chrome ball incident #86: turn the page

"It trips you out when you start questioning your age and your position in the skateboard industry." -Gino

"It should be against the law to look that cool on a skateboard." -Clyzza

"Skateboarding... hopefully I've left a positive impact on it." -Gino

"If I'm happy with myself and how I'm living my life, I think things will come together..." -Gino

"I would like Gino Iannucci to move back to LA so I can skate with him everyday." -Guy

"I feel like I'm counting the days..." -Gino

Don't quite know what to think about this trailer. Been analyzing it like the Zapruder film. I'm happy its getting made but not sure I can face what one of my heroes (straight-up) has to say. Should be amazing though... Gino always seems so brutally honest.

"I'm not gonna say I have a full video part in me or anything like that...that's asking a lot."

Curious what you guys think...


brave captain said...

It's hard not to have that disappointed face like you do at christmas when you open your aunts gift and find a hand knitted scarff and new socks when you think about a new chocolate video and gino will have minimal to no footage. But in some ways he keeps that feeling alive that the internet has long since crushed. The elusive pro skater.
Guy,sj,puleo,welsh,t ferg and others had mastered the art of dropping a few tidbits when you felt they were just about to fall off the skate radar, and whatever it was they put out was pure gold and not some watered down recycled stuff no one cared about. And it always made me want to search out there board/shoe/clothing/music etc.
Now everyone has a clip of the week or berrics or whatever it is. If you take more than a few weeks off you've retired and some young up and comer is ready for your "spot".
If there is such a thing as a spot and they happen to be limited in anyways, no one is sure as hell touching gino's until he is really done with letting anyone see what he puts together.
This industry is so hell bent on progression that they don't bother growing any roots. Every new batch of up and comers just fades away because of the level of saturation with media. I long for the days of seeing an ad for a new video for months on end, maybe getting a sneak peak by a mag running a photo or seeing an ad.I suppose my rant is semi relevant to the topic at hand but it's all related. Certain people should never feel pressure to one up anything, just do what you do gino.Thats all we wanna see.

chops said...

i can't help but feel gino is feeling extra pressure due to Guy's much-ballyhooed comeback and the fact that Mariano has had more coverage in the last eight months than he had in the prior 18 years (!) of his entire career.

Guy was the textbook "urban legend pro" where holmes rocked an almost ghost-like steez (definitely rooted in the pre-internet era). Due to such scarce coverage, it wasn't uncommon for younger heads to have no clue about Guy... but those in the know, loved him and thought he was the absolute shit (even if this opinion was based on a 6(+) year old video part). Gino rocks this exact same "hermit-style". Think about, i think Jake Duncombe had more photos in that last issue of Transworld than Gino has had in the last decade!

But now that Guy has abandoned his recluse status for a more media-friendly approach, Gino (probably Guy's closest counterpart) is essentially forced to choose his fate as well. They're both legends and both have a lot to lose with today's severe focus on a pro's latest video part. Guy came through but the odds were stacked against him. Although more than capable, it doesn't seem that this a fight Gino wants to take on.


notorious said...

He has nothing left to prove. His part in Trilogy was enough. But yeah Right was golden. Every photo, every piece of footage, golden. I'm glad someone like him that didn't fully buy into the modern program has had a prosperous career like he has.

I'd love to see another full part, but I feel indebted to him for all that he's given us so far.

Anonymous said...

Gino rocks! Simple an plain as that. However, I think we need some good Ol'Dirty Clyzza coverage.

Keith said...

That upcoming Epicly Later'd should be a doozy. He sounds very disinterested about skating. But you know he's so capable of putting some great shit together that most older skaters would be stoked on.

Tom Penny is another dude who rocked the scarce footy hermit skate pro life for a while there.

Great posts from bc and chops above.

defoort said...

"And when you know mine...."

Gino's style was of a divine order, like the sistine chapel of skateboarding. What happens to it next, noone cares, people aren't interested in the divine anymore.

GBoots said...

I'm putting money on Gino having a retarded part in the new Chocolate video...This Epicly Later'd is just hype. Just like the Mariano comeback, there were clues to it way before it was announced that he would have a board again or was announced on the Lakai roster.

nickz said...

Gino is a legend, and if his new video part was him just pushing around, then it would be the best pushing around you have ever seen. I haven't looked on youtube, but there is this old black label promo and it has a very young Gino killing it, if you can, check it out.

nickz said...

I couldn't fin dit on youtube, but I think it had Max Evans in it with him and maybe Jason Dill, but it was a long time ago. I had a buddy who skated with Max and he brought him this video telling him how he had to check out this kid from the East coast named Gino. He also said the same thing about a certain skater named Daewon...

chops said...

i hope g boots is right, although i'm curious as to what clues he thinks gave away Guy's comeback.

in quasi-related news, clyzza recently wrote that guy has motivated him to get back to skating again...

and now that i think about it, black label had a pretty sick squad in the early 90s... gino, dill, cards, jonas wray and a few others. i'd love to see that promo.

but notorious is spot-on, everything gino has dropped = golden.

thanks for the comments, fellas.

Royce59 said...

Straight up respect. It is SO rare that someone is so honest and real about themselves.

Tronics said...

Would be a damn shame if he retired now, especially seeing as he has been soo in and out with skateboarding over the last years.

Fingers crossed this Epicly episode rekindles the fire for him and he starts feeling 'right' about getting back on a board.

Legends should quit when they're at the top, confirmed!

GBoots said...

There were clues...Thrasher did a Skate Coach comic where the Skate Coach was frantically looking for Guy...that was a couple months before the Girl announcements. I think the "Have You Seen Him" Animal Chin parody with Guy's picture came out before too. Its just my guess though. I think we will see some new Gino footage in the near future. Although I'm more eagerly awaiting the Laval McBride comeback.

Anonymous said...

Gino doesn't need to do anything ground breaking anymore. He already did it all.