Zaturdays: Famous Spots

So a couple weeks ago I put in a request to all seven of you Zaturdays readers to suggest topics for a column you might like to see. Apparently there was some confusion about what I was looking for. Responses ranged from “fuck scooters,” to “not being a fucking bitch.” I suppose I could write 1000 words about anything, and it might be fun to try, but you definitely wouldn’t want to waste your time reading it. I did however get a few solid responses. @dante_hess55 suggested I take a crack at Skateboarding in the Olympics, and I’m going to take you up on that soon Dante, just not today. At some point I’m also going to do one on where you buy your skateboards from and why it matters, as suggested by @rollin.thunder. But today’s user generated Zaturdays topic comes from @marquis1974: Famous Spots and what they mean to skateboarding. Thanks for the suggestion Marquis, here’s my take. First, some famous spots that come to mind: The LA Courthouse, Rincon, Clipper, Hollywood High, Wallenberg, Hubba Hideout [RIP], The Triangle in Miami, Chicago’s Sea Wall, MACBA, Brooklyn Banks, LOVE Park [RIP], Pulaski, Sports Arena, The Wedge in Arizona, El Toro, Skip’s Ditch, Mt. Baldy, and on and on. There are also about 1000 spots I can think of that have achieved similar levels of notoriety within skateboarding without the benefit of name recognition. I’m thinking of spots that you know by site but don’t know what anyone calls them. Like that quarterpipe to metal wall thing in Barcelona, or the metal bench spot in Berlin, or that one Hubba with all the graffiti that Rowley gap back 5050d that one time…. I think it’s in France somewhere? The closer you live to the Famous Spots the more likely you are to know what they’re called. Famous Spots tend to have some things in common. First, they’re usually in large cities with high concentrations of skateboarders. Secondly, and this is less so now that social media dictates what we’re looking at, they used to be centered around the headquarters of skateboarding magazines. In the ‘90s and 2000s you would have found probably 75 percent of the world’s most Famous Spots within a ten mile radius of the offices of TWS and The Skateboard Mag in San Diego, Big Brother and Skateboarder in LA, and Thrasher and Slap in SF. On the flip side, arguably one of the best skate spots in the entire US, Nashville’s Legislative Plaza, is a relative unknown when compared to some San Diego schoolyards which have 1/10th the skateable options and offer basically none of the vibe. But of course lots of skaters and photographers working together will produce a famous spot, even if it’s not that great, but what characteristics define the spots that become famous that don’t have a magazine headquartered up the street? Well, They’re either really great for skateboarding, or they’re photogenic, or a really famous skateboarder did something memorable at the spot in a really famous video. Any one of these things can help take a spot from obscure wannabe to blown out has been. But getting back to the point Marquis raised in the first place, what do these spots mean to skateboarding? The answer is two things essentially, and the now defunct Love Park offers examples of both. The first thing a famous spot like Love can do is to offer skateboarders a place to come from all over and be a part of something bigger than their local scene and share in that common bond we have as skaters. To see where Fred Gall did the ledge ride to gap out fifty, or where Ricky stood in the street waiting for the street sweeper to pass, or where BA and Stevie and Getz and Reason and Suciu did all the stuff they did there. What all of that does is to help reinforce what it means to be a skateboarder, we share history, experiences, and perpetuate the brotherhood. No one wants to skate alone on an island no matter how good the spot; we want to skate with skaters at skate spots. And at a place like Love, with all of its options, each of us has the chance to add to its story, film a line there ourselves, scratch our name into the book, do our part. The second thing famous spots can mean to skateboarders is probably a little more controversial, a little less pure, and shines a light on the ugly underside of all of our idealism. See, besides contests, famous spots bring out our most jock-like characteristics. Famous spots are skateboarding’s unofficial “regulation height” equivalent of a basketball rim, or “regulation size” of a football, and make sure not to underinflate it. In sports, you know who is the best, they’re the ones that win all of the games, score the most, run the fastest. But in skateboarding, since so many of us don’t really look to contest results to tell us which skaters are the best, we have our own little unsanctioned events every minute of our lives, and what better place to host them than Famous Spots? Bust or Bail is just a more formal extension of what we’ve already been doing for the past 30 years plus. Famous Spots offer a level playing field where any one of us can come out and show the world what we’re made of and what we have to offer. Take Love Park’s fountain for example. At first it was a huge deal when people ollied into it. Then Kerry kickflipped it. Chris Cole came with a quiver: back three, backside flip, switch frontside flip. Ishod Wair brought some heat with a switch flip. Reynolds came out with his fs flip. Wenning did the switch back 180. Asta the switch heel. All of that gives us an idea who the good dudes are. I never even ollied it. See the difference? What’s funny to me is when the Famous Spots aren’t the big gnarly ones, but the spots that are suited for creativity, lines, and flow. Sometimes the result is that the arty type skaters have what might be considered an art contest. Even then, certain people always seem to win. What do you think Famous Spots mean to skateboarding and what are some of your favorites?