Tiago Lemos #2.

The people's champ.

This is such a great photo. The guy with the cellphone makes it, for as much as I hate cellphones. The trick is a switch backside 180, which is a unique move that has come a long way from when Danny Sargent hucked one down the Big 7 at EMB.

Tiago left his long time board sponsor of Boulevard at the end of 2018 to ride for Primitive. He split with DC Shoes in 2019 to put his talented feet in New Balance sneakers.

Are bitter old dudes complaining about corporate shoe companies invading skateboarding a thing of the past? I suppose they sort of might be, but I'm not willing to let an ancient grudge die.

I'm fine with anybody who is attempting to eke out a living by riding a skateboard being sponsored by a big time shoe brand. The rent doesn't pay itself.

It's wholly disappointing that skateboarding isn't supporting the companies that have been making our shoes for the last three decades. Everybody fawns over how awesome the late 1990s were, but when it comes down to it, everybody just ends up buying athletic footwear.

I know some of what is left of skater owned footwear has sustained influxes of cash from the dreaded venture capitalists over the years. That being said, I still feel much better about wearing shoes from Lakai, Sole Tech, Fallen, and the like instead of the other choices on the market.

The photo is by Mike Blabac.

Thrasher - January 2019 Volume 40 Number 1