by The Editors on November 26, 2008
Australia’s former Brother Neilsen retail chain apparently owes Billabong International AUS$674,000 and the company wants to get paid. That’s apparently why Billabong’s subsidiary GSM Operations is taking them to court, according to Goldcoast.com.au.
GSM Operations has filed a statement of claim in the Queensland Supreme Court seeking damages from Paul Neilsen and Ahmed El Safty, along with an associate of Mr El Safty, John Hassan. . . .The debt is alleged to have been accrued by Brothers Neilsen between November last year and May this year.
What else can manufacturers do if a retailer has a going-out-of-business fire sale on product that they haven’t even paid for.
[Link: Goldcoast.com.au]
by The Editors on November 24, 2008
Many in the action sport media business have been asking what Wasserman Media Group was doing spending so much money on their Sportnet property. It appears someone inside the company asked the same question and answered by cutting 41 percent of the staff.
Twenty-eight of the group’s 68 employees were laid off late Friday, including Gabe Huerta, VP-product development, and a number of others from product development and support.
An email to Luke McDonough, the former president of Studio 411 was returned with the following message: As of November 21st 2008, Luke McDonough is no longer an employee at Wasserman Media Group/Sportnet.” And the recently launched Snowboarder.com has cut recently hired editor James Sullivan and is reportedly being run by a “project manager” at the company.
Some would say it was only a matter of time.
[Link: Paid Content]
by The Editors on November 24, 2008
Coaches from the eight teams playing in the EA Sports Maui Invitational college basketball tournament pose with large colorful (and remarkably light) planks that they’re not really sure what to do with. Maybe they have something to do with those necklaces. . . surf’s up, bros.
[Link: Rumor and Rants via Deadspin]
by The Editors on November 24, 2008
Surfers Chris Nel and Neels Engelbrecht thought they were going to get some good waves at Namibia’s Cape Cross, but ended up with more and 100 stitches after they were attacked in the lineup by a crazed seal.
They were about 600 metres offshore when Nel heard Engelbrecht scream and saw that a seal had grabbed him by the head. . . . “I quickly swam towards him and saw the seal attacking him continuously, jabbing forward with its head, jaws snapping at his face and body. . . .I was just praying to God, begging Him to spare Neels’s life,” Nel told The Namibian from his hospital bed in Swakopmund.
According to Engelbrecht, he had hardly time to breathe: the seal just kept on attacking, ripping part of his ear off, biting him on the head, arms and legs. “I just shouted to Chris that I couldn’t go on. I was tired and in pain, and the seal would not stop. I thought this was the end of my life,” he said.
The seal then went on to attack Nels, too, as the men struggled back to the beach.
[Link: Namibian.com.na]
by The Editors on November 22, 2008
According to a story on News.com.au Quiksilver has “shed Australia-wide surfing sponsorships to tighten its belt.”
It has ended its sponsorship of state junior championships in Australia and Quiksilver’s female surfwear firm Roxy also has dumped its World Qualifying Series tournament in Victoria.
The Quiksilver Pro at Snapper is still on, however. Things are bad, but they’re not that bad, yet.
[Link: News.com.au]
by The Editors on November 21, 2008
Not that we didn’t see this coming, but apparently Kelly Slater will surf in his sponsors Quiksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks Feburary 28-March 11, 2009.
This the strongest indication yet he plans to chase an incredible 10th world crown. While 36-year-old Slater has refused to be drawn on his surfing future, organisers of the iconic Snapper Rocks event have revealed the unstoppable American is already locked in for March 2009. . . . “The Quiksilver Pro, presented by LG, and the Gold Coast are two things very special to Kelly,” said event spokesman Johnathan Jenkins.
Nice that his main sponsor can still get him to come to work.
[Link: Goldcoast.com.au]
by The Editors on November 21, 2008
Rico de Souza, 55, of Brazil fired a shot for all fat, old, longboard surfers when he recently rode the world’s longest surfboard at a beach in Rio de Janeiro.
Afterwards he said that the ride had been a thrilling experience. “It was an exceptional wave, the wave was shaky, the board was jumping, but I managed to stand firm,” he said. . . Asked about his future plans, he said that he only wanted to enjoy life and do good deeds. . . “Life is a joke and we have to take advantage of our passage through earth in the best way possible,” he said.
Apparently, breaking silly world records is on Rico’s “best” list.
[Link: Telegraph.co.uk]
by The Editors on November 21, 2008
A new management plan for Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary has expanded the reach of the park and changed some of the rules regarding chumming for great white sharks and the use of personal watercrafts, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times.
The new rules expand the definition of motorized personal watercraft to ban the larger vehicles everywhere but outside the mouth of four harbors within the sanctuary and at Mavericks. There, they can be used for tow-in surfing only during the few days in December, January and February when the National Weather Service issues high surf advisories.
The new rules go into effect in March 2009 meaning this is the last winter for tow-ins at Ghost Trees.
[Link: Los Angeles Times]
by The Editors on November 21, 2008
by The Editors on November 20, 2008
Time Magazine interviews Kelly Slater and asks hard hitting questions like, “How would you describe the feeling of surfing to someone who has never tried it?” But they also asked the question everyone’s been asking lately: Are you going to try next year?
Well now it’s expected, isn’t it? Everyone’s saying, “Good luck for your tenth!” Everyone’s expecting me to go for it. We’ll see, I don’t know. I haven’t made a decision yet.
We’re betting he will.
[Link: Time Magazine]
Australia’s former Brother Neilsen retail chain apparently owes Billabong International AUS$674,000 and the company wants to get paid. That’s apparently why Billabong’s subsidiary GSM Operations is taking them to court, according to Goldcoast.com.au.
