Fox Sports today announced that they have signed a deal making them the exclusive U.S. television broadcaster for shows produced by a certain privately owned entertainment company specializing in event and online streamed content production (mostly surfing sport).
FOX Sports will telecast more than 500 hours of [surf event] programming, including live contests and highlight shows, across FOX, FS1, FS2 and the FOX Sports app in 2019.
This just might mean we’ll end up watching some of the surfing sport shows this season. Haven’t for quite some time. . . we’ll see. We were surprised to see no mention of the Oprah Winfrey Network? Maybe that deal isn’t done yet. For the official word from Fox (including all the details we’ve purposely ignored in light of our own sad, tired, anti-establishment proclivities), please click the link.
This is pretty much the only thing we saw from the 33rd Annual Mt. Baker Legendary Banked Slalom and seriously, it scared the scary out of us. Think of all the times these guys have been close to death on the mountain and then this happens at the cabin:
Snowboarder Shea Hemlick, 32, of Meridian, Idaho died after being hit by an SUV while trying to jump a Bogus Basin road gap according to a story in the Idaho Statesman.
The accident happened at about 3:15 p.m. near milepost 15 on Bogus Basin Road in Boise County. . . Hemlick was snowboarding outside the boundary of the ski area when he attempted to jump the road, according to ISP. . . The snowboarder collided with a 2006 Hummer H2. . . He wasn’t wearing a helmet, police said.
Road gaps around Bogus Basin (like being cleared by Sean McDonald in the above video) have been popular with snowboarders (and mountain bikers) for years. For the rest of the story, please click the link.
On Sunday, February 10, 2019 a 20-year-old snowboarder died after crashing on the first jump in the Makaha Terrain Park, according to a story on 9News.com.
Patrol crews responded to the area and found a man unresponsive. He was not wearing a helmet, according to Hanle. Despite immediate life-saving efforts, rescuers were unable to re-establish a pulse. . . The man was pronounced dead at the scene by the Pitkin County Coroner.
Snowmass, spokesperson Jeff Hanle said “Our deepest sympathies and thoughts go out to the man’s family and friends, and we are offering support and assistance.”
As if this whole TEN sale couldn’t get any stranger, a deeper dive into the backstory reveals a The New York Times story from March 2018 that hints at where the money used by American Media to purchase the TEN action sports properties (among other things) may have come from. . . Saudi Arabia.
The intersection of the tabloid publisher [David Pecker, pictured right with The Donald] with the Saudis, enhanced by the White House visit, is a previously untold chapter in the long, symbiotic relationship between the president and Mr. Pecker, which was forged in the 1990s. At the time, Mr. Trump was celebrating a real estate comeback after his casino bankruptcies and was both the subject and the source of much gossip in New York.
One action sports executive wonders if this all might be part of a plan to use actions sports as a way to improve the public’s perceptions of a county that, in addition to various human rights violations, has allegedly murdered at least one journalist:
Sports have been an increasingly viable way for despots to soften their image and market a national brand (Russia/Sochi; Qatar/World Cup; Saudi Arabia/PGA events). . .Doesn’t seem a crazy reach that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, et al. would have interest in creating action/participant sports events, promoting tourism, etc. And these would be cheap and effective markets for this purpose. . . It all does line up: money gets laundered, Pecker gets ass saved, Saudi’s get backdoor to Trump administration, and a bunch of cheap sports/travel media properties run influence campaigns.
Is this really why American Media had interest in a few small circ. action sporting brands? Click the link to read the rest of the story.
In a story posted on Medium today (February 7, 2019), Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos claims that Surfer Magazine, Transworld Snowboarding, and Transworld Skateboarding’s new parent company American Media (through its tabloid The National Enquirer) has threatened to publish photos of Mr. Bezos’ penis “as well as nine other images” if Mr. Bezos didn’t call the Washington Postoff its investigation of American Media CEO David Pecker’s relationship with Donald Trump, according to a story on the Huffington Post.
Here’s a little of what Mr. Bezos is claiming:
I was made an offer I couldn’t refuse. Or at least that’s what the top people at the National Enquirer thought. I’m glad they thought that, because it emboldened them to put it all in writing. Rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail, I’ve decided to publish exactly what they sent me, despite the personal cost and embarrassment they threaten. . . They said they had more of my text messages and photos that they would publish if we didn’t stop our investigation.
Usually these stories that have nothing to do with skateboarding, snowboarding, or surfing would be well outside our “lane.” But last week’s sale brings it all home to our world. Think about it? This suggests that those left at what once was TEN are now in a not-so-roundabout way working for the Trump Administration, forcing action sports marketing people to ask themselves, “Do we really want to support Donald Trump by spending advertising and marketing dollars with American Media in light of all this?”
We can say this: if this is how American Media does business, then the people who had their jobs eliminated last week are the lucky ones.
Burton Snowboards continues with their work supporting dead artists with a new capsule featuring the artistry of trail blazing NYC graffiti artist Keith Haring who died February 16, 1990.
The collection includes a Keith Haring Deep Thinker snowboard, a Keith Haring Anorak jacket, and a Keith Haring tech T-shirt. Would Keith have loved this collab? Unfortunately, we’ll never know.
Who better to expose the surveillance state than Bob Mould with Lost Faith.
“There’s a hint of migration, a dash of border security and a whisper of government surveillance, climaxing across the multicolored canvas of an abandoned NSA listening station perched atop the highest hill in Berlin,” Bob told NPR. “But at the end of the day, it’s a high-end music video for a catchy, inspirational, uplifting pop song.”
It is, right? We’re not usually into the whole Adidas sporty spice thing, but look at that. The 3ST.004 doesn’t look too sporty, or too skatey. It looks like Adidas got their stripes going backwards on this one, but we’re okay with that. Tyshawn Jones will look smooth in these flip catchers, for sure. Here’s what Adidas says about them:
“Building off the design mentality of the 3ST family, the 3ST.004 is positioned to further progress and challenge skateboarding footwear. The low-profile forefoot and super tacky wrapping on the sidewall provide board feel like no other. With such great board feel, the intent is to never bail, but let’s face it, it happens. Therefore, we’ve placed BOOST in the heel of the shoe for protection and support when bailing.” says the brand’s Senior Footwear Designer, Scott Johnston. “Considering that Tyshawn Jones was the muse for the project, the shoe needs to not only perform, but look iconic and stand out. The shoe incorporates classic adidas aesthetics and modern design lines to keep you looking fly in the streets.”
And yes, we all want to be “looking fly in the streets,” Scott. We certainly do. The 3ST.004 will be in specialty retailers and Adidas online starting February 7, 2019. If you’ve got $120 they can be yours.
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