Stoked – The Rise and Fall of Gator

Another sketchy video review by Rob Meronek

I know most of you out there probably view this film as something you’re completely uninterested in. I don’t blame you if it’s before your time. I can’t stand anything about the whole Lords of Dogtown thing – it’s before my time and I don’t care about barefoot hair bomb dudes slaloming down a hill on a banana board. This Gator film, however, covers the time period from when I was just starting to skate, so I decided to finally check it out. If you don’t know the history, Gator was this superstar pro from the 80’s that ended up murdering his girlfriend. He’s in jail now. Well if he ever gets out, with the way the skate industry is today, he’ll probably still have a career, a shoe, a long sponsor list, mad coverage, etc. Here’s my sketchy notes I took while watching it.

The story's kind of depressing. They should have called it "Not Stoked." I didn't realize Gator came up and turned busted that quickly. Skateboarding was changing very fast back then.

The most busted jock clothing company ever, “No Fear,” existed back in the 80’s? I didn’t know that.

Gator used to run around hotel hallways drunk and naked. I saw SPoT local Buck Tooth Will do this the first time I ever met him at Surf Expo in Orlando. Only Will one-upped it by knocking on doors while he was running down the hall. Yikes.

Did they really need to show Gator’s dong in there? Sheesh.

Gator’s former fiancé from way back then is still pretty damn hot today.

Gator’s business cards back then had “skateboarder extraordinaire” on them. SPoT employee Scotty Conley has “entertainer extraordinaire” on his. Funny coincidence.

I couldn’t agree more with Jason Jesse’s quote of, “F*&^k limits in your life,” although this is why I could drop dead from bad habits any day now.

The video is basically like a documentary – sort of like VH1 Behind the Music on Gator. If you were skating at that time, I think you’ll be pretty entertained by this film.

Check it out at your local shop or get it mailed to you with some free stuff from our online store: Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator.

Rob