Friday, July 11
State of Skate -- 07.11.03
By Keith Eric Davidson
EXPN.com
EXPN.com
In Skate Company News ...
Skateboarding's wheels of motion are turning for some, while others are riding with broken bearings.
At Syndrome Skateboard, Chad Knight was added to the Status Pro roster which now includes Jim Bates, Daxter Lussier, Tommy Budjanec, Paul Zitzer and Harold Daltin. DNA Skateboards added Florida native Dave Durren to their pro roster. He joins pros Matt Milligan, Jamahl Williams, Jerry Fowler, John Buchanan and Jason Maxwell. Super-secret news has Rob Dyrdek starting an elite team for a brand-new truck company.
Last month's rumor about a new Deluxe company is out of the bag. Former Real team riders Nate Jones and Matt Field join ex-Element pro Reese Forbes in a venture called Rasa Libre.
The Driven Skateboards added American Misfit jackasses Laban Pheidias and Jason "Wee Man" Acuna to its pro team, which may or may not include Jason Jessee, Andy Roy and Christian Fletcher.
Shorty's Skateboards' longtime team riders Peter Smolik, Toan Nguyen and Jesse Silvey were given the boot. No word as of yet on where they'll take their new boot.
Blind Skateboards recently released pros Josh Casper, Gideon Choi and Gershon Mosely.
Last month's Genetic fiasco finds Pat Channita skating in Axions, Alysson Castro trying out Saviers, and Big Brother cover-boy Micah Hollinger stinking up his new Adios.
Companies who went to that great curb-cut in the sky include: NC Clothing, Dogtown Skateboards and Vallely Skateboards.
In Tour News ...
Summer is here and skateboard tours are in full effect.
Girl Skateboards' "High Fives up the I-5" tour heads out July 9th-20th and stretches from Bakersfield, CA to Rick Howard's hometown of Vancouver, B.C. For dates, locations and riders, check out www.crailtap.com.
Etnies Shoes hits the road with its "Summer Response BBQ" tour at skateparks in the Northeast and the Rocky Mountain region. Etnies provides free grub, drinks and an occasional pro rider ... you show up for the fun. Click on www.etnies.com/skate/extra/bbq03/schedule.php.
Japanese kids, forever obsessed with collecting Nike Dunks, will go bananas when they hear Nike is sending their illustrious squad of scuffers on the road for demo/shop appearances via the Nike "Prime Cuts" tour. Pro team members Reese Forbes, Gino Iannucci, Daniel Shimizu and Danny Supa will make appearances. The tour starts on the East Coast July 24th and ends in Cali August 9th. Check out www.slapmagazine.com/mt/archives/000078.
One of the hardest working teams in skating will tour the U.S. this summer. Zero Skateboards announced their demo/autograph tour, which begins in Utah mid-July, heads to the East Coast and passes through the scorching southwest in August. Riders haven't been announced, but you can bet Jamie "The Chief" Thomas will be driving the van. Click on www.zeroskateboards.com/tour.
In Contest News ...
At the Boost Mobile contest in Los Vegas, Anti-Hero's Tony Trujillo took first for Street and Bucky Lasek won Vert. Both took home a whopping $40,000 for their efforts, which included projectile vomiting due to the extreme heat. Boost Mobile made a great effort by providing the richest prize in contest history, but maybe they should choose a slightly cooler place in the future. Click here for complete contest coverage.
July marks many a pro's calendar as the start of European Contests. For the past 15 years or so, American skaters have descended upon the Old World in hopes of taking home a few Euros and will continue this summer in Germany, England, the Czech Republic and Denmark. For contest dates, go to www.wcsk8.com/2003/schedule.lasso.
Want to be included in the next State of Skate? Email your clips, quips and tips to stateofskate@expn.com.
Skateboarding's wheels of motion are turning for some, while others are riding with broken bearings.
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| With last month's close of Genetic, Allyson Castro finds himself skating in Saviers. |
In Tour News ...
Summer is here and skateboard tours are in full effect.
 |
| Jason "Wee Man" Acuna, the newest addition to The Driven Skateboards' pro team, feeble grinds for some much wee-er fans. |
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| We don't have any news to report on Toy Machine rider Josh Harmony, but we thought the photo was worth including. Nosegrind. |
Want to be included in the next State of Skate? Email your clips, quips and tips to stateofskate@expn.com.
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