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Jeremy has been a big part of the skating scene in Seattle throughout the years, over the last time it was a bit quiet around him, so Shawn Carter is giving us the lodown.
Shawn Carter takes us through the past, present and the future of of Jeremy Townsend. And Jonathan Roulston filmed a section with him at Skatebarn to accompany this article:
Some people love him, most people hate him but in the end everyone knows him…
His skating is incredible no matter what he skates but over the years I've seen the stigma around Jeremy Townsend.
To understand, it's necessary to take a step back throughout the years to enable the power and ability to pay respect for some of the things he has done for himself, the Seattle Scene, and skating in general.
I met Jeremy at Bellevue skate park back in 1996 when we were kids. The first time we met didn’t go so great. He followed me around the whole skate park for about 2 hours doing every trick I just did whether I landed it, or not. He landed every single trick I tried. After which he rubbed it in my face that he did the trick better and he himself was as well. This killed my pride…
Shortly after we packed up for a road trip out to Winthrop, WA with my Dad to visit friends that were building an indoor Roller Blader owned skate park. On that particular trip is where Jeremy and I became friends. The owners were talent scouting and had a few ramps/p-rails out in a street for us. They noticed Jeremy and picked him as their very first team rider. At the time representing a nameless unbuilt skate park later called Skate Barn East R.I.P.
Then a couple years later, after a Skate Barn competition Jeremy collided with a kid which accidentally tossed the kid into a fire extinguisher. Needless to say Jeremy's Cobra Kai tactics of "show no mercy" got him kicked off the team and that's where the hating started and has only gotten worse since then. But why?
Throughout the years he successfully showcased our scene on Video Groove for "Battle My Crew" and other VG's. Jeremy skated park demos and also helped to develop skate parks in our area. He produced 3 movies representing the Seattle area. Drastic Measures, Downtown Mayhem and The Mix. He created by hand and fully funded a website for all of us rollers in the area to connect for news, comps, gossip or just for getting in touch with someone who wanted to skate that day. By the end of SeattleSkaters.com era it was doing close to 300,000 hit’s a month. Meaning the site reached out to a world of roller bladers not just Seattle‘s. Amazing!
In 2001 he started a street competition " Street Battle Seattle" All of this was done with his own money and hard work. Spending endless hours contacting sponsors via email or by telephone. The work paid off! He obtained the best prizes and give a ways while doing everything in his power to make every contest a success on very limited budgets. During desperate times I've seen him reach into his own pocket to pay the skaters when the sponsors came up short.
Jeremy has always been a busy guy but always found time to still place in the top 3 of almost every local contest that he himself didn't put together. Unfortunately people still hated on him and his events. Even to the point of trying to boycott! In truth I have never seen anyone more dedicated to the sport and it's for no other reason than love. Plain and simple. Even today at the geriatric age of 28 pushing a walker you’ll find Jeremy skating harder than ever. Not to mention you’ll still see his awesome family on the sidelines cheering him on at competitions and talking with all of the skaters. He's killed it since day 1 and still today continues to do so!
Whether the hate was generated by hype or jealousy it never stopped him from doing what he does.
His skating now a days is nothing short of entertaining. This guy charges everything! Always the fastest one on of us on the course doing trick after trick. He either gets tired or falls before he stops. If you have ever seen any video clip or edit of him chances are the trick that you saw is just 1 of the 10 he's doing for any given line. He has one of the largest and creative trick vocabularies around. He skates everything! Gaps, weird obstacles, ledges, and yes even Vert ramps. Seriously, when's the last time you saw a street skater doing huge Mctwists in a 12" Ft. Vert ramps?
Almost every time we session someone off to the side calls him a "Ninja..."
I've seen this guy progress in skating and grow as a person. Yet he may still seem unapproachable in the park with his shinny belts, shinny pants, shinny shirts, hair bands, weird mustaches, snaking habits, kid ramming abilities and hardcore Britney Spears music playing on his Ipod but if you sit down with him for 5 minutes, he’s surprisingly down to earth and probably one of the funniest guys you'll ever meet.
More than just a great skater he’s also one of my true friends.
I’m privileged to have been there for his milestones and accomplishments. Don't believe the hype. Talk to him for yourself and make up your own damn mind.
-Shawn Carter 12.5.2009
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Nice!