Meet the Wizards

I was reading an article in the Lower Hudson Online about Pioneering Rockland skateboarders still at it in their 40s and I had to chuckle when they got to the part explaining the team’s name.

The Wizards came up with their team’s name to reflect the creative inspiration that came with each move, said Jamaal Bey, the team’s leader. The skateboard was the magic wand, and the skateboarder was the wizard who would perform each new trick.

Now the 70’s sure were a groovy time. Wizards, dragons and unicorns were all very heavy and hip back then. Nowadays the idea of a private skateboard team with a ridiculous name seems laughable, except for the err, uh, Scrotes. I had to laugh again when the article mentioned the team would sneak into empty pools to practice. Practice what? Sneaking into pools? The act of skating the pool is the end reward, not something you practice in anticipation of something else. One of the Wizards has a truly wacky but passionate side business called Bey Boards that err, focuses on things like skate brakes, weird downhill bikes (that I swear I’ve seen before) Nascar-themed downhill boards, lace savers (that take a truly unique approach) and other skateboard related paraphernalia, most of which falls under the conflicting name of Black Sheep Golden Child. Which brings to mind one of my favorite scenes in Repo Man – Did you do a lot of acid back in the 60’s Miller? Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone.

Update: The owner of the copyright on the pictures above wanted to get paid, or couldn’t have a chuckle at himself. He wants to bill us for unauthorized use of his photos, even though we were using them to promote the article about him and his friend’s company. So now it’s gone. This marks the second recent occasion where someone has gone out of their way to take themselves too seriously. Sad thing is, this guy actually skates, or used to at least. Must be kind of hard to skate with that pole lodged up his backside.