March 20, 2026 • 29 mins
We hit the week’s headlines. World Skate Brazil delivered a full Japanese podium sweep, something no one was ready for (except Japan). Phoenix Am, Slappy, May I Have This Dance, Lau Willems, Love and Unity, and whispers of an ASICS women’s project. Then: XGL.A new league structure lands in skateboarding, bringing big promises and bigger questions. Who benefits? Who gets left out? And is this actually what skateboarding needs right now?
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Good Luck with That A is an iheartwomen's sports production
in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
What's up, Skaters, I'm Ashley Rafel. Joining me today is
Mimi Noop and Alex White. Welcome back. This is good
Luck with That. Hi, Hi, good to be back.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Yeah, Mimi, the last place I saw you in real
life was a Bennie Hanna in downtown Sem Paulo a
week ago.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Yeah, we got to have dinner with bronze medalist Tom
shar As the only restaurant open after ten pm on
a Sunday, So that's how we ended up there.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
All right. Well, we've got a lot of news to
catch up on this week, so I think we should
just get right into it. Speaking of where you two
just were, let's talk about World Skate.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Mimi was there from the very beginning to the bitter end.
I get to rockstar in at the end to do
the broadcast, but Mimi's got to be there day in
and day.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Out, ten days in a row of twelve to sixteen
hour days. Pretty hectic with park and street happening at
the same time. It was double duty, so just running
back and forth between the two. But Alex, I think
you made a prediction. On the last pod.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
We did abuki Matsumota one abuki, and she didn't even
have to try that hard honestly on this one.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Ooh.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
I hate to say it, but she really did kind
of just breeze through that final and take that top spot.
So second place was Nanami a Nishi and third place
was the Olympic gold medalist Coco Yoshizawa.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
For street Japanese sweep and did you notice on the
podium the Japanese brought an extra large flag, which meant
they were expecting a sweep, and.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
They were right. They swept Men's Street and they swept
the women's street podium, So that extra large flag. Congratulations
of Sky Brown. Second place was mzou Ho Hasigawa and
in third place American minisd us.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Howtown Skateboards twenty fourth annual Phoenix AM is happening this weekend.
It's a not an invite only contest. So this is
kind of always been the like the Discovery pipeline for
ams to show up. It's where in the past all
of the big brands have been there. This is like
a great way to create sponsor attention for who you
are to show up skate, let that do the talking,
and it could land you on the map. But I
(02:14):
gotta wonder, like, in an era of social media, is
this still the best path?
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Are you saying that the open comp is dead? Ashley?
Speaker 3 (02:21):
I think anytime you see a I mean from a
competition lens, I think anytime you see something that's totally open, like,
it's just rare and rare to see that. So I
think it's good for stepping stone for people to you know,
sort of build confidence and you know, deal with the
nerves and all that kind of thing in a competition setting.
But in regards to doesn't launch you know, careers or
(02:44):
lead over to that side.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Who knows.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I would say like Grace Marhoefer won it two years ago,
who's not traditionally a street skater, but she took the
win two years ago, And then last year was Ebie Pritchard,
who's thirteen year old Canadian who's now competing on the
Olympic pathways. So I would say that Eby Pritchard actually
took some of that momentum from Phoenix. She then went
over and wanted it exposure and that now she's doing
the Olympic thing for Canada over in the video brand
(03:07):
corner of things.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
There were so many good video parts that dropped. I'm
really excited to talk about Loo Williams part Lau Love
and Unity. It was posted up on Free Skate mag
a multi year filming project with such a personal backstory.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Well, last part was really cool and I think it
was exceptional because it showed clips of Loo pre transition,
just a transfam scatter. That progress was so cool to
see like that openness around it too, and she's like
actually like not landing stuff. And then when she's like
fully formed and like very much herself and her own skin,
she's landing the same tricks. I just thought that that
was like such a beautiful evolution to watch in a
(03:42):
video part and I've never seen anything like that before.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah, it was such a great part, five minutes, great music,
the story that's told, really well rounded part. I highly
recommend it. Loved every bit of it. Congrats on the
part Big Stuff. Slappy just dropped a new video, May
I Have This Dance?
Speaker 1 (03:59):
It looked like Mike Sinclair went to Exposure Skate It
just picked everybody that was in the finals and like
sponsored them with trucks having run a truck brand myself,
it's not that hard to flow people trucks. It is
hard to get footage, So I will give him that
that he got pretty good clips from all the women
in there. I mean the lineup was pretty transition heavy too,
but like skating, backyard pools and stuff like that too.
(04:21):
It was pretty rad.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
But what did you think about, Like how like Georgia
Martin introed the part, she is like a handful of tricks,
and then it just goes into like single single, single,
single single for like three minutes, and then it closes
out with the wristless part. It just felt like a
really hectic, like creative direction choice.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Well, I mean, that's just smashing all the women together
in one part. And what's great for me is that
I don't have to scrub through the video to find
the women's part. It's just all in one section. So
I do appreciate that much too. I will also say
the end section of the men's was all the former
indie writers now writing for UH for Slappy. It was
like Leo Romero, JEREMYL. Breeze like all them or Brainho.
(05:00):
They all former indie writers smash those sections together.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
It looks like a six has a little something cooking
women's part looks like it's definitely in the works. What
a relief. Shari White is filming, so more to come
from that, but I was really excited to see that
in the making. And we can't end the news without
talking about the XGL draft, first ever co ed draft
for skateboarding at the Cosm Center in Hollywood. It looked
(05:27):
like a spectacle, full red carpet, so many screens on
the backdrop of making this really look like a true
traditional sport of sporting events. So if you're new to drafts,
think of it like picking teams at a gym class,
but really organize very televised and with real money. So
(05:48):
all of that was really interesting to see this kind
of new format. Enter PSL is done the draft with
their teams, but the difference is this is a co
ed draft, So there's four city clubs with XGL. It's
built around four different teams New York, La, Tokyo, Sepolo,
and it's equally represented with men and women with a
mixture of skate and BMX and they're all competing together
(06:10):
to go head to head with their other clubs. So
it's a really new like kind of package to the
whole skateboard contest side of things. Chloe Cavell was the
number one draft pick in the entire thing, like men women,
she was number one. Everyone wanted her on every city team.
That says so much about this league, about what's trying
to be packaged here, and about how this is moving forward,
(06:32):
and what chloy Cavel means to skateboarding right now.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
She means dollar science apparently points for the teams in
demand here. I'm going to bring those gold medals home.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
I think it makes sense she is a number one
draft just based on results alone, Like it's like guaranteed
points basically totally.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
She's sixteen, so much to go, She's so seasoned at
being a contest skater. I feel like she ups her
she ups the level every time her progressions been out
of control. So it makes total sense. I do really
want to get into XGL though, Like this is such
a fascinating thing we're watching happen in real time, and Alex,
I feel like you're definitely going to have a take
(07:10):
on this. Mimi, you lived through a version of the
X Games before before the Olympics. The X Games kind
of was the Olympics.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Back in the day, even up until really the Tokyo Games,
like X Games was the pinnacle of sort of the
competition space and skateboarding. The Olympics has kind of ushered
in a new era of you know, including wearing uniforms
and things like that. So I think that's going to
be really interesting. I think this league seems, you know, experimental.
(07:44):
I think it's cool to take chances and everything like that.
See if the pasta sticks on the wall, But the
uniform thing is kind of what throws me off. I
don't know if that's going to translate into an X
Games event. Maybe it will, maybe everyone will embrace it
and not bet Ani, But yeah, I'm curious to see
visual how it's going to look and how it's going
to translate in real time at these events this summer.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Maybe you were a five times X Games medalist, you
also worked behind the scenes to help usher in the
X Games to what we are seeing now when you
were competing, what do you think this would have felt
like if this was the opportunity for you.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
I think it's amazing and that it's creating more opportunity
paid opportunity for the athletes involved, you know, they are
getting a certain fee, you know, for participation at each
of these events. The events are really close together. It's
basically like a month a month and a half of time.
I mean, that's great. That's going to enable them to
(08:41):
travel the rest of the year and to film parts
and to ride their skateboard full time. So I think
that part is really really cool and exciting. Yeah, for
that reason, I hope it works.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Some of the athlete economics behind this thing that are
really new is that there's a base service fee, So
you're hopping on as a writer getting a salary, which
is not usual usually compete for podium price perse and
then you get bonus out from your other sponsors if
you achieve that. This has a base salary fee, and
then there's a signing bonus that I thought was pretty
(09:11):
interesting in stable coins, so that was also announced to
these drafted athletes. It's gonna be really interesting to see
how those stable coins do in the future for them.
But it's definitely creating a new economy of income stability
for some of these writers. So that is definitely an
upgrade offering a higher value than just your average contest.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
It also is just incentive to go to this event.
Like let's say you perform really shitty and don't get
the result, you still know you have, you know, a
certain level of your time covered and expenses cover.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
And I think that's like half the battle.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yeah, that's been like almost a new thing to have
just a pay like paying you to go an appearance
fee basically from the contest organizer to the athlete. That's
new in skateboarding. We're all used to kind of gambling,
you know, Mimi, you were trying to make the budget
work so you could fly out to go skating something
and hopefully you get high up on the podium so
you can break even.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
All right, I need another coffee. Let's take an ad break.
We'll be right back, Mimi. I thought it was really
interesting how you flagged.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
This is super experimental and it is for skateboarding, but
it's totally not for traditional sports. But if we kind
of rewind it, X Games is such a valuable brand,
like the IP is extremely valuable. Your parents know it,
your coworkers might know it. You really don't need to
be a skateboarder to understand X games. It held so
much around the culture for so long and we've kind
(10:47):
of seen it like fizzle out. Now we're seeing it
kind of come back to life, a shift in the
product with like the co ed teams, the city stops,
new streaming, distributions, new partnerships. So that's like really interesting.
Isn't this just like a classic private equity play, Like
is this actually about skateboarding or is it about flipping
a sports property for profit? You know, this is so simple.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
They're kickflipping a sports property for profit exactly, And are
they going to land the kickflip like buy an iconic brand,
restructure the product, increase the valuation, sell later, renovate the house,
sell the house.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Tail as old as time. So I really am curious
where we're going to be at with this whole thing
in thirty six months, maybe twenty four.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
I mean, I just think it's the same. It's a
tale as old as time. With private equity, they take
something that's already been like sucked all the life of it.
It's a done story. X Games is done.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
It's dead.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
It's like in its death throws. It was really cool
in the early aughts and like ninety eight to like
twenty eighteen, that was rad. But the minute that the
Olympics came along, and now you can win an Olympic
gold medal in skateboarding. I would argue that the xkings
are no longer relevant, especially for summer sports. I think
it's a great avenue for people to make money and
(12:01):
all that. I'll give them that. The business part of
it too. I'm not trying to knock the way that
skaters make money, but the xtms itself, like who cares? Now?
You know, now you can win a gold medal in
street park whatever.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
They're positioning women's skateboarding as an equal thing against men's
skateboarding with that first in mind, they have female gms. Yeah,
it's a team sport, and like there's a that works
for traditional sports, and like, I don't know if this
is going to automatically translate, like does skateboarding even work
as a team sport, let's find out. Unclear, But I
(12:34):
really do think like there is an opportunity. This is
the first time that you're really seeing a product sell
women's skateboarding potentially right, I.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Mean potentially they could do it right, or they could
just do what it seems to be the theme is
where they're being very extractive of IP and people and
their their lore and their storytelling and maybe not giving
back much to these teams or these people really. I mean,
like that was the thing that Mimi fought for so hard,
was the way that these bigger entities are so extractive
(13:05):
of young talent and how they're using them to leverage
and make a lot more money on top of it.
And when the people in charge of X Games League
aren't invested skaters or aren't like action sports people, I
just wonder do they really care? Because if people who
don't really care are in charge of these teams and
in charge of this league, then I like, why should
(13:27):
I care? They're not part of skateboarding. Really, I don't know.
I mean, Seve Frodricuez is great. I mean, Bob Burnquist
is great. But how much are those people really have
any control over the long term success of this if
it is a two month experiment.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I do agree with you, Alex, like there is an
interesting like will this work and are they going to
abandon ship and is there a commitment to this how much?
What is the bottom line till the money runs out
that this league is going to be around. I do
think it does create a renewal of a conversation for
skateboarding that's needed, and ultimately, skateboarding kind of always goes
(14:03):
in these pendulums that like it needs to be saved,
and it's always about the non endemic, bigger audience that
helps usher in a new economy for skateboarding, and skateboarding
needs that more than ever right now. We talk about
it all the time. We know this, and I don't
think that XGL is going to save skateboarding, but it
is a new opportunity for potentially a different audience to
(14:24):
come in and watch skateboarding.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
The one thing we can say for sure is that
you can't do this anymore without the women involved. I
just think that's the blatant obvious thing here. Whether this succeeds,
or another league succeeds, or something new comes along and
that we haven't even ever heard of or thought of.
You know, I was born out of the ether and
is something amazing like you cannot do this now without
(14:49):
the Chloe Cavel's and the momijis.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Chloe Cavell was the number one drafted desired pick for
the entire league. We're seeing the movement in women's sports,
We're seeing the value points here, We're getting on the
ground floor of these really incredibly exciting stories. I mean,
we've talked about this every single podcast, but it's just
like it's really it's satisfying. As complicated as this new
(15:15):
league might be, it feels very validating that they understand
the value and money business case around women's skateboarding.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
It's impossible to ignore. It's like, when you think of tennis,
you think of Serena Williams. How could you not it's
the same. We're finally getting on to that same level.
I think it's my opinion anyway, that we're finally getting
onto that same level. And I think that's you can't
put the toothpaste back into tube, like this is this
is how it is now.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
So it's great. I just wish it wasn't It didn't
have to be through competition though, As someone who grew
up skating street and like that's like my origin story
into skateboarding.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Isn't it always just like gets you a gal that
can do it all. You should be able to skate
the comps, and you should be able to do the
video parts, and should be able to blow up the demo,
and she'd be able to talk to the kids like
you should be able to do all those things.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Okay, But that brings me to a really good question.
Then we're entering such a big moment with so many leagues,
like the year of the Leagues. We're talking World Skate
sls PSL FEIS XGL. Like what happens when these rioters
who are trying to do it all? One, when they
get injured, where do they end up sitting in that system? Two?
(16:30):
On the other side of it, is the audience going
to get so numbed out? Like how do you even
keep up when there's a new contest every weekend? Is
this just the beginning of a huge new boom or
is it like the beginning of a shakeout? So it's
like all these different product brands and contests come out,
and it's just really who ends up being able to
get the most distribution rights and money to keep going.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
I don't know, but I will say I do worry
about like athletes getting injured because just doing that back
to back to back, Like you have rum Park I
think seventh through the fourteenth, Then you have RUMs Street
June fourteenth to the twenty first, those are Olympic qualifiers
for LA. Then you have X Games the next week,
then you have X Games a few weeks after, and
(17:10):
then you have X Games a few weeks after that.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Every weekend you're having to compete. I always love talking
about the economy of skateboarding and the fact that we
need more job creation so more young people can come
and work in this thing. We need new ideas in skateboarding.
So this is exciting because this is maybe a way
to pilot all of that. Really hot take is sometimes
the best thing you can do for skateboarding is hiring
(17:34):
a non skateboarder that trusts skateboarders to consult with them
in a meaningful, employable way to guide the path forward.
And I think XGL is something that we're seeing as
a result of that. I'm not saying it's perfect for
those that work within it and who are representing XGL.
(17:55):
I am saying they are open to a new idea
of skateboarding. But listen, I have plenty of friends that
aren't skateboarders.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Okay, like I know people like I have some people
on my phone that aren't skateboarders. But do I trust
them to keep the best interest of skateboarders at heart?
They wouldn't be on the top of my list. I
think that they always come in as disruptors.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
I'll say, also, it's just a language. It's it's like,
do you know how to speak French or not? And
if you don't know the language, even if your translators
are good, yeah, well even if your intendents are good,
you don't.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
You don't exactly know how to communicate. So yeah, I
have a translator.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
I think I think it's very important to have people
who are have skateboardings running through their veins involved and
and you know, any any big project, for sure, one
hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
I don't even think that it's like, let's not get
my point wrong. We need to still be there and
be employed. I am saying that innovation and new ideas
could happen a lot easier with someone who thinks about
skateboarding so different than us and won't get in the
way of That's just the way it needs to be.
That's the way it was, That's the way it is.
I can't think about anything but that this is just
(19:10):
such a unique opportunity to just remaster the whole thing.
Will it work? I don't know. We're gonna watch, we're
gonna find out. But like We've already gotten so much
further as a result of it because the women are
front and center in this and we're going to see
value because of that, and it's going to move us
so much further.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
But name one person that's come in from outside of
skateboarding that's done something amazing.
Speaker 5 (19:30):
Nike Adidas New Balance because they pay for skateboarding and skateboarders,
and they wired skateboarders, they hired.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
You or what No, no, I'm saying. I'm saying these
brands came into skateboarding, it was like this whole you know,
we saw the past of it. So many young kids
now don't even know that that was an issue. But
they created an entirely new growth market for skate shops
and skateboarders and other consumers to come in and buy
(20:02):
products to keep the lights on. And yes, they did
hire skateboarder skateboarders to get the map right, but it
took more than just skateboarders to do that.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
George Powell partner with Stacy PEARLTA to create pal PROLTA. So,
like that's a very easy to understand example. He did
the same for Hoopba. Like he brought in Carabeth and myself,
and he was like, what do you girls want to do?
Like he never said no to any idea we brought
to him about that brand, and that was awesome, Like
(20:32):
he was intelligent enough to know, hey, this is there's
an opportunity here. I'm not part of this, but they are.
I'm going to let them run with it. And I
do think that can work. But it's rare. It's rare,
you know, but it can work for sure. And trust
is everything.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Like great leaders trust the people they work with and
they build a rapport with them within this and they
find the experts to guide them in the process of
the business. Sandy Bodecker is the reason Nike skateboarding even
ever existed and happened. You know, he is an early
Nike head started in the eighties, built some of the
(21:11):
biggest categories within Nike, Inc. He became a very trusted
member of how Nike works and he became captivated with
skateboarding and saw the business case and the opportunity and
he did everything right by hiring skateboarders and getting out
of the way and letting them do the rest. We
see that kind of within skateboarding at like a core
industry like, I owe everything to Jim Thiebo taking a
(21:34):
risk on me coming to Deluxe, and we saw an
immediate change in those four years of so many women
and gender expansive people entering the roster in every brand
we saw there and unity enter that didn't just happen.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
We're all agreeing on the same thing though the people
yet great. Come in with your purse in your pocketbook,
hire the right people that know what they're talking about,
and you will succeed.
Speaker 4 (21:54):
I have.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
I'm like, do we trust Jeremy Bloom, the CEO of
X Games, to do the right thing on behalf of
all the skaters?
Speaker 3 (22:00):
No?
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Not right now, He's not a skater.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Yeah, And we haven't even gotten into the owl AI
of this all yet. However, I will say I want
to completely acknowledge that he hired who's operating the league,
Ani Lokish, who comes from the WNBA, who entirely understands
what's at stake for women's sports and opportunity, and it
is really navigating this new storytelling for skateboarding in an
(22:23):
interesting way. There is something to be said about that
AI is coming for all of our jobs. AI is
coming for judging and especially broadcasts.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Those are like the two jobs that I do in
skateboarding most consistently. And I saw an ad. I don't
know if it was Alai, but I saw an ad
that was seventy five dollars an hour for them for
experts in an arena of sports to train their AI
models on how you speak about the sports, to basically
sell out seventy five And I know a couple old
(22:52):
broadcasters right now that would love seventy five dollars an
hour that don't work so much anymore to train their
voice to become these AI voices. And of course that's
going to happen. Of course, people like Jeremy Bloom are
looking for these opportunities to cut costs and to show
shareholders or to show whoever is opening it. Look at
all these places I've opened up and made cuts. And
(23:12):
as long as the athletes the front you know, the
front facing pro you know the people in the product,
are making money, then most people are gonna be on board.
Because I don't think any athletes right now are going
to defend the judges. This is my take. No one
likes the judges, and I don't want to be a
hater on New ideas, right, like leagues or whatever. Like,
I'm not a hater on that too. I'm just looking
(23:32):
at this. I'm like, why is this so complicated and
what are we doing and are you guys really going
to be in it for the long haul? Ws sls
PSL FIS XDL, BRB ad break.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
OWL AI gets to use xgl as a complete testing
ground for the product and service and build it and
get paid to do that and then potentially raise money
to build that other adventure. Pretty smart business play. Is
it good for skateboarding?
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Probably not if they're just trying to extract again, whatever
the last bit that they can get out of X
Games to go on to the next phase of their
careers and CEOs of NFLS and NBAS and much bigger
sporting organizations than like fine mission accomplished X Games was
on the way out anyway.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Yeah, goes back to the renovate the house, try to
get a resell value on it. You know, it's gonna
be an interesting year. I mean just getting back to
like the positives and the excitement of it. I'm gonna
tune in. I'm really curious to see if this thing
excites me and if it works I'm I'm you know,
to your point, maybe do jerseys work in skateboarding? I
(24:53):
don't know. I wore my Martine Rose jersey for this episode.
There is a moment that's happening around jerseys and sports,
and I was so proud to wear Alexis Sabloon's designed
Federation jersey. You know, there's something to be said about that.
So curious if it's going to stick, if it's going
to work. Skateboarding has always been about fashion and individual identity,
(25:15):
so we'll see. But as things get more sanitized towards
the Olympic Apex, towards the LA twenty twenty eight and
the renewal of the games. From there, the jersey and
uniform is going to be what kids only know. You
have to remember, so many of these incredible female skateboarders
that we are talking about here started their journey as
an inspiration to the Road to twenty twenty and seeing
(25:38):
it and then building their career to be eligible for
Paris twenty twenty four. They only know this. They do
not know the world that we came from. Do they
pick up Thrasher?
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Probably not?
Speaker 2 (25:52):
You know, like there's just like such a two economies,
right Now in skateboarding we talk about it every episode
sport culture, is it this, is it that? But like
we have to accept that there's this entirely new economy
that is cities building skate parks, skaters only growing up
skating in the skate park, skateboarders only chasing the skateboard
(26:13):
competition with the metal in mind. Maybe the question isn't
whether the X Games will survive. I think the real
question here is who is this new system actually for?
Who's going to benefit here? We're gonna have to wait
and see. It's really a bit of an unknown at
this point. Obviously it's like a it's a business, so
it's geared towards being successful. But in terms of the athletes,
(26:35):
what to see, how it goes for everyone to see
who benefits. In a perfect world, it only grows each
year and then they really do benefit. But yeah, TBD.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
What I think about these two and watching the moments
and XCAMB links come on, is I think that this
is a big benefit to the athletes, but not necessarily
to skateboarding and the stories that are in skateboard.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Yeah, it's all about the storytelling and it's going to
be those who figure out how to tell a story first.
That are going to be the ones that are going
to benefit around this, and the skateboarding competition is changing again,
so we're going to see what this means. But yeah,
let's see who tells the story the best, which is
why you should tune back in next week because we'll
be right here talking about all these developments for the
(27:20):
rest of the year. So anyone needing any luck to
get themselves into the next week. I need luck with
jet lag.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
I can't remember if I said that last time or not,
but that's what I need luck with right now.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
I think it's a good one. Geez, there's so many
things I need some good luck with planning, wheels of fortune.
We've had a lot of fortunate things happen to us,
but man, it is hard to get all of the
legendary writers out there. It's hard to get Wheels of
Fortune thirteen to live up to all the hype. So
I need some luck with wheels of fortune, planning and skaters.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
I need some luck to be brave and to post
hard and to find some new new not old new
skate content to posts. So for everyone listening, remember we
will post your hard posts as Alex always says Tomorrow's
not guaranteed. Be brave, post hard, skate hard. According to.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Good Luck with That is an iHeart women's sports production
in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. We are
your hosts Ashiy Rayfeld, Nora Baspnzlo's Alex White, and Mimi
nut Our. Executive producer is Jesse Katz, supervising producer Tari Harrison,
video producer Daniel Goodman, and video production by School of Humans.
(28:41):
This podcast was created by Ashy Rayfeld. Listen to good
Luck With That, a skateboarding podcast, on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts
Good Luck with That A is an iheartwomen's sports production
in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
What's up, Skaters, I'm Ashley Rafel. Joining me today is
Mimi Noop and Alex White. Welcome back. This is good
Luck with That. Hi, Hi, good to be back.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Yeah, Mimi, the last place I saw you in real
life was a Bennie Hanna in downtown Sem Paulo a
week ago.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Yeah, we got to have dinner with bronze medalist Tom
shar As the only restaurant open after ten pm on
a Sunday, So that's how we ended up there.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
All right. Well, we've got a lot of news to
catch up on this week, so I think we should
just get right into it. Speaking of where you two
just were, let's talk about World Skate.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Mimi was there from the very beginning to the bitter end.
I get to rockstar in at the end to do
the broadcast, but Mimi's got to be there day in
and day.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Out, ten days in a row of twelve to sixteen
hour days. Pretty hectic with park and street happening at
the same time. It was double duty, so just running
back and forth between the two. But Alex, I think
you made a prediction. On the last pod.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
We did abuki Matsumota one abuki, and she didn't even
have to try that hard honestly on this one.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Ooh.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
I hate to say it, but she really did kind
of just breeze through that final and take that top spot.
So second place was Nanami a Nishi and third place
was the Olympic gold medalist Coco Yoshizawa.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
For street Japanese sweep and did you notice on the
podium the Japanese brought an extra large flag, which meant
they were expecting a sweep, and.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
They were right. They swept Men's Street and they swept
the women's street podium, So that extra large flag. Congratulations
of Sky Brown. Second place was mzou Ho Hasigawa and
in third place American minisd us.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Howtown Skateboards twenty fourth annual Phoenix AM is happening this weekend.
It's a not an invite only contest. So this is
kind of always been the like the Discovery pipeline for
ams to show up. It's where in the past all
of the big brands have been there. This is like
a great way to create sponsor attention for who you
are to show up skate, let that do the talking,
and it could land you on the map. But I
(02:14):
gotta wonder, like, in an era of social media, is
this still the best path?
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Are you saying that the open comp is dead? Ashley?
Speaker 3 (02:21):
I think anytime you see a I mean from a
competition lens, I think anytime you see something that's totally open, like,
it's just rare and rare to see that. So I
think it's good for stepping stone for people to you know,
sort of build confidence and you know, deal with the
nerves and all that kind of thing in a competition setting.
But in regards to doesn't launch you know, careers or
(02:44):
lead over to that side.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Who knows.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I would say like Grace Marhoefer won it two years ago,
who's not traditionally a street skater, but she took the
win two years ago, And then last year was Ebie Pritchard,
who's thirteen year old Canadian who's now competing on the
Olympic pathways. So I would say that Eby Pritchard actually
took some of that momentum from Phoenix. She then went
over and wanted it exposure and that now she's doing
the Olympic thing for Canada over in the video brand
(03:07):
corner of things.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
There were so many good video parts that dropped. I'm
really excited to talk about Loo Williams part Lau Love
and Unity. It was posted up on Free Skate mag
a multi year filming project with such a personal backstory.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Well, last part was really cool and I think it
was exceptional because it showed clips of Loo pre transition,
just a transfam scatter. That progress was so cool to
see like that openness around it too, and she's like
actually like not landing stuff. And then when she's like
fully formed and like very much herself and her own skin,
she's landing the same tricks. I just thought that that
was like such a beautiful evolution to watch in a
(03:42):
video part and I've never seen anything like that before.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah, it was such a great part, five minutes, great music,
the story that's told, really well rounded part. I highly
recommend it. Loved every bit of it. Congrats on the
part Big Stuff. Slappy just dropped a new video, May
I Have This Dance?
Speaker 1 (03:59):
It looked like Mike Sinclair went to Exposure Skate It
just picked everybody that was in the finals and like
sponsored them with trucks having run a truck brand myself,
it's not that hard to flow people trucks. It is
hard to get footage, So I will give him that
that he got pretty good clips from all the women
in there. I mean the lineup was pretty transition heavy too,
but like skating, backyard pools and stuff like that too.
(04:21):
It was pretty rad.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
But what did you think about, Like how like Georgia
Martin introed the part, she is like a handful of tricks,
and then it just goes into like single single, single,
single single for like three minutes, and then it closes
out with the wristless part. It just felt like a
really hectic, like creative direction choice.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Well, I mean, that's just smashing all the women together
in one part. And what's great for me is that
I don't have to scrub through the video to find
the women's part. It's just all in one section. So
I do appreciate that much too. I will also say
the end section of the men's was all the former
indie writers now writing for UH for Slappy. It was
like Leo Romero, JEREMYL. Breeze like all them or Brainho.
(05:00):
They all former indie writers smash those sections together.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
It looks like a six has a little something cooking
women's part looks like it's definitely in the works. What
a relief. Shari White is filming, so more to come
from that, but I was really excited to see that
in the making. And we can't end the news without
talking about the XGL draft, first ever co ed draft
for skateboarding at the Cosm Center in Hollywood. It looked
(05:27):
like a spectacle, full red carpet, so many screens on
the backdrop of making this really look like a true
traditional sport of sporting events. So if you're new to drafts,
think of it like picking teams at a gym class,
but really organize very televised and with real money. So
(05:48):
all of that was really interesting to see this kind
of new format. Enter PSL is done the draft with
their teams, but the difference is this is a co
ed draft, So there's four city clubs with XGL. It's
built around four different teams New York, La, Tokyo, Sepolo,
and it's equally represented with men and women with a
mixture of skate and BMX and they're all competing together
(06:10):
to go head to head with their other clubs. So
it's a really new like kind of package to the
whole skateboard contest side of things. Chloe Cavell was the
number one draft pick in the entire thing, like men women,
she was number one. Everyone wanted her on every city team.
That says so much about this league, about what's trying
to be packaged here, and about how this is moving forward,
(06:32):
and what chloy Cavel means to skateboarding right now.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
She means dollar science apparently points for the teams in
demand here. I'm going to bring those gold medals home.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
I think it makes sense she is a number one
draft just based on results alone, Like it's like guaranteed
points basically totally.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
She's sixteen, so much to go, She's so seasoned at
being a contest skater. I feel like she ups her
she ups the level every time her progressions been out
of control. So it makes total sense. I do really
want to get into XGL though, Like this is such
a fascinating thing we're watching happen in real time, and Alex,
I feel like you're definitely going to have a take
(07:10):
on this. Mimi, you lived through a version of the
X Games before before the Olympics. The X Games kind
of was the Olympics.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Back in the day, even up until really the Tokyo Games,
like X Games was the pinnacle of sort of the
competition space and skateboarding. The Olympics has kind of ushered
in a new era of you know, including wearing uniforms
and things like that. So I think that's going to
be really interesting. I think this league seems, you know, experimental.
(07:44):
I think it's cool to take chances and everything like that.
See if the pasta sticks on the wall, But the
uniform thing is kind of what throws me off. I
don't know if that's going to translate into an X
Games event. Maybe it will, maybe everyone will embrace it
and not bet Ani, But yeah, I'm curious to see
visual how it's going to look and how it's going
to translate in real time at these events this summer.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Maybe you were a five times X Games medalist, you
also worked behind the scenes to help usher in the
X Games to what we are seeing now when you
were competing, what do you think this would have felt
like if this was the opportunity for you.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
I think it's amazing and that it's creating more opportunity
paid opportunity for the athletes involved, you know, they are
getting a certain fee, you know, for participation at each
of these events. The events are really close together. It's
basically like a month a month and a half of time.
I mean, that's great. That's going to enable them to
(08:41):
travel the rest of the year and to film parts
and to ride their skateboard full time. So I think
that part is really really cool and exciting. Yeah, for
that reason, I hope it works.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Some of the athlete economics behind this thing that are
really new is that there's a base service fee, So
you're hopping on as a writer getting a salary, which
is not usual usually compete for podium price perse and
then you get bonus out from your other sponsors if
you achieve that. This has a base salary fee, and
then there's a signing bonus that I thought was pretty
(09:11):
interesting in stable coins, so that was also announced to
these drafted athletes. It's gonna be really interesting to see
how those stable coins do in the future for them.
But it's definitely creating a new economy of income stability
for some of these writers. So that is definitely an
upgrade offering a higher value than just your average contest.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
It also is just incentive to go to this event.
Like let's say you perform really shitty and don't get
the result, you still know you have, you know, a
certain level of your time covered and expenses cover.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
And I think that's like half the battle.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yeah, that's been like almost a new thing to have
just a pay like paying you to go an appearance
fee basically from the contest organizer to the athlete. That's
new in skateboarding. We're all used to kind of gambling,
you know, Mimi, you were trying to make the budget
work so you could fly out to go skating something
and hopefully you get high up on the podium so
you can break even.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
All right, I need another coffee. Let's take an ad break.
We'll be right back, Mimi. I thought it was really
interesting how you flagged.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
This is super experimental and it is for skateboarding, but
it's totally not for traditional sports. But if we kind
of rewind it, X Games is such a valuable brand,
like the IP is extremely valuable. Your parents know it,
your coworkers might know it. You really don't need to
be a skateboarder to understand X games. It held so
much around the culture for so long and we've kind
(10:47):
of seen it like fizzle out. Now we're seeing it
kind of come back to life, a shift in the
product with like the co ed teams, the city stops,
new streaming, distributions, new partnerships. So that's like really interesting.
Isn't this just like a classic private equity play, Like
is this actually about skateboarding or is it about flipping
a sports property for profit? You know, this is so simple.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
They're kickflipping a sports property for profit exactly, And are
they going to land the kickflip like buy an iconic brand,
restructure the product, increase the valuation, sell later, renovate the house,
sell the house.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Tail as old as time. So I really am curious
where we're going to be at with this whole thing
in thirty six months, maybe twenty four.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
I mean, I just think it's the same. It's a
tale as old as time. With private equity, they take
something that's already been like sucked all the life of it.
It's a done story. X Games is done.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
It's dead.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
It's like in its death throws. It was really cool
in the early aughts and like ninety eight to like
twenty eighteen, that was rad. But the minute that the
Olympics came along, and now you can win an Olympic
gold medal in skateboarding. I would argue that the xkings
are no longer relevant, especially for summer sports. I think
it's a great avenue for people to make money and
(12:01):
all that. I'll give them that. The business part of
it too. I'm not trying to knock the way that
skaters make money, but the xtms itself, like who cares? Now?
You know, now you can win a gold medal in
street park whatever.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
They're positioning women's skateboarding as an equal thing against men's
skateboarding with that first in mind, they have female gms. Yeah,
it's a team sport, and like there's a that works
for traditional sports, and like, I don't know if this
is going to automatically translate, like does skateboarding even work
as a team sport, let's find out. Unclear, But I
(12:34):
really do think like there is an opportunity. This is
the first time that you're really seeing a product sell
women's skateboarding potentially right, I.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Mean potentially they could do it right, or they could
just do what it seems to be the theme is
where they're being very extractive of IP and people and
their their lore and their storytelling and maybe not giving
back much to these teams or these people really. I mean,
like that was the thing that Mimi fought for so hard,
was the way that these bigger entities are so extractive
(13:05):
of young talent and how they're using them to leverage
and make a lot more money on top of it.
And when the people in charge of X Games League
aren't invested skaters or aren't like action sports people, I
just wonder do they really care? Because if people who
don't really care are in charge of these teams and
in charge of this league, then I like, why should
(13:27):
I care? They're not part of skateboarding. Really, I don't know.
I mean, Seve Frodricuez is great. I mean, Bob Burnquist
is great. But how much are those people really have
any control over the long term success of this if
it is a two month experiment.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I do agree with you, Alex, like there is an
interesting like will this work and are they going to
abandon ship and is there a commitment to this how much?
What is the bottom line till the money runs out
that this league is going to be around. I do
think it does create a renewal of a conversation for
skateboarding that's needed, and ultimately, skateboarding kind of always goes
(14:03):
in these pendulums that like it needs to be saved,
and it's always about the non endemic, bigger audience that
helps usher in a new economy for skateboarding, and skateboarding
needs that more than ever right now. We talk about
it all the time. We know this, and I don't
think that XGL is going to save skateboarding, but it
is a new opportunity for potentially a different audience to
(14:24):
come in and watch skateboarding.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
The one thing we can say for sure is that
you can't do this anymore without the women involved. I
just think that's the blatant obvious thing here. Whether this succeeds,
or another league succeeds, or something new comes along and
that we haven't even ever heard of or thought of.
You know, I was born out of the ether and
is something amazing like you cannot do this now without
(14:49):
the Chloe Cavel's and the momijis.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Chloe Cavell was the number one drafted desired pick for
the entire league. We're seeing the movement in women's sports,
We're seeing the value points here, We're getting on the
ground floor of these really incredibly exciting stories. I mean,
we've talked about this every single podcast, but it's just
like it's really it's satisfying. As complicated as this new
(15:15):
league might be, it feels very validating that they understand
the value and money business case around women's skateboarding.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
It's impossible to ignore. It's like, when you think of tennis,
you think of Serena Williams. How could you not it's
the same. We're finally getting on to that same level.
I think it's my opinion anyway, that we're finally getting
onto that same level. And I think that's you can't
put the toothpaste back into tube, like this is this
is how it is now.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
So it's great. I just wish it wasn't It didn't
have to be through competition though, As someone who grew
up skating street and like that's like my origin story
into skateboarding.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Isn't it always just like gets you a gal that
can do it all. You should be able to skate
the comps, and you should be able to do the
video parts, and should be able to blow up the demo,
and she'd be able to talk to the kids like
you should be able to do all those things.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Okay, But that brings me to a really good question.
Then we're entering such a big moment with so many leagues,
like the year of the Leagues. We're talking World Skate
sls PSL FEIS XGL. Like what happens when these rioters
who are trying to do it all? One, when they
get injured, where do they end up sitting in that system? Two?
(16:30):
On the other side of it, is the audience going
to get so numbed out? Like how do you even
keep up when there's a new contest every weekend? Is
this just the beginning of a huge new boom or
is it like the beginning of a shakeout? So it's
like all these different product brands and contests come out,
and it's just really who ends up being able to
get the most distribution rights and money to keep going.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
I don't know, but I will say I do worry
about like athletes getting injured because just doing that back
to back to back, Like you have rum Park I
think seventh through the fourteenth, Then you have RUMs Street
June fourteenth to the twenty first, those are Olympic qualifiers
for LA. Then you have X Games the next week,
then you have X Games a few weeks after, and
(17:10):
then you have X Games a few weeks after that.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Every weekend you're having to compete. I always love talking
about the economy of skateboarding and the fact that we
need more job creation so more young people can come
and work in this thing. We need new ideas in skateboarding.
So this is exciting because this is maybe a way
to pilot all of that. Really hot take is sometimes
the best thing you can do for skateboarding is hiring
(17:34):
a non skateboarder that trusts skateboarders to consult with them
in a meaningful, employable way to guide the path forward.
And I think XGL is something that we're seeing as
a result of that. I'm not saying it's perfect for
those that work within it and who are representing XGL.
(17:55):
I am saying they are open to a new idea
of skateboarding. But listen, I have plenty of friends that
aren't skateboarders.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Okay, like I know people like I have some people
on my phone that aren't skateboarders. But do I trust
them to keep the best interest of skateboarders at heart?
They wouldn't be on the top of my list. I
think that they always come in as disruptors.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
I'll say, also, it's just a language. It's it's like,
do you know how to speak French or not? And
if you don't know the language, even if your translators
are good, yeah, well even if your intendents are good,
you don't.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
You don't exactly know how to communicate. So yeah, I
have a translator.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
I think I think it's very important to have people
who are have skateboardings running through their veins involved and
and you know, any any big project, for sure, one
hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
I don't even think that it's like, let's not get
my point wrong. We need to still be there and
be employed. I am saying that innovation and new ideas
could happen a lot easier with someone who thinks about
skateboarding so different than us and won't get in the
way of That's just the way it needs to be.
That's the way it was, That's the way it is.
I can't think about anything but that this is just
(19:10):
such a unique opportunity to just remaster the whole thing.
Will it work? I don't know. We're gonna watch, we're
gonna find out. But like We've already gotten so much
further as a result of it because the women are
front and center in this and we're going to see
value because of that, and it's going to move us
so much further.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
But name one person that's come in from outside of
skateboarding that's done something amazing.
Speaker 5 (19:30):
Nike Adidas New Balance because they pay for skateboarding and skateboarders,
and they wired skateboarders, they hired.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
You or what No, no, I'm saying. I'm saying these
brands came into skateboarding, it was like this whole you know,
we saw the past of it. So many young kids
now don't even know that that was an issue. But
they created an entirely new growth market for skate shops
and skateboarders and other consumers to come in and buy
(20:02):
products to keep the lights on. And yes, they did
hire skateboarder skateboarders to get the map right, but it
took more than just skateboarders to do that.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
George Powell partner with Stacy PEARLTA to create pal PROLTA. So,
like that's a very easy to understand example. He did
the same for Hoopba. Like he brought in Carabeth and myself,
and he was like, what do you girls want to do?
Like he never said no to any idea we brought
to him about that brand, and that was awesome, Like
(20:32):
he was intelligent enough to know, hey, this is there's
an opportunity here. I'm not part of this, but they are.
I'm going to let them run with it. And I
do think that can work. But it's rare. It's rare,
you know, but it can work for sure. And trust
is everything.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Like great leaders trust the people they work with and
they build a rapport with them within this and they
find the experts to guide them in the process of
the business. Sandy Bodecker is the reason Nike skateboarding even
ever existed and happened. You know, he is an early
Nike head started in the eighties, built some of the
(21:11):
biggest categories within Nike, Inc. He became a very trusted
member of how Nike works and he became captivated with
skateboarding and saw the business case and the opportunity and
he did everything right by hiring skateboarders and getting out
of the way and letting them do the rest. We
see that kind of within skateboarding at like a core
industry like, I owe everything to Jim Thiebo taking a
(21:34):
risk on me coming to Deluxe, and we saw an
immediate change in those four years of so many women
and gender expansive people entering the roster in every brand
we saw there and unity enter that didn't just happen.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
We're all agreeing on the same thing though the people
yet great. Come in with your purse in your pocketbook,
hire the right people that know what they're talking about,
and you will succeed.
Speaker 4 (21:54):
I have.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
I'm like, do we trust Jeremy Bloom, the CEO of
X Games, to do the right thing on behalf of
all the skaters?
Speaker 3 (22:00):
No?
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Not right now, He's not a skater.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Yeah, And we haven't even gotten into the owl AI
of this all yet. However, I will say I want
to completely acknowledge that he hired who's operating the league,
Ani Lokish, who comes from the WNBA, who entirely understands
what's at stake for women's sports and opportunity, and it
is really navigating this new storytelling for skateboarding in an
(22:23):
interesting way. There is something to be said about that
AI is coming for all of our jobs. AI is
coming for judging and especially broadcasts.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Those are like the two jobs that I do in
skateboarding most consistently. And I saw an ad. I don't
know if it was Alai, but I saw an ad
that was seventy five dollars an hour for them for
experts in an arena of sports to train their AI
models on how you speak about the sports, to basically
sell out seventy five And I know a couple old
(22:52):
broadcasters right now that would love seventy five dollars an
hour that don't work so much anymore to train their
voice to become these AI voices. And of course that's
going to happen. Of course, people like Jeremy Bloom are
looking for these opportunities to cut costs and to show
shareholders or to show whoever is opening it. Look at
all these places I've opened up and made cuts. And
(23:12):
as long as the athletes the front you know, the
front facing pro you know the people in the product,
are making money, then most people are gonna be on board.
Because I don't think any athletes right now are going
to defend the judges. This is my take. No one
likes the judges, and I don't want to be a
hater on New ideas, right, like leagues or whatever. Like,
I'm not a hater on that too. I'm just looking
(23:32):
at this. I'm like, why is this so complicated and
what are we doing and are you guys really going
to be in it for the long haul? Ws sls
PSL FIS XDL, BRB ad break.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
OWL AI gets to use xgl as a complete testing
ground for the product and service and build it and
get paid to do that and then potentially raise money
to build that other adventure. Pretty smart business play. Is
it good for skateboarding?
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Probably not if they're just trying to extract again, whatever
the last bit that they can get out of X
Games to go on to the next phase of their
careers and CEOs of NFLS and NBAS and much bigger
sporting organizations than like fine mission accomplished X Games was
on the way out anyway.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Yeah, goes back to the renovate the house, try to
get a resell value on it. You know, it's gonna
be an interesting year. I mean just getting back to
like the positives and the excitement of it. I'm gonna
tune in. I'm really curious to see if this thing
excites me and if it works I'm I'm you know,
to your point, maybe do jerseys work in skateboarding? I
(24:53):
don't know. I wore my Martine Rose jersey for this episode.
There is a moment that's happening around jerseys and sports,
and I was so proud to wear Alexis Sabloon's designed
Federation jersey. You know, there's something to be said about that.
So curious if it's going to stick, if it's going
to work. Skateboarding has always been about fashion and individual identity,
(25:15):
so we'll see. But as things get more sanitized towards
the Olympic Apex, towards the LA twenty twenty eight and
the renewal of the games. From there, the jersey and
uniform is going to be what kids only know. You
have to remember, so many of these incredible female skateboarders
that we are talking about here started their journey as
an inspiration to the Road to twenty twenty and seeing
(25:38):
it and then building their career to be eligible for
Paris twenty twenty four. They only know this. They do
not know the world that we came from. Do they
pick up Thrasher?
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Probably not?
Speaker 2 (25:52):
You know, like there's just like such a two economies,
right Now in skateboarding we talk about it every episode
sport culture, is it this, is it that? But like
we have to accept that there's this entirely new economy
that is cities building skate parks, skaters only growing up
skating in the skate park, skateboarders only chasing the skateboard
(26:13):
competition with the metal in mind. Maybe the question isn't
whether the X Games will survive. I think the real
question here is who is this new system actually for?
Who's going to benefit here? We're gonna have to wait
and see. It's really a bit of an unknown at
this point. Obviously it's like a it's a business, so
it's geared towards being successful. But in terms of the athletes,
(26:35):
what to see, how it goes for everyone to see
who benefits. In a perfect world, it only grows each
year and then they really do benefit. But yeah, TBD.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
What I think about these two and watching the moments
and XCAMB links come on, is I think that this
is a big benefit to the athletes, but not necessarily
to skateboarding and the stories that are in skateboard.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Yeah, it's all about the storytelling and it's going to
be those who figure out how to tell a story first.
That are going to be the ones that are going
to benefit around this, and the skateboarding competition is changing again,
so we're going to see what this means. But yeah,
let's see who tells the story the best, which is
why you should tune back in next week because we'll
be right here talking about all these developments for the
(27:20):
rest of the year. So anyone needing any luck to
get themselves into the next week. I need luck with
jet lag.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
I can't remember if I said that last time or not,
but that's what I need luck with right now.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
I think it's a good one. Geez, there's so many
things I need some good luck with planning, wheels of fortune.
We've had a lot of fortunate things happen to us,
but man, it is hard to get all of the
legendary writers out there. It's hard to get Wheels of
Fortune thirteen to live up to all the hype. So
I need some luck with wheels of fortune, planning and skaters.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
I need some luck to be brave and to post
hard and to find some new new not old new
skate content to posts. So for everyone listening, remember we
will post your hard posts as Alex always says Tomorrow's
not guaranteed. Be brave, post hard, skate hard. According to.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Good Luck with That is an iHeart women's sports production
in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. We are
your hosts Ashiy Rayfeld, Nora Baspnzlo's Alex White, and Mimi
nut Our. Executive producer is Jesse Katz, supervising producer Tari Harrison,
video producer Daniel Goodman, and video production by School of Humans.
(28:41):
This podcast was created by Ashy Rayfeld. Listen to good
Luck With That, a skateboarding podcast, on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts
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