Tucked away in the middle of Florida is Gainesville. It’s the town that helped me reluctantly find a love for journalism and the town that Billy Rohan, friend of the mag and early 2000s New York fixture, grew up skating around.
When I first met Billy I was unaware of the long history he had in skateboarding and the mental health challenges that ushered both his return to Florida and retirement from pro skating. However, I was promptly educated on the lore, like the nollie hardflip at courthouse, strong friendship with Harold Hunter and unfortunate arrests (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch Billy’s Epicly Later’d).
While a markedly novel dude, through my eyes he has always been a community oriented, kind and important facet of skateboarding in my college town, so on a free day back home I drove up to kick it with Billy and check out his skateshop Samurai.
While there, we skated at a Buddhist temple, got dangerously close to alligators and took in the joys of a free day in Florida. Perhaps said by Billy best “From Tompkins to Swampkins. Wu-tang.”
Related Posts
-
WATCH OUR FAVORITE QUARANTINE EDIT SELF-FILMED BY VICTOR CASCARIGNY
An impressive part that proves solo self-filming doesn’t have to look like dogshit.
-
WATCH TIMESCAN 2, A HOMIE VIDEO THAT FEATURES 54 DIFFERENT SKATERS ACROSS JAPAN
"I never planned on filming for four years straight. It just happened, and I’m glad it did."
-
PREMIERE: “THE FIRST & THE LAST PICTURE SHOW” BY JOEY SINKO
"I just want to get people hyped and wish them a merry Christmas with a skateboard video that’s slightly experimental"
-
DUCKY’S BAG OF TRICKS
In honor of the homie who always keeps super glue and a spare packet of Top Ramen on deck to use as bondo, we decided to hit up some skaters to see what they carry around on a day-to-day.
-
HOTDOGS, BEER AND TREFLIPS: THE 999 CHALLENGE
Skateboarding has always been one big sausage fest. So, we figured why not actually throw one?
-
SURPRISING ALI BOULALA WITH AN RC CAR
Ali was always into radio controlled cars growing up, so we decided to surprise him with one to reawaken his inner child.
-
THE EARTHERS EP.7 – EXPLORING CRUST IN DETROIT WITH OJ WHEELS
Lots of bondo and patience were necessary for this one, but if there’s one thing The Earthers™ are it’s resourceful.
-
CELEBRATING THE PIONEERS OF WOMEN’S SKATING
You might have seen this somewhere else, but we had to share this vid from Memory Screen anyway because it's that good
Comments
Popular
-
HOW WILL TARRIFS AFFECT THE SKATE INDUSTRY?
We reached out to various shops, manufacturers, and distributors on the front lines to find out.
-
EVAN SMITH STILL BELIEVES IN SKATEBOARDING
"Not getting paid like I used to is fueling my skating because it’s taking the pressure off. I can truly just enjoy the feeling."
-
THE LASTING LEGACY OF TONY HAWK’S PRO SKATER WITH AUTHOR COLE NOWICKI
20+ years later, people are still talking about how the THPS games affected pop culture, so much so that Cole Nowicki wrote a book about it.
-
ANGELA WHITE IS BRINGING SKATING’S MOST ICONIC CAMERA BACK INTO PORN
Her 2000s, gonzo-inspired tour de force was filmed completely on the sleek, sexy, grainy VX2000.
-
LEFT ON READ: NICOLE HAUSE
Our series where your favorite skaters share notes, camera roll photos, memes, movie recommendations and more.
March 13, 2024 8:59 pm
I always thought Billy Rohan was a great skater.
Didn’t he have a part in EST 3? Ender was a gap to noseslide in the crowd at MSG. So sick.
Leave a reply
March 14, 2024 1:53 pm
Whence came you?
Leave a reply