Downhill Slide
Rogowski's popularity began to wane as "vert" skating of the 1980s gave way to Street skating of the 1990s. Vision Skateboards, the company that he had spent the majority of his career with, had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Looking to reinvent himself, he changed his name to "Gator" Mark Anthony, explaining that "Rogowski" was the name of his father whom he had never really known. Arguably, this also contributed to his downfall, since many people began to view him as a sell-out. After a severe accident in West Germany where Rogowski either fell or was pushed from a hotel window and landed on a fence, Rogowski returned home to Carlsbad to recover. After befriending Augie Constantino, an ex-surfer turned born-again Christian who became his "spiritual advisor", Rogowski converted to a strict Evangelical form of Christianity. This influenced Rogowski's look on life and the designs on his boards. After four years of dating McClain, Rogowski suggested "we can't have sex anymore unless we get married". The surprise change of lifestyle caused McClain to break up with Rogowski, and she later moved back in with her parents in San Diego. Once McClain left Rogowski, Mark began a period of severe alcoholism.
Read more about this topic: Mark Rogowski
Famous quotes containing the words downhill and/or slide:
“To get through their days, nervous natures such as mine have various “speeds” as do automobiles. There are uphill and difficult day which take an eternity to climb, and downhill days which can be quickly descended.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)
“We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
They call it easing the Spring.”
—Henry Reed (1914–1986)