1.19.2010

chrome ball incident #411: nervous breakdown










always liked grosso growing up... straight ripper with that trademark cheshire cat grin (with or without eyebrows).

but when mothra pulled himself out of his drug-fueled abyss and somehow started to make up for all those years lost by killing it harder than ever, my respect for him skyrocketed.

anyone familiar with "rising son" saw grosso almost steal the show from hosoi with his own cautionary tale... he'd later go on to learn mctwists at age 31. respect.

this one's for all the older cats out there that say I don't post enough vert dudes. you're right.

and am i the only one that misses the days of elite 'thanes? every ad filled with glorious screaming boogers-and-snot that somehow effectively convinced us that these were the wheels worth buying.

add a jim phillips post to the neverending chrome ball list of things to do.

26 comments:

Royce said...

Getting nice. 1up Chops.

Old School Sammy said...

Grosso---one of the best EVER---seems like all the vert dudes not named Alba had issues then came back to rip, and Jeff is doing as hard as he did back in the day---all hail MOTHRA!

Anonymous said...

nice.

Anonymous said...

Grosso! Much respect.

Morris said...

Grosso does a good Boneless One. 'nuff said.

Anonymous said...

I'm stoked on Grosso. A real ripper, with some real classic graphics. I'm really hyped on the two grip jobs and DK sticker. Thanks.

dedleg said...

Awesome post. That fingerflip is just fucking insane. That and the layback should be all the education any of today's young kids need to be convinced that vert is still cool.

Henry said...

I had Santa Cruz wheels... and when bluntsides came out, I started doing them. I soon noticed there was a problem with my wheels, and literally called Santa Cruz- "There's something wrong with my wheels! They're like... flat". The guy who answered the phone was like, "Uh... yeah, kid... You do a lot of slides?" That was my introduction to flatspots.

Keith said...

^ LOL @ Coals to Newcastle's story!

Grosso's stuff in Rising Son was awesome for sure.

Jason said...

The Bullet says it all "Disposable Hero". Hail Mothra!

Anonymous said...

Dudes, soo sick of all the Grosso love. So he has had sponsors promoting him for years giving him all these ads. What has he invented? What comps. has he won?
So what if he was a drug addict and caught Hepatitus - what a loser. And he placed SECOND in the PPP a couple of times and then from there on rides the gravy train and claims injury or illness whenever he's called to perform. And that blkprjct dude over at c.d. is all over his jock, more promotion of a fake. Yeh he WAS good in the 80's. Same goes for Jason Jessee - quit skating 20yrs ago.

BLKPRJKT said...

Lighten up Francis/Anonymous. I've been stoked on Grosso from day one. I remember the first session I ever rode with him, we all were tripping on how he stood up straight through the flat with his chest out, like he was intent on annihilating the next wall. He's a part of our crew and yeah, we've given him a bump or two. At least with regards to CD, we didn't re-hash for the 900th time, Jeff's history with drugs and the challenges he has had to face. Everybody has heard that story plenty of times already. Everybody but you, apparently. If you think Grosso is a "fake" you're quite out of touch with reality.

Thanks for the post chops!

Henry said...

I think part of the appeal of Grosso is his uniqueness- shaving his eyebrows and blowing kisses at the camera in Speed Freaks... that's different. His openness about his drug addiction and questionable things he's done in the past isn't a bad thing, in my opinion. Plus, the Jeff Grosso "toybox" was the second board I ever had- I like the guy.

Anonymous said...

total badass skater. if you think otherwise you suck and should do skateboarding a big favor and quit. dont even know the guy and it dont even matter.

bernieodowd said...

so rad

Henry said...

There's always going to be someone who doesn't like you, no matter who you are. I wondered why people like Jeff Grosso, myself included. I thought- It's more than, "He does sick lien airs"; he's a reminder of a time when skateboarding was different. And he's a memorable person. Since when is skateboarding about what place someone gets in a contest? Everyone makes mistakes, but not everyone recovers from them. The fact that Jeff Grosso did, is more impressive than getting first place in a contest or making up a skateboard trick. The skateboarding, the person, and the fact that after everything he's still going strong... that's why people are stoked on Jeff Grosso- Don't sweat it. For everyone one Anonymous poster, there's 99 people who are in your corner.

chops said...

damn... the internet just got REAL for that dude.

the grosso legend just grew a little bigger in my book.

so rad, jeff.

and what's up bernie o'dowd!

EricWagner said...

Thanks for the Grosso post, so rad that the influx of bowl skateing has allowed dudes like Jeff to still kill it. Cocoa Cola board as third pro board I ever had. Peep dudes extra long boardslides. And as for Jason Jesse. We can refer to the Cosolidated video for a rad part which is less then 20 years old and still burl. Stalled inverts to fakie. I think he's on a list of terrorist suspects for flying. Genius.

Old School Sammy said...

Jeff,

If you have the chance to come back here and check the comments--HUGE respect for you for not letting some anonymous hating douche boy spill his nonsense without a rebuttal. Anyone who knows anything about the history of vert and pool skating knows damned well you're a legend, and in the case of the anonymous venom-spitter, it's patently obvious he knows zip about the history of skating. He's probably still wearing his JNCO jeans down around his thighs, wearing a set of D3's and thinking that a manual is a really amazing trick.

Anonymous said...

I think he's just joking. I don't know what PPP is but I'm sure nobody under the age of 35 attended and there's no gravy train associated with it. Plus, everyone knows about the Roast Beef.

jamesinger said...

Grosso Sucks!!!
Fuck that guy!!!

Grosso, you rule at skating. I got to watch you from the deck of the fallbook ramp on a couple occasions and my mind was blown. I am glad to hear you are still out there and I hope you are still killing it.

to the assclown that posted anonymous about Grosso, you have obviously never seen this guy skate in real life. You probably learned everything you know about skateboarding on an XboX. As someone who has spent a lot of time at contests/demos and on the streets/in backyards, Grosso ripped it harder than a lot of the people winning bullshit contests when he was competing. His style was dope on and off the board. You will never get it though so just go back to playing the bonus level on Tony Hawk's Underground.

chops said...

looks like Mike McGill here is pissed he never got a post...

Old School Sammy said...

McGill? Heck I thought that was Scott Foss! LOL

mikebythesun said...

Yes, Chops, those old Speed Wheels Santa Cruz were great. When I got that Jeff Phillips Artbook I must have spent an hour looking at the two page spread of all those ads.

Much respect to Grosso. No one cares who won what contests. What matters to those who skate with heart is those pros who skated with heart. I was stoked to see him on the Indy Tour vid. 35 years old and its dudes like Grosso still killing it today that inspired me to start skating again. When my 2 month old son is old enough to step on a board, he'll know the name Grosso soon enough.

sober James said...

lets see how hard are ally-oop 50/50's in 2 feet of vert (Schroeder)or grinds/slides that go most of the way around a pool (Grosso)...oh by the way an egg-plant is called that because of the fact that if you bail it there is a good chance yer gonna split yer skull open (front handed implant descending upside down)both these legends can do em, i can't do any of the above...so to the kid ragging on em, have a little respect, guess your some kinda jock or something..i can kickflip..if i commit I'm not gonna suffer too much...but to hit the combi-bowl at speed ...that takes balls and a commitment, not to mention control and balance that are as "tech" as anything you would relate to. Have an open mind and try some of these maneuvers yourself, then maybe you will have enough humility to apologize to your fellow skaters (if you do skate)cause i know Grosso and Ben10 do

elijahleach@gmail.com said...

Roast beef aka Grossman air. He's a legened dude skating is not about contest it's a life style and Grosso is a champ. He embodies skating man. Jason Jesse is on the cover of Thrasher, you're a kook dude.