More Money Than God

Friday October 12th, 2007Written by Law

Hello boys and girls and welcome to the late 90's. "Umm, but it's 2007," you say. "Are you feeling alright Law?"

Law at the X Games in 2004

Law at the X Games in LA in 2004 with Ethan Jenkin

For those of you I don't know, let me give you a quick introduction. I started skating in 1993 and was heavily involved with the industry from 1996 through 2004. In 1995 I started Sequence Magazine, one of the first online skating magazines and home of the most popular messageboard during it's hay-day between 1995 and 1998. Then in 1996 I started working for Fifty50, eventually moving to Orange County and becoming a part owner. I've judged numerous skating competitions including the X Games and the Gravity Games and gave the first presentation to the industry pitching the UFS frame concept (note: many skate companies said I was crazy and it would never happen).

A few years ago I went through some life changing events and moved back to the Bay Area to be with family. I took a step back from the industry and focused on what was most important, always keeping an eye on skating but detached from the day to day. This was around the time we released the Fifty50 team video Juice, 2003 or so. I continued to create websites, ads and develop new products for Fifty50 but had decided to stay in the Bay and get a "real" job. Of course balancing time was difficult and finding the motivation to skate was getting harder and harder. Now I'm married with a baby and I work for the man, but I'm happier than ever and looking forward to getting back into skating.

Anyway, now that you know a bit about me, let me explain what I'm doing here. I have a corner in my garage full of skating stuff. The wife wants me to get rid of it unless I can show her there's something worth saving in there. I say it's all worth saving, and this is my forum for making my case. I'll be posting pictures, videos, and magazine scans stating my reasons on why it was significant to skating. Some of this stuff is going to be really random; Senate catalogs from 1997, Box magazines from 1993, etc. They all have a place in my memory and I'd like to share that with you.

To start this thing off right, here's something you might enjoy...

Tribe Presents: Channel One (circa 1998)

Anyone who has seen the great documentary Barely Dead knows that around 1997 the industry was booming. There was more money than we knew what to do with. The king of the industry back then was Tribe Distribution. Tribe was the umbrella company started by the guys at Senate including Medium, 976, Grand, Super Computer Robot and maybe a few other companies I can't remember right now. I'll get more into the whole Tribe thing at a later date. What's important for this article is that Tribe was huge, "we have our own warehouse just for a skatepark" huge.

Tribe Presents: Channel Zero

This is the original Channel Zero VHS tape and box as released at NSGA

Back in these days, the big trade show was NSGA in Chicago. Aside from the massive ISPO in Germany, NSGA was the place to be if you're a shop, company or skater with a hookup. My first NSGA was in 1998 when I attended for the launch of the Fifty50 frames, the old machined ones we mounted to Roces Majestic 12's. Of course Tribe was there in full effect with a large booth modeled after a movie theatre complete with popcorn machine. Rather than just having a bunch of products on display, Tribe went and created a video showing the product with little skits and skating in it and had all the shop owners and skaters sit in their theatre to watch it. They also gave out copies of the video, on VHS mind you, to take home and promoted making copies for your friends.

Well, 10 years later, here I am making a copy for you. This video is called Channel Zero and was directed by Shane Coburn I think. You can see the introduction of the Senate frames, the all white Matt Andrews pro wheel and the massive array of clothing that 976 put out. There's also some skating by Randy Spizer and a few others. Enjoy!

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Comments:

1
Jeff on Tuesday October 16th, 2007 said:
Great article Law! It's nice to see little retrospective things like this and get a glimpse into the history of the pastime we all enjoy.
2
Law on Wednesday October 17th, 2007 said:
Thanks! Look for more of these articles in the future, i've got a lot of junk I need to deal with in my garage.
3
aldolega on Monday October 22nd, 2007 said:
great new site law!

funny thing you mentioned Barely Dead- there's a clip or two from Channel Zero in it, courtesy of my Octona partner Ryan- he has a copy and put it online, on youtube or something.... Doug saw and had him dub it to MIni-DV for Barely Dead.

i like the skit where arlo "apologizes" for the Kill All Girls flap to the female employees at Bravo- hilarious!
4
Basza on Tuesday October 23rd, 2007 said:
ha! thats a great start! hope to see more stuff like this in future!
5
DCL on Tuesday October 23rd, 2007 said:
I remember all of this. I think I started skating around 1995-96.

Law, who was the creator/first owner of Fifty-50? I'd always thought it was you since you seemed most involved w/ 50-50, and your face and name was always associated with 50/50. But eventually, you became part owner of the company (which you mentioned).

Also, how hard was it to find a "real job" considering your background was making inline skate frames? How in the world did inline skating credentials get you a job, if it even did? How did your bosses see this? Just wondering.

Also, I was one of the people who won a pair of silver alu 50-50 grind plates. All you had to do was submit an entry every month (or week?) and I ended up winning (surprisingly). They were sweet.

6
Law on Tuesday October 23rd, 2007 said:
DCL:
So, the Fifty50 creators were Jess D and Ted Simpson. I got involved in 1995 with designing the grind plate labels. I think I was the most visible of the owners, at least online.

Finding a real job was pretty easy to be honest. I developed a ton of good skills over the years running the business. Also helps being a good writer and being creative with the resume.

For example:
"I have an entrepreneurial instinct and am always looking to improve the way a business is run. I have a strong background in web development tools and programming languages and enjoy building tools to automate and enhance the way we do business. I am a great team player and have quick follow-through."

It's all about getting the interview, then you're in.
7
timparker on Tuesday November 6th, 2007 said:
Hell yeahhh!
8
juancs on Wednesday November 14th, 2007 said:
hey Law, is there anywhere where we can see sequencemag online? I know you stopped doing it, but is it possible to see it? just for some good old time memories :) i used to participate on the forum, and i even sent a few pictures back then.

thanks
9
Jeff on Saturday November 17th, 2007 said:
Juancs: You can try to browse the internet archive for it, but it may not all work -- http://web.archive.org/web/20030201200743/www.sequencemag.com/main.html
10
juancs on Tuesday November 20th, 2007 said:
thanks! but many issues dont work!! :( you should bring it back with all the pics some time, sequencemag is pure skating heritage!

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