Dan here at Blader Union contacted me and said he was going to re-run this old article I wrote a few years back, and I'm happy he did. I've re-read it and I can admit that it's a bit meandering. However, I would say, though, (like a Brit) that "it does what it says on the tin."
It presents the story of how rollerblading went from a raw nascency through a period when we had a lot of control acting upon us--control both from within and from without--before settling in its current state.
The article makes the case that our boom in creativity led to a modern rollerblading far too complicated to make quick and easy sense of--and indeed too complex to exploit for quick buck. Control of rollerblading has now been wrested from the hands of the Daily Breads and the ESPNs, and what we're left with is what we see and experience everyday--a community of insiders who, alone, know the code.
And though the money and celebrity have largely left us, I nevertheless stand by the notion that we're better off living within the exquisite chaos we have all around us--free from meddling gods and Johnny-come-lately's who'd sooner leave us for dead the second they can't bleed us dry--even if that means we have to deal with some messy contradictions here and there.
Very special thanks to Dan Nodzak at Blader Union for unearthing this one. Thanks to Justin Eisinger for the hosting the article for all these years over at ONE Mag. And thanks to you, my dear reader and fellow deicide, for taking the time to have a look!
Frank Stoner
