How a Joke Changed Rollerblading. What's the Hardest Thing About Rollerblading…?

What's the hardest thing about rollerblading? Was a homophobic joke that had an enormous impact on skating, specifically aggressive inline skating.
But how did such an absurd joke have an effect and where did it come from?
To understand it all we are going to look back through rollerblading and skateboardings history, how the came to popularity, early skate culture, who their target audience was, their attitudes and the attitudes of society in the 90s specifically towards homosexuals.
We will also look at the knock on effect of the joke, how it still comes up today and how rollerblading has become a tighter knit community.
At a point in the 90s rollerblading was the fastest growing participation sport, towering over skateboarding and snowboarding but it was those sports that went on to mainstream success and the Olympics, while aggressive inline skating was left behind.
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00:00 How a joke almost killed rollerblading
00:56 The history of Rollerblading
02:46 The birth of aggressive inline skating
03:41 Daily Bread Magazine - The rollerblading bible
04:02 Rollerblading in Hollywood - Prayer of the rollerboys, Airborne, Brink
04:36 How inline skating inspired the start of the x games
05:26 Mad Beef The Hoax and Senate aggressive skating culture - Arlo Eisenberg
07:21 Rollerblading was at the top
08:03 The history of Skateboarding - Surfers, punk and Thrasher
09:18 Skateboarding vs Rollerblading - culture differences
09:48 What’s the hardest thing about rollerblading? - Bill Burr, Aziz Ansari, Louis CK
10:31 Why it had an impact - School culture in the 90s and masculinity
11:42 Skateboarding’s Big Brother Magazine and homophobia
12:53 Rollerblading became a joke to American popular culture - Jackass, Big Daddy, adverts
13:55 Inline skating’s lack of culture and history - it’s easy to make look silly
15:08 The struggle of Gay athletes - Brian Anderson Skateboarder
16:06 The rise of skateboarding the fall of rollerblading getting kicked out the x games
17:07 How attitude changed within rollerblading - More hammers
18:16 If it wasn’t street skating it wasn’t rollerblading
18:50 How skateboarding progressed and how rollerblading expanded - community
19:29 How the jokes still come up today
THEM SKATES presents | BACETHEM • THEM SKATES presents ...
/ @authenticrollerblade
Thumbnail sourced by Skate O Four

[@fumurph]

One of the turning points I remember was within the past decade someone at my local park tried ragging on blading and a skateboarder immediately jumped to our defense, pointing out "Nah man, these cunts are still out here going hard, and for what? There's no money, no chance of fame, no industry. The only reason they're doing it is for the love of it".

[@nicholascrow8133]

Yeah, between the fall of rollerblading's popularity and the sudden rise and influx of scooters, I find that at a park that doesn't see many rollerbladers, we get looked at as more a curiosity than anything bad. Definitely helps that scooters have taken over as the easiest way in to a skatepark, so we aren't bunched together with all the kids in the way. But I think for the most part the attitude has changed, it's less about what you ride and how you ride it, along side having good park etiquette. The main beef that happens now is usually around our need for more wax than most skaters use

[@johnsmith-fz5pz]

and because they are g4y. and can't skate

[@jamesgarland8322]

@@nicholascrow8133you don’t need to bash scootering to make yourself feel better about rollerblading .

[@luciuskapahs5547]

Even as a skateboarder I've always had mad respect for those who throw it down like this on blades

[@nicholascrow8133]

@@jamesgarland8322 I'm not bashing scootering, its a fact, besides being the trend, scooters do represent the easiest way for a child to access a skatepark, prior to this is generally was rollerblades. That isn't bashing on scootering

[@R0B690]

Skateboarders just hate anything that isnt skateboarding. That is insecurity. I mean im no fan of scooters but I dont hate on them like skateboarders are now. Even if you drop hammers they will still call it gay. Most toxic sport ever is skateboarding.

[@MushroomBlading]

“I think rollerblading is polarizing because while at one moment in time it was a new invention, it fell between existing devises in a way that made it a homeless hybrid. So people who adopted it, or rejected it, felt compelled to start grouping themselves. Some rollerbladers don't want to be associated with skaters, some don't want to be associated with roller skates, some want it to be seen as an extension of tradition sports like hockey, while others want it to be a liberation from all those associations. Then, because it is such an amazing invention, I mean wheels on your f**king feet, come on, other than wings under your armpits it doesn't get anymore fundamentally dreamy than that, people take it very personally. Its not like a briefcase, just some accessory. It is literally an extension of yourself and how you move, so everyone is going to feel very prideful and attached to their idea of what they are. Hence polarizing. As far as people against them? Douchebags make up a percentage of every population, basic math, can't be avoided.” -Paul Crik

[@potentialthunder]

That's a good way to put it.

[@mr-iz8cx]

I noticed you're pretty divisive regarding the culture of it.

[@MushroomBlading]

@@mr-iz8cx 49% core rider 51% liberated dad blader

[@davidmorgan4541]

@@MushroomBladingbut 100% a 🧙‍♂️

[@Therealbigmonster]

I remember watching the x games and yasutoko brothers, tony hawk, etc. as a kid. I loved rollerblading. Now at 30 I’m getting back into it because jokes and judgment from other people don’t matter to me. I’ve spent my life being told by other people that everything I do is wrong. You literally can’t please people. Do what you love, whatever it is.

[@TomMoyse]

🙌🏻 🧡 that’s it

[@jjay350]

Yup, you got it. Now a days nobody really cares about enforcing cultural standards because they are all over the place. Everyone is in their little groups, and I guess blading has become it's own niche.

[@RubyMVmistress]

Awesome, me and my husband also 30 just got back into it.

[@johnsmith-fz5pz]

rollerblades are a big hit now because it is cool to be "g4y not" people say it all the time. and the silly voices. so bladers are more in peace because they are like here I am I am here I am queer and I ride my skates. ;)

[@mattacedo]

You should listen to your friends a little more

[@DylanPierpont]

This is one of if not the best historical accounts of the primary cause of the rise, fall, and rebirth of this great sport. An awesome companion vid to Barely Dead IMO. Well done, Tom!

[@johnsmith-fz5pz]

its like riding a scooter with out the handles

[@TomMoyse]

Thanks for the kind words man, really appreciate that.

[@zICkstep]

No doubt. This is so valuable ❤️

[@TomMoyse]

@@johnsmith-fz5pzassume you’re describing skateboarding which came from crate scooters

[@johnsmith-fz5pz]

@@TomMoyse it actually didn't but rollerblades. I mean skirt bladers came from spandax riders. and those who have a hard time telling their parents they are g4y

[@ncbinline6114]

Tom! This is a massive contribution to the action sports community, and how we understand the history of our sport. Thanks for the due diligence putting this together!

[@TomMoyse]

Cheers dude, really appreciate that. Trying to play my part

[@kirillbraynin7731]

This is Barely Dead, but 100x better, more accurate, to the point, and without all the random feel bad for us bs. Good job Tom, your best video yet.

[@TomMoyse]

haha thanks dude

[@mr-iz8cx]

​@TomMoyse I liked the logical fallacy bit and the rhetoric around masculinity. Sounds academic, but it isn't. Well done 😂

[@zweed69]

@@mr-iz8cx its symptomatic of the pain most fragile zoomers exhibit these days

[@WiffleAxe]

I was going to make this exact comment but you nailed it

[@MrMagoo-hf8yk]

​@@WiffleAxebeat me too it too 😅

[@stevenswinney1816]

Great video! As a skater in the 90s, I experienced a lot of what you talk about. A really intelligent, well-researched and thoughtful video. Nice one!

[@TomMoyse]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jaythreads]

This is absolutely brilliant and might just be one of the best pieces of documented history ever made of our sport. Fantastic job, well done!!! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you!!! Really appreciate the kind words. Means a lot

[@Juice2Fifty]

Absolutely amazing account of our sport’s history! Definitely sharing this with friends. Thanks for taking the time to put together such valuable content.

[@TomMoyse]

Really pleased to hear you think it's of value!

[@psydwayze]

I was a fruit booter before I knew I was gay. Stopped aggressive inlining in my teens to focus on wood pushing. I don’t regret it at all, but I’m still gay, so…

[@joesickler5888]

It’s the natural progression.

[@bikerjon8934]

😆

[@merf3291]

Stop being gay

[@fernandoacosta7423]

You’re real af 😂😂

[@DoggosAndJiuJitsu]

Thank you for telling the world who you like to have sex with. I like to have sex with women. Do I get a pat on the shoulder or how does this work?

[@FR-AN]

You just keep refining the narrative, with each iteration of this story you tell. Great job mate!

[@TomMoyse]

Thanks man. Trying to focus in on a few different things each time.

[@jonathanroulston7879]

Wonderful content Tom. I love the summary at the end. Thank you for putting together such a thoughtful piece.

[@TomMoyse]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@MrMophead41001]

Life long skateboarder here and I've been watching your channel for about a year now. This video is incredible. IMO your best work yet. I never got the hating on rollerblades thing, but I think it helps that when I started skateboarding, skateboarding was NOT cool. Now would be a good time for a rollerblade resurgence, because as you pointed out in your video, skateboarding has been publicly taken over by the corpo side. The face of skateboarding used to be DIY and punk rock, and now its Nike SB and new balance? We need a few renegade inline companies to take advantage of this time frame and make a comeback while skateboarding is distracted by bullshit like Mountain Dew sponsored competitions and Rob Dyrdek making his money being an over rated Bob Saget "Americas funniest home videos" wannabe. And it goes without saying, but don't be homophobic. It's shitty. Hats off, mate

[@Boyish000]

Preach

[@johnmeehan7884]

Who you kidding? Everyone knows all Australians on the planet are homophobic.

[@joe2grand]

youre wrong though----when Skateboarding first hit, with Alva decks and stuff it was super cool !!! brand new and all the way from california...i dunno what type of people thought it was uncool

[@user-nt3wd6iv6j]

You are not a skateboarder 😂

[@AngryJT]

Gaaaay.

[@johannesr8709]

I love these kinds of videos! Everything was really well said and I appreciate that! Love the way you push the sport and show the people its history

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you

[@SkyeMaz]

Knocked this one outta the park. Covered a ton and really well done. Great video on an important industry subject. The clip king strikes again.

[@TomMoyse]

haha clip king. Thanks for the kind words

[@LifetimeShred]

Great vid. I think wizard influenced aggressive has been instrumental lately. It feels more attainable/accessible for people wanting to have fun but not get destroyed going big. One thing skateboarding has had on blading is a kid can always go in front of his house or to a parking lot and work on flat ground. Feels like we finally have an answer for that on blades.

[@Semiresponsible]

Wonderfully put together, congrats!!

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you very much!

[@josie9226]

Yea i have something to say about this. I am a trans person. I take shit at the skatepark all the time for being visibly queer AND a rollerblader. So not only am i taking the flak ya'll get, i get it from the inside when people are telling me not to show up the skatepark because im making rollerblading look bad because i had eyeliner or the color pink on. This shit sucks still, years after the fact. Im sorry you all are afraid of looking gay, but this homophobia fuggin' ruined going to the skatepark for me.

[@Neverdie325]

I feel bad for u, genuinely. I'm a cishet man that enjoys wearing a lot of "feminine" fashion, but fortunately I revolve around people that don't give a single fuck about if something I do is "gay" or not. And it's also easier for me coz I'm pretty athletic so a 60kg boy telling me I'm gay because I rollerblade with some pearls or shit like this on me sounds just ridiculous. Changing mentality of kids on the streetpark won't be easy, but you can always enjoy other types of rollerblading - there is urban skating or wizard skating that is also (IMO) pretty cool and you don't have to interact with the toxic community.

[@josie9226]

@@Neverdie325 I shifted to doing Urban stuff. There is also a Roller Hockey rink that i spend wayyyy too much time at, and i just love putting my whole body into a fakie figure 8. Im like 30 years old now so i dont get into any physical altercations anymore, but i still avoid most skateparks. It was worse when i sucked at skating, but now i can roll fakie down everything so i have earned some amount of respect. I should also say i live in a weird overly-christian town, Its Colorado Springs, I mean they shot up the gay club in my town last year, who'da guess the skateparks would be hostile. Thanks for reaching out my friend, keep those pearls fresh for me.

[@RobKellett]

This is absolutely incredible work tom ❤️

[@TomMoyse]

Cheers dude

[@preparedtobereckless]

Bro, some of your analyzations and insights in this video are so crazy accurate and indepth its amazing 🤘 this is some doctorate level thesis shit

[@TomMoyse]

Hahaha thank you ☺️

[@shaun88R]

Amazing video, really enjoyed it. Great work sir! 👏

[@that_which_is_not]

Absolutely feeding people Tom, mega work x

[@ismskism]

great stuff ! 🧡

[@TomMoyse]

Cheers pal!

[@boltgunmetal]

So here's something on the origins of blading I never see mentioned in these videos. The '8 wheel' skatepark culture predated the Rollerblading trend by years, as we were already in the skateparks tearing up the halfpipes alongside the skateboarders on our quad skates (Bauer Turbo hockey skates). Same for street skating, 'rollerbooting' was huge in late 80s UK, and the freestyle/trick element was a huge part of it, had its own street culture style of fashion that went along with it, which borrowed more from late 80s / early 90s rave culture than skateboarding. So yeah, we were already throwing spins and inverts on vert/spine, gapping stair sets, plus all sorts of coping tricks, we far outnumbered the skateboarders as well. When the 'new thing', blades came in, they didn't really get taken up by the freestyle quad skaters, we thought they were whack and took the piss initially for their floppy ankle support and the goofy style it gave. I first started taking note when I saw the first Rollerblades grinding a handrail, which is something we couldnt really do with our 'jump barred' quad skates, which were only suitable for stalls. I picked up skateboarding for a bit, but by the mid/late 90s, aggressive skate designs had really come on a lot and far surpassed the quad skates I'd learned to skate in, stepping back onto 8 wheels only seemed natural, picked up a pair of O.U.T daisy's and I was away. Salomons dropped the next year and then I realised what a truly decent skate could feel like. Wicked video nonetheless, and maybe the freestyle/park quad skating was more of a UK thing but we right there already, dirty little ratbags shredding up the parks on skates while the fluro lycra lot were flouncing about in cali!

[@jayybird0096]

Glad to see the ‘Quad Squad’ representing. I started quads in the late 80s the progressed to inline by the mid 90s. Growing up in SoCal it was impossible to avoid the skateboard culture’s ridicule. 30 years later I’m back to the quads and loving it. Still haven’t braved a park yet though. Skate on!

[@boltgunmetal]

@@jayybird0096 ah wicked, wasn't just a UK thing then. Tried a pair of Bauer Turbos again recently, and was all over the place, totally different to blades, forgotten all together!

[@tinyghost8836]

This is a great piece of investigative reporting and history of this hobby. Thanks for putting so much work into it!

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you, i really appreciate the kinds words

[@finx1871]

Great vid. The good thing about our community is that we all get along. Whether you’re a recreational skater or an aggressive, there is no beef. Just seeing someone else on blades is automatic networking. That can’t be said for the skateboarders who are constantly gatekeeping and hating on each other for different styles.

[@Snifffski]

Really good. As a fairly-new-to-it old fart I was vaguely aware of the history but this clarified a lot of it. Interesting shit.

[@TomMoyse]

Cheers dude

[@trickbusterstv]

I'm a skater but for me the mere fact that they are doing some kind of trick with whatever is shit and doing it on the street is cool because only when you see it live do you realize the magnitude of what they do

[@stevensims3342]

There was a kid at my local skate park who rolled up one day, flew up and across this huge gap where they put some small bleachers. Then proceeded to fkin grind the rest of the quarter rails in the main section of the park backwards (kind of a rounded oval with a twinkie). They were like embedded pipes at the top. It was incredible to watch and kind of just happened out of nowhere. The kid was straight up air born across that gap.

[@troyhanner7859]

Well said , especially the last bit of the video. You took what we went thru and put it into retrospect. Well executed.

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you

[@olivertuite6440]

Brilliant as always bravo. Really well put together always enjoy these.

[@TomMoyse]

Thanks mate

[@133samuelsinaterollc4]

Really appreciate your insight into the history of the sport

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you for the kind words! 🙌🏻

[@timgazsy666]

Great video Tom! Oh and I’m gonna show my kid brink tonight haha

[@TomMoyse]

Haha cheers dude. Enjoy

[@islamicsalami7208]

Wow. What a strong piece you put together. Thanks for doing all of the research, providing statistics and of course your commentary. I can't imagine how long it took you to find all of that b-roll footage. I started skating in 1995 on Rollerblade TRS's with wrap around grind plates, huge Hyper wheels on the outside and 52mm inside, saw the rise and fall of Senate, worshiped Hoax 2 (STILL one of the best videos ever) and then stopped skating in 2003 after college. It's good to see that people are still doing it and pushing boundries. As long as there are different participants at the skatepark riding rollerblades, skateboards, and scooters together, I feel that one group will always hate on another group unfortunately. Hopefully someday we can all coexist and just let each other do their thing. Great video man!

[@TomMoyse]

🙌🏻🙌🏻 cheers for the comment dude

[@nielsonwheelstilburg]

mate this was so well put together!! well done 👏👏👏 great narration as well

[@TomMoyse]

Glad you enjoyed it man

[@istilldroid]

Been skating for 26 years and ive got another 20 in me. Cheers!

[@TomMoyse]

Good stuff

[@AJ72281]

I want to make a joke here about having “20 in you”, but I’ll refrain as it would be taken negatively even though it would just be a joke………

[@habeeair]

Brilliant as always. As someone who lost some opportunities when it went down it always triggers me some rage and sadness. But I don’t we would have managed to do something as genuinely cool and diverse without that phase. The kind-of-apology with the Them/Weekend collab felt a bit like a redemption. Anyways embracing the weirdness and singularity of blading and open minded is the way to go. Wizard, freeskate, powerblading and all those slight deviations have explored outside the “hetero masculine” tocicity and had bring only good things to blading. I’m glad we are moving forward.

[@TomMoyse]

Yea lots of variety these days it’s great

[@samb202]

⁠@@TomMoyse “in the 90’s, if you were scared to do something your friends might call you gay or soft” I think it’s dumb that you act like it’s so mind blowing that risk taking/courage is associated with masculinity, while cowardice is associated with femininity. A feminine man is then associated with homosexuality. This is all simple logic.

[@isacmartinez]

Mate, really interesting! Thanks for exposing a little bit of history and sharing some thoughts on it.

[@TomMoyse]

My pleasure!

[@filmsbysi]

Well put together man!

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you

[@EaterOfBirds]

Fantastic piece man, especially for folk like me who joined in their 30s after covid.

[@TomMoyse]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@joshdubman]

One of the best recaps I've seen on the topic. I try my best to explain to my non-skating friends this situation, but can never articulate it properly. Well done.

[@TomMoyse]

Cheers pal

[@jordanmaders2674]

Really well put together piece.

[@TomMoyse]

🙌🏻

[@nicholaswest9146]

This was was put together quite nicely!

[@TomMoyse]

cheers

[@Kefir-fw2qf]

Hi, Tom. Interesting video. At those times i was a skateboarder but i was friends with bladers. In my little hometown in Poland there was never hate. We all where an odity. More or less we were on like a one big crew. I am actually happy that i didn't saw this nonsene in person. Thing's are changing. Argument from homophobia is dead. It was always dead but now most people are not afraid to see how bad it is to be like that. Blading is not dead and i believe it will become healthy enough to survive on ease. O and yes, i am blading now. I never cared on what somebody is riding, i only care about the passion. Now my legs are fucked up so much that luckily by some miracle i can only skate and i have a time of my life on them. It's like 2 years, but i wish i would pick up blades way before.

[@Boyish000]

Hell yea

[@Adam-M-]

Rollerblading has gone through a struggle, but it still has an undeniable fun factor that makes it addictive, and the community is supportive of all types of inline. You can't say that of skateboarding, who is always hating on itself and has a massive gatekeeping problem. Meanwhile, recreational inline skaters, speed skaters, and aggressive inline skaters all get along just fine.

[@phorestpsy216]

Gatekeeping is a good thing though, it's kept the extreme metal scene underground but growing steadily for some 40 years. One reason that blading didn't stick around was cause it didn't gatekeep enough. Skaters got tired of beginner bladers monopolizing parks by just cruising around not hitting and jumps and getting in everyone's way. That's when the jokes started coming around, it didn't come from nowhere. It's easier to get around on blades and so newbies who don't undersand basic park etiquette can be much more of a nuisance than that kid in the corner trying 30 times in a row to land an ollie. At least that's how it was at our parks. At the end of the day, we're all competing for the same territory, surfers hate spongers, skaters hate bladers, snowboarders like me hate skiers, it's a natural process..

[@helgevig5134]

Wow, this is so spot on it's almost incredible. Big kudos, and thanks 👏❤

[@helgevig5134]

I'm myself getting back into it at 41yo, after being away from aggressive skating for many years. Feels so good to get back 😊❤

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you so much!

[@DJTYR4NT]

Amazing video. You've just gained a new subscriber. I've just got back into it at 41. Treated myself to a pair of Them 909s last week and had my first session at a local indoor park yesterday. 24 years out of the game, and after 5 minutes, i was skating the mini ramp like I'd never stopped. Top Soul, Royale, Back Farv.. I never realised how much I'd missed it until now. We only get one go at life, and it goes by real quick. Do what you enjoy and fuck the haters, simples 👌

[@TomMoyse]

🙌🏻 welcome back

[@boris9930]

Man I’m 39 and this is super inspiring, I want to get back to it and do some back farv in a bowl, idk why I’ve been obsessed with doing that trick in that setting 😅

[@moomoochacoo]

i definitely noticed the shift and it is for the better. I was that guy who thought "Hammers-Only" until I saw guys like JKBah and a few other creative skaters. Skating is so much better now. Small but still strong, the only thing I wish we did now is advocate for more support for the young bucks. There is too much support for aging rollerblades; we have to get these kids while they are young because they may quit and feel as if it's not worth it to continue. So many lil shredders out here, i remember Kevin from Korea was telling me that DJ wasn't skating as much lately. Can't lose prodigies like that.

[@ianhauschild8938]

Dont rollerblade but ive watched a few videos this guy has done about rollerblading does great research or just is that deep in the culture gotta appreciate it

[@TomMoyse]

Thanks for checking out a few of the vids!

[@runnywhart7440]

Fkn great vid, Tom. Thanks.

[@TomMoyse]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@user-yy1xf7in5r]

Well done brother 👍

[@TomMoyse]

Cheers mate

[@LaidBackGolf]

well wizard skating looks sick and ive never heard of it before this video, gonna go check it out. looks more chill and like something id want to try

[@TomMoyse]

Yea it's great. There is a few vids on my channel about it

[@CreamyItalian]

Great video. The journey of inline skating you showcase is beautifully done. I started skating on quads in the mid to late 80s, transitioned to inline skates early in the 90s but never got into aggressive skating. Not because of the stigma of it, there was just no community of that in my small town. Hockey was my gateway drug and since there wasn't an ice rink anywhere near me, inline hockey was it. I still skate to this day, playing either inline or ice hockey, and enjoy skating for the health benefits. I love going skating for hours during public sessions or taking some laps around the neighborhood. It's sad the way history has played itself out. To each their own, live and let live. Keep skating friends!

[@TomMoyse]

🙌🏻🧡

[@jeremiahscott1900]

This was very impressive piece of honest journalism. Great job.

[@TomMoyse]

Cheers pal!

[@wentaili1615]

Dude this is phd dissertation material. Respect!

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you - much appreciated

[@playbackphantasy]

Thank you for making this. Blade 4 life

[@TomMoyse]

Cheer for the comment

[@johnperez7487]

Love your content brother! Keep it up

[@amcar0]

This is sick! I really enjoyed soaking up the history and culture of it all!

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you

[@Intemporality]

Yeah I remember the hate for rollerbladers at my local skatepark when I was a teenager. That sucked.

[@dobbsy87]

It made me feel more proud to rollerblade. Adversity makes you stronger.

[@TomMoyse]

💪🏻

[@turningupdb]

Great video! I really enjoyed watching it and I found it quite interesting.

[@TomMoyse]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@switchrollinglife9980]

For me you are one of the best critics we have in our sport, your analyzes are very professional. 👏👏👏👏👊

[@TomMoyse]

I appreciate that! Thank you

[@CapturingtheAwesome]

This is such an incredible video. Thank you for the research and effort you put into this. 90s was not a fun place for an aggressive and urban blader. So much worse being queer. I didn't put wheels on until 20years later with thhe advent of rollerderby. I now run a gay skating movment and we are finding our own acceptance. Even designed a shirt with the words "skating is gay" because i own that shit now. Your videos are awesome. Thank you

[@TomMoyse]

Glad to hear you’re thriving and it sounds like you have a great thing going on these days. Thank you for the kind words

[@MisyeDiVre]

It's good that you've found something of value to do with the people you care about, but aren't you just doubling down on that ridiculous idea in the end? I think we need to move on from that joke at this point.

[@0001Illusion]

‘You look like you’re having fun! Let me publicly question your sexuality in a derogatory fashion’ - 48 year old divorced, father of 2 who used to skateboard 35 years ago in the comments section 😂

[@TomMoyse]

Haha

[@0001Illusion]

@@TomMoyse the whole thing has always been that basic 😂

[@RemyCadier]

Well done Tom! Really well made once again. Also hard to pull off without sounding too butthurt. Nice one.

[@TomMoyse]

cheers mate

[@nebellivnov1656]

i was born in 78. been skating since 89. always poked fun at blades and skooters. ...rn i can admit that we as a skate community were pretty lame for being toxic against fellow thrashers. also as a life long athlete i dunno how rollerblades aren t more popular than they are. they are a legit way to get around town quickly and are fun

[@thisfool89]

I was born in 82 and spent the better part of the 90s trying to learn how to skateboard. I regret the homophobia but at the time it really did feel like a sport that required way less skill came in and stole everything skateboarding had worked for. All the times my friends and i got kicked out of places had cops called on us or just had adults being karens and then all of a sudden rollerbladers showed up doing kind of easy looking stuff (i also played roller hockey so doing a 360 down a 3 or 4 stairs did not impress me at all) they took over ournskate parks that were just built and because it was such a fad at the time most of the Rollerblade kids at the skate parks were the original scooter kids.

[@bladetilldead]

spot on doggy!

[@TomMoyse]

Thanks dude 🙏🏻

[@jcolterh]

Fruit boots.

[@puddlestheninja]

brilliant as always

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@scottcrawford745]

Thank you thank you thank you. Absolutely fantastic vid. Your a bloody champ. Funny all the old clips don’t seem like there 30 years old.

[@merlebump5328]

Well, with woke culture, blading should be so popular now.

[@user-yy1xf7in5r]

IKR

[@colinkelso6200]

Great video Tom! I loved the perspective around your use of historical documentation, market analytics, changing cultural values & impact, etc. Selfishly, I would love to see this video presented as a case study to the worlds most successful marketers and public relation experts. Being that the goal would be to increase participation, I'd love to see how they would go about it tackling it. We as rollerbladers know the history, we get the financial situation of the industry, but how do we move toward growth with all things considered? It's a fascinating question and I would love to see this type of content explored in-depth with solution-oriented thought.

[@TomMoyse]

Thank for the kind words. As much as it was hard work putting it together it was also very interesting exploring all the difference aspects of this topic. It would be fascinating to see what a successful marketing prodigy would do with rollerblading. It would be great to have an industry think-tank (easier to say than do) - throwing out ideas all brands could work towards either together or individually. I feel we lack a variety of content and we under utilise KZbin. A Variety of people putting out their opinion would be a small step forward. I'd love it if someone started making videos and was just saying the complete opposite to me. It would lead to something. Anyway that's just off the top. Would be a great subject to explore. I kinda think it starts with more people just trying something

[@MrMeen]

This is art bro. Amazing summary of our history!

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you 🙏🏻

[@oscargarciahinde4247]

Brilliant video, mate. Well done.

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you

[@DIRTY-MERLIN]

smashed this out of the park. great vid.

[@TomMoyse]

haha thank you

[@florian7485]

Great video 👏🏽 I was rollerblading from age 7 on, or even earlier (at least the whole primary school), but when I turned 12 years old I heard skateboarding is so much cooler (also I started snowboarding at the age of 10), so I quit rollerblading, even though I had got to a point where I was able to do inverts in a halfpipe and grind rails and jump stairs, things I never achieved with skateboarding later. 😢

[@mattstevenson1334]

Coming from the skater side of things, i never knew rhe deeper history behind the Bill Burr bit or the phrase "fruit boot". Really epic video Tom.

[@TomMoyse]

Cheers

[@CDmc98]

Love your videos

[@TomMoyse]

🧡

[@BTTG]

Excellent and succinct analysis of the history of aggressive inline skating.

[@TomMoyse]

Thanks

[@tengisbuyanbadrakh6534]

Thats a great story telling Tom 👏👏

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you

[@austerberrys101]

Another fantastic deep dive, I myself like many others came up through the "Age of Hammers" it was a wild time that go big or go home style did create divides in the community, going to skate parks and feeling like other rollerbladers were judging was horrible, and 9/10 times would put me off trying tricks. Now I'm back in the game at 36 and am loving it more than ever. And the people I'm meeting at skate parks now seem more inquisitive about rollerblading, wanting to know about the history ect it's actually pretty cool..

[@TomMoyse]

It's been a journey

[@razzledazdazzle]

Great video. I skated from 96 to 2002 and never experienced any insults. I was always seen as a badass tbh. I skated street and parks, and the sport was massive. It was rare to see a skateboarder at a skate park. Although I didn’t see any negativity myself, I remember comments from a couple of friends about skateboarders having bad attitudes. Other than that, I never even thought about skateboarding unless I saw it on Rad, or at the X-games, it was aggressive in-line all the way for me.

[@NeoN-PeoN]

I was a freshman in '99. While roller bladers were insultingly called "gay", it wasn't REALLY homophobia that killed it. It was the concept of "posing". You have to understand that EVERYTHING that wasn't cool back then was called "gay". It didn't even have anything to do with actually BEING gay. "Gay" back then simply meant "lame". And this video is right; skateboarding 100% mocked blading out of existence because it was seen as "too easy", NOT actually gay. Skaters were always the coolest punks and skateboarders simply would NOT allow bladers to hang. They hated them. Every single kid who was good at blading very quickly became a skater.

[@dougcupo7816]

Wow that was amazing, thank you Tom

[@TomMoyse]

My pleasure

[@vuv.7928]

Excellent video, thanks for the history lesson. I shared it to my local skating group. It didn't get as bad in Australia, I never saw it myself or even heard any stories of it. But just got told by another local inline skater it did happen here too. Was there any similar stories of this happening to quad skaters back then to now? Perhaps they were seen differently as being a retro hobby. Plus that they used very similar parts to skateboards probably helped in not being harrassed.

[@TomMoyse]

I don’t think quad skating was seen as a threat. I believe there used to be bowl skating comps with skateboarders and quads, but quads died down

[@StubbsOTD]

I love when you use clips from Eisenbergs bc I used to live down the road and spent most of my youth there. Got to skate with some of the guys that were at the Hoedowns tonight bc they're still in town from the Carriers Open. 😁

[@TomMoyse]

Nice. Bet that place was insane

[@StubbsOTD]

@@TomMoyse it was! The cage in the front was a great street course. The back was a huge pro course. Then outside there was a massive half pipe with spine and another mini.

[@PawelParkour]

In the late 90's and early 2000's I was into inline skating. Eventually I got agressive inlines and I would hit the streets and local skatepark. We even had an indoor inline skatepark. I used to go with friends I knew from school, but from my age group and area I was the only person that would go inline skating. I often went to the local skatepark solo. I remember so well how I got bullied away at some point. Eventually I stopped inline skating. Watching this video I can't help but wonder if this was all part of the bigger downfall if blading described here. During the lockdown I got new agressive skates and I occasionally go blading. I found out many people in their 30's did. Since I've bought freestyle frames and am looking to explore off-road skating too. Thanks Tom, for showing all the different styles of skating on your channel :-)

[@ItsBenbetter]

Great video!

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you

[@standardsal]

My first round of blading was 93-98. I remember actually getting along with skateboarders in our area. I quit because of injuries, girls, weed and parties, and I didn’t see a way to balance skating with all that and school. I was disappointed and surprised as I saw from the outside the increase in hate towards blading. But I also didn’t recognize the hammer heavy skating that happened as a result. The inconvenience of booting up also served as a deterrent because it’s much easier to throw a skateboard on a driveway and mess around. I still think that’s one of boarding’s main advantages - you just need shoes and a board. I skated in spells over the years and continue to today, and I can safely say I would not still do it if I hadn’t discovered Mushroom Blading in 2012 and discovered a free form way of skating that’s kinder on the body. Anyway, great video as always, says this guy three months later.

[@pravijaro1329]

great video!

[@TomMoyse]

Much appreciated

[@zICkstep]

This is GOLD! Thanks Tom, just outstanding ☠️🤌🏽💰💰💰💰

[@TomMoyse]

Glad you enjoyed it 🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@robynjones4497]

Great video

[@TomMoyse]

Thanks mate

[@behyseractive6418]

No joke. I watched this video and then went for my typical Tuesday after work skate. On my Twister 110's, for some fresh air. I'm just skating through my neighborhood listening to music and thinking about this edit, when a dude passes by me in a pick up truck and yells out the window: Fucxxing Faxxot! He yelled loud enough for me to hear it over my music. It's been a few years since anyone has called me Fucxxing Faxxot! while I was skating down the street. Like it's just a normal thing for a human to experience. There was a time when I thought this was going away. Unfortunately these types of humans still exist. The mark that this anti-blading propaganda has made is huge and lives on years later. It's just intense to be on the receiving end of this kind of stuff. Tom M. did a really good job w this piece. Props to him! I hope Dave Carney from Big Brother watches this and it makes him sweat with regret. While he wasn't the only one spreading this message, that magazine at the time had some pretty real influence. Imagine if this kind of thing was going on now from a media source in skateboarding...

[@andrewb9942]

Excellent breakdown

[@TomMoyse]

Glad you liked it!

[@chrisb9377]

Cool, informative and entertaining

[@TomMoyse]

Cheers

[@EastDistrictWill]

I remember the days of Arlo, Roadhouse, Champion. There was a good video called Mr Mooseknuckle, not sure if it still holds up. Good times, and good video

[@moshambles]

Brilliant video

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you 🙏🏻

[@Antisfunny]

Seriously, though, this is your best video yet.

[@TomMoyse]

Thank you ☺️

[@diplenski]

i'm 40 and have skateboarded since the '80s. i got a pair of secondhand k2 skates maybe late '90s-early '00s, the green/tan ones, to mess around with. never got too seriously into it, but it was fun. i did like those skates, but i don't really have anything to compare them to. they seemed pretty well made, and i thought they were as stylish as a wheeled boot strapped to your foot could be.

[@ryankeogh6611]

K2 Backyards I believe. They were dope skates

[@6lu5ky86]

Those are the same people who think freestyle skateboard is ***. You'll never win with those people. I respect every single extreme and technical sport that exists. It's all fascinating examples of the amazing abilities that we humans have come to experience.

[@TomMoyse]

🙌🏻🙌🏻