Shaun Neff has built quite the little head covering apparatus empire. We went on a trip to Whistler about four years ago and one night while we were talking in the lodge after a day of riding some epic powder we were exploring the “what ifs” of Neff Headwear blowing up. I think it’s safe to say with this new skate team, Neff headwear has officially blown up. Here is the skate team press release:
Eric Koston, Guy Mariano and Braydon Szafranski join Terry Kennedy to launch the official NEFF HEADWEAR Skate Team.
NEFF HEADWEAR recently added Eric Bork as skate team manager. The new focus at Neff is to design and market product for the skate world. Each skater has designed their own signature cap that will be in the upcoming spring line. Headwear is a highly overlooked niche that Neff has made a top priority. Neff’s goal is to make the best fitting hat, which they finally feel has been accomplished. Neff will debut its new cap fit at ASR, which has been in the works for over three years.
When I was asked to attend the Dew Tour with my company last summer to assist them as they filmed events and interviewed athletes, I felt a bit overwhelmed. While I was new at the company, still unfamiliar with video shoots and how best to assist my coworkers, I was even more unfamiliar with action sports. Growing up a tomboy, I have always loved sports, and would often play basketball or baseball with my older brother. In recent years, however, I’ve become more a girlie girl. High heels and make-up are now more my cup of tea than a game of pick-up.
Since the day I lost my hot pink skateboard when I was 12, I’ve known almost nothing about the world of action sports. I had heard of moto-cross, but thought it was a type of car race. I knew about BMX bikes from when I was a kid, but had no idea of the tricks and stunts that they could yield. And I could more easily tell you the chemical make-up of hair pomade than tell you the difference between skate park and skate vert.Attending the Dew Tour last summer was a crash course in action sports 101. I got to witness some amazing stunts (Mike Spinner’s 1080), I saw some horrific accidents (Steven Murray’s debilitating crash) and I learned some new lingo: Indy grab, blunt slide.
The best experience for me, however, was getting to meet and talk with the athletes themselves. I learned that many of these guys are just kids, under the age of 18 and touring all over the world. Many of them are married and have children that they are apart from for several months of the year. And many are just pure characters who make everyone they come across laugh and feel welcome. I learned a lot about the action sports world that summer, but the lesson I will take with me is that anyone can become a fan of something new if they are willing to be open to it and to give it a chance.
While I was sitting in a bar with my friends in Salt Lake City one night a few months ago, a girlfriend of mine exclaimed, “Who’s that guy on TV? He’s hot!” I turned around, smiled, and replied, “That’s Allan Cooke. He rides BMX. I met him at the Dew Tour last summer. He’s a really nice guy.”My girlfriends stared at me with disbelief. I laughed as I thought about the many adventures and amazing people that I met on the Dew Tour, and how the experience helped turn me into an action sports fan.When Allan’s interview was over, we paid our billed, thanked our server, and headed out to buy new stilettos.
Shaun White missed the Baltimore Dew Tour and will miss other stops. Why would he miss such a major event? Snowboarding. Shaun is amazing on a snowboard and I would so much rather watch him snowboard than skateboard anyway. He can ride the crappiest cut snowboard halfpipe and still boost higher than anyone else. Check out Burton’s video on him in the pipe here: http://www.burton.com/BTV/Default.aspx
(click on men’s global team and select Shaun White to view video)
Have you ever been to a show or some sporting event and been right up close to the athlete or musician? They were probably really cool or really lame. Granted there are some artists, be they musicians or athletes that are assholes. But for the most part that I have met, they are cool people. It’s just that sometimes they are busy. I was in Cleveland last year for the Dew Tour and Shaun White had just gotten done practicing on the vert ramp. It was hot, he was all sweaty and ramp stained and just wanted to go take a shower. He was going with our crew to go do an interview and the second he stepped out of the secure area – he was mauled by a herd of autograph hungry groms. For Shaun’s wealth and fame he is a really down to earth character. He signed about 10 autographs and then his manager had to pull him away so he could do our interview and several others. I know there were kids in that crowd that felt snubbed, like Shaun was “too important” to waste time with these kids. It’s rare that any of the athletes I’ve met deliberately snub their fans (only a few select douche bags do it – and who wants to talk to or hang out with them anyway). Think about it, if you were about to play a show or skate in a vert competition – how open would you be to kids asking you a million questions and wanting you to sign their shirt, poster, back, skateboard and shoes?
I caught up with Stevie Williams on a recent photoshoot for SkullCandy headphones. It was his first time to Utah. He was wishing for some snow to try out the best snow on the planet. Instead of snowboarding, we shot photos for some upcoming skullcandy ads. Stevie is a mellow guy and really talented on a skateboard. Check out some video from the photoshoot and look for his ad coming to a magazine near you.
