Bladers vs. Boarders

Since the beginning of aggressive inline skating, there has been quite a lot of tension between skateboarders and us. Skateboarders have not been to kind to us, giving us nicknames like "fruit-booters" or "gaybladers" and making jokes like "What is the hardest part of rollerblading? ... telling your parents you are gay." So why is this? Here are a few reasons I could come up with:

The Face of Aggressive Inline Skating

I assume most of the other inline skaters out there are much like me, and we wonder why aggressive inline skating is not as mainstream as similar sports like skateboarding. Some of that may be because of the tension between us and the other extreme sports, but for now, lets pretend the world is a peaceful place and everyone gets along. What are we missing that other more popular sports have? Well, I think the biggest thing we are lacking is simply someone to represent us. Someone to be the face of aggressive inline skating to the world. Someone who can be a good role model and draw new people to the sport. We need a Brett Favre or a Michael Jordan or a Tony Hawk or a Mat Hoffman. Someone everyone thinks of when they think of inline skating.

In the Dark - An Inline Skating Documentary

I stumbled across this short documentary on inline skating and the state of the industry by Kyle Couture recently, and I wanted to share my thoughts on it (for what its worth).