Mike Valley has always been a man of strong opinions and also a man of action. Never one to sit on the sidelines, Vallely will tell you how he feels on just about any subject and he'll be heartfelt about his answer. With some notorious scuffles under his belt through the years, plenty of people have pigeon holed Vallely as a bruiser and some have written him off for this behavior. What some of you may not know is that Vallely is also genuine and open person. He takes the time to acknowledge every one of his fans and, year after year, he puts his body through the ringer to give skaters great demo appearances.
Recently, Vallely got some notorious notoriety for a scuffle he was involved in at an Anaheim Ducks hockey game. Vallely, a big hockey fan and longtime supporter of the Ducks was attending the game with his daughter and pro Hockey player, Scott Niedermayer attempted to hand a souvenir stick to Vallely's daughter. When another fan tried to grab the stick as it was handed over the glass, a fight ensued. Because of the fight, Vallely's relationship with the Ducks (he'd been a blogger for their website and made celebrity appearances at games) was terminated. Now Vallely has come forth on his site with a statement about the incident and his feelings regarding the fight. You can watch the fight, with Vallely's version of things here and form your own opinion.
Riding hills has been a part of skateboarding since the beginning. What started with surfers crawling out of the ocean and riding hills to simulate waves when the ocean was flat, has evolved into a whole other monster. If the Dogtowners that used to carve down Bicknell Hill in the 1970s could see (or have seen) the tricks getting flung down hills today, geriatric jaws would certainly drop. Take a look at the way today's best skaters are approaching skating's oldest terrain. (Photos: Tadashi, Zaslavsky and Karpinski)
