THE ULTIMATE #90’s SKATER POWER RANKING BRACKET

CTE (click to enlarge)

COMPLETE RESULTS HERE

UPDATE 4/8 – FINAL RESULTS. Shoutout to everyone that voted and linked.

This experiment in interactive content was inspired by a few different elements. First, the growing semi-serious discussion on #skatetwitter about power-ranking stuff in skating–like kickflips, etc. Until now, the closest thing had been the coverage meter on Transworld Business. Secondly, you know on Grantland  how they love to power-rank stuff, and also to place seemingly incongruous things into brackets that you can vote on? Except the latter usually manifests itself in weird matchups like Snapchat vs. Macklemore, or some shit like that. Thirdly, I have been filling out these brackets every March since like 1990; it’s a rite of spring or some shit.  I think I pick too many upsets, though. But you don’t want to be that dude who picks his whole bracket according to seeds, ’cause that’s boring as fuck. However, you also don’t want to be that dude who never watches basketball, knows nothing about sports period, yet conducts a shit-ton of research and tries to use some Sabermetric-type algorithms to “beat the system.” I think I just pick the team that I think is cooler, which led to too many Arkansas Razorbacks and Miami “THE U” picks. 

ANYWAY, the real catalyst arrived (like most inspiration in #modernlife) via twitter–@eclectik posted a link to a “Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of the 90’s” bracket he made on this site Challonge. After fucking around with the site for a while, and after a 13-hour selection committee meeting in a smoke-filled room, we have the Ultimate #90s Skater Power Ranking Bracket. Note: in order to establish a level playing field, the selection committee chose to omit, for the most part, currently active pro’s, dudes in the “everyone’s favorite skater” category like Gino, Carroll, etc., and those legends who are no longer with us. Here is the tentative schedule, which the selection committee drew up to align with the NCAA’s:

ROUND ONE: 3/17-3/20

ROUND TWO: 3/21-3/24

REGIONALS: (ROUND 3) 3/25-3/27

ELITE 8: 3/28-3/31

FINAL FOUR: 4/1-4/4

CHAMPIONSHIP: 4/5-4-7

So check back as per the above schedule to see results. [cue Highlander theme]

Total Loss: Skate Cars of the 1990’s

scan via skately.com

“the NSX pull out the driveway/feelin’ like Scarface. desperado on the case”

-Royal Flush, 1997

“Right when I moved to California, I bought a ’95 Civic Coupe. I had it for no longer than a month. I completely totaled the fucking car.” 

-Caine Gayle, 1997*

I first saw the 101 War Report promo on a VHS cassette tape that also contained Da Deal is Dead, some SMA video, and maybe Vision Barge at Will. In addition to the innovative “jogger” narrative element, the footage of McNatt piloting a silver NSX seemed to communicate a theme. Like, a futuristic car for mad futuristic skating, or some shit. The NSX symbolized Rocco’s New World Order and foreshadowed Clinton-era economic prosperity. While conceptualized as a supercar or some shit, it still had that Civic DNA deep down in its rear-situated engine.

The Importance of Being Sk8legitimatebusinessmen

Throughout history, the dance of death between the sensitive artist type and the rake has surfaced in several different cultures. Beatles vs. Stones. Michael vs. Prince. Hosoi/Alva vs. Gonz/Blender. As we have seen in recent years with dylan., for example, a combination of the two often proves interesting as fuck. Not sure how Joy Division vs. New Order fits into this, but if I were pursuing a PhD in Pop Culture Studies I would probably write a thesis on “New Order people,” vs. “Joy Division people.”

ANYWAY, this dichotomy surfaces again in the recent year-end onslaught of skate vids. On one hand, some dudes play acoustic guitar, take analog photographs, and sip wine on estates overlooking expansive vineyards in Steinbeckian northern California. On the other hand, other companies, like the Shake Junt outfit and the young men of the Omerta-free Sk8mafia, occupy their time skating, altering their consciousnesses through various substances, and taking liberties with ladies of questionable moral standing.