I had to have my ACL replaced after a stair gap into the street. It was the demise of my skate career. I never fully recovered from that but I got to skate a few more years.
How often do you get to skate?
If I skate for an hour, I have a swollen knee for a week. Two hours skating equals two weeks swollen knee. You do the math.
If you could change anything about rollerblading, what would it be?
I would change the popularity of it. I would make it the most marketable lifestyle in the world.
For a Senate Catalog in ’97 we had the idea to put me in a tux playing my trumpet, getting pounded by waves. That idea wasn’t as good as this one. Photo: BK, Tux: BHS.
Any real last words?
Honestly, I love where skating is growing to! Keeping in mind that it’s an industry that doesn’t make near the numbers it used to 15 years ago. But people are living its lifestyle and the progression of skill is rising at an alarming rate. That’s truly amazing!
~boost~
Interview © 2010 Mike Opalek
Captions by the man himself, Brandon Hardin
Header portrait © 2010 Wes Driver
Excellent Read here.B Love still rules today. Now I’m wondering what happened to Matty Mantz.
You was the guy I looked up to, when I startet grinding sidewalk curbs and jumping small stair sets back in 1995! You are one of those guys that ignited all of this rollerblading we have now!
Nice article. Now, if they could track down the king of old-school style-TJ Webber, then that would be amazing.
Just awesome, best guy ever.
Fantastic article! Pleaaaasssse do a 15 minutes with Dion Antony and TJ Webber. This was just too good.
Great, I remember seeing B Hardin section on Day of the Rope, but I had seen nothing before that of him, im glad I read this as I feel I know more about the history of rollerblading before I started in 96/97
Great read. Please keep writing these kind of articles. I can’t get enough content on old school skaters.
Awesome article bro, I remember you letting me borrow your skates all those years ago when you came back to visit and I trashed your bearings in those tarmacs, You were so pissed but I learned to grind those few days, years later I followed in your steps here in Houston but never went too far. I am glad you got the recognition I always thought you deserved and are seen by many as the great skater I always looked up to.
Congrats on the interview and you were always my favorite skater.
Your little bro
I just randomly came across this and am totally pumped to see it! B has been a great friend of mine since back in the day. I have so many great memories and random stories that I still tell on a regular basis! Shit I was seriously telling a B story to a friend of mine about 2 hours ago!!haha…B is an awesome guy and the recognition couldn’t go to a more deserving person!
And whaddup Josh AKA “little bro”?!?!?! haha
Bit late to the party I know, but these guys were inspirational. I remember watching hoax 2 and thought b love , brooke-howard smith & co were legends, the number of kids who strapped on a pair & went hitting rails. Anyone know what happened to ryan jacklone? That dude was amazing
