ESPN gathered a panel of experts to rate the difficulty of 60 sports based on 10 criteria. Skateboarding came in at 37, sandwiched between difficult distance swimming and sprints in track and field. Some noticeable more difficult sports include badminton and team handball while the easier sports include calf roping, golf and table tennis. Settling the argument once and for all, skateboarding ranked 16 sports harder than rollerskating (and presumably rollerblading), which tied with cheerleading. Gentlemen, start your pom pom jokes! Check it out: ESPN [ via About.com ] Bonus: A link to the artist that painted the center picture you’ve probably seen all over the web but assumed it was Photoshopped and not a painting.

Merry X-treme-mas! Ho, ho, haaar! Here’s a wrap up of skateboard Christmas ornaments. Sorry Jews, Muslims, Mormans, Rastafarians, Pastafarians, Pan-Africans, etc… Nothing against you. Praise Jeebus and give thanks to Batman.

Skateboarding, Apple Computers and Punk Rock. That’s the chronological order that I was introduced those items, and I’m still heavily hooked on all of them. I had an Apple II before Macs existed. That means I’m old and also excuses computers coming before punk. I did grow up in a midwest suburb you know… My worlds rarely collided in the past, but nowadays it seems to happen all the time, which is why I barely raised an eyebrow when Apple’s latest Get a Mac adverts featured a certain skateboard conglomeration’s stickers prominently on TV. I would have preferred a more clandestine skateboard brand than Girl/Chocolate. Something a little under the radar would have been more subversive, if that’s at all possible at this point. Actually, little kids wouldn’t know about underground brands, so a Wet Willy sticker might have been more appropriate. Embedded video, links and more after the jump.

Check out this 10 minute Tommy Guerrero interview on NPR. It’s pretty good and only has a minimal amount straight media kooking on skateboarding.

I had 412 spam mails waiting for me in my junk mailbox this morning. Somehow, when sifting through them I managed to pick out one email as being potentially mislabeled. The red flag was a subject line reading Guerrero on NPR. So thanks for the tip Day Reah. This is a good place to mention that if you are contacting SnA try and stick something in the subject line that will help me fish it out of the junk mail if the spam filter catches it.

Why is Rob Dyrdek on Forbes.com? It’s only five paragraphs titled Rob Dyrdek On Pro Skateboarding. It doesn’t talk about money or business except to say one year he only sold one board and got a $2 royalty check. (What was his 1991 pro model anyone? Anyone?) This is baffling. Someone must be drunk over in the editorial department. In the Games section (Why is there a games section in a business magazine?) you can find Dyrdek’s interview link two entries above a cockfight organizer.

I’ve seen pics of this spot in the mags over the years, and while they may have said Big O in some of the captions, they pretty much never said where the damn thing was, which is Montreal. It’s one of the more iconic skate spots, that’s for sure, especially since it’s not designed for skateboarding. Every time a picture would turn up I’d be surprised that it was still around and hadn’t been skate-stopped. Turns out it was going to be destroyed, but now it lives. MudScout Media is publishing a book about it called Pipe Fiends. If you are in Montreal on Dec. 15 you can go to the book launch from 8-12 pm at NEST (3673 St-Dominique, Montreal). If you are looking for more info, the Montreal Mirror has an article, SaveThePipe appears to be the de facto web presence, and Parfond.com currently has 62 (!) images in a gallery dedicated to the spot. Stop and think about the fact that such a small spot is important enough and has been around long enough to merit having it’s own book. Pretty amazing. Photo credits: The Color images are from MudScout and the b&w are from Parfond.com.

IRVINE, Calif.–DC Shoes and Action Pursuit Group, producers of Hot Import Nights (HIN) and HINCity, gave one car enthusiast the ultimate “drive all day party all night” prize package. Dave Senders won DC Shoes’ custom Gumball 3000 Subaru WRX STi, which was driven by pro-skateboarder Rob Dyrdek in the infamous European race… …Senders is now the proud owner of the $65,000 DC Shoes Subaru STi.

$65,000? Huh. I wonder if those guys over at DC Shoes are making any money?

Poached from The Auto Channel via Sacklunch.

No. You are not seeing things. Bob Burnquist supposedly has the largest ramp, but it may not be as tall as this giant skateboard-looking contraption on roller coaster tracks. It’s supposed to be a snowboard, actually, but it sure looks more like a skateboard if you ask me. This ride opened in 2004 as near as I can tell. More pics and video links after the jump.

Emerica had a tour this summer where they travelled the whole thing on Harley-Davidson motorcycles for no other discernible reason than it was a chance for extra publicity. Well that, and I’m sure it was, you know, fun. Harley-Davidson stepped up to milk it for themselves by hosting the video and pictures, all the while being careful to note that “Harley-Davidson is not affiliated with these photos or the development of this video and is not responsible for the content or views expressed in it.” What a bunch of rebels!

ABC News has a crush on Vans Shoes. They have a two page spread on the 40th anniversary of Vans Shoes titled Skateboard Style Hits Middle Age. It’s a fluff piece obviously, but it’s got a brief history of the shoe and a gallery of some old ads that are worth checking out for comedy nostalgia, plus they have a Jeff Spicoli reference in the first paragraph. I’ve pulled out the highlights after the jump.