Bam was really fricking great before Jackass started to pull him away from skating/mostly showed his slams. There'd be segments where it would be Bam skating with guys like Tony Hawk, where Tony would get all the cool makes in the edit but Bam's clips were mostly slams.
He really started to piss his career away after the first movie though. Partially because the insane fame he gained made it hard to skate publicly any more, and mostly because he just become a party guy who abused his body with booze, drugs and bulimia. By 2009 he'd entered his fat alc form and has been there ever since, getting older all the time.
One thing young Bam was amazing at was doing these suicidal drop ins. He had great pop too and could blast huge airs like this usually with these floaty 180s. He was something like the 10th or 12th person to do the loop and put down some great demos during Tony Hawk's tours, which might have been his last hurrah or peak skating. Then he got really into miniramp skating for a while and was great at that. Still is when he's sober.
The weird monkey's paw was that he was at his most famous and successful right when he started to lose his skills a bit. People bought his board entirely on his personality by then, the skating coming second.
He was pretty good but he wasn’t by any means elite. If anything he had the charisma about him to seem like he was elite or worth a shit.
He just seems a better hype man for skating back then but he’s an old washout now
The more I think about it, the more I’m inclined to say this too. He was a good skater but never seriously talented enough to do anything with it.
Being on Jackass and having his own TV show made him seem more of a bigger deal. He wasn’t a bigger deal because he was a skater, but more because of the shit he did on Jackass. Would never deny he was good but you’d never talk about him in the same breath as Tony other than on dunking on him
I’ve debated this with my friends. I think he wasn’t elite. For his era he was good. It’s this
In todays era he probably wouldn’t even have a shoe sponsor (based on skills alone). Remember Chris jostlin’s break out part was him 360 flipping everything known to man. Not to mention the vans kid 50-50ing a 14 kink rail as his opener. Bam wasn’t even close to that level.
BUT
You have to take it in the context of his era. I see him the same way I see rob dyrdek. He was good enough to gain some clout and attention. Used that to them launch an entertainment empire that far overshadowed his ability to skate, and made it so he didn’t have to skate any better than he already did. any potential to be “elite” would have required time and attention that would have taken away from the entertainment empire that was far more profitable. Thus neither became much better than average in their time, and nothing worth mentioning in the current era.
My bar for elite starts with jerry hsu as just barely making the cut for reference
>He was good enough to gain some clout and attention. Used that to them launch an entertainment empire that far overshadowed his ability to skate
Does Jason Lee fall in the same camp?
>Does Jason Lee fall in the same camp?
Jason Lee was far more infulential as a skateboarder and became an actor because he didn't think he'd keep being able to have a career into his 20s
yeah he was cool before he got fat and started doing meth
Bam was really fricking great before Jackass started to pull him away from skating/mostly showed his slams. There'd be segments where it would be Bam skating with guys like Tony Hawk, where Tony would get all the cool makes in the edit but Bam's clips were mostly slams.
He really started to piss his career away after the first movie though. Partially because the insane fame he gained made it hard to skate publicly any more, and mostly because he just become a party guy who abused his body with booze, drugs and bulimia. By 2009 he'd entered his fat alc form and has been there ever since, getting older all the time.
One thing young Bam was amazing at was doing these suicidal drop ins. He had great pop too and could blast huge airs like this usually with these floaty 180s. He was something like the 10th or 12th person to do the loop and put down some great demos during Tony Hawk's tours, which might have been his last hurrah or peak skating. Then he got really into miniramp skating for a while and was great at that. Still is when he's sober.
The weird monkey's paw was that he was at his most famous and successful right when he started to lose his skills a bit. People bought his board entirely on his personality by then, the skating coming second.
I remember some pretty cool stuff on CKY but even then it was obvious he was more into the dicking around
HE LOVES TO SKATE
but he also likes to shake things up a bit
>That episode of VLB where you can see Aprils feet
In other words, he really could’ve been elite had he taken it more seriously
He was pretty cool, I guess.
elite cringe
He was pretty good but he wasn’t by any means elite. If anything he had the charisma about him to seem like he was elite or worth a shit.
He just seems a better hype man for skating back then but he’s an old washout now
Elite marketing
Good skater
The more I think about it, the more I’m inclined to say this too. He was a good skater but never seriously talented enough to do anything with it.
Being on Jackass and having his own TV show made him seem more of a bigger deal. He wasn’t a bigger deal because he was a skater, but more because of the shit he did on Jackass. Would never deny he was good but you’d never talk about him in the same breath as Tony other than on dunking on him
I’ve debated this with my friends. I think he wasn’t elite. For his era he was good. It’s this
In todays era he probably wouldn’t even have a shoe sponsor (based on skills alone). Remember Chris jostlin’s break out part was him 360 flipping everything known to man. Not to mention the vans kid 50-50ing a 14 kink rail as his opener. Bam wasn’t even close to that level.
BUT
You have to take it in the context of his era. I see him the same way I see rob dyrdek. He was good enough to gain some clout and attention. Used that to them launch an entertainment empire that far overshadowed his ability to skate, and made it so he didn’t have to skate any better than he already did. any potential to be “elite” would have required time and attention that would have taken away from the entertainment empire that was far more profitable. Thus neither became much better than average in their time, and nothing worth mentioning in the current era.
My bar for elite starts with jerry hsu as just barely making the cut for reference
>He was good enough to gain some clout and attention. Used that to them launch an entertainment empire that far overshadowed his ability to skate
Does Jason Lee fall in the same camp?
Yes, but I’d say to a bit of a lesser extent
>Does Jason Lee fall in the same camp?
Jason Lee was far more infulential as a skateboarder and became an actor because he didn't think he'd keep being able to have a career into his 20s
is umm...this the new /esg/ for now?
Sure, bro. If you want it to be then why not?
For a hot minute; ya