Author Topic: theflatlander.com founder....where is he now?  (Read 16488 times)

Offline D

  • Deathtrucker
  • ********
  • Posts: 800
theflatlander.com founder....where is he now?
« on: August 14, 2008, 10:42:03 PM »
The guy who moved to ATL, decided to get back into flatland, created theflatlander.com, (while completely dismissed the thriving flatland scene in Athens/ATL) co founded the AFL, and then completely lost interest less than 2 years later.  Now he's doing this:

http://briansofer.com/wordpress

Offline JFos

  • GF Inhabitant
  • ********
  • Posts: 3075
    • www.myspace/richardmccoy.com
Re: theflatlander.com founder....where is he now?
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2008, 10:45:28 PM »
lol I think 2002 was right after the Roswell contest..lol

Guess he saw he wasnt going to be rolling in the dough like a fat girl with an unidentifiable orafice.

Come out tonight D!
Schramm’s Law: “The single most important contributor to a nation’s economic growth is the number of startups that grow to a billion dollars in revenue within 20 years.”

Offline blind

  • GF Inhabitant
  • ********
  • Posts: 1922
Re: theflatlander.com founder....where is he now?
« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2008, 02:34:32 AM »
where is he?where are u?ive riden with you like 2 times this year.

TJ Perry

  • Guest
Re: theflatlander.com founder....where is he now?
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2008, 02:54:58 AM »
There was a contest in chicago that got rained out, and I believe he ended up taking pretty much all the parts for the contest for himself. I could be mistaken though.

Offline Mr.Jowee

  • GF Inhabitant
  • ********
  • Posts: 1707
Re: theflatlander.com founder....where is he now?
« Reply #4 on: August 15, 2008, 03:04:43 AM »
Didn't he become a folk singer?

Offline BrianSofer

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 5
Re: theflatlander.com founder....where is he now?
« Reply #5 on: August 15, 2008, 08:20:43 PM »
There was a contest in chicago that got rained out, and I believe he ended up taking pretty much all the parts for the contest for himself. I could be mistaken though.

You are.

Here's the skinny on Chicago...

A national brand hired a production company to put on an event to product sample one of their new candies - that production company hired tF.com to put on 2 pro flatland competitions in Summer 2001 as part of their Barrio Games promotion - 1 in Los Angeles and 1 in Chicago -- Los Angeles went fine, Chicago was rained out.  After one of the riders' friends was injured at the site and the paramedics were called, the production company bagged the event.  After that, I parted ways with said production company -- prizes/parts were kept by the production company - not out of malice, simply out of ignorance and disorganization.

Just to clear some things up, because I've heard this 'he's all about the money' nonsense repeatedly... 

My goal, as anyone who knows me and worked on the site will tell you, was a simple one --
to grow the Flatland community in order to open up more opportunities for the riders.  I pursued, relentlessly, all sorts of possibilities to achieve this goal. I make no apologies for that.   I don't know why I got tagged with this image of someone who was 'all about the money.'   That's just laughable - for starters, I'm a long time Deadhead and Widespread Panic-head.  And btw, anyone looking to make big bucks certainly doesn't transition into the largely UN-lucrative world of live music, song-writing and club-touring. 

tF.com wrapped up for a simple reason -- I didn't have the time or resources to maintain the website, my dayjob, my life, etc. 

My only regret was how badly I ended things with one time partner Chris Day, it was easily my darkest hour and something I've always felt terrible about.  So, Mr. Day - if you're reading this, here's the public apology you are so sorely owed.  You didn't deserve that ultra-harsh letter, and while we may have disagreed with certain things and certainly had a different business style, that's no excuse for the ugliness I sent your way, I truly am sorry for that, it was wrong --  and I hope you're doing well. 

Anyways, I still ride and was happy to recently give my favorite online Flatland shop some biz.

Oh yeah -- even though this community thrives on drama, don't believe everything you hear.

Sincerely,
Brian Sofer



« Last Edit: August 15, 2008, 08:27:26 PM by BrianSofer »

Offline leeroy002

  • Deathtrucker
  • ********
  • Posts: 873
Re: theflatlander.com founder....where is he now?
« Reply #6 on: August 15, 2008, 09:34:29 PM »
i loved theflatlander.com

Offline blind

  • GF Inhabitant
  • ********
  • Posts: 1922
Re: theflatlander.com founder....where is he now?
« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2008, 09:38:09 PM »
 u had me until the whole "thriving on drama" part. Internet maybe but not jams and contest for the most part

Offline jffe

  • Deathtrucker
  • ********
  • Posts: 877
Re: theflatlander.com founder....where is he now?
« Reply #8 on: August 15, 2008, 09:41:24 PM »
----The Flatlander website was great at the time, a precursor to Global here (with the sidestep of Pedal along the way ha-ha). Props to Brian for having done one of the biggest original flatland sites online, and for his apology to a fellow rider/flatland promoter.  :beer:

jffe

Offline bmxchris12

  • Funky Chicken
  • ****
  • Posts: 54
  • Flail boomerang to xerox machine. I dare you.
    • flatclothing.com
Re: theflatlander.com founder....where is he now?
« Reply #9 on: August 15, 2008, 09:47:07 PM »
Brian-
Thank-you for FINALLY and OFFICIALLY setting the record straight, and owning-up to the fact that you ended the partnership abruptly, without speaking to me, and then issuing a public letter to try to discredit & smear me.
I was TRULY hurt emotionally, and felt extremely betrayed by you. A phone call before you did it would have been the decent thing to do.
Despite your incredible act of treason, I took the high-road and even shook your hand when I entered the LA Barrio games just to officially squash the beef. (Even though on the inside I was still mad as hell & wanted to pound you right there!)
All these years I've had to explain to people what happened to the AFL/IFL & it was never easy to explain. I've always felt bad about the way it ended too.
I'm so glad to see your heart-felt apology, and I certainly accept it.
Thank you!
I've been doing very well over the years selling air conditioning and heating systems here in the beach cities/ LA area. That has allowed me the opportunity to start a little thing called FLAT Clothing. I have an eboy store: Flat Clothing BMX & flatclothing.com is being built.
Thanks for the apology!
God Bless-
Chris Day
Try an endo-boomerang today, then try a double!
flatclothing.com & Flat Clothing BMX (ebay store)

Offline BrianSofer

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 5
Re: theflatlander.com founder....where is he now?
« Reply #10 on: August 15, 2008, 10:47:37 PM »
Brian-
Thank-you for FINALLY and OFFICIALLY setting the record straight, and owning-up to the fact that you ended the partnership abruptly, without speaking to me, and then issuing a public letter to try to discredit & smear me.

Despite your incredible act of treason, I took the high-road and even shook your hand when I entered the LA Barrio games just to officially squash the beef. (Even though on the inside I was still mad as hell & wanted to pound you right there!)

All these years I've had to explain to people what happened to the AFL/IFL & it was never easy to explain. I've always felt bad about the way it ended too.

I'm so glad to see your heart-felt apology, and I certainly accept it.
Thank you!
Thanks for the apology!
God Bless-
Chris Day

Well, I will have to respectfully disagree with your representation of what happened above -- Let's just say we had 'creative differences' and leave it at that.

In any event, I'm glad you're doing well. 

Best,
Brian

Offline BrianSofer

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 5
Re: theflatlander.com founder....where is he now?
« Reply #11 on: August 15, 2008, 10:52:11 PM »
----The Flatlander website was great at the time, a precursor to Global here (with the sidestep of Pedal along the way ha-ha). Props to Brian for having done one of the biggest original flatland sites online, and for his apology to a fellow rider/flatland promoter.  :beer:

jffe

Props to everyone who made the site work - which was all the riders and contributors.

Art Thomason
chief correspondent
- competition coverage
- competition photography

Gavin Dickson
contributing writer/photographer
- competition reports
- scene reports

Iain Young
contributing photographer/writer
- competition reports

Patrick Schoolen
contributing writer
- the Flat Doc
- product reviews

Bryan Huffman
contributing writer
- product reviews
- slow-mo
- competition results
   

Effraim Catlow
contributing writer
- competition reports
- product reviews

Matt Hulgan
contributing writer
- product reviews

Dave Artz1
contributing photographer
- competition reports

Brian Hill
Designer / Webmaster

the Flatlander is what it is because of the contributions, participation, feedback, and suggestions from all those who have made the effort to get involved and help the sport grow. Huge thanks go to the following:


    * Art Thomason
    * Pro Impact Stunt Team
    * Chris Halverson
    * Johnny Lopez
    * Rebecca Bacon
    * Brian @ Underdog
    * Ken Pakhomov
    * Jon Knight
    * Lee Musselwhite
    * Primo
    * Steve Buddendeck
    * Hal @ Play Clothing
    * Jason Davis/ Not Freestylin'
    * Chad & Amy Johnston/ inTRIKat
    * Martti Kuoppa
    * Shawn White
    * Jason Brown/ Freeride
    * Cory Stratychuk
    * Brett Downs
    * Aaron Frost
    * Patrick Schoolen
    * Dan McCarthy
    * Paul Vail/ BMX Trix
    * Angie "sKwirl" McEwen
    * Jeane Kadmiri
    * Darren Hull
    * Huffy Bicycle Company
    * Erin Donato
    * Jussi Laukkanen
    * Jaakko Itäaho
    * Shane Thompson
    * Krystal Smelter
    * Perry Mervar
    * Leif Valin
    * Michael Sommer
    * Rob Thayer
    * Billy Greer
    * Scott Powell
    * Travis Libman
    * Shane Neville/ Backlash BMX

   

    * Amandine (Amy) Bordat
    * Chase Gouin
    * Effraim Catlow
    * Keith King
    * Kieran Chapman/ eWire
    * Old Skool Jorge
    * Blair Stewart
    * Chris Lilly
    * Brandon Fenton
    * Ryan Quinn
    * Mike Kelly
    * Oliver King
    * Viktor Szendy
    * Jason Harrison
    * Mark Mundt
    * Angelia Ijacic
    * Mike MacPhaden
    * Jeff Desroche
    * Gabe Kadmiri
    * Rob Wagner
    * Bryan Huffman
    * Jamie McIntosh
    * Splinter
    * Ken Paul @ Chase BMX Magazine
    * Darren Bolton
    * Tom Malina
    * William Junior Walther
    * Steve Mulder
    * Chris Mulder
    * Mark Mundt
    * Matt Pingle
    * Kay Clauberg
    * Kip Peeler
    * Matt Gardner
    * Kevin Jones
    * Gavin Dickson
    * Dave Artz1
    * Mark Laidlaw
    * Carlo Santillan
    * Ron Seay

   

    * Mary Ruf/ Ruf Image
    * Bart de Jong
    * Mitchell Hall
    * Jill Landowski
    * Timo Toots
    * Yasuyuki Takeo
    * Jurjen Semeijn
    * Hector Garcia
    * Iain Young
    * OLLIVE Vincent
    * Thomas Göring
    * Erick Gibson
    * Matt Hulgan
    * Brian Hill Designs
    * Brian Chapman


and all the Flatlanders everywhere who sent in their kind words of support and encouragement!!
« Last Edit: August 15, 2008, 10:55:11 PM by BrianSofer »

TJ Perry

  • Guest
Re: theflatlander.com founder....where is he now?
« Reply #12 on: August 16, 2008, 12:36:08 AM »
Well I heard it from a pretty credible source, but if I'm wrong than I'm wrong.

Do you still have those old contest videos from the CFBs? Those were INCREDIBLY sick.

Offline BrianSofer

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 5
Re: theflatlander.com founder....where is he now?
« Reply #13 on: August 16, 2008, 12:55:18 AM »
What I posted above re: Chicago, is exactly what happened.  I had no reason, or interest, in stealing parts and/or shirts from riders, and even less interest in flying home with all that extra weight.  None. 

I don't have any CFB vids.

 :beer:

Offline The Brown Sound

  • GF Inhabitant
  • ********
  • Posts: 1501
Re: theflatlander.com founder....where is he now?
« Reply #14 on: August 16, 2008, 12:55:46 AM »
wow crazy. Chris f'ing Day. There's a name I haven't heard forever. Great to see you still riding Chris and best of luck with the company! You were a big inspiration to me bitd. Man I wish I was there to witness this era of Flat. That's an impressive list of names! word up.
I'm like the brown LL Cool J.