by The Editors on August 4, 2009
The body of a skateboarder Walker Howell Morris, 20, who died of blunt force trauma after hitting a tree while longboarding after midnight on Missoula, Montana’s Sawmill Gulch Road was found by friends on the side of the road two days later, according to a story on Missoulian.com.
The friends last saw Morris at around midnight on Aug. 1, and his father filed a missing person’s report on Saturday when his son never arrived at a wedding he planned to attend. . . The friend told authorities that they had been drinking beers at his house Friday night and decided to go longboarding; before parting ways, Morris told his friends that he intended to skateboard home.
Sadly, this is the second skateboarder to be found by the side of the road this summer.
[Link: Missoulian.com]
by The Editors on August 4, 2009
If this new HUF x JanSport collab carry-on bag holds a skateboard (or two), then we want one. According to Hypebeast, they’re rolling this project out tomorrow night (Wednesday, August 5, 2009) in San Francisco at the Elbo Room on Valencia Street, with a live performance from Wu-Tang’s GZA.
[Link: Hypebeast]
by The Editors on August 3, 2009
Ryan Sheckler sat down with Sports Illustrated’s Arash Markazi for a Q&A this weekend at the X Games and here’s what he had to say about his fans and haters:
My fans are the best fans in the world and my haters are the biggest haters in the world, and I love both of them. I [frigging] laugh at the haters. I laugh at them. It’s the most funny thing to see them. I try to put myself in their shoes and look at someone that’s doing way better than me and making way more money than me and I look at them and I’m proud of that guy. I’m happy for them. But the haters that are sitting there, running their mouth and talking [trash], they’ve never had to work for anything. They’ve never had the pressure of 100,000 people watching them. They’ve never been in that situation. So go do something productive with you life. Leave me the [heck] alone; I’m doing [stuff]. I got things to do with my life.
For the rest of the interview click the link.
[Link: Sports Illustrated]
by The Editors on August 3, 2009
Jack Connerton, 50, of Anderson Township, Ohio was arrested this weekend for using a gun to steal a skateboard from an 11-year-old girl, according to a story on Cincinnati.com.
The alleged offense occurred Saturday on Cincinnati’s east side, court records state. The exact location and other details of the incident are not yet available. . . Connerton faces one count of aggravated robbery. He is scheduled to appear Monday in Hamilton County Municipal Court.
This may be the most pathetic crime we’ve ever heard of involving a skateboard. Luckily, no one was hurt.
[Link: Cincinnati.com]
by The Editors on August 3, 2009
Australian skateboarding filmmaker Anthony Fricke, 22, was taken off life-support at the Gold Coast Hospital on Sunday, August 2, 2009, after head injuries suffered in an accident on Tweed Valley Way, according to a story in the Brisbane Times.
Police said Mr Fricker collided with a 28-year-old man as the pair were skating down a steep section of the highway, reaching speeds of 70kmh. . . The pair was with a small support crew filming a documentary Skate Australia: A Longboard Adventure Documentary. . . Mr Fricker had emergency neurosurgery at Gold Coast Hospital and was placed on life support. . . It was turned off yesterday morning, with his brother Ed and parents at his bedside.
According to the story Fricke was the creative mind behind the website Skate Australia. Our thoughts are with Fricke’s family and friends.
Follow the jump for the trailer for the film he was working on.
[Link: Brisbane Times]
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by The Editors on August 3, 2009
For those who have neither cable TV nor an interest in the X Games in general, we’ve compiled all the skateboarding results. . . We’d link you to the ESPN.com/Action site for more coverage, but visiting their web site will only end in confusion and annoyance. Trust us.
We were interesting to learn that with a bronze in vert, a fifth place the big air rail jam, and a silver in skatepark, Andy Mac became the most decorated skateboard athlete in X Games 15. How is that?
Follow the jump for all the results.
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by The Editors on August 3, 2009
Good writing is difficult work. It takes a skilled reporter like the New York Times’ Matt Higgins to come up with ledes as stunning irrelevant as the one that kicks off his story on the X Games Skate Park event.
In 1978, Steve Alba competed at the first professional pool skateboarding competition in Spring Valley, Calif., and won. On Sunday, in the final event of the X Games, Alba, 46, competed on the skateboard park Legends course, featuring pool elements, and finished ninth.
How is that for reaching? Read the rest for a nice New York Times overview of a skateboarding competition few of its readers even care about much less understand.
[Link: New York Times]
by The Editors on July 31, 2009
Yesterday, Skatedaily.net pointed out a blog post on FreakBeatFuzz regarding Philadelphia-based R.E.Load bag company apparently ripping off skate art from Jim Phillips/Santa Cruz, Hosoi, VCJ/Powell Peralta, and Alien Workshop and selling it on their $200 bike messenger bags.
Thanks to the efforts of the skate community, R.E.Load has pulled the bags and written this letter of apology posted on Skatedaily.net.
[Link: Skatedaily.net and Freakbeatfuzz]
by The Editors on July 30, 2009
The Wall Street Journal staff skateboard writer Conor Dougherty makes the case that Portland, Oregon may be the most skateboard-friendly town in America in his story Skateboarding Capital of the World.
In Portland, skateboarding has been woven into parks and streets in the same manner as cycling or soccer. Skateboarding is illegal in downtowns across the country. Portland’s downtown is marked with “skate routes” featuring signs with a skateboarding stick figure. In most cities, skaters consider it a big victory when a skatepark is built. Portland is building a network of 19 skateparks scattered throughout the city. Skaters even have one of their own in City Hall: Tom Miller, chief of staff to Portland Mayor Sam Adams, rode into politics through skateboard advocacy and has continued pushing for skateparks from the inside.
It’s a nice reminder that with the right kind of involvement from skateboarders some cities can do the right thing. Now, if only the same thing could happen everywhere else in the world.
[Link: The Wall Street Journal]
by The Editors on July 28, 2009
According to a press release posted on Thrasher Magazine’s website, Cliché Skateboards has been acquired by Dwindle Distribution. The France based skateboard manufacturer has been one of the few European grown companies to make its presence known in the rest of the world.
Cliché has always had a strong European presence, they have consistently put out quality video projects and carry a strong respect in the skateboarding community,” said Bod Boyle, president of Dwindle. “We are proud of what they have achieved and see a great opportunity for them to become a truly global brand under Dwindle’s worldwide infrastructure.
It’s a small globe after all. . . it’s a small, small globe.
[Link: Thrasher Magazine]
