Excerpts from Skate Business

Stuff is deleted out, I didn't want to type the whole article. (words 
inside of these things are mine)



 "There was a day when achieving a goal was more important than 
emulating someone else's look or style. There was a day when children 
had strong role models who provided strong guidance, instilled a sense 
of pride in their families and themselves, and helped crate and nurture 
dreams of one day walking their own path.(I am standing waist high in 
bullshit) But alas, those days are gone....Kinda today search for 
heroes,people who are what they would like to be. (In the back of my 
head I hear some song....what is it.....OH Yes! "why can't I be you" by 
the cure)....Sports marketing agencies picked up on this a long time 
ago, as they were seeing sports figures elevated, by kids, to the level 
of Gods; they had an idea. By placing the names of certain players 
on products, people who see these things will automatically 
associate the product with it's namesake,(ahhh! the media blitz!) 
then through a strange form of justification, come up with a need to 
purchase that item. (How did these sports heros become heros in the 
first place? Pandering media sluts push a certain person, team, whatever 
to the "God like level". Seeing these people in various media facets is 
what gets them into this god state, for if their were no media, no one 
would know who they were. From there they are welded to products, which 
they endorse,via the media adding to the "God" state. A vicious circle, 
that gives communion to itself and pays for for it off the disciples it 
has created) .....Airwalk, on the other hand, was a different story: a 
skate-shoe manufacture for over a decade, Airwalk produced hundreds of 
styles of shoes, from dress to BMX, but never pro-models. With the 
resources they possess, not doing a pro series of shoes would literally 
be a waste (think of all that lost money!). Like DC, Airwalk has 
released two pro-signature shoes-the Jason Lee (Rocker!) and Tony Hawk 
models-but for different reasons than DC (what? it's not about money? 
What happened to "Literal waste"?). Jason (Rocker!) and Tony (now I'll 
fell bad if I don't say anything about Tony, but what CAN you say?) did 
contribute to the design of their shoes, (well, I would hope so), but 
that wasn't the only reason that were chosen for the honor. Airwalk team 
manager Tim Swart states the key reason the two were elected for the 
project was because of loyalty(that's nice). Tony Hawk was the first 
person Airwalk ever sponsored, and Jason Lee(Rocker!) came shortly 
after. "The two have been around long time, and contribute immensley to 
Airwalks success," said Swart (read: we made a shit load of money off 
them all ready, now lets pimp there ass into the ground and milk all 
those rich suburban white kids for all they got).....Plan B is rumored 
to be working on a Jeremy Wray signature shoe, The Foundation Super 
Company is looking into producing a shoe line which may showcase some 
pro-series shoes.
 When all is said and done, pro-model shoes are a BLESSING! They're 
definitely not the only option in the future of the skateshoe market-in 
fact they only make up a minimal percentage of sales.......The trend of 
pro-signature shoes is growing, and successful retailers will be the 
ones who realize it now and take advantage of the opportunity to offer 
them to skaters (i.e. the first to have the new shit will be the first 
to have "all the money"). In return, shop owners can make some profits, 
while at the same time supporting the (pro)skateboarders who have 
supported them.( what about the skaters who support the whole fucking 
thing!? No one gives a shit about us. How many shops or companys for 
that matter support the average kid riding down the street?, aside from 
the fact that play into role model/hero worship with a financial outcome. 
Fuck Them)



Converse is also coming out with shoe designed specifically for 
"skateboarding" some time soon. Shoes are huge.  



"It looks like Flip skateboards was told by the lawyers for High Speed 
Productions (thrasher and Slap) to cease and desist use of the 
aformentioned magazine's logos on Flip's newest line of pro models 
entitled "The Butt Kiss" series"