How do you refer to the act of riding a scooter? Scootering? Skating? Just riding? Recently, the term SMX has began to catch on. I’ve heard it a couple times over the years, but now the Funk brothers are championing it as the proper name, believing that the word “scootering” sounds bad and that a term similar to BMX will bring more legitimacy to the sport, helping it reach coveted platforms such as the X-Games. I can definitely see what they mean- the word “scootering” has such a negative stigma attached to it due to years of children riding scooters in skateparks and basically giving everybody every reason to hate scooters and scooter riders. And can you imagine the dudes announcing at the X-Games calling it “Scoot Big Air?” “Scootering Big Air?” Nah, “SMX Big Air” sounds way better for sure...At the same time, though, I could see BMX thinking us calling our sport “SMX” as copying them, which yeah, would be dumb. Obviously BMX came from MX, originally from racing.
I’ve said it before, but I couldn’t care less about scootering being the the X-Games. That’s a discussion that’s been done again and again so I won’t get into the reasons why. But for the dudes that do want it in, who would benefit from it...I’m all for it. If calling scootering SMX helps get scootering into the X-Games, in turn benefitting dudes like Capron and Corey, then cool. There’s nothing that would be cooler than more scooter riders being able to make a living, or getting more out of what they love.
Agree? Disagree? Sound off in the comments.
There is already something called SMX though. It's pretty much like a BMX on snow. I'm sure they would fucking hate us if we stole the name, and BMXers would probably, like Jordan wrote, claim that we copied it from them. I agree that scootering sound pretty whack, but I don't really care.
ReplyDeletei just call it scootering, never anything different
ReplyDeleteI think you said it just right Jordan.
ReplyDeleteSMX sounds cringey imo and I could never picture myself saying it. Always just refer to it as riding or seshing. Better yet, what about SOTY? Scooter-er of the year also sounds terrible. ROTY maybe??
ReplyDeleteSeshing is way more cringy than SMX haha
DeleteDefinitely disagree with this name. SMX sounds whack in the first place, and the "MX" part has no real meaning whereas the with BMX, it does. Also, right as scooters are starting to get more respect from skaters and BMXers, they would have another big reason to hate again. "Scootering" doesn't really sound that bad anyway, but SMXing sounds pretty bad. I don't really see any reason to change the name of scootering at the moment, as long as people stop calling it "Scooting".
ReplyDeleteKeep it real dood SCOOT
ReplyDeleteI'm fine with calling it scootering
ReplyDeletelet's just all ride skateboards.
ReplyDeletebut nah, to get real, i think scootering does sound kinda gay, but it is infinitely better than smx. smx is almost as bad as scootboarding.
stick to the term "scootering", we shall.
prime_crime
Its ok if you call it gay you should just know that all of those smx/scooter riders will do better in life than you will.
DeleteAgree!
ReplyDeletescootboarding is the best one lets be real
ReplyDeleteFuck the haters they can go sniff a fart I'm going to keep scootering till I'm older then oldman Jenkins -Nonek
ReplyDeletesame
DeleteScooters are half bike half skateboard. So technically smx does work and if we want to take this sport to the next level grow the fuck up and start making moves. Like could you imagine having a smx dew tour. Think people. The little details matter.
ReplyDeleteYou are 100 percent in the right. I wish others would get out of the denial phase and realize that to be taken seriously nationwide the sport must be called something other than scootering.
Deletewtf? thats bs if you ashamed to be a scooter rider than dot scooter you acting like you have never been a scooter kid before thats why i dont go on these site anymore
ReplyDeleteNames like this are exactly why people will always think scootering is gay. Scooter culture is in general retarded, but I guess that is since it's full of 12 year olds who will end up working at McDonalds for the rest of their lives anyway
ReplyDeletenot all riders are 12. Stop being immature and just deal with the fact that scootering/smx is still a sport. yeah sure we get stereotyped due to the younger kids and that's exactly why we are trying to make a change to the scootering reputation
DeleteBoth are dumb imo. There is no mx in the sport so that's irrelevant. Skaters aren't skatering, they are skating. Bike riders aren't ridering, they are riding. Scooter riders are scooting. Its how the language works and makes sense.
ReplyDeleteCross post from the Youtubes:
ReplyDeleteBMX means "bicycle motocross" and FMX means "freestyle motocross". BMX and FMX were both derived from motocross, not from one or the other. I'm not 100% on this but I'd be willing to say that the term BMX came before FMX, since BMX originated around the '70s and FMX around the '90s. BMX doesn't even make sense unless it's talking about BMX racing, but since it's been around so long it isn't going to change. SMX would translate to "scooter motocross" and since few of us are doing scooter races it doesn't make sense. There's no use in attempting to rename our sport using a term that isn't accurate by basing it on another sport's inaccurate name.
Alex, do your homework before you post. BMX did NOT come before FMX, and how can you equate the two? FMX is an almost acronym for freestyle MOTOcross-the F is for Sreestyle, the M is for Motorcycle and the X is a creative visualization of a cross intended to stand for cross country. You have to admit that FMX sounds a lot cooler than FMCC. The BMX guys copied it even though the M wasn't applicable to their sport since bicycles don't have motors. Moto is a French word for motorcycles. Freestyle Bicycle Cross Country would have been more accurate at the time, but FBCC doesn't sound very cool either. My point is that the 3 letters in all 3 cases aren't accurate acronyms, but because they sound cooler than the accurate initials, they have become what we call their respective sports. If you are a pro rider and want to be taken seriously by the Nikes, Under Armours, XGames, etc. of the sports world, you'll want to distance yourself from the sport your 5 year old daughter does in your driveway. How about when your 25 yrs old and meet a smoking hot girl...do you really want to tell her you ride a scooter for a living? Now, even if you don't see a problem here yet, wait until she has to explain it to her parents. My point is that it really doesn't matter what we call it, but a cool name will help the general public understand there is a difference in levels of scooter riders. In my research, it was clear that the term 'scooter rider' didn't accurately describe what the Funk Brothers do, nor did it implicate any kind of radical sport. 'SMX' was the easiest term for most people to understand as defining pro scooter riders.
DeleteHaha, sounds like you have to meet a chick you can be yourself with and not feel like you need to follow the trends to impress her lmao.
DeleteBMX was around way before FMX...do your homework. Motocross was just getting started in the late 70s and 80s, FMX came along at least a decade later.
DeleteMan what. It's the coolest fucking thing to be able to say I do tricks on a scooter. It's rare, funky ,and gives a bunch of people a sense of connection that they may have never felt prior. No origination that withholds a competition from us can change that connection and trying to change the image we have with a new three letter name for the sport is wacked. It needs a personality and for more people to do there own things and stick up for the sport the way it is.
ReplyDeleteThis is so damn whack... Scootering is scootering. If I already have the balls to ride a scooter in society for 6+ years why the hell does it need to sound cooler. The action is still the same. Just makes the scene look even more bitchy and annoying. Respect what you do and move along.
ReplyDeleteyeah We would all like more sponsers more comps and more things welcome scooters to them but changing it to smx will make bmx hate scooters even more so it's not worth it for more than just that reason , if the funks want to be in the x-games that bad they will find another way around it.
ReplyDeletewtf? thats bs if you ashamed to be a scooter rider than dot scooter you acting like you have never been a scooter kid before thats why i dont go on these site anymore
ReplyDeleteHAHAAHHAHAHA Scam
ReplyDelete