"They were so ruthlessly aggressive, they were more like a street gang than a skate crew"
Pg 67


The realism of this statement is completely evident in the context of this book. As the novel follows the Z Boys lifestyle, there are countless events driven by violence generated from the crew themselves. One, for example happens when the Z Boys lose to the more publicly known skate crew sponsored by G&S, a company that will in the future steal Tony Alva from the Z Boys due to a stellar competition result in San Francisco. The Z Boys themselves come from a small skate shop in northen california, mastering the surf/skate lifestyle. Coming from such a small background, the Z Boys were known for beinging what some may call "un-professional" behavior to large professional events. This reputation was never forgotten, this was because of the constant instances in which the team would get disqualified from a tournament, get into fights with other skate gains, or lose the rights to utilize local skateparks.
The ways of these riders at of such a different nature than people around New England, or at this point anyone in the industry.  The surf/skate world at a much more mellow state now then it ever has been. There's nothing even close to what  it used to be, instead of aggressive skate groups there are individuals that are more focused on pushing the sport than stealing the fame. Also, with new funding the lifestyle does not need to be fought for, it can be more or less bought. Large companies such as Red Bull pretty much pay for athletes to live the life. Skatings not how it used to be, whether the change is for the good or bad  it will never be the same as at rag tag roots.