One day Micah and I were standing on the deck of the mini ramp at the Hot Spot Skate Park in Spartanburg, SC.  As we looked around we noticed something we hadn’t seen anywhere else…a bunch of girls skateboarding.  Now, we have always been a proponent of girls skateboarding, so to make it official we started a new team division dedicated to just that…sponsoring girls that skateboard.  This isn’t something new, we actually started it a number of months ago.  It was just something that we wanted to do without shouting from the rooftops about promoting.   NOT because it was something we didn’t feel was worthy of a full announcement, it was just that…OK, I”m digging a hole here.  Let me start over.  We have an all girls skateboard team called Ziggirls.  They rock.  They roll.  They are dedicated.  We think they are awesome.  How’s that ladies?

Now for the next obvious question.  How do I get on? First, we are really only sponsoring locally.  By locally I mean Upstate South Carolina area to Charlotte, NC.  Roughly.  Give or take a mile or two.  Now for the next point, and believe me it has already been asked…yes, you have to be a female.  I actually had someone say “Well I”m better than the girls, why don’t you put me on?”.   Uhhhmmmm, maybe because you are a dude.  You are missing the whole part that says “Girls”.  Just because you wear eyeliner and super skin tight pants doesn’t qualify you.  Get a grip.   OK, so you skateboard…check.  You are a female…check.  What next?  I don’t know, you tell me.  There are no set tricks you have to be able to perform and no other real qualifications except for a few things…you have to be female,  you have to have a total love and dedication to skateboarding(It’s what you do & it’s what you love), you need to be recommended by one of the other team riders (Boys or Girls) and then seen by me or our Team Manager Micah, and have a great attitude.  Remember, you aren’t just representing Zigboys, you are also reppin’ skateboarding as a fun, viable activity for other girls.

So let’s meet the Ziggirls!  Our current lineup is Addie Wolfe, Hannah Jordan, and Hammond Scott and all three are locals at the Hot Spot Skate Park in Spartanburg, SC.

Zigboys is now offering free wallpaper for your iPhone or iPod Touch!

On your computer:  Just click on the image thumbnail to see the full size image, then right click on it and save it to your computer.  Now you can transfer it to your iPhone or iPod Touch.

On your iPhone or iPod Touch:  Click on the thumbnail of the image to see the image full size.  Then touch and hold the full size image until the menu appears.  Click on the “Save Image” button to save it to your device.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry”  link to see the thumbnails of all the images.

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Bacon Skateboards new video – “Unheard” is now online.  Check it.

Unheard from Bacon Skateboards on Vimeo.

OK.  So I hit the publish button instead of the draft button the first time.  This deserves a double post anyway.

Micah and I both started our companies about the same time and have helped and supported each other throughout the years.  We both share a lot of the same team riders.  He’s down with the shop and what we are all about.  He’s reppin’ the older skater demographic.  He has more insight, soul, and love for skateboarding than just about anyone else I know.  But, my favorite reason to have him on board is because we are really good friends.  He’s wanted to show his support via the team and we thought the title of Team Manager was perfect for all the above reasons.  So, no welcome necessary brother.  You’ve been a part of the family already for a long, long time and for a longer time to come.  I’m stoked to say the least.

To our team riders:  Micah can answer any question with the same authority as me, so if you need product you can see him as well.   For those wanting on the team:  the usual applies.  If you rip, we will already  know about you.  We will find you.  If you really want to give it a shot and think we don’t already know about you, send a link to your footage and we’ll check it out.

Congrats to Micah, Shannon, and the rest of the Stancil clan on the arrival of the newest member of the family…Gavin Stancil!

Question – What happens when you start getting to old to skate with the young guns?  Answer – You start filming.  Micah and I have been really, and I mean REALLY, wanting to step up the filming lately.  We are lucky that we have quite a few guys that have been really great and getting some footage for us whenever possible (Thanks Mait, Marc, Andy, Stephen).  We love those guys, they are all down with the shop, and have been great at getting us awesome footage when we needed it.  We just wanted to start getting some on our own as well.  Mainly because our knees hurt.  Aw, who are we kidding?  Both our knees, Micah’s ankles, my wrist.  We’re falling apart faster than wet toilet paper.  So what better way to stay productive and still have an active hand in the skating…shoot it.  Whether it be video or still, someone needs to document what has been going down.   The plan is simple.  No full length video productions.  Just short, banging clips released and uploaded on a consistent basis and some creative DSLR work.

Well, now I’ve done it.  I’ve gone ahead and made this site mobile friendly.  That leaves you with no excuses.  Now you have the opportunity to read this blog on your mobile device such as the iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry, Android, and such and know that it will be optimized for the smaller screen.    We’ve also made it even easier for you that have an iPhone  or iPod Touch.

Go to www.zigboys.com/blog using your Safari browser.

Hit the + button at the bottom.

Hit the “Add to Home Screen” button.

You now have an icon on your iPhone/iPod Touch that will take you directly to the site.

There is a new montage by Jon Casey featuring the Owens Field Skatepark in Columbia, SC that has Zigboys team rider Zach Gillespy in it.  This park is going to breed rippers.  Plain and simple.  I can’t wait to get down there and roll around like an old guy. Fear my frontside grinds! Excellent job editing and filming as well guys.  Kudos.

Owens Field Pre-opening montage from Jon Casey on Vimeo.

The SFGate (part of the San Francisco Chronicle) has a great story on the resurgence of “older” skaters.  While it is definitely written by someone outside of skateboarding, it is still interesting to read.  We have the same thing going on here in Spartanburg at the Hot Spot Skate Park.  And by that I mean, old guys getting schooled by a 6 year old.

Here is an excerpt:

“Gardali is a member of skateboarding’s newest legion: men in their 30s, 40s or even 50s, married or unmarried, with or without kids, from every type of professional background, who grew up in skateboarding’s early days and now find themselves, besides aging fast, in hog heaven: a time, unimaginable in the ’70s or ’80s, when new, government-sponsored valleys of carveable cement transitions topped with slick metal coping open every week. What else to do but take it up again?” Read the rest of this entry »

Skatepark of Tampa has it going on.  When we grow up, we want to be just like them.  Until then, we’ll just steal their stuff.  It’s way easier than writing on our own and they are so much more insightful.  Just like this take on how to sell more boards in a shop if you are a board company.  Flow the guys behind the counter.   So simple.  You are thinking, well first you are thinking “What am I doing on this shop blog?  How did I end up here?” and the ever popular “Zigboys what?”.   But after that you are thinking, “There is no way it’s going to help”.  And in a lot of instances you are right.  We talked about it some today and agreed that this idea will only really work in some circumstances.   When it works, it works great so don’t discount the idea.  Just keep in mind the idea still only works when the product is in the hands of the right kind of employees.  Be discriminate when it comes to who you flow, just like riders.  But don’t discriminate.  That would just be racist.

Anyway, let the plagiarism begin!

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Great concept and and great lineup of featured photographers.  Interesting that it is for helping to keep skateboard programs in schools.  Only in California would this fly.  I can see us trying to get something like that passed here in SC.  Uhhmmm.  No, actually I can’t since it’s not football. I’d love to see those photos though.   The brain is going…might have some ideas to do something similar here.   Let’s finish this up so I can take some notes while I still remember what I’m thinking about. Oh, gummi bears.  Wait, what was I doing?

“iPhone/cell phone Photos for sale by a low donation to keeping skateboarding programs in schools. Featured photogs/skaters/filmers: Atiba Jefferson, Mike Carroll, Jamie Thomas, Grant Brittain, Blair Alley, Nuge, Spike Jonze, Rick Howard, Kenny Anderson, Abdias Rivera, Chris Cole, Chris Casey, Eric Koston, Ty Evans, Brandon Biebel and others. “