B.A. makes me think.

Did you know Nike were getting ready to make a full skate team?

I knew some of the guys on the team already, I knew Reese, Chet and Richard Mulder, and Daniel Shimizu, Gino, maybe a couple of other people, I don’t remember exactly who was on at the time. Oh, Todd [Jordan] and Supa- God, they already had quite a few people when they picked me. So yeah, I was happy because I knew the people that run the skateboard part are skaters, so I knew it wasn’t gonna be like this corporate people I had to answer to. I know them and they skate so it’s comfortable.

You don’t see Nike as this corporate image then?

Yeah, sure I do in some ways, but I don’t because I’m behind the scenes and when I go up to Nike, the skateboarding part is in its own little corner. It’s still in this huge Nike corporation, but I mean, Vans is pretty corporate too nowadays, you know. I mean, I would feel bad but I know that my friends who have their own company, like Lakai, they’re doing really well so, it doesn’t make me feel that horrible because my friends are still doing really good doing more ‘core’ skateboard stuff I guess people would call it.

Why do think Nike seem to get hated, when they’re doing the same kind of thing as Vans?

Because it’s Nike. It wasn’t born out of skateboarding, you know. Vans was born out of skateboarding so it’s more core skate culture affiliated. Yeah, its weird, sometimes I think about it. I ride for other companies that are pretty core, and I’ll always support them. I feel ok because I have balanced sponsors.

If you know me, you know I hate Nike, but Brian Anderson brings up some good points, and this Nike SB video is going to be out of control. They have a great team.