Recently, I stumbled into some videos of the 2010 World Freestyle Skateboarding Championships. For some reason, all the skaters names were sounding familiar. Suddenly, when I was looking at some "recommended friends" on a social networking site (yeah the one they made a movie about but I'll chose not to say) all these names were showing up and I realized that's why I've heard of a majority of them. That kinda made me feel like I actually do have some ties to the freestyle family.
And watching this event, I realized the fact that they are like a family is what makes it so great. While freestyle skateboarding is dead to most of the world, there is still a small group of freestyle skaters that come together from around the world to keep the tradition that Rodney Mullen made a part of skate history alive. And as weird as it was that these skaters were on the verge of dancing with a skateboard, I completely supported their manner of skating; because they have kept a grassroots approach to their event and continue to keep it in the hands of skateboarders.
Overall, it just makes it a much less competitive environment and it just goes to show that you don't need energy drinks trying to be crammed down your throat to make something happen in a skate community (although it's completely understandable why more companies want to get their hands in our growing industry). With all that said, this is an event I really hope I can be a part of next year. Bring out the shin guards!