pops and wenning are the two most influential skateboarders in my skateboarding. i don't give a fuck what any of you think about the two of them, i'm speaking from 100% personal preference. the problem is location. if you're not from here, YOU DON'T KNOW. you think you do, and you may even appreciate it, but it's not the same. watching pops or wenning crush jersey, philly, and ny when i was a kid meant more to me than any trick in the whole world that probably meant a lot to some of you. why? location. i'm from here, i skate here, and i love it. when i was starting out, these two just started getting a little bit of coverage, and both got on alien which happened to be the ultimate company at the time. to me, THAT is the way skateboarding should look. again, personal preference. if you're from san fran, i bet you can name two skaters who came up when you started who really got you so hyped to a point where you'll never bad mouth them. or even if you're from anywhere in the midwest, same deal. that's the problem, no one puts themselves in a different perspective in these gay ass arguments. its just "NAH HE SUCKS," or "NAH HE RULES." honestly, i haven't done a nollie heelflip noseslide since '02, because i think it's gross. but i didn't type in COTG's thread with that trick in it and bad mouth him, because i understand where he lives and his mind state. who am i to tell him to just go faster and minus the heelflip because a good nollie noseslide feels better. am i lazy for thinking that? to him probably yeah. but then again who is COTG to tell pops to add a flip and go slower? see? pointless argument. we are all products of our direct environment, and the sooner that everyone here realizes it, we can stop arguing about the way pops skates.