Two guys getting to do their stuff | Simply Ranked
Plus: Is this skateboarding? Vol. 26. Andy Anderson and Jacopo, There Skateboard's warm and fuzzies, the three strains of Olympic skateboarding stories, and more.
The definitive weekly ranking and analysis of all the skateboarding and other things online that I cannot stop consuming and how it makes me feel, personally.
Two guys getting to do their stuff
Rank: 2
Mood: 🧑🤝🧑
Andy Anderson's latest video part, Crazy Wisdom, which debuted online on Saturday, deserves more than a cursory newsletter address. There's just a whole lot to unpack. From the, frankly, insane tricks, his philosophy behind them, the spread of disciplines, his perceived etiquette flouting — a lot of people seem to take umbrage with Anderson putting some "anti-wax" material on that giant handrail, but what about Jhancarlos Gonzáles Ortiz appearing to have removed the covering from another giant rail in Monster Energy's DOWN STRAIGHT UP! Vol. 1?
— the hodgepodge of different cameras used (the iPhone clips were particularly jarring), and the impressive media circuit he's been on to promote the part (impressive in the world of skateboarding, anyhow). Diving into that probably deserves a separate article, so for right now, I want to focus on the most important, top-level observation that comes to mind after watching Crazy Wisdom: this is a guy getting to do his stuff.
You know what I mean?
It doesn't feel too forced, overly produced or packaged. It's just Anderson doing his freaky shit at maximal effort. In that same vein, and this might be anathema to some, but it brought to mind Jacopo Carozzi's JACOPO video part by Spezzatura for Nike SB that dropped the day after Crazy Wisdom.
Here's a skater also at the height of their powers, who is so in command of their skateboard that it feels insincere to describe their effort as anything short of amazing. The differences are clear, of course. JACOPO has a consistent visual aesthetic that's simply cleaner and easier to digest as a viewer. Carozzi doesn't so much flout etiquette but defines it with a grace and power that'll leave you gasping as he pops out of a nose manual into backside-noseblunt-slide, a trick that on paper reads as if it could be found in Crazy Wisdom. Hell, he skates a small-to-medium-sized bowl for a couple of minutes and it is legitimately beautiful to watch.
As a viewer, this is as good as it gets: people doing their stuff the way they want to do it.
Is this skateboarding? Vol. 26
Rank: '73
Mood: 🐊
As things go on the "social" internet, the past often recycles into the present. This last week, a behind-the-scenes clip from Live and Let Die, the 1973 James Bond vehicle starring Roger Moore, made the rounds on Twitter. In it, we see all the attempts of stuntman and crocodile wrangler Ross Kananga, standing in for Moore, crossing a pool of murky water by jumping across the backs of three very much alive crocodiles.
So, the obvious question arises: is this skateboarding? A person trying an incredibly dangerous thing multiple times to get a single, mere seconds-long clip? That's also an accurate way to describe the practice of filming for a skate video, is it not? Plus, the outtakes, or bails, are compelling clips in themselves, much like in skateboarding. The main difference is that the act of skateboarding is much kinder to animals.
VERDICT: Sure, this is kinda like skateboarding.
Warm and fuzzies
Rank: 1
Mood: 🍑
What There Skateboards continues to do so well with its videos and sundry promotional materials is to make you, us, the viewer and consumer audience, feel like we're a part of things.
In Peach Fuzz, There's latest effort released last week, that feeling remains constant. The camaraderie emanates through the screen. There is hugging, laughing, and some time-honoured tom-foolery. It also adds to its charm that it isn't overly polished. The edit and its moments of artistic interstitials are made by the skaters in the video. They are amateurish in the best of ways. It's sincere, earnest, fun work. It feels like something you'd make with your own friends.
One underappreciated and potent aspect of There's video catalogue is the variety of skill levels on display. You'll see someone throwing a backside-kicklip down a double set before someone snaps a shakey ollie off a three-stair, each getting a similar, joyful response. We generally think of skate videos as a showcase of the apex of what skateboarding has to offer — the biggest, longest, most technical. What Peach Fuzz shows us is the best the individual has to offer, which can be the absolute highest level of skating or someone just figuring out the nuts and bolts of riding one around. There's a beauty to that.
It tells those watching that there doesn't need to be a partition of ability; you can get that anywhere. Instead, it provides a side-by-side example of where one can start and wind up — if that's what a person wants to do. Most importantly, though, it demonstrates that this thing, skateboarding, is fun and should be done by everyone.
International marketing effort
Rank: 1
Mood: 🌐
Last week, I wrote a bunch of complimentary things about ASICS' latest brand and marketing plays in light of Chase Walker's Late Nite Stars edit, LA 3, which is, in essence, an ASICS video due to the majority of the skaters in it being on or adjacent to the team. However, to maintain the integrity of this newsletter, I must admit when I was wrong — not about any of the above. That all stands.
What I did flub was this:
According to Free Skate Mag, LA 3 serves as a bit of a teaser for the new ASICS video releasing next week. One assumes that'll be another Jacob Harris joint, snagging his talents another strong move by the company.
I assumed and made an ass out of u and me'd, as the new ASICS video, ASICSeuroHD (quadrennium), is not a Jacob Harris joint; it is another Chase Walker affair and a fun one at that.
At first, I was a bit confused by this, as ASICS has remained relatively rigid, or perhaps better phrased, consistent in their branding. The gonzo Harris-driven projects are now a staple for the brand as it establishes itself outside of the Japanese market and, with this latest effort, showcases its inroads in Europe (to note: the shoes officially land here in Canada today).
ASICSeuroHD (quadrennium) is a stylistic departure, but in keeping with a more subtle ASICS theme, the filmmaker, in Walker, seems to have been given the freedom to make the video they wanted to make, like Harris does, which is notable in its own right. Plus, in the long view, it's probably a good idea not to tie the brand to one particular aesthetic. Or maybe I'm just a homer. Who's to say.
One other thing: Alan Bell sure is having a moment in all of this, isn't he? Love to see it.
Five rings, three stories
Rank: 14-50
Mood: 🥉
It appears, to non-skateboarding media anyway, that when it comes to Olympic skateboarding, there are roughly three main strains of interest: stories about frontrunners, the youngest skaters competing, and the oldest. In The New York Times this week, Victor Mather interviewed 50-year-old Andy Macdonald, who qualified for Great Britain in the skateboard park event by "the skin of my teeth." This follows The Athletic's (a NYT property) profile of perennial favourite Nyjah Huston a few weeks back, and I recently filed a piece with the Toronto Star (that'll be out in the next week or two) about Team Canada's youngest Olympic athlete and skateboarder, Fay De Fazio Ebert.
The focus makes sense in a surface-level capacity: frontrunners are usually big names who will draw in readers, and elders have a certain novelty factor when compared to their young competition and often provide great quotes that come with the experience and perspective of age, as Macdonald does in the Times (bolding mine).
The last time I had done one, it had been almost a year. Two weeks ago at a demonstration with Tony Hawk, because there was an arena with 30,000 people and the energy was high I decided to try a 720, and I made it first try. I became the oldest person ever to do one.
If you're not first, you can still be last! There's also more age-related gold like this:
How do you relate to teenage and even preteen teammates and competitors?
I feel like I’m one of them. Skateboarding is the fountain of youth.
I was at the park before they were born. Chances are, I taught them where to put their feet or how to pump. Years later they’re beating me.
Whether addressed within the bubble or not, outside of it, that is one of the most interesting things about modern competitive skateboarding: teens "and even preteens" dominate. When I pitched the Star, I initially wanted to write about the four Canadian skaters heading to Paris — De Fazio Ebert, the wiley 37-year-old veteran in Ryan Decenzo, the next-gen athletic monster Cordano Russell, and Matt Berger, the former Olympian looking for redemption after rebounding from injury — who all have worthy storylines.
Alas, the strongest hook to the uninitiated is the fourteen-year-old, so that's what the piece focuses on. I don't fault the editor by any means (they were great, in fact). De Fazio Ebert has a great story that deserves to be told; this is just the reality of appealing to as wide an audience as possible, which is what mainstream outlets need to do to remain relevant. However, that means many athletes' journeys won't get told with the same depth. I mean, what's up with Slovakian Richard Tury? Or how about complete street maniac Jhancarlos Gonzáles Ortiz qualifying for Columbia? I'd read the hell out of a Gabi Mazetto profile — skater balances professional career, Olympic ambitions, and raising a child — it almost writes itself.
Maybe it just takes time. A few Olympic cycles from now, we might see the Times asking granular, culturally specific questions like how Tury became such an underrated heelflip guy — the dude lands heelflip-frontside-noseblunts down handrails in competition!
All of that said, and in an abrupt shift in tone, while it's fun to tell the stories of athletes and competition on such a grand scale, it's also important to continue to tell the stories of the sprawling, often tragic mess behind the scenes and on the ground that makes these Olympic events possible:
Global Reporting Centre
Karim Zidan
Something to consider:
Good thing: Montreal scene video that'll have you considering stealing every loose road and construction sign in your immediate vicinity.
Another good thing: "If you're looking to make money out of skating, then you might as well be a YouTuber, or some sort of influencer."
Village Psychic
They thought it couldn't be done, but here it is, another good thing:
Robert Rea
Breakfast thing:
Until next week… if you find yourself in a public park looking for a place to sit, don't be afraid to ask a stranger if you can share their bench. You might strike up a nice conversation with someone who recently moved to your city from Toulouse and spend the next hour or so talking about global politics, sports, and your respective families before they bid you adieu and you never see them again. That's the good stuff.
Laser Quit Smoking Massage
NEWEST PRESS, available April 1, 2024
--------------------------------
My new collection of essays is available now. I think you might like it. The Edmonton Journal thinks it's a "local book set to make a mark in 2024." The CBC called it "quirky yet insightful." lol.
Book cover by Hiller Goodspeed.
Right, Down + Circle
ECW PRESS
--------------------------------
I wrote a book about the history and cultural impact of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater that you can find at your local bookshop or order online now. I think you might like this one, too.
Here’s what Michael Christie, Giller Prize-nominated author of the novels Greenwood and If I Fall, If I Die, had to say about the thing.
“With incisive and heartfelt writing, Cole Nowicki unlocks the source code of the massively influential cultural phenomenon that is Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and finds wonderful Easter-eggs of meaning within. Even non-skaters will be wowed by this examination of youth, community, risk, and authenticity and gain a new appreciation of skateboarding’s massive influence upon our larger culture. This is my new favorite book about skateboarding, which isn’t really about skateboarding — it’s about everything.”
Photo via The Palomino.
