Frank151 + LikeMe Present The Launch

Hit Me On Twitter

As @MistahFAB would say, “Hit Me On Twitter!” His social networking anthem of the year (did I really just say that?!?) pretty much sums it up. Anybody who’s worth knowing about is on twitter, as the fastest growing site in the world right now rapidly takes over the web game.

Personally, I love twitter for the latest from all my favorite rappers like @RAEKWONICEWATER, DJs: @ztrip, and NBA action: @NBA. By the way, all you tweoples that claim sports is “ruining” twitter should note that the NBA (with @THE_REAL_SHAQ‘s help) are helping to make the damn thing so popular. Hell, I even won courtside seats to Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals thanks to @TicketQwest and got to see the 2009 Finals MVP Kobe Bryant pick apart the Nuggets like they were the Denver High School Junior Varsity squad right in my face!

Follow me too if you want: @larrynunez and @thuggetsnation. I usually tweet cool pics from whatever movie set, photo shoot, basketball game or DJ show I’m at. Girls, rub on your twittys. Yeah I said it, rub on your twittys.

Denver Hopefuls Launch www.thuggetsnation.com

Thuggets Nation (www.thuggetsnation.com) was started by two Denver Nuggets season ticket holders to celebrate the Nuggets’ successful year and their 2009 Playoff run. Tired of seeing the weak t-shirts being sold around town, we wanted to do something cool for Nuggets fans everywhere. Since some of the sports writers (and Mark Cuban) started referring to the Nuggs as “Thugs”, The Thuggets seemed like a fitting moniker for our beloved squad of tattooed bad boys who play tough on the court. The NBA needs a little more thug right about now and rather than be ashamed of the nickname, we choose to embrace it.All of our products are high quality and hand made by local Colorado manufactures. Go Thuggets!

Nuggets vs. Hornets, Round 1 Game 2

Nuggets Upset Lakers Courtside Report

If you’re a fan of the NBA, there’s nothing better than going to a live game. Whether you’re up the rafters watching from high up above, chillin’ in a suite mixing and mingling with friends and family or sitting down in the lower level seats with a close view of the action… the sounds, sights and excitement of NBA basketball just can’t be beat. Sure it’s cool to watch on TV, and with HD technology is almost as good as being there, but attending a game in person is an intimate experience unmatched in other professional sports. And you can’t get any closer then sitting courtside, which is where I found myself last night as the first place Lakers came to Denver to take on the third place Nuggets. That’s right, those are my new custom SB Mag Nike Air Max 90s right on the wood!

Now anyone who knows me, reads this blog or simply has ever paid attention to my common choice of New Era hat knows that my allegiance lies with the Portland Trailblazers. But since relocating to Denver from Portland last year, I’ve been fortunate enough to secure Nuggets season tickets that would been have been impossible in comparison to anything in Rip City. As the only pro sports team in town, the Portland Trailblazers have a extremely dedicated fanbase and season ticket holders that have been locked in for decades. Tickets sell for full price and every game is a sell out—the RoseGarden Rocks! Denver’s a different story.

Ride Along With Ken Block

Ken Block and Travis Pastrana are in Portland this weekend, taking on the rest of the field for the Oregon Trail Rally, round four of the 2008 Rally America National Championship. Team Subaru USA landed at the Portland International Raceway on Friday before heading out to the Tillamook State Forest for the real deal this weekend. Lucky for me, I just got back to Portland and was fortunate enough to be invited to ride along with Ken for a little demo on what these guys do for fun. Check out the video below to see what it feels like coming into a 90-degree turn at 90+ mph in a souped up Subaru STI.

We’ve been featuring press releases about Team Subaru’s accomplishments for years, but it took a ride in the car with Ken to understand how incredible of an organization this really is. Keep in mind that Ken Block and Travis Pastrana came into this highly competitive sport with no prior formal race training, and immediately began to dominate the point standings. Two guys from a skate, snowboarding and motocross background have managed to not only take over the Rally America circuit, but managed to bring Rally Driving in general to a larger audience via the Summer X-Games. They even got BMX champion Dave Mirra on the team now! It’s inspiring to see these guys not only achieve greatness in their previous endeavors, but continue to follow their dreams and be successful at another true passion in life. Special thanks go out to Team Subaru for the invite, and to Ken Block for not rolling us into the ditch.

Ken and Travis in the line up.

Mobile Garage.

Sometimes I wish I had a pit crew.

Strapped in and ready to rock.

The Cockpit.

Ken gets plenty of support from the 20-man crew that travels the world with team. Vermont Sports Car handles everything, including shipping the cars to Europe, South America and Japan in the PWRC class international circuit. That’s right, when Ken’s not busy making dope sneakers or new snowboards, he’s racing cars around the world. Not a bad gig, I’d say.

Confusing computer stuff.

Man, heading up to the hill in this thing would be fun!

Good ol’ #43. Check out Ken’s monster jump below too if you’ve never seen it before. Ridiculous. —Pancho.

Burton Team Sees the Nuggets Take Out The Hornets

Allen Iverson and the Denver Nuggets are on a roll. Three straight wins over Dallas, Sacramento and the powerful New Orleans Hornets last night have put them atop the Northwest Division of the Western Conference at 14 – 8. The game was a classic NBA battle that came down to the final minute, when Carmelo Anthony nailed a three-point play to give the Nuggets the victory. It was so exciting in fact, that most of the Burton Global Team came down from Breck to watch, including Keir Dillon, Air and Style winner Kevin Pearce, Danny Davis, Mason Aguirre and Elena Height. But it was Shaun White’s star power that landed him prime time center courtside seats.

Kevin Pearce, Keir Dillon, Elena Height, Mason Aguirre and Danny Davis.

This isn’t him shooting, but man the Hornets’ Chris Paul is good. He ended up with 30 points and hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 99 with 1:41 to go!

Elena and Mason enjoying the action. The game was really exciting, but personally I’m looking forward to Sunday, when my Portland Trailblazers come back to town to avenge their November beat down. The Blazers are playing good too, with a 5-game winning streak, including a victory over the red hot Golden State Warriors last night! Come on Blazers…shut the Nuggets DOWN!!!!!!

Portland Vs. Denver: The Battle Begins

When the Portland Trailblazers visited the Denver Nuggets last Wednesday, my personal battle of cities officially began. As a devoted Portland local, but a recent Denver homeowner as well, my allegiance is torn. Do I abandon my young Portland squad, with last year’s Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy in favor of NBA veteran Allen Iverson and the polished Denver Nuggets team, who many are claiming to be the team to beat this year? I just can’t do it yet. Longtime Denver local and SNOWBOARD’s favorite superagent Jay “Ninja” Issacs knew my problem all too well, so he lined up two rows of floor seats so we could witness the season’s first match up in style. He also brought the entire Forum Team (who was in town hitting handrails), Colorado Golden Boy JJ Thomas, and my only ally, Rip City’s Darrell Mathes along for the night.

With Portland coming in hot off four wins in a row at home, including defeating NBA powerhouses like the Dallas Mavericks and the Detroit Pistons, my hopes were high. But a 3 am arrival in Denver the night before after the tough Detroit game proved to be too much for the young Blazers. The first quarter was okay, as Portland hung in there, but things started to quickly go downhill. John Jackson didn’t care, as long as he could flirt with the Nuggets Cheerleaders every now and then.

This is the view of downtown from the Penthouse. Yeah, Denver’s alright…I guess.

Jake Blauveezy and a Blunt Brother.

Ninja’s got clout—rows AA and BB on lock.

Nick the court guard took the shot for us, as you can see he was pretty rad.

Forum TM Bryan Knox kept the drinks flowin’.

Portland’s Lamarcus Aldridge trying to post up.

Pat Moore hours before his 21st B-Day!

This was a typical scene: Portland misses the layup as the Nuggets swarm for the rebound.

JJ Thomas in full fan attire.

John Jackson rocking the Estate LA Pin Up girls tearaway.

Flipping out.

Coors Light DJ Booth. Whenever Iverson gets the ball a ringtone rap beat comes on sos he can get his swagger right.

Darrell and I trying to keep our heads up.

Okay, so Portland lost. Bad. It was embarrassing actually. But at least we got a cooler mascot! Screw Rocky, Blaze would shut him down anyday. Shout out to Ninja, Knox and the rest of the crew…we’ll see what happens when the injured #1 Draft Pick Greg Oden comes back next year.

Portland Pride Prevails

Before Tahoe got hit hard, it was our turn. Winter returned with a vengance to the NW bringing massive amounts of snowfall to places like Mt. Baker and Stevens Pass, while cold temps and low freezing levels have kept the snow light and dry. Mt. Hood got it pretty good too, and a combination of dental appointments, basketball games, concert tickets, the need for some new snow tires and just plain ol’ work kept me stuck in Portland the entire time. I wasn’t mad though, as days ripping around Meadows with Prosser and Stamps have been some of the best riding of the year. I haven’t even been stopping to shoot photos. Just having fun, snaking through the misty Meadows gullies and poppin’ ollies left and right.

Nights off the hill have been just as fun too, with a steady line up of events last week to entertain, enlighten and excite my restless soul.

First off, it was a down-to-the-wire Blazers game against the Utah Jazz, which luckily we held on to win in the end.

I got the hook up at the RoseGarden this year, and am always rollin’ in style…either on the posh new Lexus Club Level or in a private suite.

The Club Level is dope because it’s like an open bar, but with food! Plus you got the nice leather seats, in-seat drink service and my favorite: The Crown Royal Lounge.

Once again, it’s all about the bracelet.

It’s free…might as well stock up, right?

Gotta love those Blazer dancers.

The next night it was off to see The Greatest Band on Earth.

I’m talking, of course, about Jack Black and Kyle Gass. They are…Tenacious D.

The venue was the beautifully restored Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, originally the Portland Public Theatre built in 1928. Home to the Oregon Symphony, theatre groups and more, the grand stage was the perfect place to see the boys play the best songs ever made.

A few drinks at the bar before the show.

Starting off perfoming some songs off their first album, The D fired up the ecstatic crowd…complete with dancing mushrooms.

The lighting effects were amazing, always setting the mood for the tale to come.

The tale of The Pick of Destiny. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, go buy the DVD (it came out today) and then go see the tour. In the live show, the boys go to hell, meet up with the AntiChrist and Charlie Chaplin and start a band to defeat Satan. Stoner entertainment at its finest.

It was an awesome show, and I love that Jack Black still does this even after all his Hollywood success. He was performing at the Oscars with Ricky Bobby (Will Farrell) like a week later. Lotta range, that guy.

The next night it was back to the RoseGarden to see my man Jamie Foxx. I caught his “I Might Need Security” Tour in Vegas back in 2002, and it was hilarious. That’s a good DVD too.

Here’s another guy with some range—no one has ever been able to mix comedy, acting and music so successfully as Foxx. I was hoping for a little more stand up before he got into his mack mode, but hey…can’t hate on a playa. Music make mo’ money than tellin’ jokes.

He even threw in a little Ray Charles tribute.

If he comes through your town, take your date to go see Jamie Foxx. Trust me, it works.

NE Portland was representin’ hard up in thurr.

Pimpalicious!

Friday night, The Blazers had another game—this time against the worst team in the league, The Memphis Grizzlies. After two big wins against The Lakers and The Utah Jazz, I figured the Grizzlies would be no sweat. This time, we even had a private suite to get our lounge on.

The Grizzlies have the worst record in the league! I mean, The Blazers are no Phoenix Suns…but I was starting to think 8th spot in the playoffs was a possibilty. Well, Udoka missed a free throw with 0.8 seconds left that would have sent the game into overtime, and we walked outta there losing 104 – 103. Then, we dropped another to the Sonics…the second worst team in the league! Now, I’ve never said “we” before when referring to a sports team in my life, but I’m trying to be a real fan here. I got faith in potential Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy, Z-Bo and the rest of the young Blazer squad. We got Charlotte coming into town tonight, so wish us luck. We’re gonna need it.