Hi there,
I don’t really know how to put this but here we go…
I started the Chrome Ball Incident over 5 years ago, on some
level, as a futile attempt at repaying what is easily one of the best and most
important things to have ever happened to me: skateboarding. It is something
that I’ve loved since the age of 9 and will continue to do so long after I am
unable to roll any further. I cannot imagine who or where I would be if
skateboarding hadn’t come into my life at such an early age and completely transformed
everything.
I know you understand what I mean.
With regard to CBI, I’ve tried to be very careful over the
years about not painting my work here as some type of selfless act… because, in
reality, it has been anything but. Sure, it can be a pain in the ass to do at
times, but I have benefitted more from this admittedly peculiar usage of time
than you could ever possibly know. The debt that I had originally sought to
settle has only multiplied. The reaction that Chrome Ball has received could never
have been expected and the opportunities it has yielded could never be repaid.
I sincerely thank you for all of it.
I hope the Chrome Ball Incident has brought some type of joy
to you and better yet, served as reminder of how amazing skateboarding and
skateboarders can be. I am admittedly very proud of what I have been able to do
with a scanner and a bunch of old mags in the middle of nowhere and would like
to think that the site has upheld a certain standard in quality over the years,
despite my tangents.
The rub with the premise of Chrome Ball, aside from all its
inherent copyright infringement, is that I am dealing with a finite resource.
That one day, I would have burned through all the stuff that people actually
care about, leaving me with only questionable material from the days of yore. Some
old bullshit. To continue on at such a point would, in turn, become a silly
waste of time for all parties and make this site a mockery of its former self. And
while I’m not saying that Chrome Ball has reached this point, it has become a
growing concern. My aim has always been to call it a day well before this
inevitability even remotely becomes an issue. Add in an admittedly sizable
portion of fatigue to this mix and I believe what is to be in the site’s best
interest becomes all the more clear.
On July 12th, the Chrome Ball Incident will cease
regular updates.
I’ve hesitated in even making this announcement prior to but
a sneaky exit stage left just doesn’t feel proper after all we’ve been through.
And while it is true that I would love to continue doing interviews in some
capacity, I don’t feel that keeping CBI around for a random handful of posts
per year (if that) would be the right thing to do either. We’ll see what the
future holds.
I think that brings us up to speed.
So… enough of this somber shit. Over the course of the next
two weeks, the Chrome Ball Incident will be presenting a series of interviews
and guest posts that will hopefully provide a fitting farewell for this nutty
little experiment. I think/hope you’ll be stoked.
See you tomorrow.
Your friend and humble narrator,
Chops
89 comments:
Such a Heath Kirchart exit.
Yer makin us proud, Chops.
All the best with the rest
all thanks to you, chops.
NO !
best skate blog on the whole Damn internet... peace, out.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
i understand, but i'm sad. you're a historian. best one i seen. god speed chops, you've made a lot of folks happy over the past five years.
with all due respect, brian childers god damnit
:(
You know you're old when the blog celebrating the skaters of your youth closes down.
*sigh*
please make one last fat MONTY NOLDER post before you leave.. please!
A hearty mountain of gratitude for all of your work, Chops. And best of luck with whatever is next...
We'll always have Paris.
Thank you so much!
Chops,
CBI is the first stop of the day for me, everyday. Thanks so much for all you've done, and all the effort put into it. I've seen so many cool ads/pics that I never would have known about, and it's been mad inspiring. It's appreciated.
-Andy in Boston
I'm still in phase one which is denial. I'm not even ready to think about a new home page. Thanks for everything Eric.
hopefully, people around the globe will take the inspiration you have given through your dedication and start building up their own blogs about skateboarding's heritage/golden era left and right from the limelight.
thank you so very much chops!
german bernie
I think I'd keep reading until it became just a trickle of cheapskates ads from the backs of early 90s Thrashers, but I totally understand the need to wrap things up now. To me, this blog is easily one of the top 5 best things on the internet, so good job and good luck.
:(
First of all:
Thank you so much. CBI was one of the best things on the internet.
BUT:
there should be a kickstarter/crowd-funded book of this blog i believe. and maybe you could make some money off it, i would love to pay you for your work. the copyright-thing has somehow to be shipped around … but i believe it could be done.
and you could make this blog live a bit longer by maybe using international magazines from back in the day as well? gosh, i am trying …
something like this maybe:
http://blog2print.sharedbook.com/
come on, first yws and now cbi???
I could just cry knowing I won't be able to look at all your masterful posts. You've done such a fine job over the past five years. For me too skateboarding has influenced everything I have ever done in my life and is the best thing on this planet. Thank you for all your hard work. "best ride I seen."
Wow. Bummer.
The site will still be here, right? So we can come and look at old posts.
Thanks for spotlighting one of my Cheesehead homies (Emmers). But I was still waiting for the rest: Mayhew, Tbone, Snyderman, Pete Lehman. And from my second home, San Diego: Kanten, OJ, MJ, Lil B.
Well, looks like I'll be having to actually work while on the clock here.
Thanks for all the years of hard work Chops!
I love the blog and I'll miss reading it. Please don't do anything crazy, like taking it down or something!
I've always appreciated the effort. It's certainly not easy to do all of this and for that we are all grateful. Just look how many people have made comments over the years and what it's done for everyone.
I can't skate anymore but I certainly know I enjoy recognizing many of the images and seeing ones that passed me by before.
Thanks for all the hard work!
Thanks for all the memories!
Amazing work I´ve been following for the past years, so long an thanks for all the scans! Hope you keep the blog up to check the older posts, I do that a lot... CBI has been the inspiration I needed to turn my web/mag into a blog... will always be thankful...
Greetings from Argentina, keep pushing!
I just wanted to thank you for all the work you put in making this site an all time favorite of mine! I've followed chrome ball religiously since your tenth post and this site inspired me to even create my own skate blog based on my local area. I even took the name from one of my favorite Greg Hunt posts. Being in my mid twenties, I missed the era's of print when guys like Fowler, Gonz, Natas, and Duffy were on absolute fire. Without this site I may have never seen Gonz frontside grab with a fake hand, or really cherished the magic that is Neil Blender. Thank you once again for the quality and time you put into every post!
John Gutierrez
I knew this was coming when I saw "special announcement". Thank you so much. As someone who grew skating in the mid 2000's as teenager my scope of skateboarding was rather small.
However, this site educated me and really gave me a new appreciation for skateboarding as a whole as well as photography. Thank you so much. I've checked this site religiously since I stumbled across it. Wish I could return the favor.
Keep on rolling brother!
P.S. Im eager as to what the final post will be. I say this because I recall you claiming you already had it picked out about a year ago and you had it set aside.
Chops, respect due for all your hard work. Thank you for all the memories. CBI forever.
My old roomates would always ask me why I was constantly lookin through the same old magazines(96-present) over and over when I know everything in them. A part of me thought it was a little strange but the pictures and articles sometimes inspire me for anything from skating, music, art, life, etc. Aside from youtube, I've never been on any skate websites until less than a year ago when I finally got a computer. I heard this site referenced in a magazine and was instantly stoked when I got on. It wasn't long before I started goin through every post and link and reading all the comments people would say. Rad. I'm bummed you're stopping but I understand what you're saying, it makes sense to me. I don't know u personally Chops but good luck in whatever u do and thanks with the links to Boil The Ocean, YouWillSoon, and the Skately library(I wouldn't have found these without the links on this site)
I knew it was coming soon.
All hail CBI.
Thank you Chops, coffee and cbi in the AMs m-f. Been loving it for years. Any Gino in store for the final weeks?
Rough day for me; first I say goodbye to some good friends on my last day at my job, and now this.
But an immense thanks goes to you Chops. The thing I liked most about your site, is that it was always positive, always meant just stoke people out.
Best of luck to you in your future endeavors
Crazy. It was a fun session, thanks Chops.
I would be lying if I said this site never made me misty eyed...
dear chop
I read chromeball all the time i had my skateboard nicked off me two years ago and your blog has kept me addicted still even though i cant afford a new skate i still get stoked on the scans and the interviews so thanks
Thanks for putting in so much time and effort to keep this going as long as it has with such consistently high quality over the years.
Should we ever meet, I owe you a bellyful of beers. Props.
I could cry! Thank you for all that you did (and hopefully you will continue in someway).
Sad! I will miss every bit of this great great blog!
Wish our humble narrator all the best for the future! hope chops will continue to publish some of the most worth reading and insightful interviews out there
Appreciate what you did for us, Mr Chops. Thank you.
Thanks for the last five years! I hope you leave the site up when you step away, that index is too heavy to delete. And your video links under each rider/section are essential. I hope everyone keeps cbi alive in views and comments long after your last post. Peace Chops!
Sad to see chrome ball come to an end...thanks for all of your work on this blog. No one digs through the old mags like you! Thanks also for all of the amazing desktop wallpaper and distractions from work. Good luck!
I started skating about 13 years ago, before I even got a board I picked up a couple issues of Transworld (One of which being the Koston Hollywood Bowl noseslide.) As soon as I had collected a good number of magazines, I went through them, choose my favorite photos and adds, ripped them out, and taped them entirely covering the biggest wall in my room. I didnt know who most of the people were in the pictures were, but I felt the need to be surrounded by skateboarding. It stayed that way for about 5 years. Eventually, I rearranged my room, packed up all the pages and stuffed them away somewhere. Around that time, I got my first computer, and the first thing I did with it was to compile a collection of all my favorite skate photos I could find on the internet. My computer crashed. Not long after that, I discovered this blog. At that time, the archive was vast, so I had the impression that everybody in skateboarding was aware of it (as they ought to be.) This blog is the truth. The true essence of skateboard media. The part of skateboarding that initially touched me in a way that nothing else can, and every time I skip through the pages, I feel like that little kid tearing out pages for my wall. I've kept nearly every magazine I've ever gotten, and this blog reminds me why: there has been a golden age of skateboarding, and that can never be denied, because you have captured it, in it's truest form. For that, I thank you, from the bottom of my bearings. - kevin
If it were not for chrome ball, I would have never been able to appreciate the artistic side of skateboarding. I am almost 19, and the overwhelming majority of what I see is ultimately cookie-cutter handrail trends. Due to this blog, Jason Lee, Ethan Fowler, Jeff Grosso, and Brian Lotti are now some of my all-time favorite skaters. What a breath of fresh air. Thank you Chrome Ball, I look forward to the next two weeks.
I would always get excited to hear that there was an interview coming Soon. Your interviews are my favorite. I want to be excited for the ones to come but this time it's different. Thank you for all the enjoyment. I'm stuck for words...
Thank you, for the most important skate site on the web. You allowed me and many others to relive the best times of our lives. Sorry, my English is poor. Much respect.
Thanks for everything, chops. Come to Atlanta and I'll buy you a beer.
thank you so much for what you've done
good that you decided to go out on top
Mister chops has heart of lion and delicacy of cherry blossom. The chrome ball incidents must be recognized by all. Continue warrior spirit in land of Port!
P.S.- How 'bout those Pirates?
Thanks for all the sentiment everyone. Really means a lot.
And yes, for those that are wondering, this site will stay up.
Of course.
Thanks again.
Thank you so much.
thanks Chops!
Who's got the Bo Ikeda submission???
This site is amazing. So many of these mag pages I had hanging on the wall growing up. Thanks for everything!
I am so sad to hear this.
I feel almost as if a best friend has said goodbye forever.
I love you CBI.
Thanks Chops
I started skating in 85 so looking at CBI was a wild nostalgia trip for me. Thanks for all the hard work, I'm gonna miss it man.
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay.
-Robert Frost
Thank you so much for all the walks down memory lane.
It would be great if you could add a plugin (via blogger) to allow browsing a random post. That'd make those archives a lot more approachable for the uninitiated and veterans alike in the future.
Skateboarding lacks a proper unified archive. No histories can tell the whole story, no website can explain it all. Regardless, you have damn well tried to attack this impossibility with ardent furvor. You have taken a lot of scattered and disparate information and compiled it in a way that is easy to follow and informative. You have contributed to our story as skateboarders in a way that very few others have. Thank you for everything you have done.
Cool as a cucumber. Best to not let it water down, because that's not what the site has been about. Your efforts are appreciated by many, and it's inspiring to see that your hard work and dedication has paid off.
When the time comes, we might have to just start again at the beginning.
Thanks, Chops.
just wanted to say thanks. this site means a lot to a lot of people. it's like a photo album of my life, every photo brings back memories. grateful to have it.
Thank you for everything!!!
I appreicate it all.
Sad but inevitable. Class way to go out. Very respectable, seeing how this isn't 'just another blog'. There is enough content on the blog as is to stoke out generations to come. I know I will still be visiting regularly. Thanks for doing it, dude. Really.
LONG LIVE CHROMEBALL!
I'll still go back to this site decades from now.
You have been a true steward of the real shit. Thank you for helping us all remember what we have been and are a part of. Your curatorial powers have brought dimension to skaters and eras that would never have beenas unified without you. Thank you, friend.
Tear drop...multiple tear drops...thank you for sharing your skate archives with us over these past 5 years, you're the best! and good luck with the future!
Cannot really add more to the comments already made. Thank you for all the work and the best interviews I have ever read. Hope some mag picks you up and pays you tons of money to keep this quality level of interviewing going.
Andreas fom Hamburg, Germany
thanks for the flush of amazing nostalgia.i will continue to visit the site for hidden gems.thanks from nz.
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES CHOP
I'd like to thank you from overseas Chop.
During all this years I truly appreciated going through all the scans/interviews, not only because they always reminded me of the "glory days" of Skateboarding but also because it made me feel that we (as skateboarders) are part of a community and that we are part of a large and great culture.
You did a such a great job collecting such great material (let alone scanning all the documents). I believe that CBI is followed not only by nostalgics skateboarding freaks like me, but also by the young ones. CBI has truly become part of our skateboarding community and you should be proud of that.
On a personal note, and as an old dude (way beyond his 40s), I truly appreciated the "BACK IN THE DAY" feeling of CBI, specially reading again the good ol' Big Brother interviews which always bring back a smile or a tear.
It would be very egoistic from us to ask you to continue this project forever and while I understand your reasons to stop CBI, it is with a little bit of sadness that I read your post. But then again, it is up to us, as skateboarders, to carry on the skateboard legacy.
So, again, THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES. God (or whatever that it is up there watching all of us) bless you. Long live CBI and of course SKATE 4 LIFE.
Peace.
KAYOTO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLgI-qbrWVo
I'm sad.
Emilio from Italy.
Chops - Thanks for all the daily joy. Respect for all the hard work you put into CBI. Props.
Much lova and respect from Germany!
Ah man this is sad.
Thank you for all the work you put into this.
Please do a book with the interviews if you could.
Thanks Eric for everything you've put into Chromeball. Good taste and nice selection.
I guess the first time I saw CBI was a link from bobshirt in one of the interviews... maybe Jeff Pang.
I know how many false starts (or I guess stops) there have been to ending chromeball. Getting hacked all those years ago. Trying to figure out how to embed code to track website visitors. CBI shirts, shoes and boards. Your big move from Pitts to Portland. So happy for what CBI has parlayed for your career and life. Our paths will cross in person one day.
I guess Acme week is never gonna happen.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!
I hope there's a
Lance Mountain or
Neil Blender interview
near the end.......
Although that would merely
be the ice cream on top of the
best cake I've ever tasted......
Thanks again!
Ben
Best site ever, you are a king.
Thanks for all the nerdy trivial tidbits that I always wanted to know. I'll still keep chrome ball as my homepage.
TJ
Thanks for the gift that is CBI! Cheers Chops!!
I wonder how this week will play out?
Blender interview?
Lance interview?
Natas interview?
Gonz interview?
Thank you for each and every post Chops! Your humble narration will be missed dearly. We tip our hat to you. Thanks again!
best skate blog ever! not even a blog really, more of a interactive museum of the best eras of skating.
your hardwork is much appreciated. this site was so consistent and got me stoked each time i clicked the bookmark.
thanks chops. thanks alot.
Sad to see the end of this amazing archive..I have checked it religiously since I first discovered it
Onwards and upwards....
Peace from Northern Ireland
thanks for everything chops. it feels a lot like losing an old friend, but I'll keep revisiting old posts.
Wow.
I've been checking your site everyday for the last 4 years and just wanted to thank you for your contribution on behalf of us older skaters everywhere. Your dedication is appreciated. Sucks that the last updated post is on my birthday.
Salute Chops!
Chops has contributed more to skate culture with CBI than any other single individual that I can think of off the top of my head. Great selections of photos, features, and interviews. I'm 33 and started skating 1988-ish, and as a life long nerd I can say with certainty that this blog has provided me with a favorite outlet for nostalgia as well as perspectives on the modern age of skating. Also I was a SLAP contributor from 2001 until they went digital, and I'm stoked that Mark Whiteley has been a strong advocate and supporter of your work, Chops. That association goes a long way in my book. All the best, and thank you.
Chops,
I really don't know what to write. I'm sad CBI will be ending, but I'm happy it's ending on a high note. This blog has given me more enjoyment then I can ever fully explain in a few sentences. I love revisiting all the classic moments of years past and learning insides scoop for the Pros, but most of all I've loved the friends I've been able to make through this blog (you included). I'm gonna miss the community we have here.
Thank you so much for five years of hard work and good luck on you future projects.
You'll be missed,
Bif
It seems as though the incident is still in effect these days. Sweet!
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