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My God Rides a Skateboard July 30, 2008

Posted by bigtexan in Other.
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I grew up in the halcyon days of skating:  The Bones Brigade, Vision Street Wear, Christian Hosoi, Gator Rogowski, Santa Cruz, Sims, Mike McGill, Natas Kaupas, Jason Lee before his name was Earl…  falling off my Pacer skateboard with the Kryptonics Wheels while listening to the Dead Kennedys; sweet times.  Around at the time were people like Tony Alva, a member of the fabled Dogtown team from before my time.  Apart from Alva and Stacy Peralta, the Dogtown riders were unknown to us freshers then, but as we grew older we learnt about these legendary skaters such as Wentzle Ruml, Bob Biniak, Paul Constantineau and the most naturally gifted skater of them all, Jay Adams.

Jay Adams crashed and burned, unable to handle the fame and commercial aspects that had entered skating in the early eighties and has spent the next twenty-five years battling drugs and jail.  He was the first of many skaters who ended up falling from a great height, Gator and Hosoi were amongst those who would follow Adams.  The New York Times features Adams who has just been released from jail, and is trying hard to get his life back together.  I really have my fingers crossed that he can, and claim some of what’s owing to him as one of the true godfathers of skateboarding.

If this is all new to you, here’s a section on Adams from the brilliant 2001 documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys.  If you’ve never seen it, you have to check it out along with the other docs Gator, and Rising Son (about Christian Hosoi).

Minor League Fun on the Brooklyn Waterfront June 22, 2008

Posted by Jake Price in MLB, Other.
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The New York Times yesterday had a great little feature on one of the Mets’ minor league affiliates, the Brooklyn Cyclones, the best thing to come out of Coney Island since The Warriors.  The main angle of the piece was how a visit to KeySpan Park compares to a visit to Shea.  Personally, I just think it’s great that there’s some sort of professional baseball in Brooklyn, considering how much the borough has given to the game over the years, and how hardcore many of its baseball fans are.  Plus, as the article itself infers, the Cyclones are a nice diversion from the turmoil with the Mets.

Minor League teams, and team affiliations, often seem to come and go, but here’s hoping that not only are the Cyclones around to stay, but that the Mets keep their affiliation alive, considering how many of their fans come from the borough.

Politicians Hit Out at New York Stadia Funding June 13, 2008

Posted by Jake Price in Other.
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The Yankees request for an additional £350million in tax-free bonds to help in the construction of the new Yankee Stadium has instigated a backlash from many New York politicians reports The Gothamist. Congressman Richard Brodsky went so far as to say:

“These decisions are being made in secret in these Soviet-style meetings and it is outrageous.”

Personally, I want New York teams to have stadia that befit the teams playing in the sports capital of America. However, I do believe that there needs to be a serious investigation in to how these new facilities are approved and funded. The sports representatives of New York have to realise that they aren’t bigger than the city, and that the opinions of the residents of the city, sports fans and non-sports fans alike, have a right to see that both the planning and funding of these new stadiums are above board and proper.

It seems the planning permission for the new Yankee Stadium and Atlantic Yards projects were granted without the considerations of the local populace of the South Bronx and Brooklyn respectively being taken into account, while there is much controversy over the funding of both Yankee Stadium and the Mets’ new Citifield. I believe that some sort of independent investigation should take place into the procedures for granting and funding new stadia within the five boroughs, however, there is a very long history of large-scale developments in New York City going ahead without proper public consultation and I hold out little hope for transparency in these cases.

Having a major sports franchise in your borough can bring immense benefits, as well as great pride for the residents, but these teams must realise that they are not more important than the neighborhoods in which they reside.

On a More Serious Matter… June 2, 2008

Posted by Jake Price in NBA, Other.
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You’ve probably noticed the tagline at the top of the page: “Sport is life. Everything else is just filler.” Normally, it would appear to people who know me that I live my life by that motto. Of course, it isn’t true, and there are things more important than sport.

That’s why I’m against the Atlantic Yards Development, at least as it stands. Believe me, as a Nets fan, no-one would be happier to see them return to Long Island, and nowhere deserves to have a professional sports team again more than Brooklyn. However, it shouldn’t be as part of a development that will further rip the soul out of the borough.

I am not against high-rise development (and like many of architect Frank Gehry’s previous projects). On the contrary, inside me beats the heart of an old-fashioned modernist who loves tall buildings. I love walking around Manhattan’s man-made canyons. Atlantic Yards, however, is something else. These plans, for 16 skyscrapers in the center of Brooklyn is simply too much. It would dwarf everything around it, dominate the surrounding community, and plunge large swathes of it into shadow for much of the day. (more…)

This Week in Milford May 6, 2008

Posted by Jake Price in Other.
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Sometimes the best way to spend and hour is to randomly surf the other blogs on WordPress, and this is how I found a hilarious site that commentates on each daily episode of the comic strip “Gil Thorp”. The site’s called “This Week in Milford” and I highly recommend you check it out here.