Skateboarding's all about creativity and doing your own thing, but people definitely speak up when someone messes with a classic.
As we previously reported, professional skateboarder Weckingball decided the name "Feeble Grind" needed a refresh.
According to the Gatekeeper, the trick sounds "frail and weak," and he thought it deserved something with more impact.
To make the change feel democratic, Weckingball posted a poll asking followers to vote for a new name.
Options included "Eagle Grind" and "Beible Grind," but the name that ended up winning the vote was "Grosso Grind," named after legendary pro skater Jeff Grosso.
Since then, a bunch of skaters have started using the new term instead of Feeble Grind.
However, the original inventor of the Feeble Grind, Josh Nelson is not staying quiet about it.
"This is a huge insult to my friend Jeff Grosso," Nelson said in response to the name change. "I invented the Feeble Grind, I like the name Feeble Grind and that is what I will continue to call it. You guys can call it whatever you want."
For Nelson, this is not just about names. It is about respect. The Feeble Grind has been around for decades and carries meaning to those who watched it develop and learned it themselves. Renaming it, especially without asking the person who created it, hits a nerve.
Nelson also turned the conversation back on Weckingball.
"The name that sounds weak and needs to be changed is Weckingball," he said. "Let’s take a vote on what the new name for Weckingball should be."
Skateboarders are pretty split on this. Some think "Grosso Grind" sounds cool and feels like a way to show love for someone who meant a lot to skateboarding. Some think changing the name of a classic trick is pointless and kind of disrespectful to both Nelson and Grosso.
Call it whatever you want, but the Feeble Grind has history. Nelson’s sticking with it, and plenty of people aren’t cool with trying to rewrite that.
