Tangent

TransWorld SkateboardingAugust 7, 2001 17 min read

Tony Hawk: Occupation Author

The following is an excerpt from the book HAWK Occupation: Skateboarder by Tony Hawk and Sean Mortimer, which should be in bookstores by mid August:

Curse of the Keyhole

I wasn't exactly loved in the professional skateboard world. From the start I'd always skated differently than the rest of the skaters. I'd invent my own weird tricks like finger-flip airs and varial gay twists. Because of my flippy tricks I became known as the "Circus Skater." And my style ... I hated my style. People ripped on it constantly.

I skated a little more lightly on my board than the power carving, speed skaters. I went straight up and down, so I could do my tricks back to back. I wanted to be a powerful skater but I was too skinny, which posed my next problem: getting height on airs. I still ollied into my airs and my technique became openly mocked by other pros. Mickey Alba in a magazine interview said I was the biggest "cheat" in skateboarding. Mickey was Steve's younger brother and a hero of mine because he was so young (a few years older than I was) and a great skater. Reading his insult in print crushed me. I encountered a lot of similar hostility during my first few years as a pro.

According to more than a few pros, I skated like a geek, I ollied into my airs and could only skate Del Mar. It's not that I couldn't skate well at other parks (I had proven I could), but I could skate Del Mar in my sleep. Most pros back then had their own parks dialed¿since they'd skate there every day. But I skated so obsessively that my knowledge of Del Mar was out of control. I skated 10 times better there than anywhere else. Even though I'd made an effort to adapt to different terrain, I would always be known as the circus skater, with the robot style, who could only win contests at Del Mar.

My third pro contest took place at Kona Skatepark in Jacksonville and things did not improve. I had sucked there at my first Powell-sponsored amateur contest, and I sucked all over again as a professional. I placed tenth. I flew home, did my Zorro/bedroom trick, and wondered if Stacy would ever send me to another contest.

At The Whittier Christmas Classic, I proved once again how poorly I could skate. I got sixth-place in a park I thought I had dialed. It wasn't the shitty placing that bummed me out, rather the fact that I knew I was capable of skating better. Again, I didn't talk on the way home. Needless to say, the first half of my professional career didn't exactly put a smile on my face.

How to Win Contests and Become Unrecognizable

Although I was a professional skateboarder at the time, it didn't help my scholastic popularity at all. The mainstream media rarely covered skateboarding events (a small newspaper might do a small story on a local contest, but that was it), so anybody outside of skating wouldn't have a clue about my profession. Some kids knew that "Tony Hawk" was a professional skater who lived in the area because a local news program aired a story on me. But nobody connected the featured skater to their skinny classmate. I rarely spoke with anyone at school about skateboarding. Well, I hardly talked to anybody at school, period.

There was one time a non-skater sparked up a conversation with me about skateboarding. He saw me skating to school and stopped to ask if I knew that Tony Hawk who skated Del Mar Skatepark. I answered that my name was Tony Hawk. He backed away from me and looked me over. He scrutinized me for a few seconds before offering his evaluation, "Yeah? Really? Well you sure don't look like that dude." Then he walked away.

The saving grace in the entire school was Miki Vuckovich, the only other skateboarder attending San Dieguito. I had a school friend! Unfortunately my social connections ended there¿a school girlfriend would have been nice. I nurtured a few crushes, but the fact that I looked like I still had at least five more years before I grew pubic hair, never mi the fact that I was a skateboarder, defeated any urge I might have had to talk to them. I couldn't even consider going to any school functions.

I skated and that was the most important thing. I never became seriously depressed about school, because I considered it a formality. If I had been going to a perfect school, I still would have been indifferent to the social scene. Skating was like a fever and almost everything else was peripheral. At that time, no matter what you looked like, or how you tried to fit in, being a skateboarder meant you were an outsider. But I liked it that way; it was a secret club the rest of the world didn't know about. We were like the Masons, only with smelly pads and bruises rather than a weird handshake.

My entire school problem evaporated the moment I left the accursed place. Any difficulty I had I could solve through a good session at the skatepark. But I continued to study hard and keep up my grades. Then nobody made a decent living from skateboarding, so I never counted on it as a career. I planned on attending college and majoring in physics. I was still in advanced math and a few college prep courses, and I had a B average.

The evil short bus became too much to take, so after a few months I started skating home. If I was looking for omens I found one a few blocks from the school's property in the form of a drainage ditch that snaked downhill and ended, miraculously, almost at my front door. Miki and I would skate it home every day. It was a sanitation ditch so we dubbed it "Sanolands."

Skating was banned on school property and the teachers would confiscate our boards if they saw us even stand on them. I had a particularly overzealous teacher grab mine once and demand my dad come in for a meeting about the dangers and negative influences skateboarding had on children. They wouldn't give my board back if he didn't go. Bad move. My dad was my biggest supporter. He came in and told the school's administrators he didn't care what they thought about skateboarding and how idiotic he thought it was that he had to waste his time coming in to school to retrieve a skateboard. I sat back trying not to laugh. Today, this school has a skate physical education program.

After half a year at San Dieguito, it began to wear me down. The vibe from the school remained unfriendly, and I didn't know if I could deal with another three years of lame jocks and teachers who confiscated my board. I didn't like the idea of having to fit into a school social system I despised to begin with. I took the California High School Proficiency Exam, which¿if you passed¿meant you received a high school diploma. But I needed a backup plan, just in case the exam didn't work out. Because I lived on the border of the San Dieguito school district, I could attend the neighboring Torrey Pines High School if I met with the principal's and received his permission.

This was a huge deal to me. Torrey Pines was in a nicer area, and the school seemed to be full of people who were a lot more open-minded¿they offered surf classes in PE. My parents agreed to the switch and my dad drove me to the principle's office. Luckily, the principal had heard of some of my skateboarding accomplishments and because I had such high grades he decided to squeeze me in the following year. I went from having my skateboard confiscated on a regular basis, to having the principal recognize me and actually think skateboarding was cool.

Mandatory Info

Euro 2000 GossipEd Templeton took a slam that would bring tears to your eyes at this year's Lausanne comp. He got pitched off a flatbar onto his head, which left him with a bald patch and a neck collar. At the same comp, Ryan Kingman (Giant team manager) got into a scuffle with some locals who were trying to hassle Kareem Campbell. Kingman took six of them out and also received a bottle to the dome. The message¿don't mess with Kingman.

Speaking of fights, Dustin Dollin nearly got the shit kicked out of him when he threw a focused board at a parked car, which turned out to belong to the Brazilians. While on the Wizards of Oz Tour, Chad Bartie broke his wrist while skating the renowned Livingston Skatepark in Scotland. Lucky for Chad, one of the skaters (named Andy) was in his fifth year of medical school and came to Chad's rescue. While we're on the subject of Scotland, John Ratray is now on Circa, if you haven't seen his part in the Blueprint video yet, you should.

Latest news on Tom Penny is that he's skating again and into it. Rumor is, just before he was to join up with the éS guys on a filming trip to Barcelona, Spain, Tom tweaked his suspect ankle once again. He's now living in an apartment in Bordeaux, France with Theo Hand. Tom's Flip teammate Arto Saari is in Australia on a Rusty tour, Arto is due to fly in for the Dortmund comp with Geoff Rowley. There's talk of the two of them staying in Europe after the contests to film with Dan Sturt. Rob Gonzalez and Kenny Reed are also hanging around the continent for an extra month to film for the upcoming New Deal video, which is scheduled to be released early next year.¿Skin

Vans Bay Area Park OpeningFinally the boys and girls in the San Jose area have a legal place to skate. On June 22, Vans opened its fifth park, just east of San Jose in Milpitas, California. The Great Mall of the Bay Area now has the great indoor park of the Bay Area. The park features a 20,000-square-foot street area with all kinds of hips, rails, banks, and quarterpipes. There's a small mini ramp, a five-foot mini with a hip, a vert ramp, a mini pool, a big pool, and a replica of the Winchester Skatepark washboard bowl. Stevie Cab gave a lot of input in the design process, and it shows. This is by far the best Vans park in California. Even with a million kids all skating and 'Blading around aimlessly, there is still room for you. Check out vans.com for more info, then go to the park and get your skate on.¿Erik Olsen

On Video Premiere411 Video Productions premiered its new On Video in June. The hour-long first issue of the video magazine features stories and shorts by and about pro skateboarders: Mike Vallely's career in wrestling; Bam Margera messing with security guards; Ed Templeton's favorite old skate video; a road trip through the southwest with Kris Markovich, Salman Agah, and Ryan Johnson; Jamie Thomas' thoughts on the new generation of skaters; plus a half-hour profile on Danny Way.

The premiere took place at the infamous La Paloma Theater in Encinitas, California, and was attended by a who's-who list of pros and industry types, including most of the video's subjects, their families, and a slew of skaters just like you (but probably not you). Johnny Schillereff offered a short but poignant welcome and intro to the video, commending Kirk Dianda and the 411 staff for their hard work in making On Video distinct and unique. As the various skaters in attendance appeared on-screen, high fives were silhouetted by the bright screen, and cheers echoed through the classic Spanish interior of the theater.

The video is dominated by the Danny Way profile, which leads viewers through his career as it evolved and nearly ended a few times. The guy's put his body through hell and lives to talk about it. His On Video profile is detailed and comprehensive, and a great tribute to his accomplishments. Afterward, he received more congratulations than the On Video staff did. After seeing all of his brushes with death on-screen, I think people were just amazed to see him standing there in person.

One of the great things about the La Paloma Theater is that it's a block from a wide range of good restaurants, as well as the ill-reputed Saloon. My guess is that the premiere crowd was more thirsem Campbell. Kingman took six of them out and also received a bottle to the dome. The message¿don't mess with Kingman.

One of the great things about the La Paloma Theater is that it's a block from a wide range of good restaurants, as well as the ill-reputed Saloon. My guess is that the premiere crowd was more thirsty than it was hungry. Whatever the case, the On Video staff sure had a lot to celebrate.¿Miki Vuckovich

Straight GossipAfter quitting Toy Machine and spending six-months or so sponsorless, Mike Maldonado is the newest member of the World Industries team. World also reports that they've dropped Dan Pageau from their roster. Sorry, Dan. According to a press release from Tum Yeto: "Jim Greco kicked himself off Zero after refusing to film for the Zero video over the new Baker Bootleg video ... " Grecs' name is already attached to several rumors about his next sponsor, but nothing's solid yet.

Tensor trucks added Salman Agah, Chris Cole, and Dave Mayhew to its team. Jerry Fowler is the newest dNA pro. Brian Howard and Jesse Fritsch are riding for Accel Wheels. Scott Palmer turned pro for English skateboard company Blueprint. On Grind King no longer, Adam McNatt is riding for Webb trucks. Colt Cannon is riding for Darkstar Wheels.

While we're talking about Darkstar, Chet Thomas is skating for Darkstar Wood, which is a new board company distributed by Dwindle Distribution, which also distributes Blind, A-Team, etc. Darkstar Wood's team will include Chet, Ryan Kenreich, and amateur Guy Kampfen.

Powell Skateboards and Chicago filmmaker Wing Ko are reportedly working on a Bones Brigade Trick Tips video featuring the entire Bones Brigade team. The Santa Cruz team is also working on a new video they're calling Uprising which will feature Jayme Fortune, Vanik Hacobian, Ron Whaley, Stacy Lowery, Mike Frazier, Mike Rafter, Tony Tieu, new pro Eric Bork, and ams Steffan Attardo, Kyle Kimberling, and Ryan Parsons.

Chad Knight became a father when his girlfriend Nicole Shand had a baby boy on June 17, 2000. Colin (their baby) came into the world at a healthy eight pounds, three ounces, measuring 23 inches long. Two weeks later, on July 1, Jen Lasek and husband Bucky had a six pound, eleven ounce baby girl they named Paris Reagan Lasek. Paris is a great girl's name, in case you were wondering.

Manual Labor

Get down and dirty with your bad self, and get ready for some "solid, white trash, hip-hop list'nin', deck-moochin'" Manual Labor. I'm sure the title describes how much work goes into making a skate video these days, and there was definitely some work put into this vid. There might not be a bunch of fancy-smancy filming/editing or pretty 16mm footage in here, but there're some tricks that will catch your eye. Chris Dobstaff and Smolik have some dope tricks, but the standout part of the video goes to Kevin Davis with the mad-craze hair¿hair that obviously gives him superpowers. The hair-cowboy rides out a nollie heelflip shove-it to boardslide on a rail. I was like, "Wha? You belee' dat?" Well, seein' is believin', so go check it out.¿Mike Clark

ON Video

Issue #1The creation of ON Video, the newest video magazine from the people who created 411VM, was a foregone conclusion. I don't mean to steal the thunder of whoever first verbalized the idea of making a more personality-based skateboard video magazine, but as skateboarding continues to grow at nearly the same pace as 411's voluminous library of footy, the conception was inevitable. Skateboarding's following has expanded exponentially in recent years, and the demand for documentary-type lifestyle pieces is second only to the demand for the creation of heroes. Because of their almost painfully thorough coverage of skateboarding since 1993, the guys at 411 were naturals for the job¿they have the footage, they have the know-how, and they have the track record of being the first successful skate video magazine.

Upon viewing ON Video's first effort, it's instantly obvious the creators have gone out of their way to make it distinctly different from 411. The articles are more in-depth, and their execution is heavy on historical footnotes, interviews, and references to long-forgotten skate videos. The other departure from the 411 style is the noticeably scaled-down use of slick little icons constantly popping up on the corners of the screen. But desp