Unwritten Rules Make Skateboarding Most Special

I was just going to write a one liner and post Brad McClain's new part, but then it turned into a fashion rant as I saw that he was wearing pants in most of this part. Bowl/tranny dudes that rip but always wear shorts just look questionable at best. The list of people who can get away with shorts in general is, well, short. At a minimum, you've got an uphill battle coming up on a skateboard career in shorts as they make you look like sort of a little kid and/or someone who doesn't care about style and/or appearances.

Yeah, you can think of them as rules and shout your simple minded "skateboarding shouldn't have rules, duuude." Yes it should indeed, pal. Unwritten rules in skateboarding are what sets us apart from generic, boring ass crap like football and baseball. Unwritten rules define a culture, and there's no culture in the stick and ball fields. You don't know or understand the unwritten rules? Well guess what, you're probably not sitting at the cool table. I'm not saying I'm in there because there's tons of unwritten rules I don't get, and some I don't care about because I'm old, but step number one just like recovering from alcohol is to admit and realize there are rules and then act from there. Break them with calculated intention. Break them with ignorance and you're looking kooky.

So, I generally think someone wearing dad shorts is in the category of person either oblivious to the unwritten rules or breaking them in the wrong way. Raven Tershy and Ben Raybourn break the rules in the right way and get away with it - shorts, wacky sports tank tops, 540's, etc. Someone like, say, Alex Sorgente, generally breaks them in the wrong way. Sorry Alex, but a saran wrap with shorts on is a fierce double whammy additionally breaking the unwritten rules of trick selection.

Some violators are ripping little kids where it doesn't quite matter yet. They're bound to figure it out soon. Jagger Eaton for example, with his swishy Quiksilver shakka shorts will one day realize he should buy and pick his own clothes rather than put on whatever random company sends you a box of free stuff they can't sell. We watched Jereme Knibbs grow up like that and soon Jagger will turn that corner.

Oh, on to the point of this post, which is Brad's new part. That generic repping of shorts also includes Brad here, at least from most times I see him. However, he looked super sick and much more legit with pants on throughout in this new Thrasher part, don't you think? Yes, agreed. Hell yeah, Brad. Sorry, I don't make the rules, I just say the unwritten ones out loud. If you're mad, you should check yourself for breaking the unwritten rules in the very wrong way. But, I hope you're on the side of getting a nice laugh and entertainment out of it like I do. Picture Brad's backside ollie over the shallow end stairs at 1:47 with pants on and you'll see. Looking forward to see Brad killing it as usual at Copenhagen Bowl next week!