It just depends on who you're talking to, I think. I just rode with a group of younger riders, and it was pretty predictable who knew about dudes like Hamilton. Hint: it was the kids with heavier, beat up bikes with more of a street style of riding-- the ones that clearly gave less of a fuck, to put it simply.
If you subscribe to that kind of riding, you're bound to eventually discover Hamilton, Edwin, Lino, Rat...all the dudes that we took cues from when we were younger. And while we might have the advantage of being a product of that particular generation of BMXers, I remember the people I rode with the first time around still knew about and appreciated riders even further back like DMC, Vic Murphy, Kelly Baker, etc. etc.
I don't think BMX has a history of disregarding its legends, necessarily, but I do think that for the new generation of riders (those that have been inundated with the rapid commercialization and internet coverage of the sport), there's just a huge blind spot that wasn't as obvious 10 years ago and hasn't yet been addressed by most media outlets in BMX.
I think Dig is probably the closest thing we have to Thrasher. Its a shame it remains one of the smaller publications, because if it were pervasive in the way that Thrasher has been-- and for decades, like Thrasher-- more kids would be exposed to that side of BMX and (to borrow a very tired phrase) 'know their roots' a little better.
Alright, I'm done now. Just a few thoughts.
Topic: Steven Hamilton (Read 261631 times)
