(*But Houston, we have a problem here...*)
If you're a total doofus, and you've been living in a cave for the last couple of months, then you probably haven't heard the Big-Big News yet: Jeff Grosso (an office favorite here at The Solitary Life) has secured a spot on the Antihero team after spending no less than a few decades under John Lucero's wing (Schmitt Stix, Santa Cruz, Lucero Ltd., Black Label, Emergency). And let me tell ya, Jeff's new deck looks like a killer f'n plank. For those cave-dwellers out there, here's the proof (swooped from the Spring 2011 Antihero catalog, via http://www.dlxsf.com/):
She's a beauty, ain't she?! 9+ by 32+ inches huge, it's classic Jeff with a new twist on Jeff's classic graphics. Don't be a moron: Buy one yesterday.
Here's where the problem poses itself though, and it clearly illustrates a pressing point that I've been making now for at least a few years. Yesterday, I got the new issue of Concrete Wave Magazine. A fine mag that I thoroughly enjoy reading, and that I've always supported (and, will forever continue to support). This issue that I recieved, I believe, is the newest of the "All Longboarding, All The Time" issues (aka, the Winter 2011 issue).
Besides being a CW supporter, I also frequent (read: support) several web-based media outlets. Among them being Skull and Bones, Skate Daily, Boardistan, and a few others that I forget. All of these medias- print, and online- are aimed squarely at my big, fat ass. Defined as: The aging, lifer skateboarder.
But while CW seems to have completely missed the significance of the Jeff Grosso Defection, the everyday dudes at SnB have been on the case for months. Beginning with Jeff's leaving The Label, right through to the "bidding war" between Creature and Antihero, through photo documentation of the shape prototypes that Jeff test-skated, and finally cumulating with the release of the two Antihero shapes, as well as full coverage of the 30-unit, limited-release Jokers Skateshop Edition that's sure to be a smash with Grosso fans and collectors everywhere (like me!).
So, what does all of this say about Jeff's new deck? Nothing at all, actually. It's Jeff's new deck, so you knew all about it anyway. And what's more, you've probably already devised nefarious plans to procure one [or two] for yourself (just like I have!).
What this says about The Print Media, though, is a whole 'nother matter. What it says is that The Print Media is continuing to lose the Bounce Battle to The Internet. Every time a significant story breaks, The Internet bounces right on that shit, and covers it exhaustively from A to Z... while The Print Media either lags, or ignores the story altogether. Lets be real: The Winter 2011 issue should have featured a full-feature Jeff Grosso retrospective. Just based on the internet buzz alone that this story generated.
In lieu of that, the future is going to belong to the brands that build their own media arms. You know what I'd like to see right about now? A full-on Jeff Grosso Spotlight at the dlxsf.com website, where The Grossman is interviewed by Jim T. That would be the tittiest thing ever, wouldn't it...?! Yeah, man. You heard that right. The tittiest.
Seeing the forest through the trees is a rough job, but somebody's gotta do it. Big congrats to Grosso for being Grosso, Deluxe for tossing out such a choice plank, and everyone at Skull and Bones for keeping my stupid ass informed. Everybody rules. G'day, mates. I'm off to boil some cocoa.
