A skateboarder died in Midtown early today after being struck by a garbage truck, Memphis police said. Police were called about 2:15 a.m. to Summit Street and Courtland Avenue, near Cooper and south of Union.An Allied Waste Service truck heading south on Summit turned west at Courtland, toward Cooper, and struck the victim, police said. The skateboarder, who was male, died at the scene. Police had not yet positively identified him, according to Sgt. Alyssa Macon-Moore, a spokeswoman for the department.

Frontside Grinds are a form of skateboarding trick where the skateboarder slides on the hangers of the trucks. Grinds are performed on any object that may fit between the space between the wheels where the truck meets. The move likely originated in backyard pools, as the early skaters gained in skill and confidence with their high speed carves around the top of the pool walls and one day went that little bit too high. The trucks of the time, often being merely ‘borrowed’ rollerskate trucks, didn’t allow much contact due to their inherent narrowness, but as skateboarding gained its own truck manufacturers who widened the hanger design, the possibilities for exploration became apparent, and all sorts of moves started popping up. Nowadays they are commonly performed on handrails or on the lips of objects such as benches, but any suitably hard, smooth edge will do.

That was from Wikipedia, now Darren Navarette aka The Vertical Vampire is gonna show us how to do them.

Tony Hawk, whose crash landing during a Quiksilver  demo on Saturday resulted in a painful pelvis injury that will require lots of rest and rehab, did not break any fingers so he’s as busy as ever on Twitter. The legendary skateboarder, who fell hard to the ramp’s bottom platform but eventually rose to thank the crowd and excuse himself from the event, Tweeted about the failed 540 attempt the same day: “Did a tailbone 5 & my foot was a little off, sent me into b/s revert (chicken-neck) to flat. Hit my back & head HARD. Waiting for CT results.”

On Sunday he Tweeted his understanding of the diagnosis:

Then this plug for the hospital: “My deepest gratitude to the staff at UC Irvine Trauma Center. If you are going to get seriously hurt, I recommend being near there.” It’s good to see that Hawk, one of the all-time great athletes and a master at making his point in 140 characters or less, has not lost his sense of humor. Hope he’s feeling better soon.
Via [Pete Thomas]

Milton Martinez shot by Martin Gustafsson Bowlriders

[source]

Skateboarding Magazine Tagged: bowlriders contest miltonmartinez skateboarder

It’s too bad My Name Is Earl has been canceled, but Jason Lee is back with a new show on TNT called Memphis Beat. I like to remember the old days when Jason Lee was a pro for the newly founded Blind Skateboards. In the old days, he wasn’t too different from the quirky guy he is now. The part that always makes me chuckle is when he was singing in Video Days, which I have posted below.  Also, here are a few other Jason Lee video clips you may enjoy.

As an influential skateboarder from the ‘90s, plenty of people say Jason Lee is a sellout who ditched his decks for Hollywood. He even was one of the first skateboarders (along with Tony Hawk) to receive a signature shoe with Airwalk. But when you have an opportunity to go where the money is, sometimes you just can’t pass it up. At least we’ll always have these classic clips of him doing what he did best.

Here is the video clip of Jason Lee performing “There’s a war outside of your window”

Jason Lee’s part in Video Days.

Jason Lee’s still go it. 360 Flip on the set.

People send in all types of sponsor me skate videos but this one as different than most. The reason that it is different is that Chris Milic has a little red furry ball animal that co stars in the video with him and for that we give Chris two thumbs up for coming up with something that is creative and out of the box if you will.

A Different Kind Of Sponsor Me Skate Video

And here are a few more notes about getting sponsored… There is no one way to become a sponsored skateboarder. Contrary to popular belief, it is not all about “sponsor-me” tapes. You have to prove to the sponsor you are a good choice, and just any old sponsor me  tape will not cut it. Making it stand out a bit with some good skating and something creative will catch the eyes of the people watching the hundreds of sponsor me takes that are sent in so keep that in mind.

There is a skateboarder on the cover of Adobe Premiere Elements 8 which is kinda cool but the trick he is doing looks like a bail and even manufactured. Nice try though adobe:-)

The Ryan Sheckler action figure is the first fully functioning controllable moveable skateboarder. This toy is kind of a trip, check it out.

Here is 9 year old skateboarder Cameron Miller just shredding the parks.

Paul Rodriguez Street Skate Finals/Credit: Dom Cooley/Shazamm/ESPN Images

Los Angeles, Calif. – Paul Rodriguez finally got the monkey off his back. After becoming the first skateboarder ever to win back-to-back gold in the X Games Skateboarding Street contest in 2005, P-Rod failed to podium for the following two years and was held to second place last year by X Games 14 gold medal winner, Ryan Sheckler. All that changed today, with his commanding win in the Skateboard Street Finals.

In the Skateboarding Street competition, each skater gets 10 attempts per session to land tricks on a specific set of street features. The top three scores from each session get added to their overall score. Rodriguez unleashed a flurry of switch tricks early on that earned him top scores, and had him leading the pack going into the third session. Unfortunately, the final set of street features, consisting of two steep banks and a 12-step staircase, seemed to cause problems for nearly all the competitors, including P-Rod.

Nick Dompierre Street Skate Finals/Credit: Dom Cooley/Shazamm/ESPN Images

Going into the final attempts of the third session, Rodriguez had failed to land more than two solid tricks. Fourteen-year-old Nyjah Huston pulled a kickflip back lipslide on the rail on his ninth attempt, putting him into the lead, but in the final moments he nailed a switch heelflip down the stairs, that propelled him into first and the gold.

“It’s like an itch that finally got scratched. It’s been four years [since I won Gold],” Rodriguez said, adding with a nod towards second place finisher Huston, “It’s good to know that I can still hang with these youngsters.”

Adam Dyet, who skated and crashed equally as hard throughout the contest, was in fourth going into his last run, but a nollie full cab down the stair set earned him high scores, pushing Rodolfo Ramos out of medal contention just as the session came to a close.

Adam Dyet Street Skate Finals/Credit: Dom Cooley/Shazamm/ESPN Images

Sheckler, whose first place standing from last year prequalified him for the finals today, skated the contest with an injured back. After multiple falls in the first session, he seemed to be warming up going into the second session, landing a switch heelflip and a nollie heelflip backside 180 down the three-flat-four staircase. A bail on the 8^th of his 10 allotted trick attempts left him visibly shaken, and a hard fall on his last attempt caused him to roll his ankle. He did not move on to the third session.

Coverage of all X Games events can be found on www.xgames.com. Story Courtesy espn.com