Dogtown and the Z-Boys

Pool Skating

When did skateboarding jump into popularity? This is a big question that cannot be given in one answer. Skateboarding has had many different jumps and spikes in their popularity but the one that really got it off the ground was the Dogtown days. These were the days before skate parks and street skating, it was a time of hopping fences and skating drained pools during the major droughts in California. This is when skating really made it out to be a sport when it gained widespread popularity. During this time contests for skateboarding were just making an appearance. Making this evolve into a legitimate sport when you are starting to see contests, sponsors and major companies. So to answer this large question for many people, in the 70's with the appearance of the Z-Boys is what really grew the popularity and support for this ever so growing sport. Although it can be debated that it had more of a major growth in the late 90;s or early 2000's, without this time when skateboarding made its arrival, this sport would not be seen how it is seen today.

Evolution of the Skateboard

"Lords of Dogtown"

Skateboarding as a community is not the only thing that has evolved but the evolution of the skateboard itself has taken a major turn. The skateboard has constantly been changing since the day it was invented to the present day one that we are currently using. When the skateboard had been invented it had been for the use of surfers who needed something to do when the surf was flat and this is why they started with the design of a smaller surfboard shape with big jelly wheels that were meant for smoother riding. The image to the right from the movie "Lords of Dogtown" which was a movie about the skating scene and its uprising as a sport.But now the look of a skateboard has totally evolved and there are many different choices of how you want it. There are many different styles and options now for skateboards, but the most popular one is the concave oval shape and can range from 5-7 plies of wood and the wheels have become much smaller and harder. This shows how sports evolve as wholes and not just pieces. This can be applied to almost every sport such as surfing and even football and baseball.

Skating Through Time

Disqualifying the Official, 1995

The way people had viewed "skaters" in the mid 90's was much a much more rational view, according to Beal, B. who wrote the journal "Sociology of Sport Journal," who describes there acts as "Covert behaviours of resistance." (Image to the right).

This has been the main outlook on skaters from the birth of their existence until now. The general public has had the image of a skateboarder as a resistant troubled teenager who does abide by the rules set down. After all that many skaters have gone through to help change this and put our image in a different direction, this is still what how we are looked upon. Many people still have this idea but in reality, most of us are making many attempts to improve this. But even though the majority of the population is taking positive action in the community, the negatives are always the ones that have a more serious impact. It is like the situation of the "one step forward, two steps back." At this rate nothing will change and all the efforts made by so many will be lost.

Alex Midler

Skateboarding has grown substantially over the past decade and is on a exponential scale. People are constantly being driven towards this innovative ever-expanding sport. This article came out about a year ago and it is about the world famous rapper Lil Wayne and how he was inspired to start his skating career by 14 year old Amateur skater Alex Midler,

http://www.lilwaynehq.com/2012/07/lil-wayne-meets-the-person-who-influenced-him-to-skate-alex-midler-video/

Alex Midler is not my favorite skater out there, but I will admit that he is on his way to be one of the best. At 14 years old and sponsored by giant companies such as Real, Thunder, and Spitfire, he proves to be a big inspiration and drives people to believe that they can make it up there with perseverance  and determination. He is a great image for people looking into joining the skating community and making a difference.

Tony Hawk

Tony Hawk is one of the most generous pro skaters in the world, he is always trying to make a difference in the skating community. One of these many generous differences he attempted to make was his charitable donation to a skatepark in Detroit,

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130331/METRO01/303310346

Tony Hawk is the biggest expert on making a difference in the outlook of the skating community, he is always attempting to change the visions of local skateparks and make a change in the what people see in their community skatepark. This donation he made to this Detroit skatepark is just one of many examples of how Tony  is trying to make a difference. I think that he is an inspiration to the youth of skaters and many should look up to him if they already haven't. They should see that he is one of the most world renowned skateboarders and he isn't the one at the skatepark that is drawing graffiti on the ramps, or taking part in illegal activities in the back of the bowls, but he is the one trying to remove these defacing acts and trying to make a positive impact.

Skateboarding and Reading

I have just read the article http://hudsonvalley.ynn.com/content/top_stories/650705/skateboarding-and-reading-coming-together/ about getting skateboarders more involved with reading,

These kinds of organizations and events are what are improving what people see in the skating community. When parents see that skateboarders that their kids look up to, are making an attempt to get them involved with reading makes them see that skating isn't all about what they think. When these kinds of events take place and are exposed in the news it will help increase the population of the skating community because when kids are trying to discover new hobbies their parents aren't trying to push them away from skating because they feel like it is a bad influence.

Skate and Destroy Riot

I have just read this article on the Skate and Destroy Riot that had occurred a few months ago in Hollywood,

http://xgames.espn.go.com/skateboarding/article/8505207/lapd-riot-squad-surrounds-bake-destroy-video-premiere-hollywood-calif

This article shows why skateboarders have gotten such a bad reputation for being wild crazy people who have no remorse for the other skaters who make an attempt to make a positive lasting impact on our community. Skaters have never had the best reputation for being good civil members of society, but some of us have made an attempt to change what people have thought about that, but when events such as this riot occur it completely overturns the attempts for change that the others have made. I think that these people who started this riot need to take a second to think about why people look down on the skateboard culture so much and how their actions have destroyed the actions that the others have made.

Tony Hawk's Charitable Efforts

I have recently read this interview of Tony Hawk about his Charitable efforts,

http://www.looktothestars.org/news/9700-exclusive-interview-tony-hawk-talks-charity-and-operation-smile


I feel that this interview really shows the better side of the skateboard community and how not all skaters are these aggro driven maniacs that have no respect for their surroundings. Tony Hawk is one of the leading figures of skateboarding and it is great to see that he is making an attempt to make a lasting effect on not only the skateboard culture and society but our world in general. When he started the Tony Hawk foundation it served as a larger power to help gain support for skaters to build new skate parks and other skateboarding facilities and events. All in all I think that Tony Hawk is a great leader for the skateboard culture and the skaters that give us a bad name should look up to him and make an attempt to follow in his footsteps.

Police Cite Teen Skateboarder

I have just read an article about a teen skateboarder in Oak Creek that was cited for skateboarding,

http://oakcreek.patch.com/articles/police-cite-teenager-skateboarding-down-howell-avenue

 I think that it was a little strange that the man was skating outside so late at night and that the cop did the right thing to pull him over for suspicious activity, because it isn't normal to be out skating that late at night. I believe that the man made a very bad decision to get in an argument with the officer  and he is giving the world a bad outlook on the skating community making everyone think that we have no respect for the law or our surroundings when really it is just a small few who do these sort of acts. I find it to be outrageous how these few people wonder why a majority of people look down on the skating community when they pull off stunts like this. It is just baffling to me.