Dogtown and Z-Boys

I think I was in Junior High when the Hobie Skateboard Team came to JC Penny's in Woodfield mall. One of the neighbors moms drove us there so we could watch. It was mostly freestyle with a bit of ramp riding. When I was14 I wanted to skate like Jay Adams. I looked more like Tony Alva (even had a Alva board) but Jay Adams was just so cool. At least according to the pics in Skateboarder magazine...

We had a group of us here is Northern Illinois that skated on wood ramps and blacktop roads with curved walls but never in a pool. Given that most of them around here are above ground that would have been a real challenge. :-) Still we had fun. No major injuries for any of us. We didn't really have the talent of the Z-Boys either.

Thanks to netflix Thing1 and I watched Dogtown and Z-Boys Friday. The Z-Boys were so far ahead of their time. It was most interesting to see where they are now. Alva and Stacey Peralta seem to have done the best of any of them. It was kind of depressing to see Jay Adams in jail. If you used to skate - watch this movie. The Lords of Dogtown will tell the same story but this one is in their own words.