be called “The Sassquatch Speaks” or “Tales from Sassquatch Country,” which is pretty lame in retrospect, and unfortunately, my idea entirely.

Now you can read “I Was A Teenage Skateboarder Who Never Slalomed And Then Grew Up To Try It Later”

Related Links

Review of the Pocket Pistols slalom deck.
Concrete Wave Magazine
Pocket Pistols
Moska Wheels
Tracker Trucks
Black Leather Racing

Which reminds mean that I need to write up the Tracker and Moska reviews.