Guy Mariano

Guy Mariano (born March 31, 1976) is a professional skateboarder who gained recognition at the age of fourteen for his video part in the Blind Skateboards video Video Days (1991).

Early life

Mariano attended John Burroughs High School in Burbank, California.

Professional skateboarding

Val Surf, a Californian retail outlet, was Mariano's first ever sponsor. Mariano's first skateboard deck sponsor was Powell Peralta and he appeared in the company's video "Ban This", alongside Paulo Diaz, Rudy Johnson, and Gabriel Rodriguez.

Together with Mark Gonzales, Jason Lee, Jordan Richter, and Rudy Johnson, Mariano appeared in the Blind video, Video Days, considered a classic achievement in skateboarding history. Skateboarder magazine brought together all of the video's members for a reunion article that celebrated twenty years since the video's release, while Gonzales has since been named the most influential skateboarder of all time by the Transworld Skateboarding magazine. Professional skateboarder, Paul Rodriguez explained in 2003 that he first saw Video Days in 1999 to better understand why his generation skated the way it did and also because the video inspired him to skateboard.

The Berrics

The Berrics is a privately owned, indoor skatepark owned by professional skateboarders Steve Berra and Eric Koston. It is also a website providing content filmed in the skatepark, as well other skateboard-related media. The facility's name is a portmanteau of the owners' names (the "Ber" of Berra's surname and the "ric" of Koston's first name).

History

Establishment: 2007 - 2011

In an interview with Pop magazine, Berra revealed that prior to the launch of The Berrics, he had been offered a million-dollar deal to direct a film based on a screenplay that he had written. Due to filming commitments for his skateboard deck sponsor, Alien Workshop, Berra declined the offer and later commenced work on The Berrics concept following a period of reflection:

All I wanted to do is I knew we have this hook because there were a lot of kids that always would ask Eric and I about our building. “Someday I’ll come to your skate park,” everywhere, all over the world.

That was minimal exposure of it. I realized we were on to something, like a Studio 54, and I was sitting there one day as I was skating and I think it was Andrew Reynolds that I’d seen do a heel flip backside tailslide on the ledge. It was so perfect and awesome. I never left Nebraska mentally to a degree, like I’m still a fan of anyone who skates incredible, ends up just skating.

Mariano

Mariano is a masculine name from the Romance languages, corresponding to the feminine Mariana.

It is an Italian and Spanish variant of the Roman Marianus which derived from Marius, and Marius derived from the Roman god Mars (see also Ares) or from the Latin maris "male".

Mariano and Marian are sometimes seen as a conjunction of the two female names Mary and Ann. This name is an homage to The Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus.

Mariano, as a surname, is of Italian and Spanish origin from the personal name Mariano, from the Latin family name Marianus (a derivative of the ancient personal name Marius, of Etruscan origin). In the early Christian era it came to be taken as an adjective derived from Maria, and was associated with the cult of the Virgin Mary. It was borne by various early saints, including a 3rd-century martyr in Numibia and a 5th-century hermit of Berry, France. It is also a Sephardic Jewish surname derived from the term Merano. The term, which is frequently derived from the New Testament phrase "maran atha" ("our Lord hath come"), denotes in Spanish "damned," "accursed," "banned"; also "hog," and in Portuguese it is used as an opprobrious epithet of the Jews because they do not eat pork. The name was applied to the Spanish Jews who, through compulsion or for form's sake, became converted to Christianity in consequence of the cruel persecutions of 1391 and of Vicente Ferrer's missionary sermons. These "conversos" (converts), as they were called in Spain, or "Christãos Novos" (Neo-Christians) in Portugal, or "Chuetas" in the Balearic Isles, or "Anusim" (constrained) in Hebrew, numbered more than 100,000. With them the history of the Pyrenean Peninsula, and indirectly that of the Jews also, enters upon a new phase; for they were the immediate cause both of the introduction of the Inquisition into Spain and of the expulsion of the Jews from that country.

Nike Skateboarding

Nike Skateboarding, also known as Nike SB, is the Nike brand for its line of shoes, clothing, and equipment for skateboarding.

History

In 1997, Nike commenced production of its own line of skate shoes, but was unable to sell to many specialist skate shops, as the market was already strongly in favour of companies such as DC, Globe, eS Footwear, Emerica, and Vans; Nike was not considered a core skateboarding brand among the skateboarding community and, therefore, did not receive the necessary level of support.

In 2002, Nike introduced the "SB" brand. The Nike SB Dunk Low model was released, and consisted of padded tongues and collars and the "Zoom Air" insoles; the shoe was more similar to other skate shoe styles than the corporation's previous attempts. After the SB Dunk's mediocre sales, Nike released four other models: The Nike SB Angus, Nike SB FC, Nike SB Delta Force, and Nike SB URL.

In 2004, Nike SB signed Paul Rodriguez as a figurehead for the brand and recruited Lewis Marnell as the sole Australian team rider during the same period. In March of that year, Nike released the Nike Dunk SB collection, aimed towards skateboarders in California. The associated shoe designs differed from the previous SB Dunk range in that they were designed specifically for skateboarding. The collection included increased padding, Zoom Air insoles, and enhanced material quality, including triple stitching, a standard for skate shoes.

Eric Koston

Eric Koston (born April 29, 1975) is an American professional skateboarder and company owner. He has been featured in the Tony Hawk video game series, and the Electronic Arts (EA) video games Skate 2 and Skate 3. Koston co-owns both Fourstar Clothing (with Guy Mariano) and the skatepark/website "The Berrics" (with professional skateboarder Steve Berra).

Early life

Eric Koston was born in Thailand, in the same hospital as fellow professional skateboarder Alphonzo Rawls (a shoe designer as of 2011). Koston was raised in San Bernardino, California, United States (U.S.) and began skating in 1986.

Professional skateboarding

One of Koston's first board sponsors was the H-Street company that was co-founded by Tony Magnusson and Mike Ternasky. During Koston's time with the company the team included Danny Way and Matt Hensley, but Koston sought a larger entity and later parted ways with the company. Following H-Street, Koston joined the Girl team and appeared in the videos Goldfish, Mouse, Yeah Right, and Pretty Sweet.