For anybody who has ever stayed up with pals previous 3am enjoying Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater on PS1, consuming Doritos and chugging Mountain Dew…this one’s for you.
We sat down with the pioneer, the legend, the Birdman himself. 10 X Video games gold medals (16 complete), the primary ever documented 900, and a multi-million greenback online game sequence later, right here we’re.
Zach: So, man…at this time we’re joined by Tony Hawk. How’s it going?
Tony Hawk: Good, thanks. I’m truly on the point of head out to Paris right here in a pair days.
Zach: Yeah, skateboarding is now coming into its second 12 months as an Olympic occasion. At first, how proud are you – even simply in your lifetime to see all of the progress that’s been made for this sport?
Tony: I imply, it’s unreal. Once we have been youngsters, skating was the furthest factor from cool you can do and oldsters discouraged you from it altogether. It was laborious to search out any validation or any kind of glimpse of a future past simply doing it as a child. And now it’s a official profession. It’s a official way of life. It’s form of permeated our mainstream tradition, and I’m simply blissful that I get to nonetheless be right here to witness all of it and nonetheless get to skate.
For me, that’s the dream. Like the concept I’m nonetheless right here doing it and I get to skate among the many better of the very best, and even my friends are nonetheless round, it’s wild.
Zach: Completely. Now, let’s return. While you have been a child, you performed baseball however ended up quitting for skateboarding. What was it about skating that form of flipped a swap for you, that possibly different sports activities didn’t?
Tony: The concept I may do it alone phrases, and that I didn’t have to stick to some strict follow routine. I didn’t must depend on the workforce for my success. I imply, actually, I didn’t must play by the foundations. I believe that was it. It’s as a lot an artwork kind as it’s a sport. So that you do it in your individual model and your individual voice. There’s a really robust, passionate neighborhood that surrounds it, but it surely’s like this band of misfits. So everybody’s having enjoyable in their very own approach.
