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.