Danny Davis and Mason Aguirre have dropped in to help Totino’s with some of their branding issues. And we’re so stoked on those two shred dogs that we almost forgot that only two years ago (November 2007) Totino’s parent compnay General Mills, Inc. voluntarily recalled 5 million pizzas (many of them Totino’s product), according to a story in the Star Tribune, after “an investigation by federal and state regulators found that the pepperoni topping likely caused several E. coli-related illnesses.”
Good thing they cleared all that up years ago. Because now Totino’s are all good, just ask Danny and Mason.
We can feel the Olympic hype heating our fingers as we type. And it appears to be Gretchen Bleiler all day long. Here she gets profiled on VanityFair.com and we’re guessing this is just the tip of the hypeberg:
But the dichotomy between being a fashion designer and a gangster shredder isn’t Bleiler’s only contrariety. She also straddles the worlds of core and mainstream snowboarding. “Snowboarding, from the beginning, has always been a very core sport, and at first there were a lot of riders who resisted the growth of this sport on the mainstream level—thus the Olympics—as it seemed that it represented selling out the soul of the sport. But things have changed,” she says, pointing out that now kids are growing up going to snowboarding academies and training to be Olympians. “Even though this is still a very image-conscious sport, there are riders who are able to walk the line between core and mainstream.”
Terje Haakonsen’s big ol’ snowboard contest The Oakley Arctic Challenge, originally scheduled for January 2-3, 2010 has been officially postponed to March 5-7, 2010 because most snowboarders had other things going on of the weather, according to the T-A-C website.
So TAC choosed the safe option: Postponing the event to March. There are no other TTR 6 star events in the weekend of March 5 to 7. It is also right before the European X Games, and after the Olympics, suitable for the migration of riders from America to Europe. . . TAC hopes this opens up for riders that are now focusing totally on the Olympic event and qualification.
Makes us kind of wonder what they thought people were going to be doing during an Olympic year.
Start young. Sign up for the sport’s premier academy, located in Vermont. Pay $40,000 a year for tuition and board. Devote days and nights to the pursuit. Add guts. Expect glory. . . Stratton alumni are hoping to fill a third of the spots on the US Olympic snowboarding team for the upcoming games.
Yes. That makes nice brochure copy for the Stratton Mountain School, but not all students are Louie Vitos. For the full horror story on what some people will do to try to get their kids get into the Olympics read the rest of the story.
Snowboarding doesn’t seem like a place you would find a hot athlete. It normally attracts tomboys and women who don’t really care about their looks as much. But we did hit the jackpot with Gretchen Bleiler. . . This sexy snow bunny is an Olympic silver medalist and a golf medalist in the Olympic bikini competition that I just made up. Congratulations.
When Gretchen did the FHM shoot did she every think it would be following her around all these years like a crazed stalker? Probably not. On a side note: freeskier Kristi Leskinen ended up at number 5 on the same list from the same issue of FHM.
[Editors’ Note: Today’s original story (which has now been updated) was gleaned entirely from the Twitter feeds of : @tbyrnes, @shayboarder, @burtonsnowboard. Say hello to remote control reporting. Please take a moment to follow them right now.]
Doing what he loves to do today at US Snowboarding Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Colorado Shaun White dropped in on his first run in the finals and put down his perfect contest run with a front 9, back-to-back double corks, back to back 10’s and landed the highest score of the day a 47.
“It was great. It was a heavy competition. We’re doing tricks that have never been done before. I think today was the heaviest run I’ve ever done in a competition,” White said. “I’m just happy to get through it, get through the weather and be the leader here.” . . . “I’m just excited because now I get a little breathing room before the next event and I think you’re going to see a whole new rider by the time it comes around,” White said.
Aside from Louie Vito (who ended up second) and Greg Bretz, the rest of the men’s field struggled through the first run knowing White was coming up last. Many fell in the process. Ryoh Aono of Japan was taken from the pipe in a sled . “Okay seriously, three landed runs out of 13,” Tricia Byrnes tweeted at the time.
On the women’s side with Hannah Teter out with an injured shoulder Kelly Clark and Gretchen Bleiler were left to battle it out for the top spot. Clark got her first run down butBleiler fell on her first run, according to Shannon Johnson. The women switched up for the second run and Clark fell and Gretchen landed her run. Clark’s first run was enough to take the win with Bleiler in second.
“I liked having the Grand Prix at Copper. They did a great job today and I’m really excited,” Clark said. I was really happy with my first run. I’ve been working really hard on the fitness side of things and really preparing for this season mentally and physically every way I can. I feel like at this point in the season I’m riding better than I ever have.” . . . “Everything for me this season is leading up to Vancouver and every event I’m using as practice,” Clark said. “I’m pushing myself to do my most technical difficult run right now so it becomes a lot easier for me and a lot like second nature so I’m able to build and progress throughout the season. This is a great starting point.”
In the age of live online event streaming it seems almost a crime that the Olympic qualifying events of the US Snowboarding Grand Prix at Copper are not live on the web.
In spite of that, snowboard fans around the world are keeping up with the run-by-run details from an army of Tweeters who are on the scene.
Looks like Shaun White is keeping his 2010 Olympic program right on track by qualifying at the US Snowboard Grand Prix at Copper Mountain in the top spot and edging second place Louie Vito by .9 of a point. Both reportedly corked their double doubles so it is on.
“I’ve got a few different spins I’m going to mix up, but I just want to keep it consistent. I was already in, which was all I cared about,” Vito said. “I think Shaun felt the same way. It’s always practice and you’ve just got to step it up, take it up another notch and just get ready for tomorrow.”
Here’s the rest of the top 16 who will ride in the finals tomorrow:
3. Greg Bretz 45.7
4. Danny Davis 45.50
5. Dustin Craven 44.5
6. Scott Lago 44.30
7. Steve Fisher 43.3
8 JJ Thomas 43.2
9. Jack Mitrani 43.1
10. Ryoh Aono 42.9
11. Tore Holvik 42.9
12. Elijah Teter 42.6
13. Charles Reid 42.5
14. Nathan Johnston 42.4
15. Zachary Black 41.8
16. Matthew Ladley 41.6
The Gretchen Bleiler/Hannah Teter showdown we were kind of hoping for didn’t go down yesterday during women’s qualifiers as Hannah Teter pulled out of the US Grand Prix at Copper Mountain haflpipe due to an injury to her shoulder.
That didn’t stop Bleiler from dominating qualifiers edging Kelly Clark by 1.4 points.
“I had a really good run today. I’m feeling confident, I had a lot of fun and I am excited for finals on Saturday!” Bleiler said.
Today the men’s qualifiers are on. Follow the jump for the entire USSA press release. [click to continue…]
