March 19, 2010

Program Break

I drove to Denver in a blizzard, it took eight and a half hours (normally five) after a stop-over in Telluride and its still snowing here. Sick, no skating, why not drink beer and throw some shit up here? Whodi and Thadolo are now pro, support those fewls and buy their boards. Not to make them rich, but to rep. Next, Boondoggle can be downloaded for free right here, just scroll down and click it. That is all. Happy weekend.

14 comments:

Mariano said...

YEAAHHH WHOODDIII!!!!

Anonymous said...

Whoa, what's that shirt that Jamiel is sporting on his board?

Anonymous said...

Congrats guys!!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I now know a pro (jamiel). So sicky!!!

Anonymous said...

Jamiel has an 8" board..that seems about rite.

evilonelive said...

Jamiel a.k.a whistle tips.

platinumseagulls said...

Jamiel's wearing a Matix shirt that Familia and Cal did a couple of years back. Long gone by now.

Anonymous said...

deffinetly gonna cop the whodi board as soon as im back in mn

Snookie's Pimp said...

I gotta tip my hat to you MN-skate company entrepreneurs; it's gotta be a tough racket...

I've been following the Twin Cities scene from afar (read: way, way, afar) since Midopoly, and it seems like these board/clothing companies never really pan out. A new one pops up every now and then, ostensibly kept afloat initially by some close friends and a handful of random MN skaters who buy the boards out of obligation/state pride -- but before you know it, the company has folded and all of its riders are one-by-one being welcomed to some brand new Twin Cities company's "family" (where the new company was more-or-less started by pretty much the same people as before).

Trying to find a delicate way to put this...but, while very watchable, the skating here just isn't quite on the same caliber as it is on the left coast. No offense to any of the guys, but I'm not going to go out and get a Benson pro model (or anyone else's) as if I were of the mindset, "Dolo is my hero -- he's almost as good as a bona fide Cali pro." (Again, I don't mean any, ANY disrespect, because I grew up watching these dude's video parts.)

My guess is that, MN-based board/clothing companies are like the airline bidniss -- just a really tough market to make money in. That said, thanks for fighting the good fight, MN skateboard company entrepreneurs. The scene is surely better for your efforts.

Anonymous said...

Snookie is a kook - it ain't about the money.

Anonymous said...

People skating or tryin to do some sorta biz deals come and go. Why not try something where you live and have fun with it? Yeah anyone can be "pro", but you can only skate for so many years of your life. Fuck it screen your name on a board if you wanna do it. At the end of the day it doesn't matter either way. I'm done with this soap box now.

DanJackson said...

Since I am at the helm of one of the local companies, I'll try to offer a response because Snookie's Pimp makes a good point. I agree it is pretty rough going if you get into this thinking you are going to make money, not just for a "local" company, but for "big" companies as well. I started Glue Factory with the intention of doing something fun and small and only hoped to keep the team supplied with boards and not lose money, and thanks to local support have been able to do that (as always, much appreciated local dudes!). Adding the new pro boards was a way to give a couple guys a tip of my hat for what they have given the "local" scene and maybe put a buck or two in their pockets. I certainly don't view Glue Factory as being on the same level as "big" companies and am not trying to be on that level. And we couldn't be big if we tried--we're a bunch of old dudes that shouldn't still be skating (our team grom just turned 26), that being said, on a local level I think enough people respect what we're about. If I lived in Las Vegas, Miami, or Houston, I would think "what the fuck is Glue Factory"--they got their own local companies to support on top of supporting "big" companies. As for why little companies keep popping up and shutting down, I think there is a grind that comes with running a company that burns people out. A couple years of trying to grow something that won't grow or wasting time squeezing bloodless turnips gets old and certainly doesn't make good business sense. I think I personally have some advantage because I am still actively skating so the fun part of my association with skating is ALWAYS there and I can look at running the company as a side project. Maybe I'm kidding myself, but we're over 2 years in on this and while I'm not rich, I'm not burned out. And that's all I wanted to get out of it. Sorry for the ramble, but thanks for commenting, thanks for reading. And no offense taken!

Samon Nowparvar said...

Wow! Growing up in MN i have witnessed the midwest skate scene boom. I truly respect small companies for keeping good skaters on new boards. Many people have forgotten what skating is all about. Mad props to Dan Jackson for creating this company simply to keep the wheels rolling! Shout out to Jamiel on his 1st board. Keep on pushin Midwest riders!!!

Boss Playa T said...

Jackal, thanks for supporting the scene and may you have many years of good skating ahead of you.