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.
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.
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.
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.
On Wednesday, July 29, 2009 Tony Hawk will be in Hollywood at the new location of Madame Tussauds‘ next to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre for the unveiling of his new wax doppelgänger.
The wax palace opens Saturday and might be called a museum, but there is nothing quiet, staid, stuffy or old about it. It comes with all the trappings and 115 wax figures . . It’s an interactive bonanza. You can rub shoulders with figures, hug them, dress like them, take pictures with them, and sit or play with them.
Tony is quoted as saying he was “most impressed with the measurements that brought his scars to life in the wax.” Trippy.
In mid September Tony Hawk will reportedly be joining Richard Petty, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Namath, Jim Brown, Fuzzy Zoeller, Mike Ditka, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, and Dr. J (among others) to play poker in the Sports Legends Challenge at the Atlantis Paradise Island resort and casino in the Bahamas.
“With the addition of Liddell, Couture, Hawk and Messier, we will enhance the experience for participants and entice a whole new audience of sports fans to be part of this event,” Bibbero said. “We’ve had an unbelievable response to this first-ever event. The support from the sports, poker and fan communities reinforces our vision to turn the Sports Legends Challenge into a series of worldwide events.”
We might have a hard time turning down an invitation to hang out in the Bahama’s with those guys, too, and we’re not even into team sports. Civilians who would like to gamble elbow to elbow with their heros need only pay $3,799 a person.
Pro snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler and pro skater Lauren Perkins are joining pro baller Steve Nash, pro paintballer Johnny Perchak (and others) in backing a new website that reportedly will help people learn how to become pro athletes. The site, which launches Wednesday July 29, 2009 is called Makeitpro.com, according to a story on Forbes.com.
These optimists are launching MakeItPro.com July 29, a site targeted to young athletes, especially those not growing up in sports hotbeds, offering them sport-by-sport advice as well as a social network to help connect with coaches and recruiters.
Because we all know that by following a few tips from our favorite pros we all be living the good life in no time. God, we just hope Gretchen and Lauren are getting paid upfront. . .
Baby Paul Cullen, life-long friend of Jay Adams and the youngest of the skateboarders made famous by artist/photographer Craig Stecyk’s Dogtown stories, died on July 23, 2009, according to a story on Yovenice.com. He was 47.
The C.R. Stecyk photo (above) will remain our favorite image of Paul if not our favorite skate photo ever. Paul’s worn down Vans, torn shorts, and complete overflow of innate style in motion captivated us as kids and made us want to be skateboarders even though we didn’t know any.
Christie Martin remembers him:
I want people to know, that his life wasn’t about drugs. He had great friends and wanted to do whatever it took to support his daughter and live a good life. It just so happens that when the pressure got to much drugs knew just how to sneak in in those moments and grab him. . . .He should be remembered as a ripper skater, shredder surfer, and loving doting father. We will love, and honor you forever in our hearts.
A memorial service was held at 10:30am Saturday the 25th at St. Monicas Catholic Church on California Ave in Santa Monica.
At 3 PM today the finals of what could be one of the most savage wool bowl contest’s ever as Converse presents Coastal Carnage live from the sands of Huntington Beach, California.
Check in as Raven Tershay, Curren Caples, Ben Raybourn, Tom Remillard, Grant Taylor, Andrew Langi, Chad Bartie, Collin Provost, Kevin Kowalski, Pedro Barros, Christian Hosoi, Mike Peterson, Vince Del Valle, Jaws Homoki, Nilton Neves, Justin Strubing, Brent Atchley and more go at live on the web following the BMX event at 3 PM.
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.
