“The addition of Grind Networks to our portfolio demonstrates our corporate strategic commitment to finding and investing in the right partners who have the vision to deliver targeted content, across multiple platforms, to our enthusiast consumers,” said Michael L. Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of Source Interlink Companies, Inc. . . With this move, former Grind Networks CEO Erik Hawkins will oversee all digital sales and marketing efforts for the new group; President/COO Greg Morrow will direct all technical and digital product development aspects of the business. The two founded Grind Networks in 2005 after serving as executives at Yahoo!, CitySearch and Launch Media. Both will report directly to Norb Garrett, Senior Vice President and Group Publisher of SIM’s ASG.
It will be interesting to see what magic ASG’s Norb Garrett can work with these sites as none (aside from Newschoolers in ski and Ridemonkey in MTB) have yet to have gained any authentic traction with either advertisers or readers. And while the domains snowboarder.com, motocross.com, and skateboard.com obviously have potential, this whole deal seems like a rather complicated, expensive way to upgrade a couple URLs.
Baltimore, Maryland’s Johnny Rad’s Pizzeria Tavern borrows its name from the singer in The Bones Brigade Video Show, its logo from Black Flag, and features a menu inspired by some of skateboarding’s finest. One example is the Nomad salad named after Bill Danforth. But the most surprising thing about Johnny Rads, according to Baltimore Sun food writer Rob Kasper, is that the food is good.
The menu was limited — bar fare, salads and pizzas — but the dishes had flair. A bowl of house-made hush puppies ($5) came with a creamy horseradish sauce that was outstanding. We polished off the sauce before the hush puppies, in part because the hush puppy portion size was so generous. . . Another bit of bar fare, the el vortex, a black bean hummus ($6) a vegan dish (Pugh is a vegetarian) that came with ample servings of carrots, and celery.
Johnny’s is owned by Rich Pugh and Steve Ball and as Kasper says in his headline, “Skateboard dudes can cook.”
A 23-year-old skateboarder who was reportedly towing “on to the back door of a four-wheel-drive” fell under the car and was dragged along the street in Torquay, Australia around 6 PM October 4, 2010, according to a story in the Herald Sun.
He was struck by a rear wheel and suffered head, lung and rib injuries. . . The injured skateboarder was taken to the Geelong Hospital and later flown by air ambulance to the Alfred Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Which reminds us. Check out this rad promo photo for Sabre.
Being a celebrity is hard work, especially if you’re Bam Margera. While posing on the Rolling Stone 2010 Hot Party (Friday, October 1, 2010) at the Mirage he put on a little stunt man demo with former heroin fan, porn actor, and author Brandon Novak.
A 29-year-old skateboarder died in Abbotsford, British Columbia Canada on Saturday night October 2, 2010 after he collided with a Ford Expedition. The woman driving the car is facing charges of “impaired driving,” according to a story in The Vancouver Sun.
Cpl. Casey Vinet of the Abbotsford Police department. . . .said the driver, who had four passengers in the vehicle with her, pulled over immediately. He said evidence of alcohol was found in the vehicle. . . Vinet said witnesses indicated the longboarder, who was wearing a helmet, may not have stopped at the stop sign. . . Passersby attempted to administer first aid, but the man died at the scene.
Our thoughts are with the man’s family and friends.
We’ll admit it: driving onto the Paramount Studios lot in the heart of Hollywood makes us feels like stars, but were were not alone. Last night, (October 2, 2010) a couple thousand of LA’s hypest skateboarding fans joined Vans for the 6th Annual Downtown Showdown. It was a crazy, four-feature, traveling skate contest that took up five pseudo downtown streets on the back lot and delivered four hours of non-stop action.
This year’s features included Pretzel Grip’s (Girl/Anti Hero) freaky figure eight speed track the “Time Trials Classic,” Black Label’s “Off the Wagon” gap to stair set, Zero’s “Blood Bath” volcano, and Foundation’s “F’d Up Stair Set.” The crowd followed the skaters from one feature to the other while the entire thing was filmed and broadcast live on the web. There was almost too much going to keep track.
The nostalgic story hinges on on a bachelor party at Rocklyn, California’sEpic Skatepark, but it starts 19 years earlier when a “skateboarding rapist was on the loose in Davis.”
I knew that we were in for some trouble. . . Not that we raped anyone, of course. But the fact that we were skateboarders who were already categorized as idiots and flunkies meant that we would automatically be perceived as the potential rapists. . . We were right. Things changed.
The new SHRED web site is packed with exciting gameplay tips! Kids will be on the deck mastering killer moves after viewing dozens of training videos that demonstrate over 50 jaw-dropping in-game tricks, including everything from kickflips and grabs to Tony’s signature 900! The site also showcases talent profiles of all the pro riders featured in Tony Hawk: SHRED, as well as a developer blog to keep fans up to speed with all the latest and greatest game news right from the source!
The Las Vegas intro is included above and these are the links to the full video event coverage: Glendale, Az; Ontario, CA; and the Las Vegas Finals. Watch ’em all at once, we dare you.
Source Interlink Media, the parent company of ASG (publishers of Surfing, Surfer, Snowboarder, and Skateboarder magazines) announced today that they have purchased Grind Networks including GrindTV.com, Newschoolers.com, Ridemonkey.com, 411vm.com, Wetsand.com, affiliate sales aggregation sites Snowboarder.com, Motocross.com, Skateboard.com, and entertainment site Stupidvideos.com.
