Latest
Update: December 6, 2000
K2
Loses Scooter Battle
Razor USA filed suit against 16 scooter manufacturers and
got injunctions against six. K2
and Gen X Sports
were among those who will have to "redesign" certain aspects
of their scooters because they infringed upon Razor's patent.
USSA
Signs New Alcohol Sponsor
Nothing says American snowboard athletecism like Captain Morgan's
Original Spiced Rum. At least that's what the fund raisers at
USSA seem to be saying about their new "official distilled
spirit" sponsor. Talk about whoring athletes for money. What's
else Mr. Marolt, will Marlboro become the "official
cumbustable plant" sponsor? Will Vivid
Video be your official "adult entertainment" sponsor?
Etnies
Jumps on Skatepark Wagon
Parks are beginning to make skateboarding a respected youth
athletic activity. So why shouldn't Etnies ante up $100,000
to the city of Lake Forest, CA for the right to call the city's
new skate facility the Etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest? Guess
it's just a case of keeping up with the Vanses.
San
Francisco Builds Crappy Skatepark
After years of hassling skateboarders, the city of San Francisco
steps up and builds a sorry, little, overpriced, excuse for a park,
according to SF ChronicleÍs Ken Garcia. The new park
has already been tagged with the words, "Thanks construction guys
-- please learn how to build a park." Garcia
should be thanked for writing such an informed piece. Click his
name to send him e-mail.
-Click
here for a photo of what the city of SF got for their $500,000.
Wyoming
Snowboarder Dies In Avalanche
A snowboarder was killed Friday by an avalanche that closed
a highway in the mountains of northwestern Wyoming. The body of
Joel Roof, 28, of Jackson was found under 6 feet of snow.
Last
Week On the North Shore
Swell.com editorial guy Evan Slater brings the world
up-to-date on the news from the Shore. The waves backed off, everyone
got out the shortboards, and Wardo came to blows with pro
bodyboarder Spencer Skipper. It's just like being there,
only nothing gets ripped off.
-Or
checkout the Sarge Report on Surfermag.com
Beachley
Wins Again
No real surprise. Current three-time ASP world champion Layne
Beachley won her fourth Quiksilver Roxy Pro. Contgrats, Layne.
HB
Okay's Surfer's Hall of Fame
Huntington Beach, CA already has a Surfer's Walk of Fame
along Main Street. Now the City Council has approved a Surfer's
Hall of Fame right across the street. It's going to be just
like the old days in HB when you couldn't walk anywhere without
having to step over a famous surfer.
Surf
Museum In Rough Waters
It is the story of all surf museums: everyone wants to be
remembered, no one wants to fund them. That's the story of Hale'iwa
North Shore Surf and Cultural Museum.
Billabong's
(Recent) History
In 1998 when lawyer Matt Perrin helped then Qantas
chairman Gary Pemberton buy some land on Australia's Gold
Coast, he asked the businessman what he thought of a then unlisted
company called Billabong. Now the two run the company and
the rest, as they say, is Billabong history.
Steamboat
Cans Skatepark Improvements
The resort which brings in millions of dollars each year entertaining
tourists won't do a little for the local skate population?
Steamboat Springs Resort decided not to fund improvements
because "it did not feel that the project proposed. . .was something
that met the standards set by the other proposed projects." Thanks,
Steamboat.
Kitesurfing
Exhumes Windsurfing's Corpse?
Quick somebody call Eric Sanford. The mainstream is getting
excited about windsurfing all over again. Yes, kites are
relaunching an old sport for the newly turned 30-somethings. It's
a perfect sport for those with too much money and not enough brains.
Hong
Kong Developers Build Snow dome
A group of developers in Hong Kong are planning on building a winter
theme park that will include snowboard and ski runs. Then
again, so are a group of Anaheim investors and what have we seen
of that?
Duval
Mentions Snowboarding Again
Pro golfing phenom David Duval can't talk to a sports writer
without saying the word "snowboarding." This time it was
included in his plans for the coming week; "playing the World Golf
Championship event in Argentina, then hitting the slopes at Sun
Valley, Idaho, to snowboard." Shred dog it, Davey.
Sacklunch Booklist Updated
We've just put up a couple new reviews of books we've read in the
past couple weeks including House
of Fog and Sand and The
Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. If you enjoy
readering good books please check them out.
Big
Tobacco Uses Snowboarding
A new "Think, Don't Smoke" campaign by Philip Morris uses
a snowboarding with a board that "looks like a lit cigarette,"
according to some educators. Why anyone would accept a no-smoking
campaign from a tobacco company?
Dan Rather "Really Bad Metaphor" Award
"Her future seemed as bleak as a wind-swept sea on a cold, winter
day but now, more than three months later, it seems as bright as
the summer sun." - LA Time's Pete Thomas in a
story about a Sea Lion with a missing lower jaw.
Pratte's
Reef Redux
Chris Evans of the Surfrider Foundation corrects some
misstatements in a previous LA Times story about the new
reef. "The reef's design is dependent on winter storms, seasonal
swell direction and the formation of a "tombolo" sand filling in
the lee of the reef," he says. "It may take some time to see results."
WeÍre all waiting, Chris.
Alloy
Online is actually working!
An e-commerce site that will actually show a profit this quarter?
Say it isn't so. The money guys at Alloy.com
say that's exactly what will happen this quarter. Okay, who thinks
this has anything to do with their purchase of the CCS mail-order
catalog? We do.
Free
The Snow Strikes Again
Matthew Kreitman's campaign is still pushing to change the
rules at the last five mountains in the United States that ban snowboarding:
Ajax, Alta and Deer Valley in Utah; New Mexico's Taos; and Mad River
Glen in Fayston, Vt. Check out FREETHESNOW.ORG
for more info.
Skateboarder
Shooter Charged with Murder
Ruben Tadepa, the Lomita, CA man who shot and killed a 17-year-old
skateboarder who was videoing friends in the front yard is
charged with murder. The dead boy's stepfather has a heart attack
during the hearing, and the boy's real father presents photos to
Tadepa and screams that he could "Burn in Hell."
- Stepfather
released from hospital
Child
Molesting City Official Goes To Jail
We've been following this story all along so here is the end. A
Contra Costa County, California judge sentenced a former Pittsburg
assistant city manager, Glenn Valenzuela, yesterday to 1
1/2 years in county jail for molesting a teen he met through a mentor
program when the two were planning a skateboard park for
the city of Pittsburg.
Former
Skater Band Grandaddy
Modesto rockers Grandaddy's "The Sophtware Slump" is being compared
to Pink Floyd and Radiohead. That's all.
Quokka
Lays off 90 People
San Diego
Teen Shot For Skateboarding
Surf
Biz Expose-O-Meter Unleashed
Monster Skate Online
Previous
Bags o' Crapola:
-November 29, 2000
-November 18, 2000
-November 9, 2000
-October 30, 2000
Special thanks: to Jim Romenesko's MediaGossip.com.
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