2023: Year In Review

The 20th Anniversary of The Terrible Company is drawing to a close – as we cross into year 21 of this dumb skateboarding blog, it’s time to look back at 2023 and see what kind of stuff that appeared on the blog this year. Some of it was about the history of the blog, some of it was about the larger skateboarding scene, but the best place to get a recap of it is right here.

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January

• Starting things off with a hawt take, New Year’s Day had a editorial opinion about Lil Wayne becoming pro for Thank You Skateboards.
• After reading this recap of 2023, you can read this recap of the whole history of The Terrible Company.
• Official “Best Photographer” Award winner Ryan Bradley kicked off our guest content for 2023 with a Top 5 of his favourite Terribleco video parts.
• RVCA dropped a Jamaica tour video in January, and I wrote some thoughts about how it meant a lot to me due to my Dad being from Jamaica.
• At the end of January I posted the story of how the very first Terribleco video came together.

February

• Dwindle began a downward spiral that has just gotten worse and worse, as Bill Weiss was fired from Madness Skateboards.
• I recounted the story of “Rushed Goods”, the first video of mine to bear the “Terrible” name.
• Bedworth Skatepark was demolished, and that absolutely sucks.
• Charlie Kerr answered some questions about The Terrible Company, and his thoughts on skateboarding in Coventry over the last 20 years.
• As February drew to a close, our buddies over at Baghead Crew dropped their phenomenal video “Satan”.

March

• I started March off by telling the story behind Covpark Combat – the skatepark competition ran by locals for the locals.
• More history of the blog, with a breakdown of Storybook. This was the first video I made to get reviewed in a UK skateboarding magazine!
• I made the Keen Ramps Slappy Stick. I wrote up a thing that explained how I did that.
• Near the end of the month I wrote about the first Terribleco tour video: 4Down.
• One of the OG Terribleco 4 Horsemen, Ralph Cooper, answered questions about his involvement with the blog.

April

• Coventry City Council are still more content with chasing profits and installing useless crap like novelty golf rather than long term benefits like a fit for purpose skatepark. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
• The Terrible Company’s most notorious video, Batface, received some love in April.
• Moose curated a list of his Top 5 Favourite Terribleco Video things.
• One of my favourite crews in skateboarding, The Worble, dropped their latest video “Worble World”.
• I wrote up the long story behind the Best Event Award winner at the Terrible Company 20th Anniversary Awards, The Summer Jam.
• The Video Roundup continued, with a callout to a teenage hero of mine, Ragdoll.

May

• Heathen’s own Stan Byrne, one of my personal fave guys to come out of Coventry, answered some questions about this very blog, Warhammer and being very good at skateboarding.
• After a long hiatus, Synergy returned for a special Star Wars bumper episode.
• I wrote up a “making of” blog post for Cannonball Holocaust, the video that had the winner of “Best Last Part” at the Terribleco 20th Anniversary Awards.
• Out of all of the skatepark campaigns I’ve been involved with, Victoria Park in Leamington has (so far) been the most successful. I wrote up a re-telling of the story behind the park’s long road from tin can mini ramp to concrete paradise.

June

• Stepping in to judge my own work, I wrote up a list of my Top 10 favourite Terribleco parts.
• The Terrible Company’s 20th Anniversary Spectacular dropped during June, celebrating 20 years of the blog.
• On Go Skateboarding Day, I collaborated with Project No. 5 to run an all day big bash celebrating the local skate scene, as well as 20 years of the blog.

July

• I started July off with an editorial about the past, present and future of The Terrible Company, setting the groundwork for the new work-in-progress video “Pirate Broadcast”.
• The latest in the ongoing drama of The Skateboarders Of Coventry VS The World continued with us getting the boot from the train station spot, which has become the home for the scene in recent times.
• Synergy Vol. 8 dropped in July, with a shopping channel inspired selection of offcuts and friends footage.

August & September

• News became official that Ride would be closing their doors in September, so I wrote up a post that explained why the shop was important, and how they had done so much for Coventry.
• Duffman answered some questions about his involvement with the blog over the last 20 years.
• I attended and filmed a bunch of skateboarding at the Ride closing down session at Creation.
• Riders Republic added skateboarding and I wrote a bunch of guff about it.

October, November & December

• Breaking tradition, our yearly Halloween episode of Synergy this year was themed around an obscure Korean drama on Netflix.
• I wrote an editorial about the controversial referee decisions at this year’s Battle At The Berrics, and what it means for the perception of the competition.
• Through the magic of game development, I created some Terribleco customisation options for SkaterXL.
• In December, Lovenskate dropped a dope new edit that featured our mate Lucas Healey.
• The Terrible Company 20th Anniversary Awards dropped – a surprise last minute dumb thing I put together based on some silly polls I ran on Instagram.