On the heels of launch the first ever custom shoes last month, ZAZZLE launched custom skateboards earlier this week. Now you can create professional quality skateboards (the manufacturing process is patent-pending) with your own text & images on 8 different styles of skateboards that are made from locally-sourced seven-play North American maple. Skateboard pricing starts at about $60.
This is definitely the most "niche" product that ZAZZLE has offered thus far. As cnet's Caroline McCarthy describes, "It's the latest move that Zazzle has made to draw in the action sports community, which has strong ties to underground art and design as well as customization..." As part of the skateboard release, ZAZZLE also launched a subsidiary called ARTSPROJEKT, in collaboration with artist and former professional skateboarder Andy Howell. ARTSPROJEKT is described as:
ARTSPROJEKT was founded by artist and former pro-skateboarder, Andy Howell, and is a collection of established and emerging artists and brands - providing an innovative way for artists to connect, collaborate, and share ideas as well create products and sell original art. Zazzle's retail-quality, speedy turnaround, and breadth of products - including the newly launched Skateboards Platform - makes it a perfect fit to power ARTSPROJEKT.
I'm not a skateboarder by any stretch of the imagination, but a lot of the skateboards look pretty cool. I may just make a BenMVP skateboard as decorative art or something. Here's a sampling of some of the 4,000 skateboards already posted for sale on the ZAZZLE marketplace:
Update: Check out the ZAZZLE Blog for more information about the first skateboard created and some of the shenanigans that ensued with the launch of the new skateboard product.
USA Basketball is finally back on top of the basketball world again. After an 8-year gold absence in international play, the "Redeem Team" defeated Spain 118-107 to win the gold medal in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The game was shockingly close considering that USA blew out the Spaniards by 37 points a week earlier in pool play.
I have to admit, however, that I really didn't follow the Olympics much this time around. I think I'd have to go back all the way to the '88 Olympics in Seoul to find an Olympics that I watched less. And that's because I was 4 years old at the time and didn't know what the Olympics were. I did see most of Michael Phelps' historic 8 gold medal run (although apparently he may be a douche) and Usain Bolt's decimation of the track & field races, earning him 3 gold medals.
So paying homage to Bill Simmons, The Sports Guy, I decided to do a running diary of the gold medal game between The Redeem Team and Spain. The running diary was an interesting experience since I had to watch the game with no TiVo because I was visiting home in Houston. I'm so used to being able to pause and rewind live TV. And since I was home in Houston, the game started at 1:30AM Sunday morning. Ouch. Although that is better than the 5AM PST games during pool play. However, since I never changed my laptop time, all the times below are in pacific. Here we go...
11:15PM: It's 15 minutes before the start of the game and their showing table tennis on replay? I thought they'd at least do some pre-game analysis or something? It's the gold medal game! Where's the killer NBA on NBC Bob Costas intro? But these two Chinese ping pong players are killing though. Reminds me of those scenes from Forrest Gump.
11:22: Finally they change over to basketball. Mike Breen and Doug Collins are our announcers. They are cool, but I kind of wish we had Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson instead of Doug Collins. Those dudes provide all sorts of comedic relief. They made the NBA Finals almost as good as they used to be on NBC.
11:23: Doug Collins just mentioned that Team USA beat Spain by 37 points last week in pool play. They scored 26 points off of 28 TOs, had a 26-0 fast break point margin and 60 points in the paint. I would call that shellacking.
11:27: Collins also mentions that the Redeem Team has won by average of 30 points. That's definitely shades of the '92 Dream Team. I was kind of worried how things would play out this time around after the last couple of disappointing finishes, especially since there was so much pressure on the team to win gold. That anxiety definitely increased when I read a blog post from US long distance runner Kara Goucher who mentioned that someone on Team USA tried to get at her. She wouldn't say who, but my money's on either Kobe, Kidd or D-Wade (he does like 'em grown).
Was Craig Sager banned from wearing his ugly blazers in the Olympics?
11:28: Oh my goodness, I cannot believe my eyes! Craig Sager is not wearing one of his hideous blazers?!?! I wonder if Craig tried to put on one of his "unique" blazers and the Chinese Olympic Committee saw him and made him put on the standard Men's Olympic Basketball polo shirt. Or maybe it was NBC who put it in his contract that in order to be a sideline reporter at the Beijing Olympics, he could not look like a complete fool. More than just basketball fans would be watching the game, so image is important. Maybe TNT will take some notes from NBC.
11:29: Finally the game tips off! LeBron starts the game off right with a 3-pointer. But Pau Gasol comes right back with a bucket plus the foul off a sweet pick and roll with Ricky Rubio (who starting because of Jose Calderon's groin injury).
11:31: Juan-Carlos Navarro just threw a sick no-look bounce pass on the fast break for an easy Spain dunk.
11:32: Shux. LeBron picks up to quick fouls and Coach K leaves him in. That's pretty gutsy considering there are only 5 fouls allowed in 40 minutes of international basketball. If he picks up another one, he's basically out for the half.
11:35: Shortly after Carmelo Anthony knocks down a 3 (caught the ball at his ankles), Kobe fouls Navarro on a deep 3-point shot. What was Kobe thinking? That's also his 2nd foul and both he and LeBron sit. I think Coach K would have left LeBron in had Kobe not committed his second foul. I think he just wanted to sit Kobe, but it'd look bad if he sat Kobe down with two fouls, but left in LeBron. Coach K's definitely done a good job working with all the egos.
11:36: Ricky Rubio completely abuses Jason Kidd with a nice behind the back move. Shocker. Coach K, please put Chris Paul in the game! Kidd's only on the team because he got grandfathered in, and when the team was formed, CP3 and Deron Williams weren't beasts yet.
11:38: Yes! Kidd gets benched after struggling to get the ball upcourt against Rubio's (strong?) defense. Oh and can somebody please tell Doug Collins how to pronounce Carlos Jimenez's name?? Now Collins, I know there aren't too many Latin players in the league so you're not used to pronouncing their names, but it's He-MEN-ez, not HE-men-ez. I wouldn't be surprised if Collins had initially pronounced it as JEE-men-ez...
11:40: The game is starting to get pretty sloppy with a lot of back and forth and 1-on-1 play. CP3 just scored a 3-point play after a full court inbounds pass off of a made free throw. I think Team USA's going to have to play more controlled or this game's going to stay painfully close.
11:42: Pau Gasol just had about 80 tips at the basket instead of just being a beast and grabbing & dunking the ball. Looks like nothing has changed. He might as well put back on his purple and gold.
11:44: Shot-clock violation from the Spanish team. I can't say that Team USA played great defense however. It was filled with a lot of gambling and over-playing. Their athleticism just made up for their lack of team defense. The Spanish team will pick them apart if they keep this up.
11:48:Marc Gasol, Pau's "little" brother is in the game. This is my first time seeing him. The Memphis Grizzlies must love drafting ugly dudes. I thought Pau was ugly, but his brother Marc just one-upped him. I don't even wanna know what their parents look like. But at least Marc is a beast in the post. He just had this nice drop-step spin move lay-up on Chris Bosh.
11:50: Wow, if Dwayne Wade is hitting 3-pointers then you know things are going good. He almost got another bucket after an open court steal, but lost it going to the basket trying to beat the 1st quarter game clock. USA: 38, Spain 31. A little too close for comfort if you ask me.
11:52: Craig Sager is interviewing Lisa Leslie. She just won her 4th Olympic gold medal! Wow! She's gotta be super old now. That's 16 years! And she's 32-0 in Olympic play. She definitely deserves props for that.
11:53: Back to the action, Marc Gasol completely beasts Dwight Howard with an offensive elbow. It may have been a foul, but at least it was a big man move. You'd never see Pau-Pau doing that.
11:55: Just had a crazy sequence of events. Pau Gasol goes up for a put-back (lay-up of course) and Dwight Howard completely grabs both of Gasol's shoulders and pulls him to the grown, earning an unsportsmanlike conduct (flagrant) foul. Shortly thereafter Kobe has a breakaway fast-break dunk and someone on the Spanish bench throws a towel onto the court. In the NBA that's borderline ejection, and all the Spanish bench gets is a warning? Wow!
12:02AM: Is Dwight Howard playing basketball or wrestling? He just straight karate chopped Jimenez. Howard may be a beast but he's going to have to learn to control his fouling in the league or he won't play enough minutes to be the impact player that we all hope he can be.
Team USA celebrating after a bucket by Kobe
12:06: Team USA just went on a nice little run. LeBron first had a nice little and-1 on a fast break although he should have thrown an alley-oop to either Kobe or D-Wade. Kinda selfish. D-Wade had another steal and breakaway lay-up. He then surprises everyone with an off-the-dribble pull up 3-pointer. He's scored 18 points in only 8 minutes. LeBron caps off the run with a 3-pointer of his own. Team USA is shooting 7-10 from the 3-point line right now. While, I'm happy that they're knocking down their shots, they still aren't a good shooting team. I don't want them to fall in love with the 3 and keep shooting them when they inevitably go cold.
12:10: Rudy Fernandez just hit back-to-back 3's. I kinda like his game. The Trailblazers are about to be scary in 2-3 years with their slew of young talent.
12:12: The 1st half is winding down and the Redeem Team's defensive is looking very porous right now. They are letting Fernandez and Navarro pick them apart off the dribble. If Spain decides to go zone for any extended period of time, Team USA could be in trouble. Doug Collins says the reason for the poor D is because LeBron is on the bench in foul trouble and he's the defensive communicator. Or maybe this band of superstars isn't used to playing defense.
12:16: At the end of the half, USA only leads by 8, 69-61. Dwayne Wade does have 21 points in 13 minutes, but it's the defense I'm worried about. Both teams just scored 130 points in 20 minutes. That's 6.5 points/min! Ridiculous.
12:30: Before the 3rd quarter resumes, we learn that LeBron James and other teammates are winning the gold in part for Doug Collins and the rest of the 1972 Olympic team that got shafted for the gold in Munich. I had never heard of the controversy until now. It was blatant cheating. But hey, if the Redeem Team doesn't play some defense, they too might be receiving the silver.
12:35: The second half has not begun well for Team USA. They started off with turnovers on their first two possessions, followed by a sick left-handed hook shot from Pau Gasol. In the words of Mike Breen, "And it is now a 4 point game."
12:38: Kidd just got chopped up by Navarro who hit a 12-ft runner and Carmelo leaves the game with an injured right hand. Great, our best international player is hurt on the bench.
12:42: No box out for Team USA and Jimenez scores an easy offensive put-back. I'm starting to get kinda uneasy about this game. 77-73 USA.
12:44: The Redeem Team is gambling like crazy on defense. It looks like they are all trying to get every block and every steal possible. If Spain plays even somewhat under composure they'll definitely exploit us.
12:47: Random question. Why do some of the players on the Spanish National Team have their first names on the back of their jerseys while others have their last names? It's not like Rudy Fernandez just goes by "Rudy."
Deron Williams was the victim of the Pau Gasol alley-oop
12:50: Oh shux! Alley-oop to Pau Gasol from Ricky Rubio! 88-80 USA.
12:51: Carmelo stretches the lead back to double digits with a 3-point shot. I'm really glad he's back in the game.
12:52: Wow! Juan-Carlos Navarro is looking like a freakin' all-star out there. He just shot a running left-hand lay-up! Swish!
12:53: Oh snap! The NBA on NBC theme song! It's been a minute since I last heard that. All we need is a Miller Moment in the 4th quarter and it might as well be the mid-90s all over again! But hearing that song definitely made the 3rd quarter easier to swallow. We only outscored Spain 22-21 in that quarter. USA: 91, Spain: 82.
12:57: After a number of blown wide-open layups from Team USA and a tip-in by Pau Gasol, Fernandez throws a CP3-esque alley-oop to Pau Gasol. "And it's now a 2-point game!" 91-89 USA.
1:00 Deron Williams just hit a big 3 after a jumper from Kobe and a Fernandez miss. 96-89 USA.
1:01 Dwight Howard follows up with a monster dunk! 7-0 run by Team USA!
1:02 Team USA is now struggling to get a defensive rebound. Fernandez shoots one wide open 3-pointer and misses, but after an offensive rebound by Felipe Reyes, gets another attempt and sinks it. Kobe answers back though with a big 3-pointer in the corner. 101-92 USA with 6:02 remaining.
Fernandez posterizes Howard
1:03 Oh my!!! The Redeem Team once again cannot grab a defensive rebound. Rudy Fernandez just caught the ball at the top of the key and Kobe gambled for a steal giving Fernandez a wide open path to the basket. What happened next wasn't Dwight Howard's fault at all. He just tried to help and ended up on a Rudy Fernandez poster. I bet SportsCenter did the freeze frame thing and signed Fernandez's autograph on it. Sorry Superman.
1:08: Ok, I give up on trying to figure out how these referees are attempting to call this game. Pau Gasol straight ran over Chris Bosh at the free throw line extended, caught the ball, and hit the 16-footer. Why is this game so close? 104-99 USA with 3:34 remaining.
1:09: Kobe Bryant, a.k.a. "Dobermamba," just hit a monster 3-point shot and the foul! Rudy Fernandez just fouled out of the game. Thank goodness. It's apparent that Kobe will not let us lose. This is when having someone like Kobe on the squad is critical. For the first 3 quarters he's been frustrating me with his 1-on-1 play which doesn't work in international play, but now's when we need him. After the free throw the score is 108-99.
1:10: Great. 5 points in a row for Spain. Navarro hit yet another running floater off of a curl at the free throw line and Jimenez hit another 3-point shot. "And it's a 4 point game!" 108-104.
1:11: Dwayne Wade hits yet another big 3. He's had a monster game. 27 points on 9 for 12 shooting. He's looking like the game's MVP. 111-104 USA.
1:12: I've noticed a number of times that Team USA instead of grabbing the rebound when it's bouncing on the rim, will instead slap it away because of the different goal-tending rules in international play. It seems like every time they tap it out though, Spain gets the ball instead of a defensive rebound by the US.
1:14: Big break for Team USA. Carlos Jimenez just missed a wide open 3-pointer. He's been killing us all night from 3. It would've made it a 3-point game following Navarro's free throw. But instead, Kobe came down and hit a runner in the lane which all but sealed it. 113-105 USA with 1:12 remaining.
1:16: Now the game is definitely over. With only 26 seconds left, Ricky Rubio was called for a technical foul following an unsportsmanlike conduct foul. Sounds like a frustrated teenager to me.
1:18 Coach K gets the Gatorade bath! That's tight that they do this now on the basketball court. It's even funnier when the coach has on a full suit and they get drenched.
1:19 Hey! It's a Michael Redd sighting! He was picked on the team to be a 3-point specialist but all he's done is cheerlead in his USA Olympic Basketball warm-ups. Shoot if I were him, I definitely wouldn't be trippin. He's a borderline all-star with a gold medal. He's gonna be starting the '08-'09 season with some serious swag.
1:20: After hitting 3 of the 4 free throws, the score is 118-107. The game ends with 2 more turnovers by Team USA. Way to finish strong guys.
1:25: Wow, I just found out that Coach K along with all Olympic coaches doesn't get a medal. I understand how maybe the gymnastics coach doesn't really deserve one since he/she is only giving advice and it's the gymnasts actually doing all the work during competition. But in any team sport, the coach is very instrumental in the success of the team, so I think they should definitely get a medal. That kinda sucks.
So that's it! USA Basketball is back on top of the basketball world! The game wasn't played well by Team USA. The Spanish National Team probably played the best they ever could play. Rudy Fernandez and Juan-Carlos Navarro looked like top-tier players on the court. If it wasn't for the play of Kobe and D-Wade, we might not have made it. But we did. And hopefully this will be the continue of US dominance in international basketball play. But before I go, I'll leave you with this amazing Nike Basketball commercial:
Missed the US Men's Basketball gold medal game? You can watch the full replay over at NBCOlympics.com.
Well I decided to join that community of ZAZZLE designers and create a number of products myself. I created a new Election 2008 product line in my BeneSol ZAZZLE gallery. The theme surrounding all of the designs is "OBiden '08".
Late last night, Barack Obama officially chose Senator Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate in the 2008 elections. And not even 12 hours after Obama's announcement, ZAZZLE designers have filled the ZAZZLE marketplace with tons of Obama/Biden gear.
After much anticipation, the time has come. Barack Obama has finally selected Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his presidential running mate. Did anyone sign up to receive a text message when Barack made his decision? When did you get the text?
Obama has chosen Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate
Unfortunately though, I haven't really been following politics since Obama became the presumptive Democratic nominee, so I actually know very little about Senator Biden. I just realized today that he was a Democratic presidential candidate this year, but dropped out after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses.
From the little I do know, it seems that this pick will really help Obama along the national security front (an area that the Republicans have said Obama is weak). Senator Biden is currently the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. There was talk that Indiana Senator Evan Bayh was on the top of the list for the past couple of months, but Biden moved to the forefront after Russia's invasion of Georgia (the country, not the state). If so, I guess Biden's got Russia's aggresion to thank in part for his selection.
Early on, nobody seems to be knocking this choice, but there's one thing that does concern me, however. Biden has been in the U.S. Senate since 1973. That's 35 years! Obama was in 7th grade then! Biden's served for the 6th longest period among active senators. Obama's campaign was built on the notion of "Change" and I believe it to be the main reason that he's the Democratic candidate. The American people want change. How can he still claim to be a proponent for change when he has one of the oldest sitting senators as his VP? I really wonder how the campaign is going to reconcile that.
I wonder what Hillary Clinton is thinking now. Remember way back in March, when Senator Clinton was still losing the primary race, but started telling people how Obama would make a great Vice President... for her?? I know she's going to put her best face forward at the Democratic National Convention in Denver next week, but you know she's gotta be feeling a lil' salty.
And what about Senator John Edwards? It seemed that for a while that he was a top vice presidential candidate until he declined. Or was it when he finally admitted to having an affair 10 months after it had been made public by the National Enquirer back in October? Oh, I can't even remember anymore. I'm glad that he wasn't a top choice for the veep position when he finally admitted to the affair or the Republicans would've gladly used it as ammunition to say that Obama has poor judgment.
According to some polls Obama and McCain are neck and neck in the polls, so we'll see what this VP selection and the upcoming Democratic & Republican National Conventions do for his positioning.
Until then feel free to show off your Democratic pride with these designs currently on ZAZZLE:
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