WTF Thursday: Buyers Guides

Somehow my Wednesday slipped away from me, without ever writing my WTF column. Is it bad that I’m missing the date already, on just the third column? Pretty soon it’ll be WTF Two Weeks From Saturday.

Anyway, this week I’m annoyed with buyers guides. We’ve been getting in all the buyers guides from those bigger, fancier, printedier magazines, and each time I open one, I find myself disappointed.

08.28.08

I Love Superconglomerates

I love big companies in the snowboard world as everyone knows. They do a lot for this industry and keep companies that would probably crap out and disappear around longer. They also buy up failing big companies and breathes life back into them.

08.27.08

Snotty Skiers. Meh

So I’m walking around the bar tonight handing out cheaply made t-shirts and baseball caps for a beer that shall remain nameless (I’m a liquor promoter. I don’t just randomly cheer lead for alcohol companies.) Anyway, I come to a table, give them my spiel on why they should order said beer, and somehow we got on the topic of winter. This doesn’t surprise me, as I have a one track mind.

08.22.08

KFC = Kooky Foolish Commentators

Today I flipped the channel to MSNBC to see if any Olympic events that were worth watching were getting air time. Well, instead they had Tiki Barber and some chick commenting on highlights of the previous day’s events. This just happens to include BMX racing (is it just me, or did anybody else not know BMX racing was in the Olympics now?). This was hands down the most amusing commentary I’ve EVER heard. They kept talking about how you were more likely to hear “Dude” and “Radical” at the BMX track, and trying to throw in “Rad speak” like that. Pretty much, they could not have made bigger fools of themselves. Just thought I’d share this tidbit.

08.20.08

WTF Wednesday: Burton’s Lovely Boots

For the second installment of my bitchy column, I thought I might bring up that bigger companies also have some WTF moments. Case in point: the Burton Modern Boot, which is possibly the ugliest boot on the market this season (though I can’t be sure, I think we also have a contender in the Vans Omni).

08.19.08

The New “Tight Pants”

If you’ve read the interviews in the Betties section of our site, you’ve seen that most people stated that the worst trend in snowboarding has been tight pants on the hill. I hate to admit it, but I’ve almost gotten so used to seeing this that it’s not such a big deal to me anymore. Now something else has taken its place.. Unzipped Jackets. Why are so many shredders rocking the open jacket…I don’t really get it? It’s one thing to have your jacket/hoodie zipped up half-way, but another to have it flapping around in the wind and wing-like when you jump. Sometimes, at least to me, it makes tricks look sloppier. And, when you eat it there’s way more snow down your pants/sleeves/shirt than normal.

08.17.08

Age Minimums

As of late, most of us on the Shred Betties staff have gotten sick…with Olympic fever. It’s not that we’re die hard sports fanatics, or routinely follow unusual events like synchronized diving, the triple jump, table tennis, or trampoline (which actually may be the sickest sport ever). It’s not even that we’re following the games because it’s what’s expected in our culture because of all the hype. There’s just something captivating about watching your country go all out, shattering world records or making history, in the pursuit of a medal that comes once every four years. Even if it’s watching sports that normally you don’t care to watch like swimming, volleyball, gymnastics, and the list goes on.

08.15.08

WTF Wednesday: Glowboards

Through the wonderful world of Myspace, we get all kinds of requests from companies trying to make a mark in the snowboard industry, so I thought I’d start sharing some of them with you. This week, we got a friend request from a new company called “Glowboardz.”

08.13.08