ASR Blog

Women's Motocross Debuts at Summer X

The newest sport to be added to the X-Games for the summer is women’s motocross. As it says in the press release, “The Women's Moto X Racing competition will include 10 of the top women motocross racers in the world competing for the gold medal in the first-time event.” How cool is that? X-Games always seems to do a good job to include the girls—at Summer X they designate a girl’s day with clinics and How-To’s with the pros, and most of the different sports disciplines have both male and female athletes competing. Keep it up X-Games, it’s nice to see that someone remembers the ladies.

*Photo taken from EXPN

Biased against action sports?

Recently, I received an email from the San Diego Extreme Sports Coalition saying that XETV, home of Fox 6, San Diego didn’t show or mention a single highlight from this past Winter X, even though gold medal winner Shaun White is from Carlsbad, a city which Fox 6 caters to. According to Ric from the SD Extreme Sports Coalition, Shaun received his 7^th gold medal on Sunday of the X Games, and the TV station didn’t touch upon it.

If you are reading this blog, there’s a good chance you know how much Shaun has accomplished—from being one of the best in two sports (skateboarding and snowboarding) to winning a gold in the 2006 Olympic Games, so you would think that his hometown station would be interested in doing a story on him. But, according to Ric, the station not only didn’t mention Shaun, but they didn’t cover the Games as a whole. For the 2007 Summer X-Games, they talked about the Games on air for a few seconds, but didn't show any video and for Winter 2007 there was, again, no coverage.

Ric has sent several emails to different people at Fox 6, asking what the deal was, and the only reply he has gotten was from a senior producer. On his website, Ric says: A letter from their senior producer to one viewer stated that the station's position was that X Games are "not real sports" and are something fabricated by ESPN to raise their ratings and to give the network their own marquee event - in his eyes, nothing more than a publicity stunt for the net.  The station XETV to this day REFUSES to show event highlights and news during both season's games, even with so many local athletes so well known here and around the world.

He goes on to say that Fox 6 has the youngest viewers of any local TV news station in San Diego,so why wouldn’t they air it? Action sports would, obviously, relate to young viewers. As Ric says, “It is a most extreme example of local TV sports news ignoring its own community...”

It makes no sense to me, that’s for sure. To check out the whole story, click here.

 

 

Sullen gets business done

The Sullen team. From left to right:

Ryan Smith, Art Director/Co-Owner; James Johnson, CA Sales Rep; Jeremy Hanna, VP/Co-Owner; Jason Richer, So. CA Sales; Ryan Moore, International Sales

When we think of the ASR show, we not only think of all the appointments, but we also think of the beer at the booths, the big dinners, and the late night partying. There’s a lot of fun to be had at ASR, but it’s also a place where business gets done. No one demonstrates this more than the clothing line Sullen. Sullen has been all over the press—from the blog Shop-Eat-Surf.com to Transworld Business to the free mags that you pick up at your local OC eatery, you can find something on Sullen. So, when I was at the show, I decided to stop by and introduce myself.

Lucky me, I was able to get the right guy—co-owner Jeremy Hanna. I asked if he did any other shows, and he said that when they first started, they did Agenda, but outgrowing that, they now only do ASR. September ASR was huge for these guys—Jeremy said that the show got them in to all sorts of accounts, including Tilly’s and No Fear. The other big thing is that there appointments have quadrupled since September ASR—they were completely booked for this January show.

Next subject was a team—since they are growing so much, I had asked if they would start sponsoring athletes. I showed my ignorance, because it turns out they already do. Although Jeremy stresses that Sullen is a lifestyle brand, they are involved in different action sports. They sponsor guys in both moto and freestyle moto, as well as surfers and skaters. And, guess what else—mixed martial arts (MMA) athletes. Which brings us back to the blog topics that are getting so many comments—is MMA the new segment of action sports? I had a great conversation with Jeremy on this, as well as other Sullen owner Ryan Smith, which I’ll cover in tomorrow’s blog. . .

Welcome to 2008

So here we are—the beginning of a new year. I can’t believe it’s already 2008; it seems like just the other day when we were celebrating the millennium and wondering if our computers would crash. I’m wondering what 2008 will bring, for example, what will be the hottest trend? Are skinny jeans on guys here to stay? What new trick will be achieved? Will someone win the Volcom kickflip contest? What crazy motocross new maneuver will be pulled? What will be the must-have gear? I used to think it was so cool that there were iPod pockets in my snow gear and backpacks—now they’re standard—what will be the new thing to blow our minds? How will surfboard blanks progress? Who will be the most talked about athlete? Will Jordy Smith continue to dominate, or will someone new come on to the scene? What will Shaun White pull at Winter X Games? So many questions—anyone care to guess at the answers?

To sell or not to sell

I posted two different stories on Industry News today about selling your business—one was Tiffany Montgomery’s article on how Ocean Minded has been doing since its sale to Crocs, and the other was on Billabong Australia’s acquisition of Tigerlily, a female swim brand. Next to the Ocean Minded article, on OC Metro’s site, was a question—would you sell your business to gain growth? Which made me think, would you? It’s a tough question, because as founder and owner of your business, you want to take it to the next level and have it grow as much as you can, but on the other hand, the business is your baby, do you want someone else to raise it? Sure, you can be president and operation manager for X number of years, but what happens when that time is up? Would it be hard to let go? What do you think?

Nice Guys

My husband golfed in Rob Machado’s charity tournament yesterday and he came home saying what an unbelievably nice guy Rob seemed to be. Then today, I was cruising around the internet when I read a blog about a girl who ran into Shaun White in the airport, and she couldn’t believe how nice he was. I guess Shaun talked to her, did some tricks for security, etc. It’s nice to know that these and other professionals in our sports are like this. By being courteous to the general public, they give the Industry, and the sports themselves, a good name. For example, if the public sees how respectable and amiable a professional skater is, they may not give them the stereotype of derelicts who are defacing public property with their boards. I hope that amateurs in the sports can look up to guys such as these and follow their lead. If they do, then everyone wins.

What is it with the Boutique/Urban trend?

I just met some old coworkers for lunch and one of them mentioned that Alpinestars had recently fired all of their sales reps—a move to become “more fashioney”. She had heard that they are aiming to be in only boutiques; that the goal is to be out of specialty retail.

This got us talking.

Why does the current trend with action sports brands seem to be that they all want to be perceived as this “boutique/urban” brand? As one of the girls said, “Why are these companies so driven to move away from their bread and butter and go into specialty fashion?” Can anyone answer this? I understand if they want to grow their sales and move to the next level—reach a new audience by being in these boutique stores, but why would they want to give up their roots all together?

Too much excitement?

Last week I wrote about the excitement of the Next Big Trick. What would it be? Who would pull it? But now that X-Games 13 is over, I’m wondering if it’s something that we need to think more carefully about. Riders are risking life and limb in order to get the coveted gold medal. If they can be the next rider to pull (insert your choice of death defying stunt) then it will bring them fame, money, and a huge adrenaline rush. But is it worth it? Are we expecting too much of these guys? Jake Brown’s now infamous fall was such an eye opener—is it worth it?

The Next Big Thing

I was reading in today’s LA Times about motocross racing being introduced to the X-Games for the first time--in the past, it’s always been about freestyle moto and who has the best trick. Motocross rider Ricky Carmichael has always wanted to compete in the Games, but because he’s a racer and not out there doing back flips, there’s never been an event for him to compete in. This year, all that has changed.Carmichael worked with X-Games organizers and they created a new event called Moto X Racing.  Which got me thinking—what sports have come and gone from the Games?

I did some research and in the past, the Games have had events such as street luge, wakeboarding, best bike stunt and aggressive inline skating. We’ve also seen many new additions—surfing, BMX big air, rally car racing and of course this year’s Moto X racing. Some events have been seen as too silly, some as passing fads, and others have been around since the first X-Games. Which events would you like to get rid of? Which ones do you think the Games should introduce?

Best Trick of X-Games 13

It’s that time again---tomorrow brings us the start of X-Games 13. A few years back we had Tony Hawk do his 900° and last year brought Travis Pastrana and his double back flip.

I read in today’s LA Times that Bob Burnquist has a mega-ramp in his backyard so he’s been practicing up a storm. Will he bring a legendary trick to the games?

Best trick for Street Skate has been reintroduced for X-Games 13, maybe something crazy will be done in that arena.

What most talked about maneuver do you think this year's games will bring?