The US Postal Service is dropping in on Cowtown’s 21st Annual Phoenix Am Contest on Friday, March 24, 2023 to kick off the launch of their new Art of The Skateboard stamp series.
Fiercely independent and often rebellious, the skateboarding subculture crackles with raw creative energy. The bold artwork emblazoned on a skateboard deck is often as eye-catching and individualistic as a skater’s most breathtaking moves.
The stamps feature art by Crystal Worl, William James Taylor Jr, Federico “MasPaz” Frum, and Di’Orr Greenwood. For all the details (including special info for all you philatelists), please follow the jump.
Pro skateboarder Terry Kennedy will be spending the few years in prison after being found guilty of “aggravated battery” in the death of 23-year-old skateboarder Josiah Kassahun. Kennedy also plead guilty to one count of threatening a public official which comes with an additional five-year sentence as well bringing the sentence to 10 years total, according to a story in The Daily Herald.
Kennedy must serve at least 50% of each sentence before being eligible for parole. He received credit for the more than 1½ years he has spent in jail awaiting trial and sentencing.
Guess that means he only has three and half more to go before a possible parole. Would be cool if he could make that work.
The word from Sporting Goods Business is that the hilariously miss-named zombie brand reanimator Authentic Brands Group (controlled by Jamie Salter) is closing in on a purchase of Quiksilver, Billabong, DC Shoes, Roxy, and Element parent company Boardriders, Inc. For those keeping track, this would make Salter the undisputed king of action sports. No one else is even close.
Authentic Brands Group has proposed a new term loan that it plans to use to support a potential acquisition of Boardriders, Inc., according to a report from Moody’s. . . Boardriders, owed by Oaktree Capital Management, has long been rumored to be on the selling block.
ABG already owns Vision Street Wear, Airwalk, and a very large piece of Volcom. And to think, he started out with the lowly Kemper Snowboards. Talk about tenacity in the business world. Someone hand Mr. Salter a medal!
Ever since Doug Palladini disappeared mysteriously and suddenly as Vans global brand president on March 17, 2022, we’ve had a nagging sense of “wonder what happened to Doug?” And not being close to Doug it was not a story we pursued with anything nearing tenacity. We’d ask here and there, some would make hints, but no one seemed to have the details, or was willing to share them with us.
Well, last month, on December 28, 2022 Doug shared his story with his Instagram followers. It goes something like this:
On December 28, 2021, I went to see the cardiologist with a strange “twinge” in my left shoulder. Two hours later, I was in the cardiac ICU and two days later I was recovering from quadruple bypass open heart surgery. Today, exactly one year later, as I watch the sun come up over the Sierra’s, I am overcome with gratitude: gratitude to still be here, gratitude for the doctors and nurses who literally saved my life, and gratitude for all of the friends and family who got me through a very difficult recovery. Because of your love and support I am today the healthiest I have been in 20 years, because without health, nothing else matters.
Great news. According to his most recent Insta post, Doug is now an adjunct professor at San Diego State University (his alma mater) teaching, no surprise, brand marketing and communications. As so many have pointed out, those seniors are lucky to tap into a wealth of in-the-trenches wisdom from someone who has done it all and done it well. Seriously.
The San Francisco Standard has an interesting piece on Thrasher owner Tony Vitello made up of quotes from a September 2022 interview in which he discusses Jake Phelps’ fentanyl overdose and why Thrasher didn’t mention Phelps’ cause of death when the news broke. And, more importantly, why Tony was even willing to speak about Phelps’ death with The Standard in the first place:
“There was some concern about Jake’s parent’s reaction to how he passed. And my position was—and has always been—that his family’s word is the word I go by. And that’s why we’re here in this interview today because Marie [Phelps] told me that she wants to talk about it and that she thinks it’s important to talk about.”
No one is ever happy with these kinds of stories. And yes, it’s kind of sus to point the finger at anyone for how they handled a personal tragedy while they were in the middle of it. Drugs are bad, kids. Don’t do ’em.
Helmets made and marketed by Sakar International under the Tony Hawk Multi-purpose Helmets name have been recalled because they reportedly “do not comply with the positional stability and retention system requirements of the U.S. CPSC federal safety standard for bicycle helmets.” This the second time this year for Tony Hawk helmets. And years back Tony Hawk flammable pajamas were recalled from Kohls.
Tony Hawk multi-purpose helmets were sold in various colors and have black straps and a black buckle. The white warning label on the inside of the helmet contains one of the following item numbers on the top right corner: AGE251TH-GCRM, AGE251TH-NCRM, AGE251TH-BKMT, AGE251TH-BLU-T30-12, AGE251TH-RBW, AGE22SLDTH-BLK, or ACTGEAR242TH-GRN.
If you, or someone you know, made the mistake of buying one of these helmets, please immediately stop using it and contact Sakar for instructions. Another example of why getting paid to let people slap your name on junk might not be the best idea in the long term.
Mark “Gator” Rogowski, the pro skateboarder who has spent the last 30 years in prison for the 1991 rape and murder of Jessica Bergsten will not be paroled. The parole board voted to approve his release on June 14, 2022, however, California Governor Gavin Newsom has reversed Rogowski’s parole for the second time, according to a story on CBS8.com.
On November 4, 2022, Governor Newsom once again rescinded Rogowski’s parole. . . While citing Rogowski’s work to reform himself, Newsom wrote that Rogowski has “made efforts at self-improvement,” having participated in “significant self-help programming, including substance abuse prevention, anger management, and sex offense desistence courses,” [however] “Despite the constructive steps,” Newsom said a recent verbal disagreement with another prisoner and Rogowski’s inability to understand what caused him to act in such a violent way are reasons for his decision to repeal the parole board’s decision.”
Gator, who is currently serving a 31-years-to-life sentence, comes up for parole again in December 2023.
We haven’t even begun to process this yet, but Ken Block, action sports visionary, DC Shoes co-founder, rally car driver, Hoonigan co-founder, and all-around incredible person, husband, and father died today (Monday, January 2, 2023) in Wasatch County, Utah when the snowmobile he was riding reportedly flipped on top of him, according to TMZ Sports. Ken was 55.
According to the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office, Block was riding a snowmobile at around 2 PM on a steep slope when the vehicle suddenly upended and landed on top of him. . . “Mr. Block was riding with a group but was alone when the accident occurred,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. Officials say he was pronounced dead on scene due to injuries he suffered during the accident.
We are completely gutted. Our thoughts are with his wife Lucy and his three kids. (The photo above was the Block Family Christmas photo from their recent trip to Baldface Lodge.)
Tech Deck has been bringing us authentic mini skateboards featuring real graphics from the world’s biggest skate brands for 25 years. So when you’re not dropping in on a halfpipe you can carve, flip and grind your way to fingerboarding greatness. Or shred the gift-giving game with these must-have replicas.
From nose to tail, Tech Deck’s fingerboards are designed to replicate the feel of a real skateboard–down to the smallest detail. Collect them all, including decks from Blind, Baker, Primitive, Finesse, Element, Santa Cruz, Plan B, and Toy Machine, plus replicas of boards used by top pros like Mariah Duran, Nyjah Huston, Torey Pudwill and Daewon Song. Follow the jump for all the details!
Pro skateboarder Terry Kennedy will be spending the few years in prison after being found guilty of “aggravated battery” in the 
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