HUGE NEWS that Lionel Messi is coming to MLS and joining Miami FC. How huge is it? Even the skateboarding sites are talking about it. OK, this one is at least. How bizarre is it that the world’s most famous sport celebrity is wearing a skateboard related shirt on TV during an interview? Well it turns out it’s a lot less bizarre than I thought, now that I’ve learned it’s a Louis Vuitton shirt that somehow slipped under the S&A radar. Let’s talk about how bizarre that is… Louis Vuitton designers capitalizing on a Tony Hawk / Berrics bit. I don’t know how much it cost when it was released but you can buy them on the collector’s market for around $1,500, or $20 on the knockoff market. Am I missing something? is there a reason they used the Icee bear typeface? Make your own if you want.

Charlie Brown’s All Stars! (CBAS) originally aired on June 8, 1966. I’m not sure if it ever made it to VHS, but the first DVD release I’m aware of was from 2009. While watching “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown” over the weekend on Apple TV+ I dug around a little and found CBAS was available too. It looks like they remasters it for Apple TV, above and beyond the DVD release. It’s very clean, but there is an odd bit in a scene with Sally and Linus setting up a yard pool. Compared to other versions I’ve seen, the pair look like the attempt to make them look like they have a tan was a little overcooked. I can’t show you what it looks like because screen caps for DRM protected content are disabled on Apple TV. Snoopy does some great surfing before they segue to the sidewalk surfing for an extended segment around the 10 minute mark that includes the world’s first documented footage ollie! No sky hooks here.

Old Steve Grover (Remember GVK?) texted me from Puerto Rico to let me know the 70’s channel was playing a video of the Osmonds on skateboards while singing “Do You Know The Way To San Jose?” Tracking down the video was a piece of cake, but because of the lazy nature of the internet, there is no backstory for those with skateboarding ephemera OCD. If legendary and sorely missed Scott Starr was still alive I would have doubtless been able get the answer with a quick email. After some digging around (way too much) I found a reference in the 2006 book Television Variety Shows by David M. Inman. Based purely on the visuals and the fact that it was in color I would have guessed early 70’s, but it turns out it originally aired on the 1968 season 2 premier of the Jerry Lewis Show.

Details are slim to nonexistent on this, but you are looking at Tracy Morgan appearing on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, while decked out in an outfit that is assuredly based on the Brand-X Weirdo model. I’ve got a message in to Brand-X and will share what I learn. You know the Weirdo has a special place in our hearts here. UPDATE: It’s an old appearance from 4/01/19 and you can watch it here. The clip available online is not the full interview and the topic of his outfit does not come up.

I randomly found an old message with link to a bendy Gabriel toys figure of Horshack riding a skateboard. I’ve got the Donald Duck version from the same company somewhere buried in a box, and I’ve posted on the Goofy version before. “What the hell is a Sweathog?” you may be asking yourself if you did not watch TV from 1975-1979. The Sweathogs were the gang of high school kids that were the man supporting characters in the show Welcome Back Kotter, the same sho that made John Travolta famous before Saturday Nigh Fever, Scientology, and arguably his finest work on celluloid, Face/Off…. But I digress.. In doing my due diligence looking for the best pictures I could find I discovered this post had obviously already been done better by Beach Party Attitude. I should have known better, but hey, that’s the online world of skateboarding toys from 1977 for ya…

– Thanks to Tim Jamison for the vintage tip.

Variety Magazine reports that a Lords of Dogtown TV series is in the works at IMDb TV. “In the works” probably means very early stages, pre-pre production. This could mean 0 episodes get produced, or a pilot , or a pilot and a handful of first episodes… who knows. At one point in my life as a young skateboarder this would have gotten me really excited. Now that I’m just an old man yelling at clouds, something like this just makes me sigh, even if it won’t cost me a penny to watch a TV adaptation of a movie dram adaptation of a documentary film. You have to wonder if any of the original parties involved will see a dime from this.

– Tip via Heidi Lemon

Tony Hawk performed on the The Masked Singer as the Elephant. Despite sticking to his 80’s roots, singing Friday I’m In Love by the Cure, he lost the round and was unmasked. The takeaway from this is the fact that it’s 2020 and we’re still making additions to Gratuitous Tony Hawk appearances. Looks like he enjoyed himself.

The parole board has tentatively grantees Mark “Gator” Rogowski parole based on a combination of circumstances including his remorse, completion fovea various rehabilitation programs, and a new law affecting offenders under the age of 26, related to brain development studies. He has not been released yet. The board has 120 days to make the decision final, and the DA plans to appeal the decision. Gator is currently 53 years old, and plans to live with his brother while working as a paralegal clerk. More information can be found at ABC 10 News San Diego. He’s been in prison for about 25 years. Is he rehabilitated? Does he deserve another chance? Meanwhile, Vision still sells a Gator deck…

– Thanks to Mark Sellman for the tip.

My secret mission to very, very slowly (like glacially) turn this into a hybrid skateboarding and soccer site progresses nicely… Here’s Post number 2 on Portland Thorns player and (2 time!) USWNT World Cup winner (!!!) Tobin Heath! After the Sweden-England match on Saturday there was a lot of analysis in advance of the final between USA and the Netherlands.  Fox aired this segment on Tobin Heath that was filmed in Portland at Commonwealth about 2 months ago. I’ve never seen a picture of Tobin on a skateboard, but here she is on S&A again, and according to Girls Soccer Network, she skateboards. The three minute segment is an odd one, to be sure. It starts off with her juggling in the flat and then out of nowhere she’s surrounded by Solid Gold dancers, and eventually, skateboarders. The voiceover is Heath talking about her connection to soccer, and  a skateboard connection is neither explained or explicitly shown. She’s an amazing player, and I love her and both of her teams, so it pains me to say this… It’s very stiff and awkward. I blame the creative director behind this. I get it, FOX has to have some flash and filler to show in-between the big games, something to draw the viewers into the personalities of the team since the women’s league has no real national coverage.  One thing bothered me, especially in the context of the USWNT employment discrimination lawsuit against US Soccer. The skateboarding crew are all packing sausage. Surely they could found some women to fill that roll, and FFS, paid them equally. I’m not going to let it ruin my day. I found the video online, and posted some screen caps after the jump. #BAON #USWNT

KOMO News has recurring feature called Eric’s Heroes, and this one is about Bellevue, Washington police officer Craig Hanauma. Craig plays the trombone, teaches jujitsu, and skateboards with the kids. It’s community outreach, but I’m pretty sure he not-so-secretly enjoys it. The pics above are stills from the KOMO video, except the bottom right, which is from Craig Hanaumi’s Instagram feed. About this appearances at skateparks, he says that besides his uniform, he’s just an old guy on skateboard.