Identity Politics — On Skateboarding’s Evolving Attitude Toward Sports

📝 Words by Mike Munzenrider
🎨 Collage by Francesco Pini

Deathwish am Davey Sayles was too ripped to rip. “I couldn’t skate the first month, I was so top heavy, I was swole,” he says. Six years ago, Sayles quit college football. He took a three-day bus ride home from West Florida University to Vista, CA. At 5’10” he had a playing weight for the Division II Argonauts of 220 pounds. Sayles says his skating weight is 50 pounds lighter. “It took me three months to slim down.”

The 28-year-old says he was a skate rat turned running back who was a natural on the football field. Sayles says he played because his family has a history with the sport and that he broke records at every stop in his gridiron career; he walked away from it while having pro prospects in Canada. Still, he says, he wasn’t able to be himself as a football player – for years he watched from afar as friends like Rowan Zorilla succeeded as skaters, stacking clips and turning pro. Having given up on football, Sayles says he wanted to prove himself as a skater. And he has – check him out in Baker Has A Deathwish Part 2 for proof – cutting a fascinating career arc along the way.

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Wish It Was Miami

Simple Magic compiled a list (with excerpts!) of 2023’s best skateboard writing, including Mr. Munzenrider’s QS story about skate shop tees + Mr. Carbonite’s annual Song of the Summer x Part of the Summer study.

“You just got white rice?” Stephan Singh has a sick edit out called “Drop Top Drippy” featuring some deeper spot digging than any ol’ local edit. That firecracker bank thing on Morris Avenue might be the most London-ass spot in all New York. Kickflip was the one.

IMPULSE is an Albany / upstate scene video by Chris Sendzik with parts from Cooper Qua, Jeremiah Gray, Yafay Towles and a great closing section from Nick Persico.

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Snack After Snack After Snack After

“Leftover and lost footage, glitched tapes, steady shot on, broken mic, windshield lens, and other angles.” Paul Coots uploaded a twenty-minute, black-and-white raw reel of outtakes from The HIT Video, which dropped this time, two years ago. Heavy on the Max clips, obvs. Rumor has it that Coots is working on a sequel! 🤞

Transworld, which apparently has the rights to the 411VM archive (or something to that effect, idk), revived the video magazine’s “Spot Check” featurette for a modern version. The first installment is shot by Mike Sass and checks out Borough Hall, covering every corner from the micro curved ledge to the tall ‘n short handrails.

Lee Madden and the Orchard crew put together a 2013-2023 retrospective edit of Brian Reid’s footage on account of him joining the pro ranks ❤️

Greg Szudzik and Ben Patrick’s shared part in Dana Ross’ Purpose video is live. You can buy the video in full via Dana’s webstore.

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Where Is Spider

Brian Reid is pro! Wooooooo! Long overdue ❤️ Photo by Jake Darwen via Brian’s Thunder ad in the December 2023 Thrasher.

MARONE, the Bay Area-based video starring a bunch of New Jersey homies by Paul Overstrom and Ryan Burge, is now live in full on Skate Jawn — alongside an interview with its creators.

INT3RDIM3NSIONS is the new video by Nova World Order and Chris Patti. Entirely filmed in New York and features sections from Jose Zapatero, Luca Mayer and an ender part from Pat Hoblin full of cutty spots only for the mentally strong (that polejam shuv out to grate landing…)

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Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Content

Zered over The Grate™ by Jonathan Mehring 📷 • ~10ish years ago • Tell Zered happy bday today ❤️

Pat Smith’s Coda Skateboards imprint turned 20 this year, and to celebrate, they dropped their fourth full-length video entitled Coda EP, which is heavy on the D.I.Y. spots (some built outta mulch…) + crust + includes a Tony Farmer section! Lots of crazy shit towards the end.

The Mômes boys out of Paris did a Barcelona trip and came back with a new edit: “Zero Footage.”

Videographer Joe Hiddleson has been uploading tapes captured from 90s skate missions, and this one of Bam Margera skating the Financial District in ’96 is gold. Ends on a drop-in battle down the grey wall that Stu Kirst rode into in Johnny’s Vid. Was shocked to see how much of lower Manhattan in 1996 still looks the same today.

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