I’ve
been getting a lot of emails from people asking me about the true history of Sacrifice Skateboards and how it all
started. So in the interest of truth, justice and the skateboard way here it is
(as best I can remember):
In mid
1999 after a 7 year hiatus from skating I decided to get “get back into it”. At the time skateboarding was still dead and
I found it really hard to find any type of “big boy” skate to ride. So I started making my own boards. It was not easy and I only made a couple here and there, selling to just a few of the homeboys. After a
while I ran into my good friend Lupe from
Traffic Board Shop in East L.A. From there she introduced me to my compadre
Mario and with both their help I started my first skate company. That was in 2000. It started with
blanks that were 8.5x32 with a 15” wheel base and stickers or stencils to place
on the bottom as graphics. That went for a while and then I met my
brother and best friend Mike Mckinnis. He was the first guy I ever
sponsored and he did some killer graphics for me as well. Around that time I met two of the biggest
influences on me, Jeff Greenwood from Concrete Disciples and Bart Saric. They helped me
develop my website, take photos, make ads and skate for me as well; two true renaissance men! During that time I was approached to sell off the name of
the company, not by choice. After it was all said and done I had more monies to invest in a company
that had no name and no direction, things sat in limbo for some time. Enter Richard Sanchez. One day in early 2001 Richard and I were eating burritos after a skate session courtesy of
my wife. As we babbled about this and that I said, “It takes a lot of sacrifice
to do what we do at our age.” Then like a lightning bolt Richard says “Dude,
Sacrificio Skates”. I replied “Sacrifice
Skateboards”. He drew the very fisrt Sacrifice graphic right there on my kitchen table on a napkin.
The rest is history...
The rest is history...
In the
decade plus I have been doing this I have met some of the greatest people in my
life. I have mingled with skate legends and heroes from my youth. I have
provided for my family and enjoyed life, all because of skateboarding. Skateboarding owes me nothing and I owe
everything to skateboarding. There is a
lot more to the story than this, but in the interest of time I have tried to
keep it short and sweet. There are a few people I need to acknowledge from both
past and present. Without these people Sacrifice would not be where it is
today. So to the following, thank you for everything you have done and continue
doing to help me keep this dream alive:
Keith Moser, Tom Ledin, Dave Deluna, Casey Mcmaugh, Chris Thatcher
(R.I.P), Billy Deans, Nick Gates, Brant Austin, Hippy Shannon, Seffites, Jeff Roe (Fish
Egg Films), “Fozzy” Mayfield, Dan Levy at JUICE, Mike Battle, Brent Callahan, Ken Hada, Jon Jarvis, Kilwag, Yunker, Darren Clum, The Fresno Crew (Nate Malo, Josh “Peacock”),
Mike Hamerla, Kyle Mitchell, All the Vegas Crew(Les, Brain, Kirk, Troy Lurker,
Jensen, Paul Stanley, Pilot, Carl …), Mike Carlson, Neil Heddings, Brock Essick, Ben Butler, East
Coast Aholics, LOWCARD, Jolly Roger Skates, Show Me Pools, Dave Nelson, Jonny
Manak, Pete Rodriguez, Eddie Alarcon, Typical Culture, Scooter, Concussion, Red
Curbs, Confusion, Eddie Hadvina, Eric Dressen, Bar Fly, Eric Salazar, Dirty
Sanchez, Joey Young, MRZ, Will Rise Tattoo, my man BJ Morrill, Matt Jenkins, Brendan Klein, Eddie Hadvina, Joe Eale, PapaSmurf, Lake
Owen Skate Camp, Chris Farrell, Chris Kelly, New Mexico Abe T,SLEESTAK, Serna
Skate Clan, AZPX, Gobber and all the
Arizona crew, Cholo from SCUM, The homies from MSK, Rockabilly Willie, Andrew Quinonez, My wife
(thanks for putting up with all the skateboard craziness), all my familia, all
the team riders past and present and Jesus Christ my lord and savior whom
without nothing is possible! To anyone whom I forgot, sorry!
Now Go
Skate,
Rene “The Walrus”
Morales
