Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Kris Markovich #5.



Seven years after Tod Swank made a fake ad claiming he rode for Foundation, Markovich really did end up on Foundation. He surprisingly left Element after having been there for a long time. His part in Art Bars and the footage in the tour video The Good Times Are Killing Me are both prime examples of Markovich's all terrain destruction.

Transworld - September 2000 Volume 18 Number 9

11 comments:

Royce said...

Legend.

He might catch a bad rep for all the brand switches, but what the everyday skateboarder doesn't know is, all that goes into running a brand. There are in most cases people involved that don't have skateboarding as their number one in mind. (Fund backers/investers)

Money doesn't grow on trees people, most pros don't have money coming out of there asses.

So you make some sacrifices to get your dream going. Disagreements happen, drug habits become apparent, and one day you have you accounts cleaned out. (just examples)

Shady stuff goes on in the dark, that is out of riders and partners hands.

Kris is an original. No one skates like him. His skating speaks for itself. Glad he has got to barebones with Given. Hope it lives a long life.

Keith said...

man... I was down at my local shop over the weekend and 90+% of the decks were Mexico and China wood. Tum Yeto brands were the few that were still made in the USA (Watson Laminates). In the past, I've never gotten along with Tum Yeto wood. Admittedly, the last one I had was a really long time ago. I might have to give a new one a go.

Markovich is definitely one of those ground breaking skaters that lots of kids back in the day were super psyched on. My town had at least one Mark-clone-vich back in the early 90's. Grew his hair out just like KM. Then cut it all of just like KM.

justin said...

When you make the list of companies he rode for it seems gigantic. But if you followed along at the time, most of the changes made sense or were brought about by financial reasons. Plus these days, guys sign contracts and you can sort of expect a switch every three to five years.

There is a great interview with Kris in the recent issue of Skateboarder with Leo on the cover. I fell off the Markovich wagon with Hollywood and Blind, but I'm stoked on him once again. I'm pulling for Given to last.

justin said...

I had a Toy Machine last year and it was good. I've always been happy with Toy boards. Foundation decks never worked for me. I think I only had one, but I didn't like it because it was too small and wouldn't buy another for that dumb reason. I would buy another Toy Machine deck without hesitation.

The same thing happens with Deluxe. I'm fine with Anti-Hero or Krooked. No Real.

Royce said...

I get the feeling you know this Justin, but I am going to say it anyway.

If you fine riding AH and Krooked, they are the same boards and shapes as Reals.

7.9 x 31.25 size board is the same across all three brands, just different graphics.

justin said...

I totally know that and understand that companies use the same shapes with different graphics, but like I said, for some dumb reason they don't seem the same. Probably need to see a sports psychologist.

smorales said...

Never thought of sports psychologists in relation to skateboarding, or any sport really. That's gold Jerry!

chops said...

actually have a markovich post in the works myself.

totally stoked on given right now as well... that skateboarder interview really helped swing my opinion after also getting kind of burned out on kris during the whole hollywood/blind phase.

dude is a legend who definitely gets shortchanged these days.

Anonymous said...

Graphics and top ply color influence everything so much. Real currently have pretty boring graphics and use full top ply graphics(!) which affect the deck quite a bit. I have been pleased with a couple of Real decks, but usually only skate Anti-Hero or Krooked. I don't even bother looking at anything else anymore.

Keith said...

chops... any idea where those Given boards are pressed?

Keith said...

Slap with a Markovich commentary article.

Should be sick! The Kalis one was awesome.