by The Editors on April 10, 2008
The X Games are so totally irrelevant to us that even following this recent vert debacle is getting boring. Apparently, X Games General Manager Chris Stiepock is now saying that vert is back in the TV show, but it isn’t because anyone complained, or because skaters threatened to boycott the mondo, super kicker, or because readers voted to keep vert. No, no, no. It’s because of the planning process.
“We were trying to put enough vert features in the park course to satisfy the vert skateboarders,” said X Games General Manager Chris Stiepock. “In the process, the skaters realized there was no way we were going to be able to do that.”
Okay, Chris. Fine.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on April 9, 2008
More wacky taste from the crew at Robust Flavor:
Robust Flavor is pleased to feature the new collaboration by Diamond Supply Co. and our good friends at The Skateboard Mag. Introducing the “Stop Skate Harassment” T-shirt featuring a pig, spoofing traditional police shields.
We still think the “Skateboarding Is Not A Crime” sums this up much more succinctly.
[Link: Robust Flavor]
by The Editors on April 9, 2008
While we all know that the X Games have been a TV show (and nothing else) since the beginning, there are a pretty big crew of skateboarders who have gotten rich by playing along with ESPN. Most notably the vert skaters. Now when ESPN announces that they are going to pull Vert Skate and BMX from the show, some (like Andy McDonald) aren’t happy about it.
Macdonald accused the X Games of seeking the sensational, as when Encinitas’ Jake Brown tumbled 46 feet to the plywood deck last year, landing on his tailbone during the Big Air competition. Brown underwent surgery on his wrist, and suffered a bruised lung and cracked vertebrae.
“It’s just a show now. A circus,” Macdonald said. “How are we going to try to one-up Jake Brown falling from the ceiling at the Staples Center?”
There’s more, but it’s mostly about people being upset that someone moved their cheese.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on April 8, 2008
Danny Hoff, 40, of Glenpool, Oklahoma just wanted to spend more time with his 13-year-old-son Tyler. So he bought a brand-new Tony Hawk skateboard. His life basically ended one minute after stepping on board.
He picked up too much speed and hit a rock, which sent the board flying one way and him the other. His head hit the pavement, causing a penetrating head injury and irrevocable swelling. . . Hoff fell into a coma and was pronounced dead two days later. . . If he’d been wearing a helmet, doctors said, he would’ve had a 92 percent chance of survival.
This is one of the saddest skateboarding stories we’ve heard.
[Link: Tulsaworld.com]
by The Editors on April 4, 2008
Don’t know why we even care, but their RSS feed makes it so easy.
[Link: emericaskate]
by The Editors on April 4, 2008
We’re not really sure EXPN is the best place to read commentary about the X Games in general, as ESPN owns both franchises, however, editor Mary Fenton has written a timely story about the X Games decision to kill the vert competition.
On April 3, ESPN announced the biggest event shakeup since the inception of the X Games. As of this summer, vert, the oldest discipline in the Games, is out, and a new “SuperPark”-type discipline is in for the 14th year of competition.
“It’s time. It’s been time. ESPN’s always a little slow on the uptake. It’s no secret that the vert field has stayed the same for the last decade. It’s no secret that there aren’t any vert ramps for kids to ride outside Southern California. If you want a vert career, you have to move there,” says X Games General Manager Chris Stiepock.
Not to worry, however. We know all the Vert dogs will pretty much do anything to support their rock and roll lifestyles, so it looks like Shaun White is going to have to learn some new tricks. (Wonder if Snowboarder Magazine ever got that SuperPark name trademarked?)
[Link: EXPN]
by The Editors on April 2, 2008
On February 15, 2008 Wasserman Media Group, LLC took over administrative control of the Skateboard.com domain and recently posted the following jump page on both its 411vm.com and Skateboard.com sites saying that the two sites will “soon be one.”
Skateboard.com was one of the first skateboarding sites on the web and was originally registered by Tum Yeto’s Tod Swank and partners on June 4, 1996. For a while it was a mailorder site and then slowly evolved into a content and user generated content site covering skateboarding. But it never gained all that much traction in either form.
Now, it is part of WMG’s Sportsnet.com family which also includes: motocross.com, surfspot.com, 411vm.com, freeskier site newschoolers.com, and the offical P Rod, Jereme Rogers and TK community sk8site.com. Follow the jump for the official press release.
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on April 1, 2008
From the Catholic News Service:
When Pope Benedict XVI returns to the Vatican, he’ll be toting a gift not generally associated with an 81-year-old pontiff. He’ll take home the “official papal skateboard,” a gift from the youths of New York.
The gift and a contest to design it started with a remark made by a teen member of the skateboard club at St. Elizabeth Parish in Washington Heights, a hilly neighborhood in northern Manhattan.
Father Peter Pomposello is a skateboarder and the parochial vicar at St. Elizabeth. As he recalled it, he was talking about the papal visit with the club members and they began to ask him questions about why the pope was coming and what he would do in New York.
Peace be with you, and also unto you, roller Pope.
[Link: Catholic News Service]
by The Editors on March 31, 2008
Shop, eat, surf’s, Tiffany Montgomery attended the Quiksilver shareholders meeting on March 28, 2008 so we didn’t have to. Here are her take-aways. . . wait, she didn’t have any take-aways, just the facts:
Company goals include driving growth in apparel and footwear brands, divesting the equipment business, continuing its initiative to streamline global sourcing, cutting expenses, improving operating profit margins, improving cash flow and reducing debt. . . . Quiksilver now owns 406 retail stores, a $392 million business acounting for 20 percent of apparel and footwear sales last year.
You can read the rest on her blog.
[Link: Shop Eat Surf]
by The Editors on March 28, 2008
From the San Jose Mercury News:
One of the nation’s best young skateboarders lives in San Jose, but is never allowed to grind, ollie or kick-flip unless his folks are around.
Harry Murphy, who also has his own sponsor, is only 8 years old.
“I still don’t like to let him out of my sight when he’s skating though,” said dad Paul Murphy.
Even under careful supervision, with a helmet always attached, little Harry is living his dream. In the first grade, he wrote an essay about his desire to become a sponsored skater. A year later he is one.
“As soon as I started,” Harry said, pushing back red-brown curls spilling from his helmet, “I wanted someone to sponsor me.”
[Link: Mercury News]
