We’re never been big fans of GrindTV, but apparently they are moving from El Sugundo to Aliso Viejo’s TechSpace to be closer to potential sources of action sports revenue, according to a story in the Orange County Business Journal.
“We work with a lot of folks in the action sports industry who are headquartered in Orange County and it made sense for us to bring GrindTV to Orange County,” said Erik Hawkins, the company’s chief executive.
Yeah, the move makes sense. The GrindTV site? It is actually getting much better lately. We’re kind of surprised.
The cover story of the latest issue of Fast Company Magazine exposes Shaun White’s amazing sponsorship aptitude: his ability to take money from the right people and keep his personal brand rolling strong.
I was so fortunate to have had some success before the Olympics,” he says. “So when the time came for everyone to come at me, I was able to step back and say, ‘Do I really want to do that? Do I want to be known for airing over some dude who is going aaaahhh! with his teeth gleaming?’ ” . . . White has sought out companies he truly connects with. Working with a tight team of advisers that include his 29-year-old brother, Jesse, and his agent, Mark Ervin of IMG, White sees these deals as a long-term investment portfolio, something that will outlast his knees. Each corporation meshes with a discrete slice of his actual life, and with each one, White dives in and takes a central role, from the design of specific products to pulling deals together among his various partners.
Shaun has been playing it smart from the beginning and it looks like the long game pays off. And we had to laugh out loud when writer Mark Borden described Shaun as having a “strange equine beauty,” because we’ve always thought of his beauty as more simian.
The whole FIS World Tour and World Championship is like some strange alternate universe that we really don’t understand, nor are interested in understanding, but we’re still a little shocked when we see this: the above photo is (swear to God) a photo of the “The Executive Board Meeting of 2009 FIS Snowboard World Championships.”
That’s a swinging group of shreds if ever we’ve seen one. And it’s no wonder that we have a hard time believe it is really going on right now.
The city of Dillon, Colorado has had so much trouble with snowboarders riding their urban locales that they’ve adopted a “zero tolerance” approach and are “confiscating equipment from those riders caught sliding down handrails and concrete barriers around town,” according to a story in the Summit Daily.
“We’re hoping this gets the message across that this wont be tolerated,” Dillon Police Chief Joe Wray said. “We have tried numerous things in the past to discourage it, but now the message is: If you get caught, we will now go for your pocketbook.” . . . Those caught riding rails were fined $100, plus $400 in advance should they break the same law again in the next 12 months. The individuals filming the stunts were fined $150 plus $350 held in advance. . . . Filmers were charged more because their actions are viewed as an attempt to profit from a criminal act, according to Wray.
Apparently, there’s not enough real crime going down in Dillon to keep the 5-0 busy.
K2 Sports has purchased Zoot, the Kona, Hawaii based maker of triathlon apparel according to a story on Bicycle Retailer.
“We are excited to welcome Zoot to our family,” said Robert Marcovitch, chief executive officer of K2 Sports. “Zoot is a fast-growing brand whose shared dedication to innovation and quality make them a terrific fit for us and we look forward to their continued growth and expansion into new product categories and geographies.”
Apparently, this is another attempt by a seasonal company to break into a opposite season market. Maybe this one will work.
Seems like all our friends are being interviewed these days. Check this with ace image capture master Tim Zimmerman and remember, it’s only part one (part 2 after the jump). Side note: this also reminds us why we’d rather read an interview than have to “watch” it on video.
Kr3w’s party photos (by Shad [click the link for Lizard’s broken nose photos]) from the Zumiez $100k at Keystone, Colorado would suggest that no matter what else may be going on, the Zumiez kids are still selling a shit-load of product. . . and the girls are still stoked on Lizard King and TK.
It’s rare that we get to read interviews with the people who make the magazines. And one of the longest lasting editors in all snowboard media is Snowboarder Magazine’s Pat Bridges (we never thought we’d say that). ESPN correspondent Colin Whyte checks in and get gems like this:
I’ve gotta say I am tired of people wanting to grow snowboarding via exposure. Seriously, who hasn’t already seen snowboarding? We are creeping up on our fourth Olympics and have had over a dozen X-Games. Recently a new tour has been hyped and touted as “helping to grow snowboarding.” It is doing no more than anything else on Network TV has done to grow snowboarding. It is growing the amount of money that Viacom is making off of snowboarding for sure. I must admit that watching the event live on the tube was convenient except that it was on a Sunday which kept me and however many other weekend warriors off the hill.
Amen, brother. Follow the link for the rest of the interview with one of snowboarding’s most original voices.
This is exactly why we don’t think snowmobiles nor cats should not be allowed on the mountain during the day (except for emergency use).
A Park City snowboarder was in intensive care Tuesday after he was struck Friday by a snowmobile a resort employee was operating at The Canyons, an attorney for the victim said. . . . The accident, which occurred near the bottom of the Golden Eagle chairlift, critically injured Snyderville Basin resident John Everett.
We don’t know about The Canyons, but we’ve see employees zipping all over the place on mountains when they really shouldn’t be and it’s especially bad when they are going against traffic.
We’re never been big fans of GrindTV, but apparently they are moving from El Sugundo to Aliso Viejo’s TechSpace to be closer to potential sources of action sports revenue, according to a story in the Orange County Business Journal.
