The Skateboard Industry.com

Because there’s a lot of rumors circulating about me on the message boards, so I guess I felt the need to clear the air or at least let people know my side of the story on these topics.

Probably not, but at least they’ll know my point of view. It seems that if a person hates you for one reason or another, they’re probably going to continue to hate you regardless of what you say, but at least now, they’ll hate the real me rather than some twisted version of me they heard a story about from so and so.

I have no idea where that came from, local scenes are what keep skating thriving, not everyone lives in California. Your scene is your world and even though pro’s and the mags influence your scene, your friends are what keeps skating fun. I get psyched to see local videos and articles of local dudes killing it. So, no that’s the farthest thing from the truth.

We started in Boston where we skated with Charlie Wilkins and Dougie Death and we knew there was an abandoned pool in Albany, NY because the Habitat guys skated it the year before. On KOTR, a skateable pool is one of the hardest things to find, so we asked Charlie and Dougie if they knew anyone in Albany. They told us to call the Shelter skatepark and they’d be able to help us. So on our way to Albany, I called the park and asked for the contact that Charlie gave us, but everyone from the park was away in Springfield, MA or somewhere for a game of skate. The guy working at the park told me we were welcome to skate the park, but he had no idea where the pool was. He then gave us the cell number of a dude who could help us. So, I called him to see if anyone was around that would want to skate the pool, they said they were all away, but they’d give me directions. The dude was cool, but seemed to be having a hard time with the street names, so he told me to call a guy named, Armin. So, I did and that dude was cool as well, he started to give me directions, he gave me the exit and then started acting kinda strange. I asked if everything was okay, but he said he was sorry he knew how to get there, but he couldn’t give us directions. I was a bit confused at first, but he went on to say that it was a part of Albany’s history and he didn’t feel right giving me directions. I assured him that we’d be respectful and clean up or whatever, but he wasn’t feeling it. He said maybe someone else could help me, he then yelled to his friends; “hey, anyone want to give Jamie Thomas directions to the pool,” no one said anything, so Armin got back on the phone and said sorry man, I can’t help you. I had never experienced this before, even as a kid, so I pleaded with him for a bit, but made sure to not lose it. He didn’t share my desperation, which is understandable, but it was harsh feeling to be so close, but denied access by the locals. He was being cool, so even though I was bummed I tried to stay cool. I eventually said, well if you’re ever in California and need a place to skate you can call me. He seemed a bit confused, but said thanks and that was it.

Well we tried to call everyone we knew that had been there. A few people gave us scenery descriptions that helped a little, but we were lost. We called a few other people that we heard knew where it was, but no luck. So we went and bought an Albany map and started trying to put the pieces together. We had the exit and knew the scenery around the pool, so we drove to all the places on the map that matched the description near the exit. It was sick, it was like it was a new challenge and we were determined to find it. We drove around for like an hour and eventually realized that there has to be another skateshop in Albany that could help us out. We called 411 and they gave us a number, I asked the kid who answered, if he happened to know the name of the lake or country club that’s by the pool and he knew, so he told us. He was nice and since we had the final clue we were off to the pool, we were really close, but it still took us a while to work it all out. We eventually found it and since we’d been looking for hours, we filmed that little bit in the KOTR video about only the most hardcore skaters knew about this pool. We were joking, it was meant to be more tongue and cheek rather than disrespectful. We skated the pool and it was fun. We cleaned up our crap and left it as we found it.

Yeah, we thought it would be funny, because seriously this thing is in the woods and I can’t imagine any amount of people skating it would damage it’s chances of skatability. If anything maybe people would bail it out. I guess there wasn’t room in the article or Phelps wasn’t feeling it, so it never made the article and it’s probably better off, because it would suck if something did actually happen and the pool somehow became unskateable. If we wanted to be malicious, we could have put it up on the Zero site or on a message board, but we were over it. It was a fun experience, and I understand that the Albany dudes did what they felt was right.

Well I’d be lying if I said it felt good, but I understand where they’re coming from. They have a tight scene and they feel as if I didn’t respect that, but that was not my intention. There’s not much I can say, I never meant to be arrogant or disrespectful, but I’m sorry if that’s the way it was perceived…I’m not too proud to apologize.

I just sat and watched for a while, but it got more and more personal, so I called some of my friends at Slap and asked if they could do me the favor of removing them. They were really cool, apologized for the hate on their message board and pulled them.

Nah, I’ve never threatened anyone to do anything. For one, that’s not my style, and two that’s no way to keep relationships. I’ve been pro for almost 15 years and I’ve made a lot of friends in the industry and I’d never disrespect or abuse a relationship like that.

Chris Cole is one of the most talented skateboarders I’ve ever met. I saw his sponsor me video around 1998 and was amazed by his wacky tricks and even wackier gear. The first time I saw him skate in person, it was obvious he could do whatever he wanted on a skateboard. He pushed mongo, wore huge clothes and had a strange etiquette that involved him talking a great deal. Although, he obviously has way more natural ability than myself, the way I heard people talk about him reminded me of when I first arrived at EMB in 1992, so I could relate to him.

I met him at Tampa am in 2000, but got to know him later on. After the demise of Axion, he got on Circa flow. Always a fan of the underdog, I was psyched when I heard he was on the program. Although, some of the team wasn’t into him, Muska and I were always backing him and it worked because Circa had a broad image, so he fit.

Over time I got to know Cole pretty well and found out that regardless of his difference in appearance, we liked a lot of the same music and had the same appreciation for skateboarding. As we started traveling on tours, I noticed that his gear started to slim down and become less extreme. I never really knew why, but I wasn’t complaining. He would often talk to me about his frustration with Enjoi, and ask for advice. He said he never talked to anyone except Rodney and he felt like he didn’t fit in. At this time his style had began to change and I wanted to diversify Zero, so one day I asked what he thought about riding for Zero. He was psyched, so I talked to the team and after I explained my plan to diversify the team, they agreed.

No, Cole continued to change for about 6 months to a year after getting on Zero. Regardless of what people might think, I never told him to dress a certain way, suggested that he did or advised him that he’d be cooler if he wore this or that. I had too much respect for him. I think he felt like he was finally a part of something and I assume he wanted to fit the part. He has faced criticism ever since for his rapid transformation, although the ridicule diminishes by the day as he consistently dresses according to people’s expectations and he continues to kill it like no one else.

When Cole would visit California, he’d constantly be on ebay looking for random band t-shirts, so if I found a t-shirt with one of the bands he was into, I’d buy it and send it to him. I wasn’t trying to be his fashion consultant, just a friend.

No, we’re not strong-arming anyone. We offer discounts to people that have chosen not to sell blanks in order to help those shops make the margins they need. If shops want to sell blanks, cool, that’s obviously their prerogative and we’re not hating on them for that. But, if they don’t, we want to do what we can to help their business thrive, because that means we all thrive. We also offer quantity discounts, and discounts for shops that support skateboarding on a grass roots level by supporting their local scene and hosting demos or events, because that’s what keeps skateboarding thriving. We do this, so we can offer the same prices to smaller shops that can’t reach the quantity discounts that the chain stores can. This levels the playing field.

It’s hard to make a business from selling skateboards, so if people are down to support skateboarding as well as our brands, then we’re down for them. It’s that simple really, we support those who support us. When we plan tours and demos though, we make sure that the majority, if not all of our demos are at core shops that represent what our brands are about.

Yeah, I’d like to thank all of the people hating on me. It not only keeps me grounded, but it has given me a new perspective as well as motivated me to focus on skating. It also gives me a new challenge to overcome, it’s almost like I’m starting over at EMB. I also hope to meet you all some day, so I can hear about your beef first-hand and buy you a drink. Cheers!