Thursday, July 26, 2012

Bladehead Series Info


14 under division, 15 and up / open division
New Kingpin 30+ division (special prize provided by Tracy White Blade Museum)

$20 contest fee

$50 for winner of each open class event provided by “The PULL”

1000 Old Mill rd, Rockford IL 61108.
September 29, 2012  2-6pm

In Park West 14th st., Oregon IL 61061 
October 20, 2012  12-4pm
(camping after the event) Oregonpark.org 

Bearings & Bruises 2009

Cover of the Rolling Stone?



“Wanna see my picture on the cover (Rolling Stone) /Wanna buy five copies for my mother / Wanna see my smilin face, on the cover of the Rolling Stone” – Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show* Well, it’s definitely not the cover of the ‘Rolling Stone,’ but it’s nice anyway — score one for blading! Will it change much, or bring a tidal wave of participants and the almighty dollar? I don’t think so. It did go to around 40,000 households (not including newsstands) that got to see a rollerblader using a local skatepark. Any exposure is good and promoting blading on any level is paramount (you like that word locell?),  whether it’s letting your co-workers know you blade or reaching out to a local newspaper/TV station about an event. It might be as simple as hitting up a launch box when a newspaper photographer stops by your skatepark. Every bit counts and helps! If you’re helping the cause, please reach out to me at alldayevents@gmail.com and I may profile you on my blog for all the other bladeheads still fighting the good fight! “90% of life is showing up” — Woody Allen Here’s a link to the online story. Thanks for reading, TW *many remember the song from the movie “Almost Famous”

The Legacy of LA All Day



Here’s a sight you won’t see in Santa Monica anymore. In the time following the end of NISS and the X-Games, and eventually the ASA comps, the stick-to-your-guns-community otherwise known as the rollerblading industry have clung to and celebrated a number of grassroots contests. IMYTA, BCSD, Winterclash, Superhick, Barn Burner, Hoedown—these are some of the bigger ones, some that have stood the test of time in this volatile industry. There’s the Pan Handle Pow Wow, Last Man Standing, The Windy City Riot, The Chaz Sands Invitational, The Seattle Street Battle. I could go on and on about all of these contests, most of which have become events in themselves, traditions in our humble little underground. Some are held in skateparks with hundreds of people on the course and others take place a little closer to the core of rollerblading, on street spots in cities all over the world. However different each contest is, the one similarity that binds them all together as a staple of blade culture is that each one was created by a small group of passionate people, a devoted corps of individuals hoping to give back to the community that brought them up. From 2005 until September of last year former pros and pioneers of blading, Tracy White and Carlos Kessell, brought that passion to the Santa Monica Boys and Girls Club with the LA All Day contest series. READ MORE!

BLADE LIFE: Making new bladers in Rockford

“Mortimer, we’re back!” (Pardon the Coming to America refrence.) Well, at least I’m back… somewhat. New city, new park, new crew of young bladers. For those who don’t know why they haven’t seen any L.A. All Day edits up, the Santa Monica Boys & Girls Club skatepark closed a year ago. With a bittersweet feeling my wife and I packed up and left L.A. to move to my hometown, Rockford, Illinois. However, a part of the BGC skatepark lives on. I brought 40 sheets of Skatelite back and used it on a skatepark I built for the Rockford Park District, my new employer, where I’m a maintenance specialist for the ice facilities (Read: drives a Zamboni). I also brought some of the rental blades, which were then given to some deserving kids at one of our first mini-comps at the new park. This summer and fall I ran a blade/skakteboard program at Washington Park Community Center, a neighborhood park overlooked by a local housing project (back in 2009 we ran some clinics there in preparation for the Bearings and Bruises contest). Once again, using the same formula from the Boys & Girls Club, we make blades and boards available for kids to use, with 80% of the kids on blades by the end of the day! It’s really quite easy, once they have a chance to try it out. The kids really took to rollerblading (like most do, when you put blades on their feet). The park district put some money aside for a skatepark, which we built on an unused tennis court. Every Saturday throughout the summer and fall we went to the park from 2-6 pm and supplied rental blades, pads and helmets to all the kids. Every time we’d have 15-20 little shredders waiting for us when we got there, ready to blade. My staff and I, with some help from volunteers, taught the kids the basics.