Archive for the ‘Skateboarding’ Category

Posted on July 4, 2009 - by ChrisDub

Big Brother BMX/Skate/Blade Comp Tomorrow!

I know I’m pretty late on this one, but I just found out today. The rad dudes over at the Big Brother shop in Brownsville will be throwing a BMX/Skate/Blade contest at the Brownsville skatepark tomorrow, July 4th.

Registration and practice begin at 3:30pm, and the contest starts at 5:00pm.

I’ll be there shooting photos and taking notes to cover the event, maybe I’ll jump on the ‘ol BMX as well. I’m going to try and do some live coverage as the event happens, and make use of my ’smart phone’, to benefit the people that can’t make it out. If I manage to pull it off, you guys will see the post on the front page tomorrow.

See you kids tomorrow!

Posted on April 27, 2009 - by ChrisDub

Quick 10 with Cat

NAME: Cat.
AGE: About 23-27, but my liver is probably screaming 30.
HOMETOWN: MacTown. born n raised in this hood!
SPONSORS: I get a lot of free drinks and free advice.
YEARS SHREDDING: I’m probably better at shredding paper. But I’ve been skateboarding for over 6 years.

1. INSPIRATIONS: Activism, people with OCD like me, and people who try 2 use their talent.
2. FAVOURITE SPOT: Secret ditches and backyard minis!
3. FAVOURITE VIDEO PART: Tranny gone wild
4. BEST THING ABOUT SKATEBOARDING: Everything bout it is rad.
5. WORST THING ABOUT SKATEBOARDING: Skate stoppers
6. BIGGEST FEAR: Showin up to a sick spot and forgetting my board. AHHH!
7. WORST INJURY: Either my concussion in ‘06 or all 4 of my knee injuries.
8. OTHER INTERESTS: Baca. Cardiel. Anderson. Bourne. Guzman.Tattoos. My rad little skateboard/skateart shop “ROOTS“. (look us up or stop by)
9. THE LAST SONG YOU HEARD: AL GREENS GREATEST HITS ON MY PORCH IN the HAMMOCK.
10. THANKS: To all the core companies out there that keep skateboarding raw, rude, real, righteous, fun, original. Thanks to anyone who has hooked it up. Thanks to my team for being rad. Thanks to our fans, the RGVJuice crew, the city of Olmito for building that new park, the cops for being cool at my b-day party and to Sammy Baca for having long hair and skating with his shirt off! Keep skateboarding fun.

Posted on April 26, 2009 - by ChrisDub

New Switchfoot Montage

Kevin over at Switchfoot Skateshop just sent me over the link to his new video. It is quite gangster if I can say so myself. It features the Switchfoot team shredding all over the Valley, and beyond. Slangin’ decks out the trunk like the DC sniper!

SWITCHFOOT VALLEY SKATEBOARDING from switchfoot skateshop on Vimeo.

Posted on April 16, 2009 - by ChrisDub

Ralphy’s Roots Run Deep

What’s hoppin’ guys?
Cat: lots of rad stuff, were do we begin?
Ralphy: Sup dude?

New name, new shop, new board company. What HAS NOT changed with Roots compared to the old Ralphy’s shop?
Cat: (I still have dreads.) j/k Umm our attitude! Were still proud to be 100% Skater Owned and Operated. We still live it and love it everyday.
Ralphy: What she said, except the dreads part.

Anything yall are doing different?
Cat: (Ralphy cut his hair) Well, the sk8 art is a different thing. We are incorporating a lot of local and non-local skater made art and music. We want to show people the culture of skateboarding not just the product. I also focus a lot on chick skaters (of course, myself being one). The shop offers more for chick skaters than any other shop down here.
Ralphy: I started a board company that i think is a first for the Valley.

You guys have been throwing some pretty cool events, the latest being the “Juma Art Walk”. You’re focusing on the skateboard culture as a whole, and not just skating. How are those going?
Cat: They are awesome. Artwalk with our shop is an awesome get together where skaters (and nonskaters) can come hang out with us at the shop and enjoy the skateboard culture. It the first Friday of every month and you can enjoy live music, art, food, and other cool stuff. You should stop by sometime. (Quick shout out to “They Mean Us” and “Da Immune” and all the artists who have had booths.)
Ralphy: As far as events go, we always try to bring new things to the table to keep the skate scene fresh.

Talk to us about Lifer Skateboards.
Ralphy: Well, I was up in Austin skatin with some old buddys of mine and got some inspiration from just skatin with them. Then I told myself “looks like were goin to be doin this for life”. Then the word lifer just popped to mind; Its something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. So, finally just did it. Its going pretty good and got 2 riders on the team. We’ll see how it goes. Big Brother Skateshop in Brownsville now carries them and I’m trying to get them in other shops…..but yeah well see how it goes.

Why the shop name change?
Cat: It’s difficult to explain really. But the new name is a tribute to the old shop. We wanted to go back our roots and we wanted the skaters we had seen grow up at the shop to go back to their sk8 roots. It gets deeper…but not like the grand canyon deep or anything.
Ralphy: Its like Part two man.

When did you guys close Ralphy’s, and do you care to share why?
Cat: This one is for you Ralphy.
Ralphy: December ‘07. Ironically it was 7 years to the date. As for the reason, we’ll let that remain a mystery.

When did Roots open?
Cat: September 08. We had our grand opening in October. It was wild. We had it during Artwalk and lots of old skoolers and new schoolers came out to support us. Thanks to everyone who made it out.
Ralphy: It was like everyone wanted it to open or something.

What products are flying off the shelves these days?
Cat: Anything hardcore.
Ralphy: Anything with a lot of color.

Who is your typical customer?
Cat: People who already skate. However, we do get those who want to get back into it, or who want to start getting into it and that is always super cool. The other day a little girl came in with her dad and they both bought completes so they could skate together. That Rocks!
Ralphy: basically anyone who enjoys skateboarding.

Got any events coming up?
Cat: A couple more cool artwalks left and a video in progress.
Ralphy: Hope we can get another video together and stoke the scene again buts its gonna take some time. Hopefully not that long.

Who designs them?
Ralphy; Yeah I do the art on them. Spray paint and stencils. I use to do them for the Ralphy’s shop boards back in 2000 but these are taken more serious. Gettin a lot of good feedback from the kids.

Who are your shop team riders?
Cat: First and foremost our team captain hold’in it together: Germ. Then we got Dj, Diego,and Boss representin McAllen, Martin and Krystal rep’n Mission, then Manny and Edman rep’n Weslaco. Our team is cool cuz everyone brings their own style to the table.Check out our myspace to peep some pics and footy of our riders.
Ralphy: Yeah and we got out of town riders who ride LIFER decks every now and then and that’s danny, Mike and Justin. They’re down for there skate roots and they’ll be in the video.

Any up and coming local shredders you guys are pumped on?
Cat: At the moment I’m especially stoked on Germ and Krystal. I saw Germ grew up skateboarding at the shop and he just keeps on progressing. He’s always down to skate and his attitude makes him fun to sk8 with. If he keeps shredding hard and fast I feel it will take him into the industry for sure. Now Krystal, that chick is awesome. She is sooo stoked on skating im glad she’s on the team. Its cool to be able to throw down a real skate session with another chick. She is a true 100% skateboard chick that skates super good with cool style. She too has what it takes to get somewhere.
Ralphy: Well a lot of kids are ripping all over the valley its really come a long way I mean I remember when these kids were learning how to ollie like 90 % of these kids got there first board at Ralphys and did there first tricks there and now there ripping all over the place so theres a lot of local shreding goin on from all sides of the spectrum.

Any shop ramps in the works or being planned?
Cat: Yeah. Thanks to Nick(box), Manny(bank), and Ralphy (rail) and my landlady for being cool, we can session outside the shop any time we want.

Care to talk about the Switchfoot beef, or is that even still going on?
Cat: Who is Switchfoot?
Ralphy: That band sucks.

Name the most popular skate videos currently playing in the shop.
Cat: oh my god I will never get sick of Ride the Sky!!
Ralphy: the Independent 30th anniversary video.

What’s the best part of running a skate shop?
Cat: Living It.
Ralphy: everything!

Thanks for your time guys.

Posted on April 3, 2009 - by ChrisDub

Local Action Sports Get A Slew Of Mainstream Attention

The Valley ‘extreme  sports’ scene has been getting a nice chunk of mainstream media attention lately. We got some coverage of the push for a new McAllen skatepark, some video a BMX ’stunt show’ at the Livestock Show, a nice piece on the rollerblading scene and how the local legends are keeping it alive, and a couple videos. I’ve gatherd all the links, and droped them here so you guys wont have to go searching for them. Everybody say ‘Hay!’ for link dumps.

Dominic Garcia and Ray Soto talked to Festiva Magazine about how they have kept the blading scene rolling here in the Valley and continue to do so.
Check it out here

Local skaters, bikers and bladers team up and make a push for a better McAllen skatepark.
Check it out here

Some good ol’ BMX boys from Fort Worth throw down some tailwhips and backflips for the folks at the Livestock Show.
Check it out here

Posted on March 24, 2009 - by ChrisDub

Thirteen Quick Tens

So, I went digging through the ol’ Myspace friends list and sorted out every local shredder I could muster up and asked them a quick 10 questions. I was originally going to post these up one at a time but decided against it. If you, or someone you know should be on here, leave a comment and let me know, we’ll try and get a set of these out every few weeks or so.  Now I give you, in no particular order, Thirteen Quick Tens. Enjoy.

NAME: Jimmy Ferril
AGE: 20
HOMETOWN: Mcfuckinallen
SPONSORS: Switchfoot Skateshop
YEARS SHREDDING: 6

1. INSPIRATIONS: just the way the skate world is stepping up!
2. FAVOURITE SPOT: archer park
3. FAVOURITE VIDEO PART: mind field tyler bledsoe, at the moment
4. BEST THING ABOUT SKATEBOARDING: there is no limits!!
5. WORST THING ABOUT SKATEBOARDING: there is nothing bad, its the shit!
6. BIGGEST FEAR: FEAR IS FOR LURKS
7. WORST INJURY: torn the acl off the bone and maniscus (i can tear it but i cant spell it… is it right) 2 times
8. OTHER INTERESTS: umm my girls the shit!
9. THE LAST SONG YOU HEARD: fluorescent lights by windmill
10. THANKS: God, and the board i ride man.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————–

NAME: Michael Walker
AGE: 23
HOMETOWN: McAllen
SPONSORS: none
YEARS SHREDDING: 10′ish

1. INSPIRATIONS: friends
2. FAVOURITE SPOT: street/downtown corpus park/allen skatepark
3. FAVOURITE VIDEO PART: anything with marinez, homan, or aitken
4. BEST THING ABOUT BMX: freedom to do anything you like
5. WORST THING ABOUT BMX: no bikes allowed
6. BIGGEST FEAR: girls
7. WORST INJURY: just broken toes
8. OTHER INTERESTS: racing
9. THE LAST SONG YOU HEARD: at all cost- what is left to inspire
10. THANKS: everyone that rides with my boring ass

——————————————————————————————————————————————————–

NAME: Victor Molano
AGE: 15
HOMETOWN: Laredo, Tx.
SPONSORS: none
YEARS SHREDDING: 2

1. INSPIRATIONS: just knowing your in control nothings better than that
2. FAVOURITE SPOT: juice stop
3. FAVOURITE VIDEO PART: bails
4. BEST THING ABOUT ROLLERBLADING: everysingle thing
5. WORST THING ABOUT ROLLERBLADING: theres nothing bad about it
6. BIGGEST FEAR: breaking something again
7. WORST INJURY: dislocated shoulder
8. OTHER INTERESTS: basketball football
9. THE LAST SONG YOU HEARD: the bravery-beleive
10. THANKS: everyone out there

——————————————————————————————————————————————————–

NAME: MATTHEW CASTANEDA
AGE: 25
HOMETOWN: BROWNSVILLE TX,
SPONSORS: BIG BROTHER, MY MOM AND DAD!!
YEARS SHREDDING: 7 YEARS,PROBABLY MORE!

1. INSPIRATIONS: DAVID CONTRERAS,JOHNNY LOYA, HOMER TREVINO
2. FAVORITE SPOT: THE COURTHOUSE
3. FAVORITE VIDEO PART: VAN HOMAN,IN CRIMINAL MISCHIEF
4. BEST THING ABOUT BMX: INDIVIDUALITY
5. WORST THING ABOUT BMX: BEING ACCEPTED AT PARKS
6. BIGGEST FEAR: BARSPINS
7. WORST INJURY: SPRAINED TOE,FRACTURED FINGER
8. OTHER INTERESTS: WORKING ON CARS,MOTORCYCLES,
9. THE LAST SONG YOU HEARD: THE KILLERS,HUMAN
10. THANKS: TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND DAVID AND ICHA AT BIG BROTHER!!

——————————————————————————————————————————————————–

NAME: Caleb Bevil
AGE: 22
HOMETOWN: McAllen, TEXAS
SPONSORS: MOM, DAD, Big Bro Jake, Myself
YEARS SHREDDING: 7 or 8 maybe?

1. INSPIRATIONS: any one who rides just to have fun
2. FAVOURITE SPOT: anywhere i wont get kicked out
3. FAVOURITE VIDEO PART: anything with Joe Rich or Mike Aitken
4. BEST THING ABOUT BMX: No one can tell you how to ride
5. WORST THING ABOUT BMX: to many fad fags comin up in the scene
6. BIGGEST FEAR: failure
7. WORST INJURY: probly knee or ankle
8. OTHER INTERESTS: Surfing, off-road shit, hot rods, brews, kicken ass
9. THE LAST SONG YOU HEARD: Overkill by MotorHead
10. THANKS: My mom and dad, my big bro Jake, all my friends i have ridden with, anyone who let me crash on there floor on road trips and RGV JUICE!

——————————————————————————————————————————————————–

NAME: Mikey Sanchez
AGE: 17
HOMETOWN: Harlingen tejas
SPONSORS: none
YEARS SHREDDING: 7

1. INSPIRATIONS: Huey Hefner, haha.
2. FAVOURITE SPOT: Downtown Austin down Red River
3. FAVOURITE VIDEO PART: I say it would have to be jereme rogers part in girl yeah right
4. BEST THING ABOUT SKATEBOARDING: Progressing every day.
5. WORST THING ABOUT SKATEBOARDING: Havein to get shoes every two weeks fuckin sucks..
6. BIGGEST FEAR: Getting racked….
7. WORST INJURY: Falling down the tombstone, that shit sucked.
8. OTHER INTERESTS: Basketball, Soccer and fuckin with my friends when I’m drunk.
9. THE LAST SONG YOU HEARD: Steve Miller Band, The Joker
10. THANKS: To my DAD and my mom, RGVJuice letting me do the 10 questions, and to my brothers in the Valley.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————–

NAME: Jason Reyna
AGE: 25 years young
HOMETOWN: Harlingen
SPONSORS: Believers
YEARS SHREDDING: moving in on 15

1. INSPIRATIONS: my friends
2. FAVOURITE SPOT: depends on my mood, but lately i enjoy skating park
3. FAVOURITE VIDEO PART: anything by beau cottington
4. BEST THING ABOUT ROLLERBLADING: we go bigger than yours, no seriously. WE DO!
5. WORST THING ABOUT ROLLERBLADING: people hate because they’re ignorant and afraid to admit we go BIGGER!
6. BIGGEST FEAR: failure, but its not an option
7. WORST INJURY: broken ribs took me out for a month
8. OTHER INTERESTS: art, design, editing, filming, web stuff, bothering people, drinking, reading, movies, music, and traveling
9. THE LAST SONG YOU HEARD: no idea, but i listen to zepplin and the beatles daily
10. THANKS: my parents, my brothers (some are blood, some are just people i have bled with over the years), my friends (you know who you are), wild turkey, and naturally the believers who support me, and anyone who supports www.ROLLINGMISSION.com

——————————————————————————————————————————————————–

NAME: Dylan Cory Elm
AGE: 19
HOMETOWN: B Ville
SPONSORS: Big Brother, Virula
YEARS SHREDDING: 7

1. INSPIRATIONS: Seth Kimbrough, Nathan Williams, Corey Martinez
2. FAVOURITE SPOT: dont really have one, just like rideing
3. FAVOURITE VIDEO PART: when Seth Kimbrough does this crazy 360 over a high rail. INTENSE
4. BEST THING ABOUT BMX: It get me going, it never stops.
5. WORST THING ABOUT BMX: when my bike falls apart
6. BIGGEST FEAR: breaking a bones, i hate that
7. WORST INJURY: i was doing a high jump from a dirt trail. Tip the landing and flip and landed straight on my head almost broke my neck.
8. OTHER INTERESTS: Music, Guitar, making music, living life to it fullest
9. THE LAST SONG YOU HEARD: Minus the bear
10. THANKS: To big brother, my mom and dad my sister my brother for being there and just giving me support for everything. my freinds for pushing me and giving me alot of support and help.. thanks alot everyone

——————————————————————————————————————————————————–

NAME: Leo A.
AGE: 18
HOMETOWN: San Antonio, Tx
SPONSORS: Bigbrother Skateshop, Hooligan Design Clothing
YEARS SHREDDING: 3

1. INSPIRATIONS: Friends, skating itself
2. FAVOURITE SPOT:
3. FAVOURITE VIDEO PART: Lizard King – Baker has a Deathwish
4. BEST THING ABOUT SKATEBOARDING: Just skating period
5. WORST THING ABOUT SKATEBOARDING: Injures?
6. BIGGEST FEAR: Shitttt
7. WORST INJURY: Broken wrist
8. OTHER INTERESTS: Filming, editing, taking photos
9. THE LAST SONG YOU HEARD: My friend Bill flowing
10. THANKS: All my friends, family, Bigbrother skateshop, everyones whos hooked it up, popa satan, Bill for being so thug, anyone whos filmed or helped me edit stuff, YOU

——————————————————————————————————————————————————–

NAME: Jeremy Raff
AGE: 19
HOMETOWN: McAllen, TX
SPONSORS: my mom
YEARS SHREDDING: 7

1. INSPIRATIONS: Josh Villegas, Ray Soto, KB, Castor+Pollux
2. FAVOURITE SPOT: Rey Soto’s Backyard and other secret places that cant be on the internet lest a hoard of hooligans decides to mess them up with ledge chunks and graffiti
3. FAVOURITE VIDEO PART: Josh Villegas– Sink/Swim; Abdiel Colberg– Future of Rollerblading 2; Alex Broskow– KFC 2; Erik Bailey– We Are Valo 2 (search these on YouTube and watch!)
4. BEST THING ABOUT ROLLERBLADING: It is my motivation to travel; it gives my life purpose, structure, and color
5. WORST THING ABOUT ROLLERBLADING: I miss it when I cant do it
6. BIGGEST FEAR: being unable to do what I want to do
7. WORST INJURY: thrice broken wrists
8. OTHER INTERESTS: hey little girl dont flirt with me, i’ve got the capabilities to program your circuitry
9. THE LAST SONG YOU HEARD: Bob Dylan– Isis
10. THANKS: Dominic and Damien for picking me up to skate when I was little, Rey for being a jerk yet creating a young man’s paradise at his house, Josh for introducing me to Mexico and being a role model, my mom for thinking skating is great, the University of California for legitimizing my move to CA, and a special thanks to every kid who is strapping on rollerblades all over the valley… I cant wait to meet yall when I come home to visit!

——————————————————————————————————————————————————–

NAME: Salomon Colmenero
AGE: 19
HOMETOWN: Brownsville, Texas
SPONSORS: America Athletix & usk8 shop, hooligan design clothing
YEARS SHREDDING: 6

1. INSPIRATIONS: The Burning Sun
2. FAVOURITE SPOT: Anything Rad and Fast
3. FAVOURITE VIDEO PART: Reynolds with smoooth ass Roxy music.
4. BEST THING ABOUT SKATEBOARDING: it can get nasty.
5. WORST THING ABOUT SKATEBOARDING: it can get easy.
6. BIGGEST FEAR: God
7. WORST INJURY: fractured tibia.
8. OTHER INTERESTS: Love
9. THE LAST SONG YOU HEARD: MGMT time to pretend
10. THANKS: To (god) and all the wonderful people that have gave me a helping hand. I LOVE THIS LIFE!!! and thank you.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————–

NAME: Dominic Garcia
AGE: 28 years young
HOMETOWN: McAllen, Tx
SPONSORS: I roll for myself and no one else
YEARS SHREDDING: Rolling for a decade

1. INSPIRATIONS: I get juiced off my friends and the nuts out there killin it on thier skates
2. FAVOURITE SPOT: Park-Eisenbergs W Ramp,Street-5 kink in San Antonio
3. FAVOURITE VIDEO PART: (old school)Dustin Latimer – Brain Fear Gone (current fav)Chris Haffey – 4×4 Drip Drop
4. BEST THING ABOUT ROLLERBLADING: Your skates are part of you, endless possibilities and you best be ready to fall
5. WORST THING ABOUT ROLLERBLADING: Not enough people do it, too much pain and difficulty involved to get any good
6. BIGGEST FEAR: To stop moving
7. WORST INJURY: Retarded ass knee injury that hurts so much and will not go away
8. OTHER INTERESTS: Photography, Trail Biking, Flag Football, Conservative Politics…GOP represent nukka!!
9. THE LAST SONG YOU HEARD: Bonobo- Time is the Enemy
10. THANKS:
Thanks to chris for keeping up on Juice, all the kids that arent retarded and know to not get in my fucking way when i skate, and uuuuh all the guys that have picking up rollerblading these days and coming to our sessions

——————————————————————————————————————————————————–

NAME: John
AGE: 21
HOMETOWN: Brawley Ca/Mcallen Tx
SPONSORS: Finish Line Pro Bikeshop
YEARS SHREDDING: 9th year

1. INSPIRATIONS: The Streets
2. FAVOURITE SPOT: Anything with Rails Or banks
3. FAVOURITE VIDEO PART: FitLife dvd Eddie Cleveland part
4. BEST THING ABOUT BMX: Getting air
5. WORST THING ABOUT BMX: Breaking Bones
6. BIGGEST FEAR: Not being able to peddle my bike one day
7. WORST INJURY: face planted off a handrail
8. OTHER INTERESTS: Dirt Biking
9. THE LAST SONG YOU HEARD: (dying) by Obituary
10. THANKS: RGV

Posted on March 18, 2009 - by ChrisDub

Quick 10: Kevin Wagoner

NAME: Kevin Wagoner
HOMETOWN: Tulsa, Monterrey, Mission
SPONSORS: Me
YEARS SHREDDING: Started skating in ‘84

INSPIRATIONS: God, family, Dennis Busenitz
FAVORITE SPOT: China spot in Mission, gone for good.
FAVORITE VIDEO PART: Heath Kirchart in ‘Mind Field’.
BEST THING ABOUT SKATEBOARDING: Freedom.
WORST THING: Haters hate freedom, have to have everything their way.
BIGGEST FEAR: Not being able to skate anymore.
WORST INJURY: Blown knee, fell on my back so hard my lungs bleed.
OTHER INTERESTS: I like rock climbing, mountain bikes, playing guitar and singing for a crowd.
THE LAST SONG YOU HEARD: Where the streets have no name – U2