chrome ball incident #37: publicity

there's only so many photos and so many video parts out there of gino, all of which are golden but at the same time, they tend to get recycled alot. the same thing goes for guy. corey duffel probably gets more coverage in a two-month span than both these legends have in their 15+ year careers. For this one, I went with these two early gems, plus an Atiba portrait from a '98 Axion Tour.

In the canon that is Iannucci, the two ads above are important as they represent when Gino went from a relatively-unknown am on black label with one or two ads behind him to virtually an overnight sensation. Along with Snuff later that year, this coverage would effectively help lay down the foundation for what would eventually become a legendary skate career. Both these ads appeared in the same magazine (Thrasher, Aug 93) and featured a "who the hell is this" throwing down two "holy shit!"s at some of the most notorious spots in the game.

The backside heel, "perfect" as Keenan would call it, came around at a time when only a handful of tricks had been done down the Gonz and nothing this elaborate (looking at some old mags, I didn't realize Josh Swindell did a f/s pop-shove down it... ya know... before he killed somebody). The bottom one shows Gino throwing a switch kickie down the six at Hubba Hideout, which is a little strange as you normally don't think of the two together (like Lance Mountain ollieing the 7 at Embarcadero in Animal Chin or Jesus Christ flying a helicopter... its just kinda weird).

just like i can never choose between 101 and girl, i can also never choose between guy and gino, an eternal clash of the titans that's been raging on inside my mind for well over a decade. but as triumpant as fully flared was for guy, this clip from Dec. 2006 represents just about the opposite for gino. I've always respected Gino's candor in addition to his amazing skating ability and looking at these early ads definitely puts this clip in an even more uncomfortable light. Guy and Gino have always been my favorites because they're kinda like that sleeping giant out in the forest: you have no idea what they're doing, but you know they're out there somewhere and any day, they can just appear and straight fuck up everybody. As the years go by, their personal struggles coming to light have served to make them more human, making you only root for them harder to succeed. It is clear that both remain very careful about what coverage of them is put out there as their legacies remain well-guarded and intact, which i believe to be as much for their fans as it is for themselves.

Currently, Ty Evans and the crew are in the midst of filming a new Chocolate video, lets hope that our man can find his way... and if you believe in karma, gino getting the curtains with a slow-mo intro to some Band of Horses could almost make up for all the goofy "skate" reality shows you have to tolerate as your annoying relatives try to convince what actually "real" skateboarding is.

Almost.