Saturday, June 13, 2009

Progress or Regress?

Recently there was a thread on Scooter Resource where something was said that has really caught my attention. There was a dispute going on in a thread about Dalton's Sponsor Video, and soon it all got out of control. People were insulting each other left and right, and eventually Dylan Kasson came into the thread insulting someone who had nothing to do with the thread, and he made this post.

I'd have to disagree dalton, Jordan's riding is completely worthless kids like him are the reason our sport isn't progressing quicker people like mckeen who go out and film with real cameras on real street and don't dress like they are 12 are going to help progress the sport
there are probobly under 10 people that fit this
it's not ok to film flat and driveway for a video part! it's a complete embarrassment to our sport!” -Dylan Kasson

    This rant that I'm writing tonight has nothing to do with me defending my good friend, and co owner of Inside-Scooters, Jordan Jasa. It has to do with Dylan's opinion on the sport of scootering. He seems to think that everyone who rides a scooter has to have a 1,000 dollar camera, must film tricks on “real street”, and now have to dress a certain way too? This is completely false, and is 110% garbage. The fact that people on SR look up to someone who thinks this way is beyond me. Admire his riding? Yes, I do. However, as a person in my eyes he's worthless in this sport, and he is the embarrassment. Has he forgotten where he started out riding? In his own driveway, wearing clothes that would make anyone with less than half of a fashion sense cringe. All while looking as awkward and out of place on a scooter as anyone could.

    What Dylan, and some other people in the sport don't understand is that every single person out there riding a scooter, is helping the sport, whether they know it or not. When you purchase a scooter from a store, when you show up at a skate park, when you ride down the street. If people see you on a scooter doing ANY trick, or even just riding. YOU might just be what pushes that next kid, who saw you from the passenger window of his car, to ask his parents for a scooter. Also when any rider with any skill level buys after market scooter parts, they once again are helping progress the sport. They are supporting the companies that are supporting us, and making the parts we ride. I don't know if Dylan seems to think that this sport will only progress through video parts filmed with “HV30s or VX1000” or other expensive cameras, but if he does, he's wrong. This sport would simply die and fade out if it wasn't for the constant amount of new young riders coming onto the scene, and the companies that are taking notice and making the amazing after market parts that most of us ride today.

    In conclusion, I think it's time for the older and or better riders to start setting a better example. In Dylan's case to all the riders who he feels are “beneath” him and are just an “embarrassment” to the sport. When you “Pros” are done riding and being a part of the sport you claim to “love”. It's the younger kids who looked up to you when they were just starting out that are going to be carrying on the sport of scootering. Although, keep a mentality like Dylan's, and continue to post things like he did, and you in fact might be causing the sport to regress, and not progress. Think about it.

-Written by Steven Tongson

37 comments:

  1. yeah it really upset me when Dylan came into my thread just making fun of other riders and the whole fact he was doing it to jordan in the XW competition thread as well. like me personally use to look up to Dylan as inspiration he USE to be my favorite rider. i thought he was a nice respectful person. but just after what i saw him posting about jordan. like i lost soo much respect for him and it just upset me seeing another scooter rider dissing on another scooter rider that bad. just bc jordan doesnt have the top cam. or the best spots makes him a bad rider? or the fact that he dresses how he wants? wow i lost respect for you dylan. i may not mean anything to you but you were inspiration to me.

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  2. i didn't kno that it mattered what we wore or the style of scootering that we do or where we do it matters. i totally agree with u jordan as for dylan, idk

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  3. To the person who commented above. This was actually written by myself.

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  4. I was shocked when I saw that dylan posted that shit, one of my favourite riders and influences and now im just kinda disgusted by him, he may be on the all and mighty team proto but that doesnt give him the right to talk crap to people about how they ride, where they ride and what they wanna do.. I completely agree with what you said Steven

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  5. i totally agree with dylan kasson! he is exactly right..

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  6. cough* Conor Davidson *cough

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  7. I agree with dylan...but i also understand were Steven is coming from. But in order for the scooter scene to progress hardcore street is needed not flat riding.

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  8. you kids are dumb, you should be more worried about just having fun rather then making sure people make a video "properly"

    even if EVERYONE made hardcore street vids it'l take a LONG time for scootering to progress and become more well known, even riding flat shit WILL progress the sport just slower, so either way its gonna be awhile and you know what i say? just shut up and enjoy the ride, i LOVE to scooter and if this sport didnt progress at all from this point on i wouldnt stop riding cause the fact is i just ride for pure enjoyment and you should to... so stop worrying about god damn progression

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  9. The funny thing that gets me is how Dylan can tell me how I'm not progressing the sport, when I STARTED this very blog, something the sport hasn't had before. As for his opinion on my riding...well, he (and other people) have no idea what they are talking about, making it worthless to me, and not worth my time to respond to.

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  10. ok you started a video blogand stuff thats sick your helping the sport there but drive way clips no

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  11. Articles like these will only increase my hate over the usual scooter drama scene. JUST GET OVER IT. Or ignore. Or do whatever, but just don't continue soap operas. You too, Steven. You just wasted your time on stuff you shouldn't write. I was hoping to find some good updates on IS, either videos or interviews, but instead i found this bullshit. "I am awesome and I can argue, he can shit his pants because I am the shit." Inside Scooters is in the drama zone, great success!

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  12. gtfo flat riding is perfectly legit, most people that say its shit cause they cant do it if they tried. when we get towards the bmx type of flatland then we know we are progressing, but few people like jordan are even trying that stuff.

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  13. I do agree with Dylan on the whole video thing. You don't need a VX1000 to make a great video though. Just look at what Ricky Wernicke, Chris Daigle and myself did with NBS, using a $400 camera (Sony TRV340, Digital8 format). Sure, we knew how to use the camera, and quality always counts, but you don't HAVE to own a $1,500+ camera to get the sport to grow. As for clothing style. Who gives a flying fuck. Wear what the hell you want. The whole clothing style shit came up from stupid ass kids in high school who skate and honestly think it matters what the hell it is they wear. As for the "real street" comment. This isn't skateboarding. This sport is more like BMX. And does anyone bitch about the kid riding park "too much?!?!" Fuck no, it's all preference. Just like how kids can say I like RAD bars, and another saying I prefer Inwards.

    Recently, JDBen tried to jump on my back for basically saying the same thing that Dylan did about videos. I didn't say anything about NEED for expensive camera, but I did comment on how annoying a video is to watch when the camera is bouncing around or cutting off heads on shots that you shouldn't (some style of shots it can be excepted, though rare). It's like watching The Bourne Supremecy. Camera bouncing all around, can't make out half the shit happening. It's not aestetically pleasing.

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  14. just get over it and move on
    everyone has a pack of haters

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  15. Madis. To be honest, I can care less, what you or anyone thinks about what I write here. I write, and people read it. Thats all. How they feel about it, is up to them. Most of you guys have turned this into some sort of camera war...where the whole discussion is about cameras..lol Which wasn't the point at all.

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  16. Urm right, the sport regresses in some areas, progresses in most(i mean look at the aftermarket shit available nowdays)... Over all i can't help but think that it's views like this that are forcing it into the ground(not the riding)... FFS, "real street" my fat arse, barely anyone rides real street, they think that because they found a bank that's not in a skatepark they're riding street. There's nothing good about only riding street, it's a singleminded, boring arse view... Park=Good. My town was host to the first Skatepark in the UK, and my god was it worth it, park is fun, smooth, and brings fuckloads of new styles. So fuck street and flat and all this animosity between ourselves, i think people need to grow the fuck up and realise that they're hating over nothing and have their pantys in a twist. Back in the day it wasn't like this. Stock everywhere and fuckall to bother about it.

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  17. Dylan Kasson = myspace scenester tight pant gauges dye my hair black im better than you i live in ohio i have never held a job in my life spoiled loser prick, hes just good at riding. Hes full of himself.

    And whoever is talking shit about mini videos, Jesse Macalusos mini video 3 was filmed with like 6 different camera, including hi8, vhsc and other horrible cameras, no one complained about the filming or video quality in that. Its the riding that matters when you put a video on the internet. If you are looking for legit exposure with a DVD, i hope you are using a decent quality camera.

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  18. jamey. what if people dont have access to parks like hmm... let me see. meeee. and all they can ride is street. or "fake street" as you might call the stuff i ride. that makes me a bad rider?

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  19. Clarifying this. As a writer, I don't write to hear peoples opinions on my writing. Although I enjoy reading them. However, I dont want people thinking that I'm out there writing to try and please any one person or any group of people. Because I'm not. I write to inform, to state facts, or to state my own opinion. Its up to the reader if they want to read what I write. Don't like it? Don't read it.

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  20. how can he talk shit on flatland driveway vids when his own teammate BK has been making and still makes driveway vids hahahah
    park ftw :D

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  21. hey jason!!! you know what.


    i love you

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  22. i just think its fucked up that anyone has to openly bash the shit out of someone so fucking nice.

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  23. fuck dylan, who cares what he thinks. hes just another scene kid. just do your thing.

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  24. scootering is for fun, not for talking shit abuot cameras a other things, each person have his own preferences

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  25. Fuck. Everyone.

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  26. To those of you that are saying you're offended by what he said about whatever: being offended is like having an opinion. Anyone can be offended by something. It's as meaningless a phrase as having an opinion is. Shut the fuck up, go ride your scooter and act like the adult you all seem to think you are.

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  27. This shit is fucking pointless. i started riding because it was something differant. to me, it was fun i enjoyed doing it. to hear that you have to where a sertain style and have a nice camera and in order to progress you cant ride in your drive way. fucking bull shit. everyone is at a diffearnt skill level before i didnt even go to my local park every day i rode in my driveway in front of my house all flat practicing what i could everyone starts somewhere. Honestly Dylan i looked up to him and enjoyed his videos but all i have to say to him now is fuck you. Dont hate on other riders because of where they ride, what they where or what kind of camera they have, ever think that maybe everyone cant afford a $1000 camera?

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  28. How is flat riding not considered riding? Oh so you can fingerwhip out of a kicker? Thats because you have tiiiiiime. A fingerwhip flat would impress me alot more. Flat is where you can get creative! If flat wasnt considered riding, then why, in skateboarding, do they have battle of the berrics? Which is a giant game of skate...FLAT! Any type of riding that either makes yourself better or makes the sport better is good riding. I have a JVC evario with a generic really small fisheye, and i love to get clips with it. I wish i had a vx2100 or something good, but i dont NEED it to get good clips in my opinion. Everyone will have their opinion, to each their own. Work with what you have and do what pleases you. As long as your having fun (and not getting in everyones way), you'll be fine.

    -Christian Dean

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  29. HAD soo much respect for Dylan thought his Proto CATYLIST part was sick :/ but dont see why people all the time in the scooter scene have to argue over most pathetic thing, people should be in the sport for the FUN. Everything now is soo competitive or you HAVE to be the best to be known..... its pathetic.

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  30. I've met and rode with Dylan before and he's a great rider and its crazy watching him but I will admit he can be kinda a dick about other peoples riding who he says "aren't as good as him" and it's not like I'm gonna stop watching his videos and hate him now cause he's still a great rider. but the thing I don't get was we were on the Ohio Boyz trip we went on kasson seemed cool with you Jordan and he did give you props on some of the stuff you threw down because you were killing it on that trip too. I guess he's just got that no mater who you are I'm a better rider than you attitude that he's never gonna get rid of.

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  31. Guys, please check the date. This was three years ago, Dylan since apologized for those comments and we actually ride fairly often now. So stop wasting your time writing comments nobody will read, thanks.

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  32. ever notice all you people do is talk shit ? see me in person , no one ever wants to fight lmfao , this scooter scene is full of bitches , thats why i ride with my hommies and thts it

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  33. one of the main reasons we ride, is for the fact that there are no rules, we do what we want to get enjoyment out of it, yes people have different values, but pointing fingers whether it be a good or bad comment only defeats the purpose of having the freedom that we have in this sport, just do you, this goes for anyone and everyone, insults will not slow the sport down but kill your rep for kids who look up to you, and track them to idolized someone else, setting examples to the kids is key, if your one of the people who dramatically worry about the future of the sport. Everyone just shut it and ride! haha woodward in 4 days!!!!!!!

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  34. dylan smh im not sponserd but ok i bet i can still woop his ass with my tricks i hate people that put other riders down

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