by The Editors on February 25, 2010
Shaun White has more than a few look-a-likes; some funnier than others. Now, he can add a forty-one-year-old Winnipeg, Canada woman to the list. For a while Liz Schaeffer didn’t believe it, now she playing it up.
The massage therapist has been given free drinks, had her face flashed on the big-screen TV at the China vs. Slovakia hockey game and has been asked by visiting Americans whether they can take a photo of her. . . When a friend took her picture in front of the Olympic cauldron, people in the lineup were whispering, “Shaun White! Shaun White!” . . . Her ultimate goal is to meet White and have her picture taken with him. She is thinking of offering him a massage in exchange for a snowboard lesson.
That sounds creepy enough.
[Link: Vancouver Sun]
by The Editors on February 24, 2010
Snowboarder Wayne Alexander Brown, 42, of Almosa, Colorado was found yesterday (February 23, 2010) after going missing for three days in the wilderness near Wolf Creek Ski Area, according to a story in the Alamosa News.
Brown was found by a helicopter search team Tuesday, the first day air operations were possible, when the team flew over a forest service cabin and saw tracks leading away from the dwelling. “They saw the tracks and then saw Mr. Brown hiking out just moments later,” said Downing. . . The first night, Downing said, Brown sought shelter in a tree well in the back country and dug a small snow cave. . . In the continuing snow of Sunday, Brown trekked down the mountain on his board and came upon a US Forest Service cabin and was able to access the structure for what became a two-day stay while the storm raged outside, eventually dumping 41 new inches of snow in the region over the weekend.
Officials say Brown did everything right. You know, aside from getting lost in the first place.
[Link: Almosa News]
by The Editors on February 24, 2010
Jessie Huffman sits down with Vermont’s Jessie Loomis to get the story on Powder Jets, Loomis’ “forward-thinking” back to basics wood snowboards. After taking a couple runs on an old Burton Elite a few years ago, Loomis apparently had a rather luddite epiphany.
That’s when I realized that space-age technology wasn’t increasing my enjoyment of the sport. I thought I’d just bring it right back to the fundamentals, get rid of all the technological geekiness, just take a step sideways and make it fun again. Play in the back yard with the kids; make it quiet, remove the fashion, remove the stress. It’s just snowboarding, right?
Indeed. Follow the link for the rest of the interview.
[Link: ESPN/Action]
by The Editors on February 24, 2010
The New York Times checks in with Scotty Lago after he was forced to duck out of the 2010 Olympic Games a little early thanks to a huge overreaction to some late-night party photos. They found him all rested up and well armed.
In Seabrook, Lago’s spirits have been buoyed. In the yard of the spacious house where he grew up, on a ridge overlooking his family’s 80-acre spread, he called “pull,” aimed his shotgun and blasted another clay pigeon. Later, Lago shot pool with friends in the nearby three-bedroom house with an indoor swimming pool he bought last fall. . . “It’s really cool and I’m definitely thankful for all of it,” Lago said of his newfound fame, “but I would be just as happy to be here shooting guns with my friends.”
What a perfect way to relax.
[Link: The New York Times]
by The Editors on February 23, 2010
Shaun White’s comfortable, witty appearance actually makes it worth watching Stephen Colbert for more than three minutes. No joke, Shaun is that good. To watch the entire Colbert Report episode, click the link.
[Link: Hulu.com]
by The Editors on February 23, 2010
Last night, on an otherwise terrible night of NBC Olympic coverage, the network aired an amazingly heart-felt feature on Kevin Pearce, his accident, his family, and his near miraculous recovery process. The piece shows how important family is in the rehabilitation of tramatic brain injury patients and how well Kevin is responding.
If you watch nothing else today, watch this clip.
[Link: NBCOlympics]
by The Editors on February 22, 2010
Tonight at 9:10 PM PT/ET on NBC television, Kevin Pearce’s parents, Pia and Simon, will sit with Tom Brokaw to discuss Kevin’s current rehabilitation and recovery in Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado. Tune in for the latest update.
[Link: Well Wishes For Our Frend Kevin Pearce]
by The Editors on February 22, 2010
For snowboard collectors there may be nothing more valuable than one of the original Wicklund “bunker” boards. The board, patented in 1939, featured leather straps and a nose cord. Don Burgeson, 67, the son of one of the board’s creator’s tells the the Daily Herald that he’s had one of them around for years.
Gunnar worked with his uncle’s Albin Carlson & Co. construction company, raised his family in Oak Park [Illinois{ and stuck his snowboard invention in the closet. “We just had it and used it,” remembers Don Burgeson, who turns 67 on Wednesday and is retired from the family construction business he sold in 2004. “We just thought, ‘Here’s this thing we had.'”
The authenticity of this footage has been discussed and argued in snowboarding circles since if first surfaced in the Burton Booth at the 2000 SIA Show. And yes, it still looks too modern to be shot in the 30s. . .
[Link: Daily Herald]
by The Editors on February 22, 2010
Car-Freshner Corp., the company that makes the little trees that hang from people’s review mirrors and soak up that dank weedy smell, has filed a trademark infringement suit against Burton Snowboards according to a story in the Watertown Daily Times.
Car-Freshner claims that the company offers a line of five “Fix” snowboards using the allegedly unauthorized tree design and that it has sold the boards through its Web site and at Sports Authority, Zumiez and Ski Co. stores in the Syracuse area. . . The Watertown company is asking a judge to, among other things, order Burton to recall and stop selling the disputed boards. It also is asking for an unspecified amount of damages.
Hard to believe anyone would mistake a snowboard for an air-freshner. . . but anything is possible.
[Link: Watertown Daily Times]
by The Editors on February 19, 2010
After these photos of a girl kissing and biting Scotty Lago’s Olympic bronze medal surfaced on TMZ.com today, Scotty reportedly apologized to the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association and “volunteered” to go home.
In a strange twist it seems TMZ actually feels badly about this one, according to the site.
TMZ published the photo and apparently it didn’t sit well with someone. He’s a snowboarder for cryin’ out loud. They should have cut him a break.
As we tweeted earlier in the week, we’re glad Scotty was there, stoked he won the bronze, and we’re bummed he’s not still in town interacting with those “hot Russians.”
[Link: TMZ via ESPN]
Shaun White has more than a few look-a-likes; some funnier than others. Now, he can add a forty-one-year-old Winnipeg, Canada woman to the list. For a while Liz Schaeffer didn’t believe it, now she playing it up.
