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TapouT tries to go on after the death of founder Charles 'Mask' Lewis
The company, a major force in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, copes with the loss of Lewis, killed last week in a car accident. A public ceremony to celebrate his life will be held April 14.
In a dozen years Charles "Mask" Lewis built TapouT from an outfit that sold T-shirts from car trunks to a $50-million company that became the official apparel choice of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and his relentlessly positive outlook defined the Inland Empire company's rise, say his former partners.
Lewis, 45, was killed last Thursday when his Ferrari collided with a Porsche on Jamboree Boulevard in Newport Beach. The Porsche driver, Jeffrey David Kirby, 51, of Costa Mesa, was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving and driving under the influence.
Lewis, 45, was killed last Thursday when his Ferrari collided with a Porsche on Jamboree Boulevard in Newport Beach. The Porsche driver, Jeffrey David Kirby, 51, of Costa Mesa, was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving and driving under the influence.
TapouT President Marc Kreiner and fellow executives Dan Caldwell and Timothy Katz announced today that a public ceremony to celebrate Lewis' life will be conducted April 14 at Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove beginning at 11 a.m. A large crowd is expected, with numerous mixed martial arts fighters and UFC executives.
"It's been a tough time over here," Kreiner said from the 150-employee TapouT headquarters in Grand Terrace. "This company has always been about Charles' dream, and making it come true. A lot remains that he had planned out -- it was part of his dream -- and we're going to make it happen."
Lewis was a former San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputy who left that job to pursue a career capitalizing on the rising interest in mixed martial arts, a sport that has since reached mainstream status by packing arenas and drawing tens of millions of pay-per-view customers annually.
"It's been a tough time over here," Kreiner said from the 150-employee TapouT headquarters in Grand Terrace. "This company has always been about Charles' dream, and making it come true. A lot remains that he had planned out -- it was part of his dream -- and we're going to make it happen."
Lewis was a former San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputy who left that job to pursue a career capitalizing on the rising interest in mixed martial arts, a sport that has since reached mainstream status by packing arenas and drawing tens of millions of pay-per-view customers annually.
TapouT expanded from the early sponsorship of fighters such as former light-heavyweight champion Chuck "Iceman" Liddell to becoming the exclusive apparel of the UFC's popular "The Ultimate Fighter" reality competition. And TapouT launched its own reality series on the cable network Versus. Years earlier, both Lewis and Caldwell were working in law enforcement in San Bernardino County but were intrigued by the pursuit of the MMA business. Lewis quit being a deputy first, telling Caldwell "he couldn't do both things at the same time." Caldwell then joined him.
"We were friends way before it got this big," Caldwell said. "For 20 years, we spent every day together. I'm going to really miss the passion he had for this company." Katz said Lewis lived the sayings he'd post in the TapouT offices: "Simply believe" and "Quit does not exist."
The horrific crash that ended Lewis' life has brought more than 50,000 e-mails to TapouT offices, Kreiner said, but it also caused some to speculate Lewis was racing or driving drunk.
Caldwell and Kreiner insist Lewis didn't drink alcohol or use drugs. Lewis' girlfriend, Lacy Lynn White, was released from the hospital Tuesday, Caldwell said. "She's saddened, she loved Charles very much," he said.
"We were friends way before it got this big," Caldwell said. "For 20 years, we spent every day together. I'm going to really miss the passion he had for this company." Katz said Lewis lived the sayings he'd post in the TapouT offices: "Simply believe" and "Quit does not exist."
The horrific crash that ended Lewis' life has brought more than 50,000 e-mails to TapouT offices, Kreiner said, but it also caused some to speculate Lewis was racing or driving drunk.
Caldwell and Kreiner insist Lewis didn't drink alcohol or use drugs. Lewis' girlfriend, Lacy Lynn White, was released from the hospital Tuesday, Caldwell said. "She's saddened, she loved Charles very much," he said.
Last updated by Patrick Mooney Mar. 19, 2009.
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Man with genitals in pipe
A man who went to casualty with his penis stuck in a steel pipe had to be cut free by firefighters using a metal grinder.
Medics at Southampton General Hospital could not get the man's penis out of the stainless steel pipe because the restricted blood flow had caused it to become aroused, so they called in Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.
They turned up with a special equipment unit from St Mary's station in Southampton and seven firefighters to help in what a spokesman said was a "delicate operation". The firefighters used the four-and-a-half-inch grinder to cut the pipe from around the man's penis and it took about 30 minutes. The patient was given an anaesthetic and his penis was left bruised and swollen but otherwise unharmed. The anxious man, aged about 40, gave hospital staff no explanation about how the pipe got stuck after he turned up on Tuesday morning. A Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: "Initially the crew did not have the appropriate cutting equipment to free the man. "It was a very delicate operation that required a very steady hand and the crew was worried about things getting too hot during the cutting. "It's certainly an unusual call-out and I'm sure the man won't be getting into that situation again."
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