Darrell Martin, 55, the Oregon “doryman” who drove his boat directly through a pack of surfers near Pacific City, Oregon on July 6, 2008, severing 14-year-old snowboarder Cole Ortega’s arm will not be charged according to Tillamook County District Attorney Bill Porter.
Calling it an unfortunate accident, Tillamook County District Attorney Bill Porter says there was no crime committed when Cole Ortega’s left arm was severed near the beach in Pacific City. Porter says there are no signs that Doryman Darrell Martin was criminally negligent or reckless. He says he stopped outside the surf line, carefully trying to find the best path to shore while using his horn and having his son look out for surfers.
Apparently, the Tillamook County DA’s message to doryman is, “Hey, if you run over a couple surfers every now and again, don’t worry about. Just blow your horn and drive right through.”
Here’s a car that’s got action sports written all over it. It’s a tiny, two-wheel drive Renault Clio that features, “special touches include specific upholstery sporting the Rip Curl logo, a chrome centre console, exclusive Rip Curl sills and specific rubber floor mats, as well as a sand- and snow-proof compartmented stowage box in the boot.” Because there’s nothing worse that getting sand or snow in your Clio.
Buoyed by the sale of 30,000 Clio by Rip Curls in more than 20 countries in 2007, Renault is looking to build on its successful partnership with the well known surfing and snowboarding brand Rip Curl with the release of Clio by Rip Curl 2008. . . . Available in three- and five-door form, this limited edition is both dynamic andtrendy and promises to appeal thanks to the potential it offers for customization and a list of specific equipment tailored for those who enjoy winter and watersports.
Only in France (and 20 other confused countries, apparently).
We’re guessing this Cryin’ Ryan Sheckler cover is going to be a big seller in gay neighborhoods.
Eighteen-year-old pro skateboarder Ryan Sheckler is oftentimes ridiculed by his competitors for being a “sell out.” The undeniably gifted three-time Dew Cup winner, 2007 X Games Street Gold Medal winner and reality TV star has been accused of making street skating go pop. In the new issue of ESPN The Magazine, “Just Another Lonely Millionaire Skateboarder,” writer Allison Glock reports on Sheckler as he leads a pack of action athletes redefining stardom.
Yep, exactly the kind of story we expected. It will be perfect for ESPN’s sensitive, touchy-feely readership.
We’ll never say that Shaun White isn’t working for his money. Not after you see what he has to go through. Take this game preview at the video game convention E3 held July 14-17, 2008 for instance. . . . it’s just so sad.
A taiwanese fishing boat, Ho Tsai Fa No. 18, has run aground off Bali’s Padang Padang beach according to a report in TheAge.com.au.
Locals woke on Saturday to see the 30-metre vessel floundering on a reef. Looters emptied the holds of tuna and shark, believed to have been caught illegally.
Already the wreck is causing environmental concerns for the Rip Curl Cup, the Indonesian Championships which were supposed to start next week.
Rip Curl South Asia chief executive Jeff Anderson also raised environmental concerns. “We are in touch with the local authorities, pushing for the vessel to be removed before it turns into a potential disaster zone when the next big swell hits on Friday,” he said.
When former Governor and Pro Wrestler Jesse Ventura was asked if he would be running for State Senate in Minnesota Jesse says he’d rather keep surfing in Mexico.
“It was a difficult decision but it came down to almost this — surfing versus the Senate and I found surfing to be much more honorable than the Senate. The ocean doesn’t lie to you. The waves don’t lie to you. My government does lie to me today,” said Ventura.
After three long years of waiting John Martin and Bobby Meeks finally get their patent for their “snowboard boot with liner harness. Patent No. 7,386,947.
1. A sports boot comprising:
an outer shell having a semirigid sole and an upper attached to the sole;
a harness assembly fixedly attached to the outer shell and disposed within the outer shell, the harness assembly including a flexible panel having left and right edges defining a gap therebetween and a plurality of cord keepers disposed on either side of the gap;
a cord slidably engaging the cord keepers; and
a tensioning mechanism that engages the cord to maintain a desired tension in the cord such that the left and right edges of the flexible panel are urged toward each other;
a liner that is removably insertable into the outer shell such that the harness assembly flexible panel wraps about a portion of the liner;
wherein the tensioning mechanism is fixedly attached to one of the upper and the harness flexible panel.
Every time we read notes from the analysts we’re haunted by something Bob McKnight said, “Analysts are just one letter away.” So with that, here’s what Piper Jaffray is saying about Zumiez.
We are upgrading ZUMZ from Neutral to Buy given our belief that shares have over corrected based on current macroeconomic concerns, irrespective of underlying med- to long-term fundamental growth potential. We believe ZUMZ occupies a unique market niche in the active lifestyle category where demand trends remain relatively firm, evidenced by continued above average comp sales growth rates relative to the peer group. At 300 stores, ZUMZ maintains 20%-plus sq ft growth potential for at least 3-4 years and while we are revising estimates downward and new store contribution remains inferior to historic levels, we think shares reflect these risks.”
If we bought action sports stocks, we’d think about it. What with fashion retail being so hotthese days.
Australia’s Couriermail looks into the back story of The Brothers Neilsen chain of surf shop and what could drive a successful business into collapse. While the brothers aren’t really talking, others seem to point to the vertical integration of the action sports fashion world.
“You could call it the perfect storm,” the former international surfing champion [Paul Neilsen] said of the factors that combined to sink the multimillion-dollar Queensland business. “I don’t want to comment further about it, except that I’m not blaming anyone,” said the 56-year-old Godl Coast company director.
According to an industry insider and former shop owner, vertical integration (control from manufacture to retail) by leading surf brands such as Quiksilver, Billabong and Rip Curl is “putting the squeeze” on smaller independent operators.
And from the retailers’ perspective we know exactly what this “industry insider” is talking about.
