The notorious big another free#

In a sense, to create a 'thunderdome' atmosphere where advertisers could spar with one another in a wide-open community forum.Ī few of the people involved with Rocco and World Industries at the time, primarily Walter Sims and Natas Kaupas, expressed an interest in working on the magazine, so Rocco handed the project over to the two of them with a wad of cash for computers and whatnot.

The notorious big another free#

Rocco conceived the idea to create a magazine that would be entirely free from the constraints of censorship one that would expose the behind-the-scenes idiocy in the industry to inform the kids what was 'really going on' in skateboarding (if memory serves correctly, one of Rocco's quotes from this period was, 'The kids have a right to know.'). The magazines were also catering to their own self-serving interests, i.e., the obviously biased coverage of their own affiliated company's riders. One particular ad Transworld refused to print showed a skater committing suicide because he couldn't land a trick. This was mainly because they were refusing his ads due to content, both political and controversial. If you happened to be involved in the skateboard industry circa 1991-1992, you're well aware of the fact that it needed a good swift kick in the seat of the pants - the magazines in particular.Īt the time, Steve Rocco, the head of World Industries, was becoming increasingly frustrated with Transworld Skateboarding and Thrasher magazines.