Why is it you naysayers are outspoken via your favorite social media outlet about your disdain for the Video On Demand phenomena?

Yes, most of us love free rollerblading flicks, as do I, so why do some of us continue to bitch about coming off of a 5 spot?

I think we lose sight of the product’s greatness because of how quickly we can digest video content. At to that end, the argument of whether or not the internet has ruined rollerblading has been hashed over before.

I prefer to put my hands on the video as I insert it into my VCR or DVD player. I enjoy the physicality of the video. The dust on the jacket cover of Transcend. Its realness. You feel it was made with money that was well-earned. Wait? Say that again?

I came across some typical nonsense on the web concerning how much money a filmer/editor supposedly made the first day he dropped his latest piece of work. Speculation ran to around $30,000 or so, based on the price of the VOD and the number of downloads.

This kid was tossing some man’s financial business online for the world to see and I saw it as pure envy.

“I’m not paying $10 dollars for a video!”

Is it because you can’t actually put your fingers on it?

Can’t honestly afford it?

You’re not thinking about the money and effort behind the scenes, you douche bag!

These filmers — most, if not all of them — have real 9-5 jobs they leave or balance for the sake of going out and filming the newest, freshest content from your favorite shredders.

Now, your favorite shredders — believe it or not — ALSO have REAL 9-5’s, too! Everyone knows it’s difficult to make a living from rollerblading. We’ve known this for years. At least those of us that have been around since rollerblading’s heyday of the late ’90s. We’re simply all humans trying to find our ZEN within the happiness and agony of an ART we can’t seem to walk away from.

So, why can’t we fork over $5 to see what it is John Bolino or Chris Haffey is up to?

These guys do work to let you know they’ve still got it. Most with no health insurance, and no real income from their blading. UNTIL NOW!

Dig deep within your checking account and just enter the fucking credit card number already! This VOD craze is the new thing. Accept it. These guys, while out filming these VODs for the blading world to see, are actually killing themselves in order to woo you and your instant appetite for action. The filmers putting the price on these downloads are actually paying the rollerbladers putting in work with the profits! Is that so bad? Who pays for the plane tickets of these riders? The gas in the road trip vehicle? The gas station meals? The theaters rented out to showcase these VODs?

We should all be a part of the support web that runs throughout our awesome community.

Purchase that VOD you’ve been reading about on Facebook. Don’t just go over to your homies apartment and watch it and love it and then walk away. Go home and buy it yourself. Own it within your cloud. To hell with crying about how much it is.

Don’t buy that pack of cigarettes. Drink one less beer. Roll one fewer blunts. With that money you can now welcome yourself back into the world of the rollerblading support group. The community. Isn’t this how we’re supposed to progress?

The level of skating has already risen. The quality standard of film raised. So shouldn’t your outlook on the future of rollerblading change for the better, too? Adapt. Overcome. Download!

Rob Z is a rootin’, tootin’, bootin’ son of a gun from the great state of Texas.