Dirty skate floor, dirty bathrooms (never any toilet paper in the stalls!), unskateable music during all-skate sessions AND a rude rink owner? All I can say is, you must have a really low bar set on what is acceptable, Marky.

These owners are the new kids on the block, and they’re black kids at that. Do they really want to become known as “that ghetto rink”? That is what is expected of black proprieters.

Think about it.

Sunday Adult Nite is a JOKE. They MIGHT get 10 people if they’re lucky. They play the same type of music as Franklinville on Sunday nights. Since Franklinville has a better floor, people go there.
It would be better if Adrenaline played Old School on Sunday nights to appeal to the more mature crowd. They’d get more than 10 people, that’s for sure.

And, don’t ask them to change the music or voice your opinion if they’re playing crap–especially during All-Skate sessions . . . you’ll just get told off.

They don’t clean the floor before each session–the amount of gum on the floor is RIDICULOUS.

I had hoped that the new management would be better for the only black rink in Delaware. I was wrong. We need another black rink in Delaware to give these jokers some competition. The customer service SUCKS.

now on top of the bashing some of you have done against gman, you come in bashing bill butler. the reason the link you mentioned is listed at the bottom of the page is because that’s standard procedure for blogs – to have links for the previous thread and the next thread on the blog, listed at the bottom of the page. if you had went further, you would have also taken the time to notice there is also a link (with an arrow next to it) which says “the elsmere skating rink controversy”. that happens to be listed because it’s the next thread after this one.

so, please continue to laugh over this thread because you just added some more reasons to laugh. based on this, i don’t even know if there is a need to respond to the rest of what you posted other than to say that no one is preventing anybody, including you, from enjoying skating at the akines’ rink. why you and others feel the need to come in here continuing to say things like that remains something that i find to be ridiculous.

and just for the heck of it, let me go on and address some of your other points. when i posted this thread, i was not aware of who the new owners were, all i knew was that the message on the phone revealed that the new name was the “adrenaline skating center.” i seriously doubt, however, that the title of this thread is the reason RST was not granted an interview by the akines and, as a working journalist, i have more than the ability to present a clear picture of any information i am given. i have consistently said from the get go that there are many more sides to the story but that’s not enough to prevent some of you from concluding that i am being biased in this. i have questions, some of which i’ve put up here …. and ask questions is what i do on the regular, as a working journalist. and as a journalist, i know that were this any other situation, there are definitely enough oddities and red flags that would lead anyone to raise some questions.

as far as me not knowing what is happening with skating on the east coast, it’s strange you would say that since it is the posting on RST that first made a whole bunch of folks aware of what had happened in deleware …… way over there on the east coast. and it took some “shill” way over here in denver to drop the 4-1-1. and let me say right here, your response is also one that indicates an “attitude” – just like the person who posted “mr/ms whoever you are……” that indicates attitude to me and your resorting to name calling and – like others in here – resorting to putting up misinformation, is a clear sign of someone operating in haste and out of emotion because they have an attitude that someone is raising questions about this whole thing.

so, let’s be clear, bill butler has absolutely NOTHING to do with this situation and therefore, there was no need for you to bring his name up and insult him or insinuate anything else about him. you never know, people observing how you and other adrenaline supporters have acted in here might be gaining the impression that you all are “shills” for the akines who keep putting forth these extremely “SAD attempts” to do/say ANYTHING (true or false; rational or irrational) to worship the ground they walk on.

but you all keep doing what you do. you’re really only making yourselves and the akines look worse than they already may look to some.

shalom~

I have to admit that I’m happy to see the Akines become owners of a rink. And I also feel for Gman losing out, however, that is business, black/white or indifferent, business is business. Gman is a strong brother, his life will go on despite this.

But, the response of the “moderator” here leaves a lot to be desired. You have all but accused them of doing something underhanded to get the rink and now you expect them to answer questions from you?!! Are you part of the John McCain campaign? Secondly, you pretend not to have a side in this but there is a line clearly printed on the bottom of this page that states: “Bill Butler in talks to do reality series the elsmere skating rink controversy” So what is the real agenda here? Lets be real, you have always been a shill for anything Bill Butler does so this must be just another one of your sad attempts to worship the ground he walks on. Your site or not, you are not always right, neither is Bill and this rink controversy is just another example of that. You are probably more qualified to speak on issues on skating in that great skating Mecca of Denver, but you certainly dont know what’s happening on the east coast. Stick to what you know and leave the rest of us to enjoy skating at the Akines’ new rink.

Shalom

- when did you first develop an interest in purchasing elsmere and how were you informed that it was for sale?

- were you aware, as were many in the skate community, that garry corporal had long spoken of becoming the owner of elsmere?

- did you ever consider partnering with garry as a co-owner and if not, what would move you to step in to purchase the rink managed by someone you knew, had done business with, had supported and possibly been friends with for many years?

- was the united skates of america, the owner of the new jersey rink you’ve managed for many years, involved in any way, shape, manner or form in the purchase of elsmere or the process leading up to the sale?

- will you remain on as general manager of millenium skate world in new jersey or will you and your family be relocating to delaware?

i tend to think that if it were a white owner who had acquired elsmere under the same circumstances, there would be more of an uproar about it but since it’s a black couple, people are throwing “god” into the mix as if this is his will. maybe it is, maybe it isn’t but the circumstances of how everything went down – based on what is known – do not indicate that god was in the equation at all.

as for your advice, i don’t have a problem taking it but i still have to stress that debate/dialogue – even the kind that may seem confrontational to some – is standard procedure on interactive forums. bottom line is that’s what attracts a lot of people to forums as should be indicated by the continued posting to/viewing of this topic in spite of the fact that some of you all feel i am the one who has an attitude.

so, i’m going to continue to do what i do and am not mad about anybody choosing not to frequent this site because of it. we all know there are plenty of skating sites out there to choose from and i’m aware that RST has its own audience and readers who do appreciate what is posted here, and the way in which this site sometimes addresses what others choose to avoid. i know that will cost RST some readers/visitors and viewers but on the other hand, i know it will also gain this site new visitors. this site and what goes on here is not for everybody and i understand that, so worrying about whether or not my manner is keeping people away is not an issue to me.