Mick Fanning, the 2007 ASP world champion hit the cricket pitch yesterday with former Midnight Oil singer Peter Garrett and other Australian celebrities for a match to raise money for the victims of Australia’s deadly brushfires, according to News.com.au.
While it was played in good humour, the reason why they were there could not be missed. “The generosity from Australians following this terrible event has been incredible,” Garrett said. “A total vindication of that deep spirit of commitment and mateship that we have. The fact we can be on the SCG, on a Sunday afternoon, with a game of cricket, with captains of the calibre of Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor … we live in a harsh land, but we have generous hearts.”
More than 20,000 people showed up for a game we still don’t understand. Reading about cricket reminded us how most people must feel reading about snowboarding, surfing, and skating. It’s like those cricket plays have their own language. . .
Last month Rabbit Bartholomew announced that he was retiring from his position as president of the Association of Surfing Professionals. Today, the Sydney Morning Hearld looks back at the huge effect Rabbit’s “best surfers in the best waves” philosophy had on the ASP Tour and on surfing in general.
Problem being, a lot of the best waves are kilometres offshore. Tough, said Bartholomew. If that’s where conditions peaked, that’s where the contests would be held. . . . The result became the high-voltage tour now traversing the globe: Fiji, Tahiti, the US, Europe, a mystery location every year. Slater ended his retirement. It shouldn’t be forgotten that without Bartholomew’s brainchild, Slater would have been lost to the sport for good.
Simon Evans is a former pro skateboarder who wrote for the British skateboard mag R.a,D. in the early 90s. Now he is an artist with a new show which opened last night (February 20, 2009) at the James Cohan Gallery in New York City. Here is the logic behind the show:
. . . these days he’s expressing himself in scotch tape, pencil shavings, colored pencil and white-out. He uses everyday materials to create vivid stories through collages. For a new show at the James Cohan Gallery in Chelsea, he’s tells the story of Robinson Crusoe, creating the things Caruso used to keep himself alive when stranded on a desert island. Evans said he was hoping to bring text and visual art together.
Okay, we admit it: we were wrong. We thought Shaun White would win this thing. Not because he rides better, but because he has a grip of magic mojo. It’s nice to see the judges hanging tough and scoring Torstein Horgmo properly. Jamie “cracked pelvis” Anderson won for the women.
We weren’t there so you’re going to just have to trust this video and the official press release which appears after the jump. [click to continue…]
When snowboarder Aline Christina Martins, 19, of Santa Barbara, California was found dead at Dodge Ridge on Monday February 16, 2009 it was originally thought that she suffocated. Now an autopsy reveals that it was actually hypothermia, according to a story on My Motherload.com.
Deputy Paul Tualla with the Sheriff’s Office says, “An autopsy was performed, and the cause of death has been determined to be hypothermia.” . . . Many of the facts surrounding her death still remain unknown. Martins’ was snowboarding at the resort with family and became separated from the group. At 4;30pm ski patrol began an extensive search and she was located at 5:30pm underneath a tree off one of the main routes. She did not have any noticeable signs of trauma.
A Fly In The Champagne’s producer/ interviewer/ narrator Selema Masekela (and special guest) discussing Kelly Slater, Andy Irons, the rivalry, the film, and the surf trip that made it all happen.
On March 6, 2009 the Hibbleton Gallery will present a new show entitled “Spare Change,” featuring work by Russ Pope, Andy Jenkins, Mike Myers, Chris Pastras, and Chris Yormick—all legendary figures in the Skateboard art and design world. The opening reception is Friday, March 6, 2009 from 7-11pm. It would probably be a good idea to be there.
Luckily, snowboarding has not gotten to Major League Baseball nor pro cycling levels of drug scandal, but as this LA Times story points out, drug testing is a pain in the ass for everyone who hopes to snowboarding in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency actually requires snowboarders to submit their schedule so they can be available to be tested for 60 minutes every day for three months sometime during the 12 months before the Olympic games. Then there are the surprise visits. . .
Mason Aguirre, 21, recalls the rap on the door of his Mammoth Lakes home by a representative of the United States Anti-Doping Agency during the summer as he slept with his girlfriend. . . . “I wake up in a daze and have to wrap a towel around me, and I open my door and it’s like a 60-year-old dude,” Aguirre says. “And he’s like, ‘Hi, I’m Paul. I’m with USADA and I’m here to watch you pee in a cup.’ “
At the US Grand Prix at Boreal the woman pictured above was there to “chaperone” top female competitors and make sure that only their urine was making it in the cup during post event testing. For a complete understanding of how crazy intrusive the USADA has gotten follow the link.
