This Thursday, January 5, 2012, the action sports and street wear industries will gather in Long Beach, California for the January Agenda Show. For longtime industry heads this is a return to the Long Beach Convention Center after a eight-year absence and from the look of the list of the over 400 companies who will be exhibiting it’s going to be just like old times only better.
The message boards have been packed with this news for months, but yesterday (January 2, 2012) DC Shoes officially announced that they had made two “massive additions” to their skate program with Mike Mo Capaldi (formerly of Lakai) and Nyjah Huston (footwear free agent).
As usual, this announcement was followed by a flurry of comments from industry insiders and skate kids who don’t believe the publicly traded Quiksilver has skateboarding’s best interest in mind when it signs up major players.
One long-time skate industry head said:
Again skateboarders have sold themselves to a corporate giant who doesn’t care about skateboarding, just money. Happy 4 the skaters, though.
Another fired back:
. . . as long as that company funds skateparks, pays skaters well, makes cool videos and puts on cool events I’m backin’ it.
The first replied:
I know. Getting harder to hate buying credibility. I know it’s not rational but stills feel weird. Happy for skaters though.
Before getting all emotionally involved just remember: skateboarding and skateboarders are just the little donkeys who help drag the footwear marketing machine to the masses.
As if Mountain Dew’s caffeinated, carbonated high fructose corn syrup weren’t enough of a strain on the health of snowboarders and skateboarders, scientists are now suggesting further study of another of the soft drink’s ingredients brominated vegetable oil, according to a story on Scientific American.
Patented by chemical companies as a flame retardant, and banned in food throughout Europe and Japan, BVO has been added to sodas for decades in North America. Now some scientists have a renewed interest in this little-known ingredient, found in 10 percent of sodas in the United States. . . After a few extreme soda binges—not too far from what many gamers regularly consume—a few patients have needed medical attention for skin lesions, memory loss and nerve disorders, all symptoms of overexposure to bromine.
Hell yeah! Drink more Mountain Dew, kids. You may have all kinds of problems, but at least you won’t spontaneously burst into flames.
Guess we’re going to have to rename that action sports tour the “flame retardant, caffeinated, carbonated high fructose corn syrup tour,” or the FRCCHFCS Tour for short.
Sole Tech/etnies has lost another one as 2011 Street League champ Sean Malto officially moves over to Nike SB. Says Malto:
“I’ve always been a fan of Eric Koston and Paul Rodriguez. Being on the same team as them is truly amazing. Plus, Nike has always been the leading brand in sports, with the most incredible athletes past and present—including my favorites Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant. It’s just an honor to be associated with a company like Nike. I feel like we can do awesome things in and for skateboarding!”
Funny how long it takes for the rumors to be official. Guess all these contracts are on the calendar year. Follow the jump for the official word from Nike. [click to continue…]
