8 Things You Don't Know About This Motley Crew of Badasses
By Stephen Krcmar
In 1975, a crew of skateboarders met at a paved embankment under the freeway in downtown Sacramento, California. Soon, they discovered pools and creative ways to access them. They rode hard and lived hard.
This film’s been out for a while, but many folks haven’t heard about it. Give it a watch!
Hailing from Sacramento and nearby towns, the N-Men were a crew of skateboarders whose legacy began in 1975. Their first meeting spot was a paved bank underneath a freeway.
The lack of skateboard media in Northern California limited the amount of press they got. And it’s one of the reasons they’re not as well-known as the Z-Boys.
They loved pools. How they gained access to them is part of the story. One member had a sign on the side of his truck that read, “N-Men Pool Service” with a one-sentence description: “Utilizing the patented “urethane cleaning method””.
"The N-Men were just as great, if not better than the Dogtown guys." Tony Alva
Original member Don Bostick and the N Men pioneered snowboarding in the Sierra Nevada in the late 80s, long before most resorts opened their chairlifts and slopes to those who like to slide sideways on snow.
Many dispute the reason behind the “N” in their name. Most believe it stands for “north”. Original member Gary Cross says that “men” was a response to the well Dogtown crew, “They’re getting all the coverage in the magazines…if they’re going to be the boys, we’re going to be the men.”
During a famous NorCal drought, the local newspaper would print the addresses of homes that needed “mosquito abatement,” which was shorthand for mostly empty pools with sitting water. The N-Men used these announcements in the Friday paper to find pools.
Tony Alva gave them huge props. “I’m here to say the N-Men were just as great, if not better, than the Dogtown guys,” he said.
They used Tony Hawk’s early fame to get access to pools. When Hawk became a household name, the N-Men put an ad in the paper, “Wanted, backyard swimming pool to film professional skateboard documentary.” There was no documentary.
Rent N-Men on Vimeo. Get more info on the documentary on the official website.
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