Die Skulls, Die

I know what you are thinking: "What a hilariously ironic title". Yes, but that is aside from the point. I was just checking out some Shift gear and came across this jersey, and instantly thought I had to throw some hate in its general direction. 

Who was the idiot who decided that skulls were a good representation of the motocross state of mind? Actually, I guess skulls at this point have been used to represent this whole “extreme” sports movement that MX has been lumped in to. First of all, anyone who still uses the term “extreme” when talking about moto, snowboarding, skating, or any other action sport is clearly still the guy who locks his doors when he sees someone wearing a hoody or flat-brim hat walking by his car. It is such an outdated concept, and honestly it was a flawed term from the beginning. What constitutes something being an extreme sport? The guys over at FUEL TV actually do a great little mini-series documenting exactly what true “extreme” sports really are, called Unreel Sports. It’s not about motocross and skateboarding, true “X Games” are danger swimming and heavy footing. People say jumping a 100-foot double is extreme. Sure, if you have never ridden before, or maybe if you are doing it naked, that would be extreme. Just because these sports are not run by assholes who are busy blowing lines off of strippers while they spend their year on the "DL" does not make them extreme (and NO, I am not going to say "Most sports take one ball, motocross takes two" because that phrase is SO retarded and overused. There, I killed it).

This rant may have seemed to fly way off my original topic, but it all ties in. See, back in the day one of those Mad Men types decided that skulls were a great image to include in advertising to the rebellious sub-culture of consumers (skaters, surfers, etc.). Kind of like the pirates of the modern day society, right? During a time when marketing strategies began to shift from mass to segmented marketing, the guy selling the skull designs to companies absolutely struck gold, in their eyes. But sadly, it really is not the case that skulls attract me to anything, and from what I have heard from other people, our opinions are one in the same. A skull to me is the pinnacle of douchebaggery in brand imaging and marketing. You might as well be wearing an Ed Hardy shirt when you go riding. So please, motocross industry, enough of the butt-pirate skull garbage and just focus on creating designs that are unique and different. 

Side note: Normally I would not include this because it does not really fit the BROto mission of not making friends, but this post has nothing to do with the company Skullcandy. Those guys are rad, and I know that the skull design is kind of a big thing for them, but that's because their product is something that you use on your head, right? Their headphones are so awesome that they are like some delicious treat that you put on your noggin. Skull candy. Whoa, that just blew my mind. Props to Rick Alden, he's the man.