DROP !!!!

This Is It

Today, Westfield LLC hands over the keys to our kingdom. The ramp is 95 percent built, all of the construction that the Westfield team did is done, and we have 5 out the 6 permits that we need to open. NOW IT IS UP TO US !!!!!

4th Annual PacSun Clash at Clairemont

THE STREETS Crew will be at this event tomorrow and we hope you will be too !!!

Calling all Skateboarding fans! On Saturday, March 27 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PacSun will bring world class Skateboarders, BMX pros and music to San Diego.

Back again this year, legendary skater Tony Hawk will be amazing the crowd at the 4th annual PacSun Clash at Clairemont. Held at the Krause Family Bike & Skate Park/Mission Valley YMCA in San Diego, attendees will have the opportunity to get a close up look of the skateboarding pros on the vert ramps, in-ground concrete pool and street courses!

All proceeds from the event will benefit the Mission Valley YMCA and "Grind for Life,” an organization that provides financial assistance to cancer patients and their families.

Admission is $10 at the door (kids 6 and under free) and includes food, demos, games, raffle tickets, entertainment and much more.

This year’s event has numerous professional athletes performing their best tricks on every arena of the skate park. Pros will be on the 2006 X Games Vert Ramp, at 100 feet long and 15 feet tall, the largest outdoor ramp on the West Coast; the mini ramps and street skate courses.

Skateboarding and BMX professional stars such as Tony Hawk, Andy Macdonald, Bucky Lasek, Pierre Luc Gagnon and Simon Tabron appear, along with many more at the day-long event.

In addition to tons of great give-aways there will an autograph session and musical appearances; with Dave Duncan “The Voice of Skateboarding” as MC.

Mission Valley YMCA’s Krause Family Skate & Bike Park is located at 3401 Clairemont Drive. For more information about this event, go to pacsun.com/clashatclairemont.

3/26/10 Street League Skateboarding

Announcing Street League Skateboarding; the Future of Competitive Professional Skateboarding

The world’s best street skateboarders sign to the first million dollar professional tour with three stops in 2010

LOS ANGELES – Street League Skateboarding announced today that for the first time in history, street skateboarding competition has been organized into its very own professional league, with the best skateboarders in the world competing head-to-head in a series of individual tour stops in the summer of 2010. Founded by twenty-year professional skateboarder and entrepreneur, Rob Dyrdek, Street League is truly the future of competitive street skateboarding.

Signed to multi-year contracts, a total of twenty-four of the world’s biggest skateboarding stars will compete in Street League™ exclusively. The first pros that have signed are arguably the top skateboarders in the world and include Chris Cole, Ryan Sheckler, Greg Lutzka, Torey Pudwill, PJ Ladd, Sean Malto, Mike Mo Capaldi, Mikey Taylor, Billy Marks, Tommy Sandoval, and Paul Rodriguez. The Street League pros will be battling it out for more than $1MM in prize money on a 3-stop arena tour this summer.

Dyrdek, in discussing the origins of the league says, “It has been a dream of mine to create a professional tour that bridges the gap between true street skateboarding and contest skating, which to date has been fragmented and misguided. Street League is more than just a new contest series; it will redefine the way skateboarding competitions are done.”

Chris Cole, 2009’s Dew Tour Champion, Maloof Money Cup Winner, two-times X Games gold medalist and Thrasher’s Skater of the Year, in regards to his exclusive commitment to Street League™ adds, "It’s what we have always wanted – it’s a contest circuit that is actually created, owned, and operated by skaters."

To maximize the talents of these street skateboarding stars, Street League has designed authentic concrete skate plazas to be built on the floors of world-class sports arenas. In addition, Street League brings with it the exclusive use of the instant scoring technology, ISX (Instant Scoring Experience™), to the world of skateboarding. Using real time scoring and an exciting proprietary format, Street League™ will tell a compelling story about each skateboarder’s performance and will have fans on the edge of their seats from the first trick to the very last.

The inaugural year of Street League features a 3-stop arena tour beginning at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona on August 28th, Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California on September 11th, and the final stop in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center on September 25th. The skaters will be competing at each event for the largest prize pool in skateboarding history.

Street League is the culmination of more than five years of development, which began with a professional contest Dyrdek held at the opening of the world’s first skate plaza he built in Kettering, Ohio in 2005. Building on the knowledge gained from this event, Dyrdek and his team began planning for the launch of the league, consulting for and developing several major skateboarding events to serve as additional case studies.

IMG Action Sports, the go-to event production company in the industry, is producing and executing Street League™ in 2010. The worldwide leader in skate park design and construction, California Skateparks, will provide skate plaza construction. Instant Scoring Experience™ is a partnership between MXi, Dialsmith, and Street League.

For more information go to www.streetleague.com.

About Street League Skateboarding

Street League Skateboarding is the first sports entertainment property that gives professional street skateboarding its very own league for individual competition. Street League features the exclusive participation of the world’s best professionals, over $1MM in prize money, and real skate plaza course design inside world-class arenas. Driven by the need to enhance the experience of live professional street skateboarding, Street League utilizes real-time scoring and a proprietary format that makes every trick count. Street League is the brainchild of twenty-year professional skateboarder and entrepreneur, Rob Dyrdek. More information is available at www.streetleague.com.

3/25/10 Your Local Skatepark

Growing up our version of a skatepark was a cheap ramp made of plywood that someone found behind a supermarket. We would all skate the ramp, until someone broke it. Today, most cities have their own skateparks. The best website that I found to find your local park is www.socalskateparks.com. The site will give you all sorts of good info. and a review of the park. For example, this is the review for my local park in Diamond Bar: "The Diamond Bar Skatepark is by no means cramped and features a large reservoir section with 3' to 6' trannys. There is also a 4' bowled half-pipe section with a spine connecting it to the reservoir section. The flow of the park is decent, metal coping is fast, and the concrete is smooth but not the fastest I have ever skated. Throughout the skatepark is the usual street type terrain including an 8 stair, ledges, rails and so on. Bottom Line: The Diamond Bar skateboard park is worth checking out if you are into small transition skateboarding."

3/25/10 Hosoi Headquarters

Went to Hosoi Headquarters in Fullerton, California to pick up some goodies for the shop. Anthony and I were introduced to Chicken the main designer for Hosoi Skateboards and Pocket Pistols Skates. Streets is going to carry boards, wheels, rails, and T-shirts from both companies.

3-24-10 So many Vendor Catalogs....

We have the following vendors for our shop, Obey, C1RCA, KR3W, Supra, Stereo, 7th Letter, Hosoi, Daggers, Element, Brixton, Spitfire, Adidas, Deathwish, Dogtown, Bounty Hunter, Bloodbath, and The 100's. And Nike SB's will make their first appearance in the store in May. We are adding other vendors, as you read this blog. However, if we left someone out or if you want to see other brands at the shop, please e-mail me your suggestions to Kevin@sovskateshop.com.

3-23-10 Another Ramp Update

Check out the extensions in the back corners !!!!

3/22/10 C1RCA's Black Tear

Streets of Venice is honored to have been chosen by C1RCA as the spot to release the Black Tear. A collaboration between C1RCA and Designer Jun Cha, The Black Tear is Insane. They are set to drop at the Streets on May 1st. Below is the back story on the shoe:

Jun Cha is an LA based illustrator, painter, tattooist, and designer. Rooted within the culture of Fine Line Black n Grey tattooing, Jun's art career has been watched over, and guided by the master's of today's industry of fine line black n grey. Jun is widely regarded for his tattoo work that grace the flesh of celebrities, locals and other worldwide personalities.

In the same respect, his career as an illustrator is equally fueled by influences of education through Art Center. Today, Jun has developed within the depths of his work through his own Arudima Studios, endlessly evolving, collaborating, and encompassing a process that transcends the limitations in today's standard art forms.

The Black Tear capsule is the expression of the artist's own vision, one in which the transition from death and sacrifice, symbolized by a mother's profile and tear drop, paradoxically is the key to freedom and growth of one's true roots. Intuitive, psychological, yet simple, this shoe bridges the gaps between design and tattooing. Although they both differ in application, they share the same encrypted quality that The Black Tear conveys. In time of pain, division and conflict, C1RCA and Jun come together, to unify, and emphasize the ground of commitment. A commitment to skateboarding. A commitment to art. And a commitment to these streets. One tear, one kill, one voice. Join us this 2010, as C1RCA and Jun coalesces the world in shedding The Black Tear.

3-20-10 Reategue and his crew are rockin it out

Eddie Reategui and his crew are rocking out this ramp. This is an update on their work.

3-18-10 The Start of the Building of the Ramp

We started at 6:15 a.m. at the Culver City Mall, cause we were only allowed to bring in the wood for the ramp before the mall opened. It took us three tries to find the perfect spot to unload the wood. Then it took five of us about an hour and a half to unload the truck, put the wood on a cart, haul the wood and cart through an up and down path through the mall, until we finally put the wood into three neat piles.

OK Go's "This Too Shall Pass"

You remember Ok Go's first video that they did on treadmills? This is the follow up. The band hired a group of physicists and NASA engineers. And they spent four months building the contraptions for the video. Take a look.

3/18/10 G Q Smooth

The only good thing about being sick and having basic cable in your bedroom is you get to catch-up on reality T.V. and watch old movies. The first time that I learned about the Culver City Mall, formerly known as the Fox Hills Mall, was in the movie Boyz in the Hood. At a BBQ to welcome back Doughboy (Ice-Cube) everyone is impressed with Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) cause he works at the mall and the way that he comes dressed to the event. Let me know if anyone has the shirt that Tre wears in the scene.

3-15-10 This is all ya get

This is a ramp that was built by Eddie Reategui. It's similar to the one that he's building for Streets of Venice. But, how close is it ? Come to Opening Day and find out.