Friends getting together, riding the same obstacles and making videos. Believe it or not, it's not a new concept to BMX. As far back as the early '80s, BMX crews such as San Francisco's Curb Dogs and Pennsylvania's Plywood Hoods were doing the same thing on the existing ramps and flatland courses of the day. But perhaps the most infamous crew of to arise from the mid to late '80s was The Dirt Brothers, early ambassadors to the art of street shredding, "crew" videos and absolutely perfect tabletops.

Started in the San Diego, Calif. area by BMXers Vic Murphy and Ronnie Farmer, the Dirt Brothers (Dirt Bros for short) arrived at a time when BMX was a major crossroads. The neon-friendly era of big money pros and organized competitions was on its way out, and street was beginning to evolve into a modern form of riding.

Vic Murphy, a solitary rider by nature, applied his background with skateboarders to his riding. "At that time I was skateboarding a lot and I was doing wallrides and a lot of fast plants on skateboards and I hung out with a lot of pro skater guys and I just got on my bike and applied that stuff instantly to bike riding," says Murphy.

Then Murphy met Ronnie Farmer and Brad Blanchard, and unbeknownst to them, the Dirt Brothers was born. "In early '89, we went to Oregon for a 2-Hip Meet the Street contest, and after a 20-hour trip in the bed of a pickup, Nick Phillip (a rider from England) called us the Dirt Brothers, and the name stuck. The magazines came out covering that contest, and the Dirt Bros. name was all over the place," said Murphy.

It didn't take long for their fame to rise. And the BMX companies of the time did their best to capitalize on the rough, dirty, flannel and camo shorts look of the Dirt Brothers. When Hammer Body Wear ran an ad featuring Murphy and the "Vic and the Dirt Bros" headline, Murphy decided enough was enough, and took the necessary steps to transform his crew of friends and their lifestyle into a "loose" bike company.



Purchasing old Skyway frames and Redline forks, Murphy re-stickered the bikes under the "Dirt Brothers" brand, gave them to his members of his crew and eventually sold them to the existing bike shops of the time. They also ran ads which listed the members of his now esteemed crew, including listed team riders as Vic, Brad Blanchard, Ronnie Farmer, Pete Augustin, Brian Blyther, Steve Swope, Chris Day, Craig Campbell, Eddie Roman, Chris Potts and Mike Golden.

The Dirt Bros. frame and fork sold for $135, which funded their first and only official video, "Hicks in Action." Soon enough, the small but dedicated world of BMXers in 1990 and 1991 were all riding Dirt Brothers setups, watching VHS copies of "Hicks in Action" on repeat, and dressing in the style of the Dirt Brothers.

The crew eventually faded into obscurity in the mid '90s, with members such as Murphy going on to become a minister in the church, but the influence of the Dirt Brothers crew remains for teams such as S&M Bikes, FBM Bike Co. and many more.

Just ask any aging BMXer that made it out of the early '90s who their favorite crew was. Chances are, it's the Dirt Bros.

To the mess of crews now crowding for attention in Nike's Chosen contest, here's a foursome that's doing it right: Dirty Harry and the Bandits. Three surfers, one filmer, longtime friendships and a badass name. Their first crew video, just a minute long and labeled a "trailer," is heavy on creativity and progression -- two of the Chosen contest's criteria for success -- both in its surfing and its dark, edgy editing style.

Here, crew leader Jason "Dirty Harry" Harris gives some background on the Bandits and their charmed life in the surf hub of coastal Orange County.

Who are Dirty Harry and the Bandits, and how old are you guys?

Jason Harris: There's myself, 22, and my buddy Sean Oates, who's 22 as well. Ryah Arthur, who's 23 I think. Then Matt Payne. He's 20. Then we have another guy who's helping Matt out. He just graduated high school but he's super good at Final Cut, kind of a little computer genius. His name's Austin Green.

Are you all from the same area, around Huntington Beach?

Yeah, we all live in Huntington except for Ryah. He's down in Laguna -- a little transplant.

How'd your crew meet and form?

We all met through middle school and high school just from surfing. I met Ryah back doing NSSAs when I was 15, 16. He'd come up [to Huntington] and surf, and he's been friends with all of us for the past five years.

Do you all surf together a lot?

Yeah, whenever there's swell. We've been surfing River Jetties a lot, Ryah will come up here for that, and then sometimes he can get us into some little Laguna nooks and crannies down there. He knows some rich buddies who live in those gated communities in Laguna. One phone call, he's straight through the gate.

What else do you guys get up to?

We'll hang out, drink a couple beers or whatever at each other's houses. Ryah will come up on the weekends and cruise, or we'll go down there. His house is like this little oasis in Laguna, tucked away with a good backyard. He's got this, like, medieval games thing back there where you can throw axes and stuff.

Real axes, or like a video game?

No, real ones. Every year, the day after Thanksgiving, his dad puts on this manly tribe games or something like that. I've never done it, but he has all the stuff in his backyard. Like, you throw axes into bales of hay, and he has big spears you can throw. Feels like you're hunting or something. It's so sick. Other than that, we'll just hang at each other's houses, maybe go skate or something.

What's each crew member doing in "real life?"

Sean is going to school at Cal State Fullerton, majoring in business. When we're not surfing or whatever, he has his captain's license for boating, for yachts. He works different jobs for boats in Newport Harbor, whether it's deck-handing or bartending, other little jobs on boats there. Other times these rich people will hit him up to drive their boats out around Coronoa Del Mar. He makes pretty good money that way.

Then Ryah works at Laguna Surf and Sport, and he's just surfing and going to online school at Saddleback [College] I think.

Matt goes to school at Long Beach State and interns for [surf filmmaker] Joe G. at Globe. Joe's so sick man, he surfs River Jetties all the time, and he's just the raddest guy. You'd never know how crazy he is at making movies. So Matt has a lot going on with them for their film 0000 right now. I'm stoked for him that he gets to do that.

Aside from Matt being the magician with the camera, what does each member bring to the crew, in and out of the water?

I'd say Sean is just really funny. He always keeps the mood light, especially if it's somewhere crowded like Trestles or something. Always sarcastic, just saying something funny. But he rips, he's got good style and is always trying to be progressive.

Then with Ryah, he's just a real good rail surfer, a power surf. And the thing with Ryah too is he's always super positive and psyched. He can always get you to go out no matter what, or to go somewhere for a swell.

Then for myself...I don't know how to answer that. [Laughs] I guess I just try to be positive and nice. Never try to get mad. I don't know.

Humble, too, which is best of all. What are your crew's plans between now and when the Chosen contest ends in six weeks?

Definitely to keep filming, and when there's swell around here to take advantage of that as best we can. If we could put the funding together I'd be stoked to put a little trip on. Maybe a couple road trips. Try to find some of those little mysto waves in Laguna. But mostly film as much as possible and try to cut together something good.

Photo: Bryce Lowe-White/Arnette

The Neck Rash crew out of San Clemente is, according to the bio on its crew page, "just a couple of space horses flying around in stolen aquamobiles."

Aren't we all?

Put another way, though, Neck Rash is a crew of top-shelf rippers who wouldn't look out of place in an ASP 4-star. They're that good. This ain't the neighborhood gang just out for laughs, this is four young lads who all -- at one point or another -- have been in a position to pursue a pro surf career. These days they mostly pursue the peaks and ramps around San Clemente, and as their featured crew video demonstrates, the boys' skills remain sword-sharp.

Youngest among them is Shaw Kobayashi, 19, straight out of high school and taking a year off his studies to travel and surf. Anyone who's surfed Lower Trestles during daylight hours over the past 10 years will recognize Shaw as the grom out dominating the inside racetrack with an O'Neill sticker on his nose, his dad roaming the lineup, never missing a session from the best of days to the worst.

Jeff Lukasik, 21, is another SC product who rocked the amateur ranks and now holds down local status from T-Street to Church. He just returned from a month in Bali, learning to navigate the treacherous streets by scooter under the tutelage of Mike Losness -- himself an experienced Bali tripper and well-known pro. Together, Jeff an Shaw have a blog called Sea 4 Yourselves that documents surfing and life with their friends around home -- most of those friends being well-known local rippers themselves.

Jamie Parkhurst and Jason Miller round out the Neck Rash crew -- two guys who surfed together on the San Clemente High surf team and stayed tight after graduation, still reuniting on the regular to surf and hang out. Jamie is a talented artist and designer who just finished school at Saddleback College and is deciding where to take his skills and studies next. Jason runs a thriving web design business he launched on his own, a job that allows him to set his own hours and time the wind, tide and swell to perfection. He rarely misses a good window in San Clemente and knows the local spots like the back end of a website.

The Nike Chosen contest is about more than just surf talent -- remember the three criteria: creativity, camaraderie and progression. Still, with heavy hitters like the Neck Rash boys in the game, crews will have to bring a whole new level of originality to get noticed. Because as far as surfing goes, Neck Rash has officially upped the ante.

Reign Skateshop is best known for being co-owned by the 2-time Thrasher Skater of the Year, Chris Cole. But in the short time it's been opened the shop has produced tons of talent from the greater Philadelphia area such as Tom Asta and Ishod Wair.

In this video we see young guns Kyle Frederick, Ed Duff, Shane Colville and John Tuck killing spots and parks in their area as well as the Flushing Skatepark in Queens.

Short and sweet at 2:38 and full of great skating, Reign does a good job showing the level of skating we're looking for. But it's important to remember this isn't just about skating this is about the attitude and personality of your crew.

Make sure both sides of your crew shine through. Reign makes sure to throw in some silliness and smiles to let everyone know it IS all fun and games.

Check out their video on their Nike Chosen page

So during the fourth quarter in Game 6 of the NBA Finals last night -- right around the time Dallas was dropping the Heat off in Frown Town -- you may have noticed the Nike commercial that wasn't about basketball. Or running. Or soccer. Or golf. It was about...us. The ad, part of Nike's "Chosen" campaign, officially tattoos a Swoosh on surfing's forehead and stakes the brand's claim as a legit entity in our world. They've got Julian. They've got Brother. Nike has arrived at the beach, with all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop.

And so then today, if you're a fan of all things Vice, you may have visited VBS.tv and seen the first episode of a new series called Noticed -- also tied to Nike, specifically their online video contest that asks surfers to "Show us your crew."

One crew's video will get "Chosen" (it goes with the ad campaign) for demonstrating creativity and progression, and that crew will go on to riches and fame. Or something. The new series on VBS.tv, Noticed, will be highlighting crews on a weekly basis until the contest ends July 27th at the US Open.

Now, asking amateurs for self-produced surf videos is...a gamble. At best. To be blunt, most of it's going to suck because surfing well is hard, and filming is hard, and editing is hard, and real people have jobs and stuff. But check out the first episode of Noticed.

It showcases a surf crew from San Clemente that may not be destined for the ASP (the show's host at one point says, "As you can see, you don't have to be a crazy ripper -- but you do have to be creative"), but their video has a concept and they seem to have a good time. One guy gets a bad haircut. Someone wears a G-string. They surf. There's ping pong. Life's not bad.

With 10 gees per person and a surf trip up for grabs, no doubt the Chosen contest will lure big fish and heavy hitters over the next eight weeks. There's already some flair and known faces in the 40-odd surf crew videos posted to the contest Facebook page. But Nike seems to be making a statement with this first Noticed episode: originality trumps professionalism. Creative beats flawless. And that means anyone could win.