Whats wrong with skating?

I was watching the new Alien Workshop video the other day and really started thinking about whats wrong with skating today, I came to this conclusion. In the early 2000's skateboarding had a sense of grime to it, so much that even the "tech" skaters gave off a feeling of being an outcast in society, the kids that wanted to do their own thing and say fuck the world. Even pro skateboarding included a tic tac here, or a hand touch there, some skaters wore tight pants with a party punk image and others had a loose baggy style, but even then it wasn't as much about your clothing as it was about the skating. Around 2003 skaters became obsessed with this new idea of landing "butters" no crookedness, no hand touchers, pure style, pure beauty. At first this new wave of skating seemed awesome, and a bright future for not only skating but the progression of skate videos in a sense that now every video skaters would be making sure each trick was "perfect." Now were here in 2009 and skateboarding has become infatuated with butters landings so much that it has evolved skaters into trick performing robots. Kids began leaving the streets and hitting the parks everyday to "perfect" their style, now go to any skatepark (atleast in the orlando area) and you'll see an army of flannel wearing, semi tight pants wearing, buttery ass robots. No longer do kids care about cruising their downtown streets as much as they care about making their style flawless. I believe this is the downfall of skateboarding. What skaters forgot about in a tic-tac, or hand toucher though not "butters" adds personality to a skaters style, it gives someone a kind of attitude that can't be duplicated, or reproduced. SKateboarding has lost its indivisuality. Today in 2009 I find myself in fear, this is the last couple years we'll be able to see the true originals such as Koston, Reynolds, Rowley true Originals with style unlike anyone you've ever seen, and yet with their time almost done who will replace them? What kid coming up today has the indivisuality to really be the next original thing? This is my greatest fear for skating, so if you've managed to read this far please fight for the streets, fight for style and personality on a skateboard! today go to your local grass gap, do a hand toucher, maybe land a little crooked and be forced to correct yourself, add some style to your skating, you may not realize it but you will be saving skateboarding from becoming an olympic event, and a jock loving sport.

By: Julian Cobiella