Skateboarding and the 2008 X Games: check out all the chat and skateboarding news and info!

The X Games are here – July 29 through August 3 – and skate fans are discussing their favorites on blogs and forums everywhere. Some people have predicted winners, while others think it’s too close and unpredictable to call.Events will include:

• men’s and women’s street skate
• men’s big air
• men’s and women’s vert skate
• men’s skateboard superpark
• vert skate for amateurs

Here is a complete list of participating skateboarding athletes and here is a source of skateboarding news at the X Games.

When you need info about skateboarding protective gear, head to the XSportsProtective learning center.

At the learning center for skateboard protective gear, you’ll find these articles:

• What Skateboard Protective Gear do I Need?
  Which items are most important?
• How To Choose: Skateboard Helmet
  Skate only? Skate and bike?
• How To Choose: Skateboard Knee and Elbow Pads
  Slip-On, Easy-On? Hard shell, soft shell?
• How To Choose: Skateboard Gloves and Wrist Guards
  Gloves? Standard wrist guard?
• How to Choose: Skateboard Padded Shorts
  Pad thickness? Hard shell vs soft foam?
• Skateboard Protective Gear Useful Links
  Articles on and resources about protective gear

If you need help choosing the right skateboard helmet and other skateboarding protective gear, call us at 1-800-930-4084 or email info@XSportsProtective.com.

Skateboarding protective gear makes an ideal birthday present!

Nothing says “I love you” more than a gift of skateboard protective gear that helps protect your loved ones from injury.It’s likely that you have a skateboarding fan in your family, too. In 2002, a report by American Sports Data indicated that there were 18.5 million skateboarders, with 85% of them under the age of 18. Meanwhile a report from the October 2002 issue of The Journal of Trauma recommends skateboarding protective gear as the solution to greatly reduce skateboarding injuries.

Some great skate gifts include:

• Skateboard helmets, including helmets that are exclusively for skateboarding or combination bike / skateboard helmets

Besides skateboard protective gear, you can bake a delicious skate cake, topped with refreshing ice cream.

Wondering how to create a birthday cake in the shape of a skateboard or a skateboarding park? Here are several great ideas. Or, if you already have a terrific idea for a skate cake and want to share it with others, you can submit your skateboarding recipe to the Coolest Birthday Cakes website. We’d also love it if you posted your skateboarding birthday suggestions on the XSportsProtective blog!

Skateboarding news: skater Jake Brown from Australia is returning to the X Games, one year after his terrifying accident.

We’ve written about Jake Brown before, including shortly after his scary accident in last year’s X Games. When he crashed from a height of at least 45 feet, his shoes went in two entirely different directions and then he was flat on the ground for several minutes – only to get up and walk off the course.Well, Brown has healed from his injuries, which included fractures of his wrist and vertebrae, a lung contusion, and a potentially fatal liver laceration – and he’ll be back to compete this year in the X Games.

More X Games skateboarding news: a new skateboarding event, SuperPark, will be added to the slate of competitive events.

According to event organizers, “The SuperPark disciplines will highlight the all-around abilities of the world’s best transition skaters.” Definitely something to watch!Chris Stiepock, X Games general manager, adds this comment: “We are constantly striving to present new sports and disciplines at the X Games that accurately reflect the state of action sports and participants.”

Even the top skateboarders in the world recognize the importance of skateboard protective gear and they wear the gear during the X Games.

I don’t want to imagine what would have happened to Jake Brown if he hadn’t been wearing the most important piece of skateboard protective gear: the skateboard helmet. Choose the best skateboard helmet here before you begin to skate!

Skateboarding news: Baltimore’s Bucky Lasek secured the skate vert gold in the AST Dew Tour, with an amazing second run.

In the Baltimore stop of the Dew Tour, ten top professional skateboarders went for the gold in a best of three runs format. Canada’s Pierre-Luc Gagnon won the first run, with a score of 93.50. So how does Lasek respond in run # 2? By “flipping, twisting, spinning, and even breaking out a brand new fastplant spin for the occasion to push ahead with a score of 93.75.”As Bucky put it, “I wasn’t here to get second place and I wasn’t here to go home hurt: I was here to win it for Baltimore.” And, that he did – with real style. Nobody could catch Lasek in run # 3 and he celebrated with a victory lap – and then he added some breakdancing moves, as well.

Wondering where the next skateboarding news will take place?

The next stop on the AST Dew Tour is Cleveland, Ohio, in July – and the Summer X Games will be held in August in California. Skateboarding categories at the X Games are street/park, vert and luge.

If you like what Lasek did on the Dew Tour, you’ll love his skate helmet

Lasek’s ProTec Classic skate helmet has 70s styling and the hard-to-find translucent color with exposed stainless steel rivets. This key piece of skateboard protective gear comes in 4 different shell sizes for a custom fit, plus a comfortable two-stage liner. The skate helmet comes with a sticker sheet of Bucky’s sponsors, too, so you can customize your own skateboard protective gear – with your own unique style.Check back in . . . I suspect we’ll be watching Bucky Lasek make even more skateboarding news this summer!

Read more about the skateboard protective gear you need to stay protected.

The National Safety Council (NSC) recommends the use of skateboard protective gear, saying “Always wear safety gear.”

NSC recommends the following in skateboard safety gear:

• Skateboard helmets, specially designed skateboarding pads and closed, slip-resistant shoes
• Padded skate shorts, and skateboard pads for hips, knees and elbows
• Skate wrist guards and protective skate gloves

The mission of the NSC is to “educate and influence people to prevent accidental injury and death,” while their vision is “making our world safer.” Hard to disagree with either of those!

Here’s more important information about skate helmets from the NSC.

The NSC, which is a not-for-profit, charitable, international public service organization dedicated to its mission and its vision, states that skateboarding helmets save lives; here is more NSC news about skate helmets.To quote them directly: “Brain surgeons and doctors across the U.S. agree that wearing helmets can save lives.”

XSportsProtective carries the skateboard safety gear that you need – according to the recommendations of the international public service organization: the NSC.

At XSportsProtective, you’ll find:

• Skateboard helmets
• skateboard pads
• padded skate shorts
• skateboarding pads for knees and elbows
• skate wrist guards and protective skate gloves
• and more

Here is more information about skateboard protective gear. Order yours today!

A skateboard helmet could have made all the difference in the world.

I recently read an article that was a real heartbreaker. A teenaged star athlete – named T.C. – sustained serious skateboarding injuries and, even worse, they were skateboarding head injuries. Since that accidenthis family has been urging all skaters to wear skateboard helmets.

The family was surprised to find out how many people don’t wear a skateboard helmet – and vow to protect their own loved ones.

TC’s godfather said that his boys will always wear skate helmets, adding that, if his godson had been wearing one, the skateboarding injuries wouldn’t have been so disastrous. Now, he says, T.C. needs to wear a helmet just to protect his brain. “You wear it now,” he says about skateboarding helmets, “or wear it later, but it’s much less painful before.” 

The teen’s skateboarding injuries damaged the left side of his brain, which is where cognition, memory, smell and taste are located. It’s too early, T.C.’s father says, to know about the long term effects of the skateboarding head injuries.

T.C.’s father brought other teenagers into the hospital, to show them the dangers of not wearing skate helmets “We brought them in and said, ‘Listen, this is what happens when you don’t wear your helmet, whether you’re snowboarding or bicycling, anything, you have to wear it.”

Protect yourself – and the ones you love – from skateboarding head injuries with a top quality skateboard helmet.

Choose your skateboarding helmets from XSportsProtective today. You can select between:

• Skateboard helmets that are for skate only
• Skateboard helmets that are for bike and skate use

Don’t delay!

Skateboarding news for girls: Cynthia Zawilski wants to change the image of skateboarding as a male-dominated sport.

She’s definitely willing to put her money where her mouth is, too. She practices on Friday afternoons on the skate ramp located behind her middle school – and she’s recently brought home her third gold medal from the annual Girls’ Middle School skateboarding competition.

“It is a unique sport and rare for girls,” Zawilski said. “I wanted to change the way it is seen.” 

Choose XSportsProtective as the place to buy all your skateboarding protective gear for your pre-teen and teenaged daughters and your sons.

For skateboard helmets, consider these excellent choices:

• ProTec Skateboard Helmets
• Bell Faction skateboard helmet
• Giro Flak skate helmet

Skateboarding pads include:

• Skateboarding pads for knees
• Skateboarding pads for elbows
• Skateboard pad combo packs

Plus, don’t forget about skateboarding wrist guards, padded skate shorts and more in skateboard protective gear.

Skateboarding news: skateboarder Chris Miller loves spending quality skate time with his family.

Miller has traveled the globe because of skate and his sponsors have included Santa Cruz and Indy, G&S and Gullwing, Schmitt Stix, Airwalk and Billabong, Planet Earth and Adio. The folks at Robust Flavor posted an interview with Chris Miller this spring.

What I found most interesting about this interview is this quote from Chris Miller: “I love my kids and skating with them is just the best. It’s so great to have a connection and deep passion that you share with your kids. It’s pretty rare, and I am thankful to have it.”

What stories do you have about skateboarding with your family? Please email your skateboarding news to me at info@XSportsProtective.com.

XSportsProtective is where you can find the best skateboard protective gear to keep you and your family protected.

There’s nothing more important that protecting your family! Here is a testimonial from an XSportsProtective customer who hadn’t had the best luck shopping for skateboard protective gear elsewhere:

 ”I thought I was never going to get the skateboard helmet my daughter wanted. Then after searching the Internet and placing orders from places that said they had what I was looking for, I would get an email asking if I could take an optional color or another size. Not these guys. They assured me they had what I wanted and sent me a tracking number for shipping in a matter of minutes. You can’t go wrong with XSportsProtective.” 

We’d love to help you find the right skateboard helmet and other skateboard protective gear for your family! Visit www.XSportsProtective.com today.

Did you read the skateboarding news about Tony Hawk in USA Today?

I like this line: “Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk moves with the power and grace of a jungle cat.”

And, listen to this. According to Research International USA, Tony Hawk is the most recognized athlete among youth today, passing up basketball greats such as Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal and LeBron “King” James.

The article revealed a few tidbits about Hawk’s plans for the immediate future, too, including:

• Even more exciting video games featuring Tony Hawk
• Giant roller coasters opening at Six Flags amusement parks, nationwide, called “Tony Hawk’s Big Spin”
• A 30-city tour of Hawk’s Boom Boom HuckJam skateboarding show, which keeps selling out
• Potential expansion of Hawk apparel into Europe, Latin America and China

Reading about Hawk got me in the mood for skateboarding season. How about you?

Here’s a checklist of skateboard protective gear that you’ll need for skateboarding safety.

• A Quality skateboard helmet that fits well, feels good and looks great. Need help? Read How to Choose: Skateboard Helmet
• Skateboard knee pads / skateboard elbow pads that help absorb impacts and prevent nasty abrasions. Need help? Read How to Choose Skate Pads: Skateboard Knee Pads and Skateboard Elbow Pads
• Skate wrist guards to protect you against the most common skateboarding injuries. Need help? Read How to Choose: Skate Wrist Guards
• Padded skate shorts to protect your butt, tailbone, hips and thighs from impact and abrasions. Need help? Read How to Choose: Padded Skate Shorts
• Skateboard ankle and shin guards if you’ll be riding near rails or other inflexible objects.

You don’t want to make skateboarding news by having an accident, right? So, what skateboard protective gear do you still need to avoid skateboarding injuries in 2008? For fast shipping of top name brand gear, contact XSportsProtective by calling (800)930-4084 or emailing info@XSportsProtective.com today.

Here’s a final quote from the skateboarding news story in USA Today that’s really cool.

“I wear a lot of different hats,” Hawk says, after discussing his numerous business-related projects. “But in the end, I just want to be known as a skater.”

This past August, Australian skateboarder Jake Brown was involved in a skateboarding accident that shocked viewers around the world. Brown survived a skateboarding crash that would have killed or seriously maimed most people. And although the accident was terrible to watch, it did provide a great opportunity for parents and teens to talk about skateboarding safety, including always wearing a skate helmet.

Skateboard protective gear does save lives!
Brown was extremely fortunate. Although he fractured his wrist and a couple of vertebrae, and although he had a lung contusion and a liver laceration, he is healing and recovering.

Here’s how lucky Jake Brown really was. According to Brown’s orthopedist, Dr. William Previte, 50% of people who fall 30 feet do not survive. The odds for survival go down dramatically with a fall from 45 feet or more – and that’s just what Brown did in fact survive.

Parents . . . skateboarding season will be here before we know it. Please use this opportunity to remind the skateboarders in your family that skateboard protective gear, especially, a skate helmet, really does save lives!