National Tour Launches November 5
New York, NY, October 24, 2005 – Hot on the heels of the highly successful summer launch of original skateboarding instruction on sportskool, Mike Vallely (aka “Mike V”) is skating and relating at full speed as he tours America with sportskool. sportskool, the first and only on-demand television network to offer athletic instruction, is on the road with Mike V as Presenting Sponsor of the skateboarding legend’s national “Man vs. Skatepark” tour. The eleven-city national tour will showcase Mike V‘s unparalleled skateboarding and artistic talent through a series of demonstrations, in-store appearances and concerts that will attract thousands of skateboarding enthusiasts.
The tour features Mike V demo-ing his unparalleled skateboarding expertise in eight cities. In addition, Mike V will make in-store appearances to meet fans and sign autographs and present solo acoustic spoken word performances of his own music and poetry. Mike V will kick-off the tour on November 5 at the annual “Light of Day Benefit Concert” in Sayreville, New Jersey to raise funds for Parkinson’s Disease and A.L.S. (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) research. He will perform alongside top music talents Soozie Tyrell, Joe Grushecky, Willie Nile, Garland Jeffreys, Jesse Malin, John Eddie and Jeffrey Gaines.
“I look forward to inspiring young people to fulfill their potential through skating or whatever they love to do through the national “Man vs. Skatepark” tour,” says Mike V. “I am very happy to be an “ambassador” for sportskool where kids can learn skateboarding at an individual pace using cool, on-demand technology.”
“Man Vs Skatepark” Tour Dates:
November 5:
Light Of Day Benefit Concert / Sayreville, NJ
(Mike V w/ Joe Grushecky the Houserockers) 5pm
November 6:
NJ Skateshop / Sayreville, NJ (in-store appearance) 2:00 pm
November 10:
Bucky’s Burritos / Newburyport, MA (in-store appearance) 4:00 pm
November 10:
Rye Airfield / Rye, NH (demo) 7:00 pm
November 11:
Fairman’s / West Chester, PA (in-store appearance) 6:00 pm
November 11:
Boarderline / West Chester, PA (demo) 8:00 pm
November 12:
Vertical Urge / Project 58 Raleigh, NC (demo) 7:00 pm
November 13:
Progressive Skatepark / Atlanta, GA (demo) 6:00 pm
November 14:
Rocketown / Nashville, TN (Mike V: Songs and Stories) 7:00 pm
November 15:
Rise Skateshop / Carmel, IN (Mike V: Songs and Stories) 8:00 pm
November 17:
Skatelab / Jacksonville, FL (demo) 7:00 pm
November 18:
Skatepark Of Tampa / Tampa, FL (demo) 7:00 pm
November 19:
Grind For Life Benefit / YMCA Oelsner Skatepark, West Palm Beach, FL (demo) 7 pm
November 27:
Skatelab / Simi Valley, CA (demo) 5:00 pm
As the exclusive presenting sponsor of the tour, the sportskool logo will appear on Mike V’s skateboards, posters, flyers, banners and other promotional materials. More information on the specifics of the tour can be found at http://www.mikevallely.com .
When he is not skateboarding, Mike V is also the lead singer of a hard core punk band “Mike V and the Rats” who toured with Linkin Park, Snoop Dogg and Korn on the 2004 Projekt Revolution Tour. His music is also featured as part of his friend Tony Hawk’s “Underground” video games series. Mike V’s home town is Edison, New Jersey and he currently resides in Long Beach, California.
About sportskool
Launched by Rainbow Media in 2004, sportskool is the first television network dedicated to delivering in-depth expert instruction, coaching and guidance for a wide range of sports and athletic activities. The network – featuring exclusive and original programming custom-built for on-demand – boasts some of the most recognizable names in sports, including Mia Hamm, Nomar Garciaparra, Bill Walton, Mike Vallely, tennis coach Brad Gilbert and renowned training and performance expert, Mark Verstegen. sportskool recently launched nationwide on Comcast and currently reaches over 10 million digital cable subscribers. Additional cable systems carrying sportskool include: Cablevision, Charter, Mediacom, Mid-Hudson, Shrewsbury and Blue Ridge. For more information, visit www.sportskool.com.
About Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
A leader in the entertainment industry, Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation. Rainbow creates and manages some of the country’s most compelling and dynamic programming with linear networks including national networks – AMC, Fuse, IFC (The Independent Film Channel) and WE: Women’s Entertainment – and regional programming services – Rainbow Sports Networks and News 12 Networks; on-demand networks including Mag Rack and sportskool; and the largest suite of high definition channels available anywhere, the VOOM HD Networks. Rainbow’s other businesses include its film distribution, production and exhibition division – IFC Entertainment; in addition to its advertising sales division – Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation and its full service network programming origination and distribution company – Rainbow Network Communications.