Latest
Update: August
20, 2001
It's
Sharky Out There
Swell.com rounds ups the weekend of the shark. Seems like
Florida sharks are hungry. Two contest surfers were nibbled on
in just one morning.
Travels
With Ike Updates
Ben "the world's greatest surf writer" Marcus
is continuing on his mission to Russia. He's now made the trip
to Ancourage and it busy sending out load of e-mail, mostly to
people he doesn't know.
-August 15
-August 16
-August 17
X
Games Kick Off In Philly
With a crowd of close to 2000 the 2001 X Games kicked off
with street skating on the steps of City Hall. I guess it's okay
to skate there when the ESPN cameras are there.
Pharmacy
Demo Riot?
Police overacted to a skate demo at the Pharmacy Skateboard
shop in Hesperia, CA last week when 700 people showed up to
cheer on the team. Police said it was out of control when skaters
started throwing eggs. Co-owner Donny Damron even got arrested
for a past warrant for reckless driving. Ouch.
Water
Dirtier Than You Thought
Thanks to better water monitoring systems a recent report stated
that the water we've all been surfing in lately is much more polluted
than was originally thought. There were 5700 beach closure warnings
last year.
Philly
Crew Not Too Stoked
Sure, businesses are excited about the money the X Games
will bring to Philadelphia, but local skaters are pissed because
even though skateboarding is outlawed in public spaces X Games
athletes are going to get to skate right in front of City Hall.
DC
Bling Blings Wall Street Journal
The story poses as a bit on the cross over between hip hop and
action sports, but really it's a bit about DC icing up
their sponsored peeps. Shine on you crazy diamonds.
Primedia's
About.com Payouts
When the company bought About.com it promised About.com's
Chief Internet Officer Scott Kurnita a $25 million payout
against stock. Well, now that Primedia's stock is trading
at $5.70 the company may have to kick down $17 million in cash
to make good. Uh oh.
Watermen's
Balls Are Held for Charity
Each year the biggest names in the action sports industry (SIMA)
gather to mutually massage each other and raise money for a good
cause. This year they raised $250,000. And it was fun, apparently.
Philly
Police Welcome X Games
The X Games are coming to Philly and don't think that means
night sessions at Love Park. Nope, Philadelphia's finest
"intend to have a sustained presence around . . . Love Park,
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Korean Veterans Memorial
to prevent skating there during the X Games."
-Philly
retailers plan to cash in on X Games
Oakley
Counterfeiters at Flee Market
Chun Sun Wong and Xiao Cai Wu were arrested and
charged with possession of counterfeit Oakley glasses at
a market in Paw Paw, Michigan. They were caught by "private
investigators hired by the Oakley corporation." Go git em,
Oakley.
Internet
Causing Print Ad Slump?
An advertising slump has hit the print world and few are giving
much credit to the Internet. Alan Meckler believes more
credit should be given. "Both consumers and professionals
are getting more and more of their information from the Internet."
But then, we already knew that.
IKE
RETURNS: The Cat Came Back
After a weekend out on the run, Ike is back in the van and Ben
Marcus is extremely happy about it. So are all the readers
of Travels With Ike.
The
Search for Ike: Day 2
Ike "the stupid cat" took off while Ben Marcus
was in Watson Lake and he has not been heard from yet. Ben has
some theories, but until Ike shows up it's just sit and wait.
Ben doesn't want to travel to Alaska without him.
Woman
Hit by Snowboarder
Australian tourist Helena Mumford had her tendons in both
legs sliced at New Zealand's Treble Cone Skifield when
she was hit by a "korean" snowboarder. (Looks like racism
is alive and well in New Zealand.) Mrs. Mumford plans to press
charges against the snowboarder.
It's
Not All Surfing At US Open
On no there's much more than boring old surfing at this year's
Open. According to IMG's James Leitz in the LA
Times "These days, people want different options,"
he said. "Not just a surfing competition, but something that
has broader appeal." How about pro football on the beach?
Or golf. I hear those sports are huge with the mainstream fans.
Travels
With Ike: Is It Any Wonder?
Ben Marcus worries that the trip to surf the secret far
away place may not be coming together. No one has filled out the
applications and the launch date is coming up. Click here for
the rest:
-August 1a
-August 2
-August 4
TransWorld
Surf vs. Sunny Garcia
Fall is coming and that looks like it's shaping up to be the battle
of the video surf games. Ubi Soft's Sunny Garcia Championship
Surfing has had some problems, but it looks like it will launch
in November on the Playstation 2 platform right around
the time Infogrammes releases TransWorld
Surf, the game.
Skateparks
are Not Agriculture
A year ago Caz Helmstetter built a skatepark in several
barns on a farm in Corbett, Oregon with hopes of making it one
of the destination facilities in the country. Now the dream is
fading because Multnomah County said Helmstetter can't operate
a skatepark in an area zoned for agriculture.
Six
Names Added To Surf Walk of Fame
Rabbit Kekai, Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew, David
Nuuhiwa Jr., Simon Anderson, Janice Aragon and
Max Bowman were added to Huntinton Beach, CA's Surfing
Walk of Fame at 10 AM on August 2, 2001. It's about time.
Tom
Curren Is The King Of HB
The three-time world champion helped make a name for himself throwing
down backside snaps under the HB Pier in the glory days of the
Op Pro. Now, he's back again for the US Open of Surfing
and continues to throw amazing moves on small waves. But can he
survive the week?
IMG
Goes After Disney
The firm's U.S. Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach this
week is part of a bid to compete for Disney's X Games crowd.
So far they haven't made much of a splash. It appears that action
sports are a little harder to manage than Arnold Palmer,
Tiger Woods and John Madden. One difficult task
is getting anyone over 20 to stop calling it the Op Pro.
-LA
Times US Open Coverage
-OC
Register Coverage
Indonesian
Landslide Traps Surfers
Hundreds of residents remain missing on the island of Nias following
the massive landslide triggered by torrential rains in the early
hours of yesterday morning. The villages affected are about 10km
from the Lagundri Bay area, part of the international surfing
circuit, where about 50 surfers from Australia, the United
States, France and Brazil are believed to be staying.
Skateboarder
Killed By Police Car
Modesto Police officer Steve Anderson was on his way to
a disturbance call Tuesday night when he hit and killed a 14-year-old
boy who was riding a skateboard across the street. The official
report was that the officer had a green light and was driving
the speed limit. Right. They also claimed the boy, "Darted in
front of the patrol car." Don't they always?
Ben Marcus and Travels With
Ike
The world's best surf writer is currently in Smithers, BC hanging
out, talking to strangers and looking for his cat. He wanted to
include a pleasant IM session with Steve Hawk in his latest,
however it got cut because it included some top secret information.
For the rest of the story check out the latest from Travels With
Ike.
-August 1
-July 31
-July 30
Longboarding
Worlds Hits Jeffreys Bay
The 48 man field for the Oxbow World Championships is made
up of the previous six world champions, the top eight off Association
of Surfing Professionals (ASP) longboard ratings, four wildcards
and 30 qualifiers from two events staged in Portugal and Brazil
during July. This year four South African will compete.
Little
League Getting Even Smaller
Salon.com sports writer Allen Barra responds to
a recent Wall Street Journal "trend piece" which discussed
Little League's decline. Duh. He tries to find reasons for the
drop but ends up saying, "white boys, are dropping out to fiddle
with computer games or skateboards or some other form of
self-indulgent entertainment that demands concentration but no
discipline." If you'd like to help straighten Mr. Barra out on
skateboarding discipline please send
him an e-mail.
A
Real Board Meeting
As our industry gets more and more efficient and business like
the meetings we all attend each week are getting more and more
removed from reality. Friend of the Sack and obscure website locator
extraordinaire Jack Orin sent us this clip that lays it
down straight up. You'll laugh till you puke.
Oregon
City Attempts to Outlaw Skateboarding
The city of Roseburg, Oregon built a skatepark and now they believe
that gives them the right to outlaw skateboards from the
city's sidewalks and parking lots. Violators could face fines
up to $100 and be banned from using their skateboards,
skates or bikes for a month.
Tony
Hawks, Not Hawk
Skater and author Tony Hawk has a near namesake who also
makes money from sports and writing. The difference is England's
Tony Hawks does really stupid thinks like carrying a refrigerator
on his back through Ireland. His latest book is about his attempts
and travels to beat 11 members of the Moldovan national soccer
team in tennis. Pointless, yet interesting.
Skater
Gets Married On TV
Dave Smith is a calm, tattoo-wearing skateboarder who promotes
and sells snowboards and his fiancé Kerri Sellers
a slick-dressing, sign language interpreter are getting married
on TV. They'll be appearing the The Learning Channel show,
"A Wedding Story." When they do "A Wedding Night Story" then we'll
watch.
John
Milius Profiled In LA Times
To us he's most famous for his classic film Big
Wednesday, however, the rest of the world probably knows
him as the co-screenwriter of Apocalypse Now who created
one of the best representations of the triumph of the will to
surf yet to hit mainstream screens.
Net
Costs Big Biz $63 Billion a Year
Planning your next family vacation or checking out the latest
voyeur photos while at
work is costing corporate America $2000 a second. And you know
what? That's exactly what they deserve.
Costco's
Brand of Aloha
A Mild Contusion
Ben
Gets His Tongue Clipped
Room
For Older Pro Surfers?
If you've heard anything interesting lately send some e-mail
Previous Bags o' Crapola:
-July 31, 2001
-July 5, 2001
-June 19, 2001
-May 9, 2001
Special thanks: to Jim Romenesko's MediaGossip.com
|