Hi-Fi New York

This new Travis Rice commercial where he barely avoids being sucked down the face of a mountain by an avalanche is not so un-amazing (watch it here). Peep, peeps!

VOX posted a trailer for their new video “Black and Blue, Volume Four”. Watch it above. David Gravette, Dan Drehobl, Emmanuel Guzman and more. Yert.

Some thoughts on Marc Johnson being named the ‘07 SotY …

- I’m a huge MJ fan, but doesn’t this feel a little bit like a lifetime achievement award? Just a little bit? That’s going to come across as hating, but it isn’t. As amazing as MJ is, I don’t think anyone would say he’s peaking right now, and I just think that there are guys who are more on top of their games right now is all. There, I said it.

- Is there a chance that MJ won it based on getting the closing part in “Fully Flared”? The video just came out, after all, and I’m sure everyone over at Thrasher HQ is still buzzing about it, especially if it’s even one-tenth as good as everyone says it is. But does a video part warrant a SotY?

- Tons of commenters on Thrasher are calling for Dan Drehobl to win it. Now you won’t catch a bigger Cancer Dan fan than yours truly. To me, he’s the one skater I enjoy watching more than any other, hands-down (with Chet Childress in second place). But, I think Drehobl’s overall appeal is a little too limited. To me, diehards know him, but beyond that, there should be an element to the award that speaks to the skater’s overall popularity. And I think that’s where Drehobl would come up short.

- So who would I have picked for SotY 2007? Dennis Busenitz, that’s who. Kid’s on top of his game, he’s extremely relevant in skateboarding in general, and he embodies what the award stands for. Or at least what I thought it stands for; when it comes down to it, I have pretty much no idea what I’m talking about. My opinion is as supremely amateur as that Sean Malto character.

(Photo Tailtap: dgkdipset)

Oh, and for posterity’s sake, here’s a year-by-year look at the SotYs …
1990 - Tony Hawk
1991 - Danny Way
1992 - John Cardiel
1993 - Salman Agah
1994 - Mike Carroll
1995 - Chris Senn
1996 - Eric Koston
1997 - Bob Burnquist
1998 - Andrew Reynolds
1999 - Brian Anderson
2000 - Geoff Rowley
2001 - Arto Saari
2002 - Tony Trujillo
2003 - Mark Appleyard
2004 - Danny Way (only person to win it twice)
2005 - Chris Cole
2006 - Daewon Song
2007 - Marc Johnson

Independent put up the Intro and Part One of their Northwest Tour video recap. It features Darren Navarrette, Chet Childress, Matt Mumford, Omar Hassan, Sammy Baca, Al Partanen, Dan Drehobl, Peter Hewitt, Andrew Currie killing some ‘crete in the cool and rainy part of the country. At least do yourself a favor and watch the intro. It’s disturbingly inspiring.

• FOOTY: Runaway full-pipe? Leave it to the Germans. You gotta see this ish. (Tailtap: Skate Daily)
• FOOTY: Allow a three-flipping Jason Lee to welcome you to the new Stereo site. (TT: Skate Daily)
• FOOTY: A preview of the next Epicly Later’d featuring John Cardiel. Even more of a must-see than das Deutsche Krazy-Pipe ding. (TT: Thrasher)
• NEWS: Cancer Dan will now be draping his bones in Elwood threads. Drehobl joins Kenny Anderson and Anthony Pappalardo.
• FOOTY: Zoo York gets after it in China. I watched the podcast, but I’m pushing the YouTube. Featured riders include Zered Bassett, Brandon Westgate, Anthony Shetler, Matt Miller and Donny Barley.
• SOUNDS: Rick McCrank has an audio podcast interview thingy at Mumble Magazine. (TT: Slap)
• Q&A: Brandon Biebel talks to Kingpin about the making of Fully Flared. (TT: Slap)
• FOOTY: The latest installment of éS’s “Where’s That Spot?” takes Rick McCrank, Justin Eldridge, Danny Garcia, Bobby Worrest and Silas Baxter-Neal to some public art in Poland. Goes down like a fine wine. Take a sip. Oh yeah, this is also downloadable via podcast. (TT: Slap)

An absolute classic from the YouTube vaults. Above is the first heat of Jim’s Ramp Jam, a must-see 1996 mini-ramp contest that features the likes of John Cardiel, Gershon Mosley, Chet Childress, Dan Drehobl, Mark Gonzales and many more. The highlight for me is the footy of Crooks and Cancer Dan as young’uns. Also be sure to check out the second heat (featuring Tim Brauch, Chris Senn, Max Schaaf, Chris Pastras and more) and then, natch, the finals. Good eats.

I know I’m a few weeks behind, but I recently saw a post on Skate Daily that linked to a news story on skateboarding getting bumped as an exhibition sport at the 2012 Olympics in London.

I’m sure a huge portion of the skate community is behind this news, as everyone’s favorite anti-sport was granted another four-year reprieve and can stay true to its underground roots. I get that argument.

But I think it’s outdated.

Skateboarding’s become too commodified to stay out of the spotlight for much longer. Anytime you see this much money being generated by a “hobby,” “pasttime,” “activity” or what have you, then it will grab the attention of those who govern large-scale sporting events, such as the Olympics.

So my solution? Well, since street skating is way too advanced for the average “viewer” (sorry to use that term) to understand, and half-pipe skating is … uh, half-pipe skating, I’d hope organizers would consider bowlriding as an option. Think about: it takes place in a controlled environment, it’s more creative than half-pipe skating, you can work in some street-type moves into your line (mannies on the platform, etc.), and - perhaps most importantly - it would keep that guy in the photo above from capturing the first-ever Olympic gold medal in skateboarding.

Not that I have anything against the red-headed action sports wunderkind. I don’t. Truly. He seems like a nice guy. I’d just much rather have Dan Drehobl, Chet Childress, Rick McCrank or someone like that find their way into the history books.

I mean, the idea of Luda-Crooks standing on an Olympic platform with a medal in one hand a beer-can in the other? I think we could all get behind that.