Progression or Procrastination: The Current Status of Rollerblading

Rollerblading has gone through a number of changes in the past two decades. Progression in the sport during the late 1990's and early 2000's at the tail end of rollerblading's peak was at an all time high. Movies like Coup De Tat and Brain Fear Gone showcased the video-game-like skill of skaters in their early 20's performing tricks that teetered on life threatening stunts. The influence movies like these was easily seen by the number of amateur skaters emulating and improving upon the tricks performed in those movies.

However, times are changing and along with them, styles, tricks, and names. To get a better understanding behind the changes, questions were asked on one of Rollerblading's most infamous message boards: Be-Mag. The central idea behind these questions was how rollerblading changed in the last ten years.

Responses to the question varied with some supportive suggestions and suppositions to some replies hinting at insult for asking about the current state of rollerblading. Of the more constructive feedback were suggestions of aging skaters, loss of popularity in the sport, and changes in creativity. In addressing the first two points of participants, this has been a common theme for rollerblading since roughly early 2001 when Chris Garrett, owner of Fiction Clothing at the time, stated in VideoGroove 17 that the industry was already taking financial hits from fewer participants. Which was true according to some estimates in the industry which claims the peak of rollerblading popularity occurring around 1997.

This trend continued and serious issues surrounding the industry were growing worse and worse until it came to a breaking point in 2005 with the release of Barely Dead. The film was more than a skate video, but a documentary about the history of rollerblading which featured interviews with legend Arlo Eisenberg and prominent professional skaters Jon Julio, Chris Haffey, and Cameron Card. Each of these veterans of rollerblading cited issues of salaries, health concerns, and lack of health insurance on top of the prevalent problems of decreased interest in the sport. All of them were concerned with the tenuous future rollerblading, but there was still a feeling of optimism in their testimonials.

As for the changes in style, this is a common thread in rollerblading, as well as in life. Tricks go through phases of acceptance and marginalization on a regular basis. When Brain Fear Gone debuted, the idea of "no grab" or "freestyle" grinds were frowned upon until Jon Elliot made them look good to the rollerblading public. At the same time in this era of skating, laying "hammer" tricks (intense or insane stunts) was becoming commonplace, even among the more casual participants. So now the cycle of tricks has taken a more creative route. A path not unheard of but one that is now more universally accepted rather than a unique oddity. This, according to the respondents, was attributable to Sean and Colin Kelso in their pursuit of portraying rollerblading going through another evolution.

This is not a critical article about whether one era of rollerblading is superior to another. But, if someone is returning to the sport after years of disinterest, they may be curious to see where the sport has been in their absence. Rollerblading is going through the same identity issues that other prominent alternative sports go through, what will set it apart from other sports is how it responds.

Bio of a Professor

Samuel Miller was born in a small rural town in Somerset, Pennsylvania. The town itself resides in the Laurel Mountains in the southwestern area of the state. During the first eighteen years of his life, he would live his days yearning to go beyond the small town customs and traditions he was accustomed to and find “elbow room” in which his academic mind could flourish.

Growing up, Samuel wanted to do a number of different occupations including, radio announcer, television production, and education. He would first settle on enlisting in the military in order to pay for his future college tuition. Four years of travel around the world as a signal soldier granted him the opportunity to go to college. His education started at Slippery Rock University where he would earn his bachelors of science in communication. After a few years of struggling to land a job related to the communication field, Samuel pursued his Master’s degree at Georgia State University and followed that up with his Doctorate at the University of North Dakota. His academic focus in terms of research revolves around fandoms, interpersonal communication, pop culture, and gender studies. He is currently working on multiple research articles and planning on publishing his dissertation as a book.

In the fourteen years it took to earn this degree, Samuel held a number of interesting jobs, many of which had little to do with his education. During this time he was: a social worker, brick layer, computer lab assistant, Student Advisor, and Videographer. A number of these jobs were less than glamorous and as he worked his way through his graduate degrees. However, he finally settled into the career he was adamant for from the start, education. He is now a full time assistant professor at Lane College where he primarily teaches courses with emphasis on writing in the communication field.

Whenever Samuel is not in front of the classroom corrupting the youth with critical thinking, he is often seen around campus helping with the broadcasting students putting together productions for the Mass Communication department. Off campus and in his free time Samuel enjoys sewing, rollerblading, and video games to relax. As a way to stay productive Samuel enjoys sewing together plush animals as a way to  create something tangible, aside from the theory he researches. He regularly attends fan conventions and sells his plush products as well as host panels that discuss his research in fan studies.

When it comes to video games Samuel is an avid retro game collector. His library of games includes titles from twenty-six different consoles. These systems range from the early Magnavox Odyssey 2 to the latest Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch consoles. All of these consoles require games, which is why his current library exceeds nine hundred titles. He is usually playing a variety of different genres of games, but when it comes down to what his favorite title is, he would reply, The Legend of Zelda.

That is Samuel Miller’s life in a nutshell. There are many more stories he could tell you. The first thing he would recommend doing is looking around on his blog and read his articles and leave comments. He wants to extend the conversation out to others and dialogue with them.  

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