"I want the new kid coming to skateboarding for the first time to have the exact same or at least a..."

“I want the new kid coming to skateboarding for the first time to have the exact same or at least a similar experience that I had. Because I felt ostracised and I felt alone and the other stuff that was available to me, organised sport, after school programmes, yada, yada, none of that fucking interested me. Skateboarding filled the void, you know, and became my best friend and it was my outlet. It was my way to get away from all of the bullshit at school and at home. And we need that, you know, kids need that. They need an alternative to the rest of the shit. I cannot understand why a bunch of fucking weirdos and misfits and freaks and geeks that came to skateboarding in the first place because they were all those things I just said, now have grown up and are going to sell skateboarding down the river and turn it into the exact same thing that we all hated.”

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Jeff Grosso, Skateboarding and Religion, pg 104

    I had the privilege of talking to Jeff Grosso while I was writing my book. I called him up just as he was leaving the skatepark. We chatted for over an hour and it was a riot. The main focus of our discussion was the graphic for his Crucifried board in which his long time friend Christian Cooper produced the art. It has been heartbreaking that the skateboard community has lost Jeff. His deep love for skateboarding and his wisdom for connecting with its essence was cherished by legions. This quote shows a fraction of that love and his blunt critique about the move skateboarding has made into a sports sideshow.

Love you Jeff