The skateboarders of Rochester
Alec Majerus on the 2018 X Games street course
The second story on my Truth and Culture Hotline is on its way, and it’s about the 2019 X Games. My photographer Ross and I were assigned to do a story on Alec Majerus, but only if he won. He didn’t, but that’s not really the point of skateboarding. Anyway, as I’m preparing my notes and whittling down the stuff I wrote while I was there, I also took a look back at everything I’ve written about skating over the years. Turns out I’ve written about it a lot.
For a million reasons. It boils down to the idea that good skating is exhibiting grace in the face of danger. It isn’t enough to just land a trick - if it doesn’t look good, you’ve only done half the job. This approach is lost on a lot of people. There’s also the sheer resilience of mind that comes from failing over and over again only to continue working, without knowing if you’re even capable. The push to innovate is crucial, too. Skaters can win contests, but the most legendary gave the sport something that didn’t exist before they put their mind to skating.
My coverage of my city’s scene started when I was freelancing in 2015 - a new, annual skate contest was going to go down on 4th of July that year. Skateboard contest will add spark to July 4 celebrations | Lifestyles | postbulletin.com
I was hired by the paper as an editorial writer in March of 2016, and made it a goal to use the Opinon page to bring things I have always viewed as more ‘underground’ than they should be to a larger, more mainstream audience. The first of these efforts was to write an editoral in support of the skateboarding contest: Our View: New event's success needs time to grow | Opinion | postbulletin.com
Next up was that year’s National Go Skateboarding Day: Our View: Local skate community leads by example | Opinion | postbulletin.com, which I got to open with onomatopoeia, another early aim of my time as an editorial writer.
After only a few months the paper’s staff contracted and my position was eliminated. I retained my seat on the editorial board, but was made second-in-command of the weekly entertainment magazine, 507. There, I did as much as I could to bring skating to our audience. Rochester's skateboarders premier video | Magazines | postbulletin.com, The Rochester skateboard scene | Magazines | postbulletin.com.
I did an opinion piece about Cory Distad’s self-appointed mission to clear the skate park of ice every March: Our View: Skate park takes TLC from those who love it | Our View | postbulletin.com.
Our View: Fourth of July events mirror our diversity | Our View | postbulletin.com
Our View: Fourth of July events mirror our diversity | Our View | postbulletin.com
Rochester local set to slay at X Games Minneapolis | 507 Magazine | postbulletin.com
Alec Majerus: a legendary bro from our area code | Local Sports | postbulletin.com
Silver is sweet for hometown hero | Local News | postbulletin.com
Our View: Friendships forged at home lift Majerus to X Games medal | Our View | postbulletin.com
When Alec Majerus competes, his hometown supporters come along for the ride