In a rather predictable twist of fate, Mr. Anthony Pappalardo has decided to bro-down with the guys at Chocolate Skateboards. I say ‘predictable’ because the Girl Family has a particular character trait of luring in their riders through sub-company sponsorship (Lakai, 4-Star, Royal…). Once you’re riding for one of those sub-companies, you can be pretty sure you’ll get invited to the club house sooner or later. However, fuck up and you’ve burnt your bridges for life. It’s sort of like the Real, Spitfire, Independent Bermuda Triangle…
Oh, and while we’re flirting with Skateboarding’s Golden Boys, Jereme Rodgers has just turned pro for Girl and is getting hooked up with Momentum wheels.
Felling Giants…
One time power house distribution company, Giant, has had a few braches cut off its dominant tree. Giant will no longer distribute Black Label, Destructo or 411VM, but it will distribute its latest brainchild: Bueno Skateboards. Even if Giant firmly denies it, Bueno is a direct replacement for Element (now owned by Billabong) – but Stacy Lowery doesn’t care because he’s the poster boy for this new venture.
Caballero’s Silver anniversary…
That’s right! Steve Caballero has been a professional for Powell for 25 consecutive years, in other words Steve is the most steadfast and dedicated pro to ever step on a board (Something very rare today, where everyone has a price it seems…). At the latest ASR Tradeshow, George Powell presented Caballero with a solid silver skateboard emblazoned with Steve’s first ever graphic. In fact, the graphic was designed by Steve himself, but never actually got used being replaced by the now infamous Dragon logo. I wonder what George said to Steve? “Alright Steve, you’ve been bugging me for 25 years to use this graphic, so here you go!…”
Call in the bomb squad…
Go fetch your Gimp masks because Unabomber is back! All the rumours and bullshit can be squashed because the virus has re-surfaced and a load of new faces are repping the working man’s skate company. Here’s a run down: Harry Bastard, Franklin Stephens, Tom Watts, Liam Sproat and Ben Grove.