When I posted THIS clip of Ty Peterson doing some amazing tricks on obstacles around our city I was stunned by the comments that were posted on our Facebook page. Some of the gems included "This is inappropriate and stupid. I don't even bother to watch the video clip" and "Another stupid ass that we as taxpayers will end up paying to keep on life support. What a goof". Both of those examples were from adults. Wow. We're used to having to patrol the odd troll but some of the comments were so ridiculous that they sparked normal people jokingly chiming in with their own outrage. And as someone who spent a couple of decades working in the skateboard industry these were views I thought we as a society had got past when the sport became super mainstream. I guess I was wrong.
The Facebook post reached 119,000 people and 751 of them Liked it, so the average of those who are intolerant is still really low, but I saw it as an opportunity to get more skateboarding in front of our readers. I hope to show the ones who don't quite get it that it's not scary and skateboarders are not a menace. And for the rest of us, it's just great to watch.
Without further ado I'd like to introduce you to Matt Berger skating the plaza skatepark as well as the streets of Vancouver. He's about to set our Facebook Page on fire (or not - hopefully not).
