Investors Business Daily is big on Zumiez the day before they announce their quarterly earnings:
But when Zumiez reports fiscal 2007 second-quarter results Wednesday, watchers expect it to shine. July’s strong same-store sales followed a 13.7% gain in June’s same-store sales and an 11.2% rise in May. Total July sales were up 42.4% from the prior year. June’s rose 48.8%, and May’s gained 51.6%
Dorian Paskowitz the 86-year-old patriarch of the surfing Paskowitz clan has donated 12 surfboards to a small surfing community in Israel’s Gaza Strip.
He said he was inspired after reading a story about two Gaza surfers who could not enjoy the wild waves off the coastal strip because they had only one board to share between them. . . So I said to my son, ‘Come, we’ll go to Israel and get them some boards,'” Paskowitz told AP Television News. . . . He described his mission as a “mitzvah,” Hebrew for a “good deed.”
While Paskowitz hoped to surf with the Palestinian surfers, security concerns prohibited him for getting in the water.
Burton has planted it’s first major flag in the retain landscape of Southern California as a further reminder that Jake is coming after the action sports industry with all guns blazing.
“Bringing our snow, surf and skate brands under one roof is challenging, but at the same time it feels right,” says Jake Burton, Founder and Chairman of Burton Snowboards. “Our family of brands have different messages, but their roots are all connected through the spirit of boardsports. Our intention is to capture that spirit and invite riders, skaters and surfers to come experience it.”
And we agree. No one will ever handle their brands better than they do. Apple is a prime example. Follow the link for the full release.
Garrett McNamara and Kealii Mamala went to Alaska to surf the waves that are created when huge chunks of glaciers fall off into the ocean. It’s a little like nature’s own wavepool, however, some of the waves they rode were reportedly up to 25 feet tall. Here’s some video.
There is nothing sadder than children dying and when two Southern California pre-teens died in one week while riding their skateboards it’s a stong reminder to wear protective gear:
In Moreno Valley, 12-year-old Sean Mikhail died Aug. 11 when he fell off his skateboard and hit his head on the pavement. He was not wearing a helmet. . . . In Menifee, Marlena Mattfeld, 11, of Long Beach, died Monday, three days after she lost control and slid beneath a moving motor home at Hanover Lane and Holland Road, near her grandmother’s home.
While helmet’s can’t save skateboarders from getting run over by motorhomes they can be helpful when rolling concrete. And, in California. . . it’s the law.
Lately there has been a lot of talk about skateboarding and the Olympics. The most powerful sporting organization in the world is having trouble with “the kids” and they think it might be time to include skateboarding in the official program. Brian Hendrickson of The Columbian newspaper in Clark County, Washington discussed this issue of 2007 X Games Big Air Gold Medalist Bob Burnquist.
“I’d rather it not happen than happen the wrong way,” Burnquist said Thursday after finishing his preliminary run on the vert ramp at the AST Dew Tour in the Rose Garden. “They need us more than we need them. And that’s OK. But we need to figure this out.”
Hendrickson claims the TV ratings for the Olympics have been sliding lately and that “skating’s popularity has erupted.” We know at least one writer who hasn’t check the X Games or AST Dew Tour ratings in a while.
Yes, Tod Swank should be very worried. Some Bay College students somewhere in Northern Michigan are gunning for the Guinness Book of World Records with their 31 foot long skateboard.
“When it all comes together, you see things,” explains Shaun Anderson, the project leader. “It started from a regular board, to the deck, the trucks, to the tires, and then it came into something that looks like a skateboard.”
Since Paris Hilton got out of jail it seems like she’s living the wild life by spending time in the water learning to surf. Surfermag.com’s Scott Bass questioned people about what they think of Paris becoming a surfer girl. As usual, the guys don’t mind and girls think she’s going to ruin the sport. Us, we don’t think it’s a problem at all. . . especially if she keeps having wardrobe misshaps.
Musician, writer, and former Seattle dweller Arlie John Carstens went to the 2007 X Games and then wrote about it for the LA Weekly. In his essay he included some good lines regarding X:
Aside from the thousands of hoochies running around in Frankenflops and the aforementioned OC elite with their hats and asshole glasses, the games were surprisingly boring in person. This is an entirely made-for-television event.
And an X Games truth if ever there was one:
Basically, any activity where there’s a good chance someone might wipe out badly, suffer paralysis or die spectacularly has always been fair game for X Games coverage, subtleties of soul and style be damned.
Of course, Arlie finalized his essay by locking into the philosophical out that almost everyone takes: the money. Oh yeah, it’s all okay because everyone is getting paid. And after all, that’s what action sports are about. Just click the link and read it. It’s better than we’re making it sound.
