11.07.2011

chrome ball incident #717: red toque













all-around great skateboarder and awesome dude: this is crankers.

...kickflip out of a frontside board? really?

and I've decided that this video doesn't get nearly enough love as it should.

anybody know when/if Macho Taildrop comes out on DVD?

24 comments:

Skately said...

Hell yeah, been a huge fan since The Revolution dropped. Original all terrain ripper with style to spare. One of those guys you imagine can do anything well.

Joshua Ballew said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joshua Ballew said...

Nice choice here. McCrank has always been a favorite of mine both for his inhuman ability to rip any and all terrain and relentless positivity.

I definitely forgot about his eSpecial part. He is flipping and spinning out of everything in there! In my defense wasn't it's release sort of strange? If I remember right it was one of the early online videos released.

Finally McCranks' b/s pop shove its are ridiculous, i.e. the Girl AD and in the eSpecial part.

Unknown said...

The Blunt Transfer rates as one of my Favourite sequences! When I saw the McCrank post I was hoping it was in there. Thanks.

Art said...

When my local park (Victoria, BC) was pretty new ('97-ish), Rick and a crew of Vancouver dudes showed up.

Their van rolled up, parked, the side door slid open and McCrank popped out, ran across the dirt to the park, and tore the place a new one. Did stuff first try that the local heroes would never touch. The rest of the crew had to chill around the van for awhile - I guess it isn't cool to be stoked.

I met/skated with him a few times in that era, and he was always cool. I'm sure he would've been a bigger name in skating if he had an attitude, but I'm glad he didn't.

Anonymous said...

Rick is a beast. In the early/mid 90s he ripped Ottawa but he didn't skate for the cool shop and wasn't down with the guys who vibed the scene. Everyone knew he shredded and it's rad to see his success. I remember skating the boys and girls club when he was there and knowing he was good. Nice to see him follow through since its rare to see a dude come from our scene to be a world class ripper.

Leiv said...

I'm with Skately, his Revolution part hooked me right away. Speaking of which I haven't been able to find that whole video on the net. I would especially like to see Wray's part again.

Don't know if Macho Taildrop will ever come out on DVD, but I can however...ahem... supply you a DVD...ahem

Anonymous said...

Haven't been able to find any progress on Machotaildrop. I'm waiting, too! McCrank never let down. keep it up.

clug said...

Remember whiskey? Crazy. His skatin always makes me wanna skate.

Keith said...

You gotta post that Canada article in its entirety.

McCrank was a skate rat to the max. ATV. Super talented.

kf out of fs board slides was all the rage up here in Van for a while. Haslam, when he was fresh with a shaved head, was doing them in a local video at the Richmond park.

And that noseslide noseblunt transfer to nollie flip out... you can't really see it but there's a bank on the other side. super gnarly. There's also a sequence of Pat Duffy doing a fs noseslide bs noseblunt transfer to fakie into the bank. Nuts! E... you sent that to me before but I lost it. Can you re-send it?

^ anon1... I never thought his talent/natural ability really came out in Ottawa... maybe toward the end before he moved out west. I can remember a contest at McNabb and he was going for it.

Anonymous said...

always thought his skating was superb and looked like such a cool dude in videos......then he came to hickam hangar and was a dick to everybody who wanted an autograph! (around 2000 or so). I was literally shocked how rude he was to those kids.

His footage rips and he always seems positive but that day turned me off on crankers no matter how hard I try to like the dude....

Always sucks when one of your favorites is a prick...bummer

Loo Ganida said...

Rick is rad!!!!!!
I read an awesome interview
with Rick by Steve Olson on the Juice website (all the Olson interviews are pretty sick)
I remeber at a local contest he was doing switch benihanas over the piramid. Chip van hamm was there with some other founation dudes (or was it ATM click) with Jon West. I remember Chip mocking Rick for the bennies... where are you now Chip?

LURKING CLASS CEO said...

Remember seeing him in The End and thinking "this guy seems fucking awesome" Shortly after he was on Girl and I was still like "this guy seems fucking awesome" now years later I'm still feeling the same vibe. Just an awesome skateboarder with style for days.

Lucas said...

A friend of mine said something similar to Anon1's comment: While the cool Ottawa locals, bedecked in World gear, would be skating the ghost curb (I think), McCrank would be ollieing a nearby gap on a beat-up board.

He's definitely come a long way from skating for Cherry Bombs.

Dave said...

I never saw the Especial footage. He absolutely killed it. I guess I often forget how good McCrank is.

it was pretty cool how he got on birdhouse, put that footy together for the End and then bounced over to girl. All terrain ripper.

Nice post, Chops!

karoumy said...

I was in Ottawa during the 90s. Rick was awkward on and off the board. I was surprised a few times by him but he didn't shine that bright back then.

His skating and personality are nothing like what I remember back then and he would agree. I'm stoked he made it.

Chip Van Ham said...

Loo-HAHA I was gonna talk about the switch benihana right here, again, actually!! Don't recall mocking him for that; rather, was totally amazed that someone could think of, let alone do that trick. And he did that shit every. single. time! Crazyass tricks...kinda like Ronnie C. with the benihana fingerflip. And whatever Haslam was doing that day too (backside lipslide kickflips out on flatbars, HUH?)

chops said...

I was hoping you would weigh in on that Chip.

Leiv, might have to take you up on that.


Thanks guys!

Anonymous said...

Rick is so underrated. Always has been. The éSpecial part could be released today and still stand on it's own. I had the pleasure of witnessing him shredding the Pac-Northwest. Burnside on a little Crailtap cruiser board. Not many people get to the "master" level of skateboarding, but he's up there, operating on a different plane. Right on Rick!

Loo Ganida said...

HAHAHAHAHA! What's up, Chip?
you still skate?
I was always stoked on the couple of clips you had(in Vancouver) in that one transworld vid!
Peace!
where's the Chip post?

Loo Ganida said...

haha found it. Knew it was Cinematogragher...........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al3L_IEEJ_Q
sick part all around......
LOVE the old transworld videos
Sorry for the off topicness

sebastian toombs said...

this guy just showed up in vancouver by way of whistler one day and blew everyones minds... and this was in the days when vancouver was pretty much on top, what with the plan b and girl connections. all you could do was laugh at his ability to do pretty much anything. the thing was, as someone mentioned here, he was a bit awkward, didnt always do the 'right' tricks, and didnt have the 'right' connections, ie: a red dragon, raised at the richmond skate ranch pedigree. i wouldnt say he got shunned or the cold shouler, but i think he rubbed some people the wrong way at first, kind of like jamie thomas in SF. not because rick was on a fame trip -- far from it. it was more that he could practically show up everyone, including a lot of top skaters of the time. like at slam city jam, when he should of won but came well down in the standings... pro for "cherry bombs"!? phew, yeah right...

heres a little vid of rick in the mid 90s, basically shot in a weekend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSJU1iFEyb0

and from the obscure skate and snowboard vid 20/20: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH5X00u8QEQ

Anonymous said...

mccrank has been a favourite of mine now for years. his especial part was good but for me personnaly his part in Menikmati is just superb. i never tire of watching that. nollie flip lipslide, cab front board to fakie, and the ender, the 5050 flip out....best ender ever.

Unknown said...

Totally get it. I added him on snapchat and je added me back but when i message him he opens it and doesnt reply. Sucks cause i assumed he was a cool guy.