Oct/Nov 2004
SKATE-A-THON 2004Bill recently attended J&J Skate Productions' 9th annual Skate-A-Thon in Atlanta and had the following comments to make about his experience over the Labor Day Weekend. RST - You had comments about how at Skate-a-thon people
were running into others because they didn’t know how to stop.
RST - What did you see specifically that represented a
disrespect?
RST - From what you know, did the management complain
or did they have to come out and break it up?
What we have to understand is when we do anything that’s not the norm we should check to make sure it’s O.K. to be done and second, realize the danger. A lot of people don’t think about the danger of things, they figure they can skate well enough but we’re like children, we mimic, or might be encouraged just by virtue of being around it at that particular time. Now you’ve got a mess. I think we should look at the dangers of all concerned, be more aware of the overall and the image because if somebody does something like that, it’s just like me doing it. Somebody throwing a person in the pool is like me throwing them in the pool. Why? Because we’re all skaters there to have a good time and that happens to be something we might be encouraged to do, it’s not always the best choice. It’s not that we require counseling but I think it should be thought of that we should counsel and govern ourselves when we have these events so when we’re discussed openly in the hierarchy of Marriott, I would like to think they were thinking, ‘I can’t wait for that Skate-a-thon because it’s such wonderful people, they always have a good time, we never have trouble with them, etc.’ I know that as we know life, that doesn’t always happen, but I would like to think because it is skating and I’m such a stickler about skating and things surrounding it, that I’m very protective. This is just an opinion I have because in my near 61 years of skating I have never once caused a problem in a skating rink. Yes, I expect everyone to be just like me even though they may not be because I feel that way about the sport and hate for it to be looked on as ‘this is typical of skaters.’ Why should we have that stigma attached to us? We bring it on ourselves and I think that’s a shame. Everybody’s not like that, of course, but it actually only takes one with the wrong attitude to make us all look bad, because that’s what happens. If anything, help the Skate-a-thon be the greatest because when I start putting my people together, I only want those who can govern themselves, I tell you that right now. I don’t want anybody coming into what I’m trying to put together that will cause us to look bad, I really don’t want that. I’ve put too much time in and at this point trying to put together dynamite skaters of all different make ups and create this fabulous dance company - I’m very military about it. Anybody that’s been in the military, they know what I’m talking about - it’s all about taking care of business. Understand that nobody is perfect but there’s nothing wrong with striving to be so. RST - You wanted to make the point about people not being
able to stop and what a hazard that is especially when there are many people
on the floor.
Too many people got hurt and if it’s one person out of 10,000, (whatever the number might be), who is hurt, it certainly pisses the person off that got hurt because it wasn’t their fault. I don’t think that one person would be putting their name on the list to be the one....I don’t think anyone wants to come and leave on crutches or not being able to leave at all because of some uninvited injury. All I’m saying is let’s lessen the possibilities....I can’t imagine the way I skate not being able to stop, it’s incredibly hard for me to fathom - not being able to stop. RST - What percentage of skaters there do you think don’t
know how to stop because a lot of skaters consider that they do know how
to.
RST - What things did you see that showed you skaters
don’t know how to stop?
The fact that too many people, and I won’t say that person who pushed me came around the way, picked me out and pushed me the four times, this was four different situations within a particular amount of feet in the rink. I just got out of the way into the middle where I considered it safer to skate. When they use the term ‘faster skaters on the outside, slower skaters on the inside’, what they don’t say is ‘faster skaters that are able to control the outside in the event there’s a problem.’ I guess that’s too much to say, and those not in control skate on the inside because what they should be doing, they should find a place where it’s safe during the Skate-a-thon or prior to, and learn how to stop. I know how to stop many different ways and I’m in danger just as much as anyone else. There’s always that possibility, I’ve just been lucky that someone hasn’t knocked me on my butt. The best I can get out of that is an “I’m sorry” and sorry just doesn’t get it. If you’re sorry, let’s be sorry in advance then you won’t have to say it because you’re smart enough to know you shouldn’t be racing around the rink at that speed at the expense of somebody else. Go as fast as you want but make sure you’re in the rink by yourself. Once there’s one other person in there, you’ve got to be careful, that person and the other have to be careful of one another to protect each other. It’s no different than driving a car. A lot of people get on the road and they are of the opinion that ‘what’s your story?’ And when they say those words, they should be looking in the mirror and if you figure out your story, you’ve got the other person’s figured out.... This was years ago but I’ll give you an example. I decided I wanted to skate in the dark, I just wanted to see how it felt so I told Michael Johnson about it and Janet Burrows was there so there were 3 of us in the rink and we turned off all the lights and started skating around. It was beautiful, we couldn’t see anything. The only thing we had going for us was the sense of hearing, now all three of us knew how to stop but the one thing that was unusual and something we don’t do in the public is turn off the lights and skate around. If it’s something you put together like that and it’s just you and you don’t encroach on anyone else’s space or endanger another person for any reason, you have to decide. I didn’t say, ‘the next time I have my Thursday night at Empire, without telling anybody, let’s shut off the lights in the middle of a jam.’ That’s how much I think of it, you don’t do that or anything of the kind at the expense of others. You want to try something, make yourself be safe. RST - Your main point about the stopping is being able
to stop when going at a high rate of speed?
I think everybody that’s listening to me and will read this article will understand if you’re smart, you’ll do like i do: take yourself in the middle out of the way and let people race around. The people who do that, they’re gonna do it anyway so get out of the way, don’t try to tell some 30-40 year old person ‘Stop! Stop! Stop!’ Don’t do it, just get out of the way and that’s the end of it until people learn that there’s no real reason to race around. Girls and guys are responsible, we all do it and I use the term ‘we’ because I skate too but I just don’t race around, I never did. There’s no reason to race around when you’ve got 900 people on the floor...and for nothing on top of that? People do not understand rhythm and what I mean is you’re gonna race around the rink faster than the record is being played, what sense is that? Why do we do that? They should have one night called “Frustration night” for people to race around, knock the hell out of each other, those who wish to do it, and then the next two days those who were racing around are too tired and bashed up to skate and won’t even be there. Then people like me, who like to skate to the music and have a good time, will have one. ....some people who race around like that think it’s o.k. They think it’s fine and I love when they say ‘I got to get my roll on.’ Please! Get your roll on? Why don’t you think of it this way - so people like me, who like to have fun at the rink and not be threatened by people that don’t think...you’re not thinking, that’s what I meant about skating in the dark It was something I wanted to do but I did it at the expense of nobody. It was a great experience but it’s unusual and it doesn’t happen unless it’s in the situation such as I mentioned. Unless you can do something in complete safety in a large group of people, if it can’t be done, don’t do it. Have respect for one another, that’s all I’m saying. Let these Skate-a-thons be something that’s fun, something wonderful. Why should people be carried out? Being able to stop does not exempt you from having an accident because they happen the way they happen. I use myself as an example, I’ve just been lucky. I’ve had people knock me down and they’ll say they’re sorry and I’ll be furious, but I’ve learned to say, ‘It could have been worse.’ I had a guy knock me down on a concrete floor going backwards. I should have been looking at that instant but when I decided to look, it was too late so I didn’t blame the guy. I was pissed off because I’m thinking he should have been looking, so that goes to show you that I’m already blaming this guy for not looking when I should start with myself. As I skated away, I was turning all this over in my head and it taught me a lesson. It made me realize that we all are responsible for the same thing - being aware and protecting our brothers and sisters around us. RST - Thank you. Do you have a specific question on the above information or the Jammin technique? Ask Bill |
| QUESTIONS/COMMENTS
my question is, how do you break down a skate boot so that it feel relax on your feet? Wintertime123b BB - Get some Neat’s Foot Oil, you can get it from a shoe repair place or at Walmart, I’m sure. Saturate the outside of the boot with it, put it all over the boot and it will start making the leather soft and nice. |