Oh believe me, I don't claim to know anything about the history, or even the current version of flatland, so I'm really happy to hear about it..I consider myself more of an observer than an active participant, but honestly, anything I can grab on to and register as current, recent, previous would be a blessing, it's so hard to get any perspective of what happened in 1990, 1995, 2000... You really have to search to figure out what happened when, who invented what, etc. Its really a geek game, and I feel like it should be readily available knowledge. I'd love to know this sh*t. I bet a couple of other folk would like to know, but it's hard to figure out without the correct platform. I have no idea how that would work, but wow that would be so nice.
I'm an older rider, and I've either been riding, or just keeping up with BMX as a whole since the mid-eighties. Flatland is its own beast. That being said, it's gone from overtaking racing back in the 80s, to nearly disappearing adter the market crashed and everything went to hell in the last paer of that decade. But it survived, and helped to give birth to rider-owned comapnoes and 'zines thst covered different scenes and spots across the cointry. Flatland contined to grow without the help of a large TV presence, and a lot of classic jams and contests were birthed out of this so-called "dead zone" of BMX. Riders who only rode for fame and glory were pretty much phased out during this period, also. Contests will come and go, as well as medis coversge. As long as riders ride, flatland will never die. Hell, Japan has taken over flatland and the future looks bright. There are flatland schools springing up in other parts of the world. Riders uploading videos and clips to Instagram and Vimeo that can be seen worldwide. If anything, the community of flatland is growing, coverage be damned.