Latest
Update: January
24, 2002
33%
Think Olympics Will Be Attacked
In
a recent poll by the Associated Press one-third of the
public believes a terrorist attack is likely at the Winter
Olympics next month in Salt Lake City.
The Olympic Ringers
The International Olympic Committee is amazingly strict
about exactly who can use the five sacred rings. So starting today,
we will be featuring the rings on our site not to celebrate the
games or the human drama of athletic competition, but to see how
long it takes before we get a C&D from IOC lawyers. The clock
is ticking.
Snowboarder
Tricia Byrnes' Olympic Diary
CNN Sports Illustrated has roped Olympic Snowboard
Team member Tricia Byrnes into writing a diary about her
experiences at the Olympics. We're sad we didn't get to her first,
but here is on of her updates.
American
Boardsports New Website
Tom Carter and the boys at Thruster a.k.a. ABCI
Holdings have a fancy new Flash site. It looks pro and should
make investors feel real good about it.
Vans Hires Former Adidas Guy
Robert Nagel is Vans all new Senior Vice President of sales
and apparel. Formerly, he was Director of Sales and Marketing
for Adidas America, Inc, and before that worked at Nike.
Apparently he was a shoe-in for the position.
Lasek,
Burnquist and White Trading Cards
According to the manufacture these digi-cards allow kids to play
online games to increase the value of the trading cards and will
feature "skateboardings top 10 stars". They went on
sale earlier this week at Toys R Us in NYC. Digital is
cool. Skateboarding is cool.
Noah
Johnson Surfs Like a Girl
Cross dressing at Pipe? Yes. While filming for the new $35 million
film epic Surfer Girl, Noah dressed up like a girl and
pulled in at Pipe, according to Surfingthemag.com's
Evan Slater.
Swank's
Big Skateboard On Ripley's
We missed it, but Tod Swank and the Foundation Super
Company "World's Largest Skateboard" were on Ripley's
Believe It or Not on January 9, 2002. If you have video, let us
know.
Tony
Hawk On Tonight Show with Jay
Another show we missed. Tony was on with Jay on January
22 with guests Sara Jessica Parker, Aimee Mann and
Michael Penn. This is listed here for historical purposes
only.
Snowboarder
Injured at Sugar Bowl
Joshua Arbenz, a 22 year old from Cal Poly tumbled down
200 feet of cliff while "riding the back of Lincoln Mountain"
January 22. He is is fair condition at Washoe Medical Center.
-16
year old Dies at Alpental, WA.
Get
Real Dolls for Girls
No, it's not the sex toy featured on the Howard Stern show.
These are action sports dolls for real girls. One doll is "Skylar
the Canadian snowboarder, who is adopted and half-Japanese."
Strangely, the "short, fat, ugly, uncoordinated white girl
from the wrong side of the tracks" is missing from the doll
line.
A Set-top Trunks and Video Company?
It's going to take people much smarter than us to figure out what
Marvin Winkler is up to now. The owner of Gotcha
(who's Gotcha.com later became Bluetorch) recently announced
that he was purchasing Broadband Interactive Group and
Bluetorch from DSI Inc, and that he's pulling all three brands
under one roof. Maybe you can read this story and explain it to
the rest of us.
-Story
as seen in the LA Times.
Chris Klug on Today Show
On Monday morning, Chris Klug and his soon-to- be world
famous liver were featured on the Today show with Matt Lauer.
Chris
Klug and His Transplanted Liver
We're all glad that modern science has allowed American snowboard
racer Chris Klug to retain his quality of life thanks to a liver
transplant. And yes, it is an amazing story.
-His
scar is getting coverage as well
Quiksilver
Launches TV Programming
In other "trunks-to-TV" news Quiksilver has announced
a partnership with TVN Entertainment Corporation to deliver
action sports programming over Pay-per-view systems and delivering
it to "all last mile television program providers."
Da
Cat is Not Coming Back
Miklos "Miki" Dora, has died of cancer. He was 67. Described
by one surf journalist as "a Gypsy and a thief" Dora left a mark
on surfing that no one will forget. He was infinitely quotable
and he will be missed
-Story
as seen on Surfline.com
-Story
as seen in the LA Times
New Calvin
Klein Model a "Surfer"
Calvin Klein's brand-new underwear model is Travis,
a 22-year-old surfer from "Down Under" who came to America with
$60 in his pocket and (and we quote) "ended up blowing the pants
off the casting folks at Calvin Klein!" Of course he did. Isn't
that what male models do?
In
Search of Captain Spicoli
Allan Weisbecker signs a big Hollywood deal and then moved
to Costa Rica to write the screenplay of his book In Search
of Captain Zero.æIt is supposed to star Sean Penn and
be directed by Stacy Peralta. Not bad for a first film.
Surfingthemag.com interviewed him via email.
Vans
Opens Another Skate Park
Orlando Sentinel staff writer Tyler Gray witnessed the opening
of the latest 61,000-square-foot park mall skate park from Vans.
This time in Orlando, Florida.
Skateboarding
As Art
An interactive skateboarding exhibit has wheeled into Burlington,
VT. The exhibit, titled "Reflector," is on display at the
Sanctuary Art Site Gallery. The collection contains dozens
of skateboards and personal reflections from their riders.
Snowboarders
Finally Getting Respect
Sacramento Bee Columnist Ron Agostini relates the
changes the snowscape has gone through in recent years. "Skiers
were the establishment. Boarders, well, they belonged to themselves."
Yes, he used the word "boarder".
A
San Antonio Profile of Ross Powers
People in Texas need to know what's going on in snowboarding.
And that's why the paper in San Antonio, TX told this story: "Santa
delivered a snowboard for Powers and his brother to share that
day. They hit the halfpipe in Bennington, Vt., in the rain and
rode it all day." Now you know the rest of the story.
More Idiot Snowboarders Rescued
Everytime we read stories about snowboarders being rescued it
seem they are always in their early thirties, and from the City.
The Placer County SheriffÍs office rescued three such snowboarders
who were lost out of bounds at Alpine Meadows. If you're 30-something
stay in bounds.
Snow-related
Injuries on the rise at Tahoe
Emergency officials at Lake Tahoe say current weather conditions
are contributing to a considerable increase in skiing injuries.
The experts say the slush/freeze cycles is causing the problems.
Man
Holding Snowboard Dies At Heavenly
Mark Betzold a 31-year-old San Jose, CA truck driver who
had been snowboarding at Heavenly, walked over to get a
better look at The Face run when he slipped and tumbled 1000 feet
to his death. He later died of a brain hemorrhage. He was holding,
not riding his snowboard at the time.
Five-year-old
Skateboarder Killed By Car
Joseph Koloskus, a 5-year-old boy was struck and killed
Wednesday afternoon when he skateboarded into the path of a car
on a residential street in south Denver. Joseph and a friend were
chasing each other around the front yard when he jumped on a skateboard
and rolled directly infront of an oncoming car.
Landfill
Suggest for Skatepark Site
Proving that cities always build skateparks on their most valuable
land, the mayor of Shelton, Connecticut Mark A. Lauretti
proposed building a skatepark and ATV on the city landfill claiming
the landfill's isolation from residential areas made it a perfect
place for a park. Why put in a skatepark where kids can get to
it?
-Olympic
Washington's Landfill Skatepark
General
Motors Makes Skateboard Car
GM has designed a fuel cell-powered car that uses a skateboard
style chassis which would allow the company to put any kind of
body on the car without redesigning the drive train.
Aspen
Opens, No One Cares
Ajax may finally be free, but itÍs not proving especially
popular. The Aspen Skiing Co. estimates that about 10 percent
of the people on Aspen Mountain so far this season are on snowboards.
Guess it just sucks there, huh?
Ranigler Tests Positive for Banned Steroid
Carmen Ranigler, Italy's best hope for a gold medal in
the parallel giant slalom, tested positive for a banned steroid.
One more dirty test and it's good-bye to the Olympics for Carmen.
Viva Italia
Clumsy
Cat Driver Sues Aspen
Aspen Skiing Co. snowcat driver Adam Platt is suing
the mountain after he says he broke his arm getting off a chairlift
at Snowmass last March. The self described "expert snowboarder"
claims the ramp was not built properly. Sometimes the goodlife
is just an arms length away, isn't it?
Surfer's
Village For Sale?
Want to buy a "global news service for surfers" based in London?
We don't. We'll let you know when someone picks up surfersvilliage.com.
Maybe it would be a good buy for Gotcha. What do you think,
Mr. Winkler?
Myles Padaca Fractures His Leg
Suringthemag.com reports that recent Rip Curl Cup
winner and Vans Triple Crown champ Myles Padaca
recently broke his leg while attempting a flip during a tow-in
session on the North Shore's outer reef.
New
Lake Tahoe Ferry Shortens The Lake
A 40 minutes shuttle now takes shuttles snowboarders and skiers
from one end of the lake to the other cutting out the long, often
tedious drive down the lake. And the best part? When the ferry
breaks down you simply drown in icy water.
Man
Skates Away From Police and Kills Self
A man whom police tried to question for obstructing traffic while
riding a skateboard ran into a house and apparently killed himself.
Stop Skate harassment.
Silver
Surfer artist John Buscema Dies at 74
John Buscema, a revered comic book illustrator whose pencil
breathed life into the Silver Surfer, Spider-Man,
the Mighty Thor and Conan the Barbarian for a half century,
died Jan. 10 in Port Jefferson, N.Y., after a bout with stomach
cancer. He was 74.
Surfer From Cerritos Dies Off San Onofre æ
Kevin Green, 28, of Cerritos died after collapsing while
surfing off San Onofre State Beach.
Singapore Skatepark Allows Graffiti
Singapore is well-known for caning graffiti vandals (see: Michael
Fay), but this famously tidy city-state now has a place where
rogue painters can spray away. The skatepark of course.
Tony
Hawk Signs With The Mouse
Mervin
Manufacturing Silliness
McKnight
Says Quik Good Long Term
The
Whole Bluetorch Story
Previous Bags o' Crapola:
-November 20, 2001
-October 25, 2001
-September 6, 2001
-August 20, 2001
Special thanks: to Jim Romenesko's MediaGossip.com
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