Birdman

Yo, Moe. My sons kept telling me I should check out the documentary Until The Wheels Fall Off about skateboarder Tony Hawk. I didn’t right away because I thought I already knew a lot about Tony Hawk. I’m a big fan of skateboarding and I’ve always supported skaters’ D.I.Y. (do it yourself) attitude. I finally sat down to watch the doc on HBO. It was fabulous, Louie Dombrowski. 

It’s a story about a kid who was considered too skinny and too weak to be any good at skateboarding. But what the squelchers didn’t know about Tony was he had guts, grit, and resilience. His attitude was if you say it can’t be done, I’ll do it anyway. 

Tony ended up riding on Powell Peralta’s Bones Brigade team, winning almost every contest he entered, inventing countless technical tricks, and becoming the most famous skateboarder in the world. One of the tricks he pioneered, after more than a decade of trying and failing, was the 900, a full two-and-a-half spin that has to be seen to be believed. 

Like Buck Norman says, “Don’t quit. That’s the trick.”

Obviously, Hawk isn’t a member of the trophy generation. And I highly doubt he ever played T-Ball. I’ve long been a critic of that joke they try to call baseball. The only thing that should ever be hit off a tee is a goddamn golf ball. It’s that time of the year again, Sluggo, and I’ve gotta start banging the drum. A few years ago, I got so fed up with T-Ball that I did this video and took a swing at it.

But back to the birdman. Just so you know, Pistol Pete, Tony Hawk is now 53 and skates five times a week. Keep your dukes up.

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