My Chocolate Post...

So, just to give some background, I've had about a three-year Chocolate kick. Starting in probably my senior year, Chocolate could seriously do no wrong in my eyes. This was around the time Devine had just gotten on and was blowing up big. They'd also just gotten Pappalardo, which practically blew my skate-nerd brain at the time. Their graphics always seemed impeccable to me, and the whole feel of the company just killed me.

Now, though, I can't help but think how stale everything feels. With the exception of Vincent Alvarez, there's been no real new blood for a few years now. It seems like Justin Eldridge, Chris Roberts, and Devine Calloway all sort of had this crazy coverage that they never really followed up on. Like they were supposed to take a strong position as the team's identity. Sounds a little stupid, I know. But it makes sense. There's no real Chocolate vibe anymore. It's just a bunch of skaters who ride the same boards. Like, Gino is Chocolate. Justin Eldridge isn't, really. Plus, honestly, the latest graphics are pretty fucking boring. I've not followed who's in charge of art direction too closely, but it seems like there's been a lull in creativity. And they really don't have to try very hard to impress me. I still think the Chocolate chunk is one of the best looking skate logos ever.

I guess that, in the end, it doesn't matter too much. The same thing happened with Alien Workshop, who had been the absolute bees' knees to me from the time I saw Photosynthesis as a tiny chittlin until I was about thirteen.. But I do sorta feel like this latest change in opinion is indicative of skating as a whole right now -- there's just too much of everything out there right now, so it's pretty hard to be heard over the fray. For the moment I'm backing Roger, just because it's so small that it almost seems like a forgotten entity. No superstar team, no previous history (really) to bank off of (Plan B, Stereo, what the fuck?), just great graphics and ads that actually represent the true smart-ass spirit of skating.

Oh, and for the record, I still love the fact that Pappalardo's on Chocolate.