Gost: MC Hammer x Action Sports!
quoting Arlo Eisenberg:
I understand that skateboarding is advertising shorthand for “cool” and “edgy,” so I guess I can kind of see what they are aiming for here, but it has been a long time since the inaugural X Games back in 1995 and advertisers have had PLENTY of time since then to familiarize themselves with action sports and presumably to avoid embarrassing images like this one.
We’re not talking Bagel Bites fifteen years ago here. Yahoo! is supposed to be an innovative company. They are the number one disseminator of information on the web; the largest news portal. How could they be THIS out of touch?!
Who was the, er, yahoo, who looked at the image of a glistening MC Hammer in soccer shorts and a Timex watch staging a jump next to a skateboard and said, “yeah, that’s exactly what we’re going for!” [...]
Check the full Article on Gostbrand.com.
Tags: gost
November 10th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
This isn’t newsworthy. This is Arlo still crying over inline being kicked out of the X-Games. Damn, Arlo…are you sponsored by Kleenex? You are soft.
November 10th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
yeah i aggree with R.KOF,you put this shit up and then peoples real news gets shunned,its just not cool,
November 10th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
OKE FOR THE LAST TIME ……….FUCK THE X GAMES FUCK SKATEBORDERS AND FUCK MAINSTREAM MEDIA THEY MAKE IT LOOK GAY ANNYWAY…………………………………………………………
November 10th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
who cares? rollerbladers have a habit of seperating themselves from everyone else. “skate for life” “im a rollerblader..fuck u”. Then they moan when rollerblading isnt on instead of match of the day every saturday
who cares. if u dont like how much coverage skating gets, quit.
November 10th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
people = shit !
+ I – myself,love that we are’nt famous !
ps. the last episode of Ryan Sheckler was the shit ! – really, everybody has to see it, maybe Julien couldt become our Sheklinator ?
November 10th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
And I wanna remember everybody on the great scene in ” one ” where Arlo decorates Frankys 540 with his leopardstretchpantscross! -> That’s what Inlineskating calls art…
… jut epic
November 10th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
You can’t touch that.
November 10th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
hahaha i seen this full size at a bis stop in San Francisco, soooo fuckin hilarious!!!
November 10th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
R.KOF,can suck a dick.
November 10th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
This isn’t newsworthy. This is Arlo still crying over inline being kicked out of the X-Games. Damn, Arlo…are you sponsored by Kleenex? You are soft. + 1000000000000
i was going to say the same thing and im glad im not the only one thinking that. he does go on and on and on dont he.
November 10th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Ha,ha, at least its a skateboard!
November 10th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I like arlo’s article. Especially since GOST is getting its foot into other markets other than rollerblading, giving us more positive exposure. Exposure means more support for rollerblading, it means maybe some day our pros will be able to comfortably live off of rollerblading, it means higher quality/budgeted skate videos, it means more options for skating products, it means more skate parks with round rails, it mean a lot. Does any body remember how amazing it was to have IMYTAs with thousands of spectators, a team rollerblade demo at your middle school or the videos that we shot on FILM and were an actually production. That blog post, and especially with Haffey’s section, is for the positive. Stand behind people that making rollerblading better. There are several people doing that for rollerblading that we need to stand behind and support; Julio with Valo and the exposure through Adobe, b.unique and doug u when they submit quality films to film fest, Tracey with LAAD, Jochen with ucon and all the other companies that are investing in rollerblading, vx, etc. It just gets old how ignorant our rollerblading community can be sometimes.
November 10th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
it was OK in Barely Dead, because most rollerbladers hadn’t heard his side of the story, but he keeps regurgitating the same thing in slightly different contexts.
hell, i used to be an Arlo fan until I realized he’s just a crybaby in leopard print stretch pants.
November 10th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
All of you should have more respect than that for Arlo. He’s one of the most knowledgable people in the industry. He’s been there from the beginning and he has a lot of experience dealing with the networks. If rollerblading was to ever go mainstream again, I’d definitely want someone like Arlo influencing the way it’s presented to the public.
November 10th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
i dont like the way Arlo delt with the situation he spoe about in barely dead it shows what a big baby he really is sat there with his back towards the guy talking about the new add coming out for x-games or summat. then walks out to try make a statment that dident work then when he was offerd to come back after to talk about it he just gave up that easy.
we need someone who stands up and fights for our sport there and then not let it slip and have a salk in your chair at a conference meeting.
November 10th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
you know what, i’ve only been blading for about 5 years now and all I can say is that it consumes every aspect of my life, Im proud to have ambassadors like Arlo and all the other pro skaters out there to promote something that “we” as a community love. I believe that no matter how much we try to get global spotlight and that we might be successful or might not be , we always have to remember what gave us life in the first place, and that is love, devotion and passion plus creativity. So what if some people that we call icons don’t skate anymore or skate less, we all have our reasons, and as long as they were pumping inspiration into the new generation we can keep that fire going…..
Some people really need to be thankful for what “we” have, we have a strong community of individuals who do some crazy stuff and I believe we can write someday our own page of history…..
Plus, i think everyone has seen the WRS finals edits , doesn’t that have something to say about how far we have come?
November 10th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Every skater needs to pull together and not make stupid comments, but regardless, the direction we need to go toward, is mainstreem. If we don’t, then companies and our love for the sport will fail.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
honesty, really good points arlo, but really think about it, would you really want our sport out into the general public and viewed how skateboarding is; as a fad, or as the cool thing to do in order to fit in. you made a very good point in saying that our sport is more about the progression of tricks and not competition, well i worry that if rollerblading becomes the “cool” thing to do then we will have lost our sport for what it is now; for the trick progression and the sessions and friendships and the respect for the sport that I’ve seen in so many other rollers.
Just some thoughts, hit me up if you happen to have any feed back
November 10th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Arlo is the man. Probably the most articulate and intelligent person to have been a part of rollerblading. I’m glad he continues to express his views like this and hope he continues to do so.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:22 am
to be honest i dont care, i know no one likes rollerblading. and thats why i love it.
November 11th, 2009 at 4:40 am
i agree with what chris Marino Says. every time i go out to skate i meet a new skater. if rollerblading was like skateboarding it would not be like that everyone would be cut of and our -family- would not exist.i love that its not a big community
but i also think that our pros deserve to be out there. they kill themselves for nothing!!!!
November 11th, 2009 at 5:25 am
I agree 100% with Bob_Sled
You young kids would never understand.
November 11th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Some really hard comments against Arlo here, and some fair, but some out of context and not based on proper research.
May he be soft or not, the MARTYR SYNDROME has really got into him, and how not, into most of us old school and middle school bladers.
It was something that got our community into a shock and after that a trauma, and yes he does keep on “regurgitating”, but may it be because there is a PERPETUATION of that happening that caused our community to have a MARTYR SYNDROME in the first place?
It may be. It really is irritating after all, isn’t it?
Its a global thing now anyway, it´s not just a meeting at an X games table, its Yahoo and the whole entire global media along with Rupert Murdock following “the lead” of what happened in that meeting Arlo was in.
So did he really have a single chance to stop the snowball from its source?
Fact is that that table was not the source of the snowball but the consolidation; the snowball came from way earlier, but if you do not research skateboard industry history you cannot find real sources for these types of matters in leisure industry. The roots of anti rollerblading thinking resided in individuals, but it was this meeting among others that got it out to the media as an official thing for the first time via EXPN.
The funny thing is that exploiting this very “victim niche” is one of the keys back into mainstream, but very few realize that there is a way to play with that and translate it into business language. The SOL crew and the way they document rollerblading being laughed at is the very core of our global psychology. (Damn I am proud of them.)
Sometimes if you row down the river you can get to the riverside more easily and simply walk up instead of pretending to row against the stream.
Still, is there even a point to keep on fighting our right to be named an action sport? (I´d insert Hitler Vs the x games here for more joy and sarcasm.)
One last thought, Arlo, how have you taught us all to be so concerned about the way the media portraits us and you have never warned us about the monopolization of our own industry being a threat to the very spirit of rollerblading, to the wages and health insurance of our pros, to the well being of our community?
Some of us have started to think it´s because you came back to the party to get a nice slice of the cake, while some others idolize you and never question whatever you say. I understand you have burned yourself out along your path in this industry trying to defend lost ideals, and that in the end you cannot fight against the stream.
Maybe this era is time for questioning; the way Matthias Knoll came out of the dark to build himself an “angry youth” image sticking his middle finger was pathetic, and by the looks of it your image is also in danger. Not young or angry any more?
Maybe it´s time for a whip of real angry youth and some real honesty about what exactly does not work in this industry, because it´s been a while that it smells of pre-cooked food if you know what I mean.
With all respect to everyone´s opinion, but my own is that the martyr syndrome is out of date and that the focus should be into getting organic stuff instead of the pre-cooked day to day merchandising.
Good day gentlemen.
November 11th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
i’m with chris marino
November 11th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
arlo is a baby, stop summating your lost life, its gotten old and so have you…
November 11th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Azur speaks the truth.
also,
con Says:
November 11th, 2009 at 4:40 am
i agree with what chris Marino Says. every time i go out to skate i meet a new skater. if rollerblading was like skateboarding it would not be like that everyone would be cut of and our -family- would not exist.i love that its not a big community
Agreed, around 80% of skate boarders and bmxers i meet or know from the local park are just cunts.
Id say 95% of inlines ive meet are just amazing people, from chavs to emos.
(although that percentage would be brought down a bit if i included the cunt that stole that guys skates,phone,ipod,wallet,etc. at chaz sands inv.)
^if you are this person and reading this, just know i hate you
November 12th, 2009 at 7:26 am
I realize that it has become kind of a joke in the industry that anything that gets posted on rollernews will invariably be greeted by a relentless stream of shit talk. It has long been noted that in the absence of any real opinions people will often prop up their own lazy insults with no intention (or concept) of adding anything constructive. All too often people confuse their insults with insight and think they are being provocative when really they are just being assholes.
In light of all of this I know that I shouldn’t be surprised at the constant (and crude) level of insults hurled at me (when I don’t talk about rollerblading I’ve turned my back and I’m a sell-out or when I do I have a martyr complex and I’m just saying the same shit over and over again) and I know I shouldn’t take it too personally, but there are just some things that I find very troubling.
First of all I find it unsettling that an industry that has been so decimated over the past several years and that has come under such vicious attack from so many corners would be so fractured and cannibalistic within its own ranks. Don’t rollerbladers have enough to overcome without having to worry about OTHER rollerbladers. It’s funny (or sad) that now that almost everybody else has stopped thinking (or talking) about rollerblading the only people who care enough to still make fun of it or attack it are other rollerbladers.
What I have found even more disheartening has been coming to terms with the fact that rollerblading just isn’t as special as I thought it would be. I used to cling to this idea that there was something inherently special about skating, that it attracted a certain kind of person. I believed that rollerblading provided a kind of refuge for individuals and that it attracted people who were different.
To some extent rollerblading has attracted unique individuals willing to go against the grain, but (and I guess this would be true of any group of any significant size) it turns out that only a small percentage of rollerbladers are actually (and truly) individuals; the ones who have the courage to follow their own vision and the intelligence and creativity to identify it in the first place.
As for the others, the ones who fill up the comments and the message boards, it turns out they are pretty much just like everyone else. They show very little interest in reading or researching or growing or learning or ever making any genuine attempt at understanding. They lack either the interest or the capacity to exercise their minds (or both). They are critics who lack the ability to think critically. They know a little bit about a little bit and try to mask their ignorance with indignation.
There is no reason to think that the dozens of voices clogging rollernews’ arteries couldn’t just as easily be found on skateboarding message boards or posting vitriolic comments on youtube or Yahoo! Venues like these, on the web, provide the perfect forum for anyone of little insight and of even less consequence to fire off an anonymous barb without any accountability. It’s the same shit from the same shitty people. They are nondescript, indistinct and everywhere and they are all completely interchangeable.
I don’t mean to paint with too broad a brush here. I have seen some very thoughtful posts in this thread (BEATMASTER, Nattyp, chris Marino, Azur, etc.) and rollerblading is no doubt filled with some very bright people. It is just a shame that so much of our attention (and our energy) has to be wasted on people who have so little to contribute.
November 12th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
funny all the people saying hes old this and that but if you skated from that era till now then you wouldt be hating, not to mention sorry to break it to you i would love to see what alot of you guys are doing when your his age, will u still skate? will u still do anything for the sport that you love so much,, i doubt it i seen tons of skaters come and go when real life hits them they once loved it now they see me and say oh wow you still skate
November 12th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
I agree with NYC i’ve seen “crews” of skater come and go over the years at my local skate park occasionally one sticks around from each group but more often than most disappear when the get certain responsibilities. So how many of you kids think you’ll still be skating or even care about rollerblading when you reach the age of 30 and beyond. Stop bitching now and just feckin skate and enjoy life.
November 13th, 2009 at 1:40 am
Who gives you the right to hate on a culture you’ve adopted. look at one person who lives for rollerblading and see if they talk about it negatively, or the people at the forefront.
If you hate on something you say you follow then YOU’RE FAKE!
We know you will not stand the test of time.
I wouldn’t have put on my first pair of skates if it weren’t for Arlo. He is one of the Godfathers of our industry, you should pay you’re respect, especially where it’s due.
If any of you knew anything about rollerblading then you would understand that this is a culture, a part of who we are, not a fashion accessory or a trend.
You can only hate on what you don’t own, that’s LOVE & RESPECT.
You have obviously bought into this sport and branded yourself.
The scars from you’re falls should be brand enough!
ps. I’ve had my fair amount of grief with others but how can anyone hate?
Aggressive sports are all the same, the object doesn’t move us, we move the object. In return were blessed.
Keep up the good work Arlo.
Peace.
November 17th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Arlo you said something that really touched me as I have had the same feeling about this:
“What I have found even more disheartening has been coming to terms with the fact that rollerblading just isn’t as special as I thought it would be. I used to cling to this idea that there was something inherently special about skating, that it attracted a certain kind of person. I believed that rollerblading provided a kind of refuge for individuals and that it attracted people who were different.”
Well, lately I’ve had this other feeling that once again you explain very well:
“To some extent rollerblading has attracted unique individuals willing to go against the grain, but (and I guess this would be true of any group of any significant size) it turns out that only a small percentage of rollerbladers are actually (and truly) individuals; the ones who have the courage to follow their own vision and the intelligence and creativity to identify it in the first place.”
So this leaves me the feeling that I don’t really belong to this community any more. I just don’t feel I have something special any more just because I rollerblade. And after some time feeling quite bad about it and talking with some people that are important and close to me, I just got over it. We apparently are a community of people who are different, we thought we were “special” individuals. Well. We just don’t. We happen to do something that has no recognition from other bigger communities. That’s all. It makes nothing special of us, nor different thinkers, nor even individuals. Like in every community there are a few who lead the pack, and there is a vast ammount of people who just follows the mass. Just to fit in.
So, what has it of special? For me, it is as special as it makes me feel. Sure it is good times and laughs but what I apreciate the most is the therapy. Rolling alone by myself. Sometimes it is all I had. The magic is how it made me feel with myself and how I still feel close to certain people even when they are hundreds of kilometers away.
This human connection and communication, this feeling, and the things that will always remain inside me make this sport-passion-therapy (call it anything) are what make it special for me.
About all the hate and nonsense in the forums: I agree to the point of never ever posting anything anywhere, except for this comment. So, in the midst of the hate:
To all the people who are close to me, I love you above what you do or don’t do. Soulman, keep on preaching. Garbancito, take care of your rabbits!