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VentureVenture P-Rods are available in a chrome-and-black color combo, in high or low sizes of 5.0 and 5.2.

Used to be that there were only half a handful of truck companies to choose from. These days, though, the list is long, and all of them are competing to have their product bolted to the underside of your skateboard deck. To get there, they need to offer up a number of incentives, and we skateboarders can get pretty demanding: Your trucks better turn good, grind great, never break or slip an axle, and if we can get them for free, even better. Except for that last part, most truck companies have lived up to our expectations, including Venture. Starting out way back in 1984, Venture has weathered a few industry storms. Part of its staying power rests in the fact that it sits under the Deluxe distribution umbrella. And now, Venture has something else going for it: on January 6, the team welcomed Paul Rodriguez. You might have heard of him. To signal his arrival, Venture unveiled the P-Rod V-Hollow Light.

Gabe MorfordNew Real Skateboards pro Ishod Wair.

New Jersey has produced the highest number of professional and amateur skateboarders of any state outside of California. They say there's something in the water but there's no denying Jersey's contributions to skateboarding's long and storied history.

The Garden State's most recent offering is Ishod Wair, the red-hot Real Skateboards Pro from Hamilton, N.J., who exploded onto the scene and less than two years later crushed every amateur contest he entered, won a major pro contest as an amateur and was suddenly thrust into the pro ranks.

We caught up with Jersey's Finest to see how life has changed since getting bumped up.

Neftalie/Maloof Money CupGreg Lutzka throws a f/s 270 to lipslide at the Maloof Money Cup South Africa event. The MMC will return to South Africa in the new year.

My partner in NJSkateshop, Steve Lenardo, has a pretty spot-on theory about the state of skateboarding -- it's turning into professional wrestling. One can't help but see the correlation when everyone has a silly fictional nickname and you have grown men video-rap-beefing on the Internet. And of course there is the constant rumor mill. Recently the Maloof Money Cup scaled back its annual event held at the Magic Trade Show and scrapped its Southern California contest because of delays in the Huntington Beach Skatepark. In true wrestling fashion, a rumor quickly spread that the Maloofs were done and pulling out of skateboarding -- it was like Triple H started telling everyone The Undertaker was dead.

VansVans am Dan Lutheran enjoys some shine time on the Vans site this week. No rasta-colored bikes were harmed in the making of this photo.

In early December, Dan Lutheran, along with Elijah Berle, were added to the Vans skate team after "putting in serious time for the Vans crew." And as an introduction to the new team members, Vans is featuring Lutheran in a new series called "Dan Lu" week. According to Vans, "It only made sense to introduce our newest Web features using one of our newest guys, Daniel Lutheran aka Dan Lu aka Albuquerque Dan. Starting this week we are introducing Rider's Week with five days of all new, exclusive web content focusing on one specific dude each month."

Beginning today, Vans will feature daily updates with Lutheran, starting with an interview and leading into exclusive videos and photos from the filming of the upcoming Vans videos. And later in the week, Vans will offer a preview of Lutheran's episode of "Adventures with Chris," which debuts on February 22. Lutheran also gives some insight into his upcoming video projects: "There's a Toy Machine video coming out around the holidays called 'Reinvention.' So I'll be filming for that and nail it for that. Vans video is maybe two years away, down the line a little bit, but everyone is in the mode now so it's on, I'm excited."

Check the first feature here and be sure to check back all week.

Yoon SulNow a footwear free agent, Baker's Braydon Szafranski is weighing new options instead of jumping into a new deal.

It seems like the reoccurring topic in skateboarding this far into 2012 is budget cuts and personnel changes. Some of my very close friends and your favorite skaters are being released from contracts because there simply isn't enough money to go around. I was rather surprised to learn recently that Baker pro, Braydon Szafranski, was among those that severed ties this year. As of the first of the year he no longer rode for Emerica Shoes. Emerica is a very family-type brand/team and they embody what a brand should be. But that embodiment doesn't change a recession and so I find myself discussing future plans with Braydon, possibly plans outside of skateboarding. Luckily we needn't worry about that yet -- he told me he has shoe offers on the table but is just taking this time to enjoy "dating" before getting back into another committed relationship.

Ray Mickshaw/WireImageFrom left to right: Mike McGill, Alan Gelfand, Tommy Guerrero, Rodney Mullen, Director Stacy Peralta, Steve Caballero, Craig Stecyk and Lance Mountain in Santa Barbara on Thursday night.

Skateboarding's extended family took over the 2500-seat Arlington Theatre on Thursday night to raise hell, laugh, shout, and cry for "Bones Brigade: An Autobiography" during its west coast premiere at the 27th Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

As you might expect, the sellout crowd was comprised of an inordinate number of casts, crutches, and backward ball caps. Fist bumps and bear hugs all around as the affluent beach town's crusty contingent of old-guard skateboarders filed in alongside a visiting who's who of the sport's godfathers, pioneers such as Tony Alva, Jay Adams, Steve Olson, Duane Peters, et al.

Ben KarpinskiSteve Caballero was confident Lake Cunningham Regional Skate Park would remain open.

California's largest public skatepark will remain open and staffed through at least the end of the year as fundraising efforts headed up by skateboarders and their parents hit their mark.

Last year, the nearly 70,000-square-foot spread of sculpted concrete that is Lake Cunningham Regional Skate Park faced an uncertain future as San Jose plunged deeper into the worst budgetary crisis in the city's history. As city officials discussed privatizing the park, shutting it down, or letting it become an unstaffed free-for-all, local families banded together in an effort to keep it open and staffed.

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Current Krooked pro and former éS Footwear team rider Mike Anderson discusses the demise of his now former shoe sponsor éS, the current economic climate and what the future might hold for more core skate footwear brands. Now a father, Anderson also discusses "daddy duty" and loose plans for an upcoming Krooked video.

Real SkateboardsReal's new 'The Game's Never Over' series.

Gamers who like to skate and skaters who like video games can compete for free skateboard decks at an online Space Invaders parody put up by Real Skateboards.

Instead of shooting at the flying monsters and warships found in the original arcade game, which was released in 1978, gamers take aim at the men in blue who have historically come between skateboarders and their favorite city skate spots.

"It's all in fun. We just wanted to make something fun in the spirit of our board series that just came out," Real co-founder Jim Thiebaud told ESPN.

Tadashi YamaodaFrom left to right: HellaClips' Josh Kalis and Colin McKay.

HellaClips.com was launched about a year ago by skate veterans Colin McKay and Josh Kalis. The site basically offers a daily one-stop viewing experience for skateboarders who want to see the latest videos in skateboarding. Content is gathered from sites of companies, magazines, blogs and even user-submitted footage to be included in the new skate video superhighway called "Hellaclips."