Tony Hawk
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Tags: Sports, Skateboarding, Extreme Sports By: kidxmicah |
4 Wheels and a Piece of Wood
Tony Hawk describes himself as a living nightmare in short. "Instead of the terrible twos, I was the terrible youth," he said. "I was a hyper, rail-thin geek on a sugar buzz. I think my mom summed it up best when she said, "challenging.""
Always determined to conquer anything in his path and so frustrated with himself when things didn't go quite as planned. "He was so hard on himself and expected himself to do so many things." During a little league game when Tony struck out he was so upset that he hid in a ravine until coerced by his father.
After being psychologically evaluated at the age of 8 the psychologist put it in terms that his mind was far more advanced than his body was, telling him to do things that he just couldn't do. At the age of nine Tony's life was forever changed when his brother gave him his first skateboard. At this point his body and mind finally became one machine working on the same level as each other. Once things started to gel with skateboarding Tony calmed down and his personality changed. He seemed to be a different kid becoming more compassionate for others.
With the help of his father Frank, Tony practiced every chance that he had. His father was building him ramps and driving him to every skate competition they could enter. After years of traveling from competition to competition they both founded the California Amateur Skateboard League and the National Skateboard Association.
In 1980, Tony was sponsored by Dogtown Skateboards and turned pro two years later at the young age of 14. By the time he was 16 he was ranked #1 amongst all skateboarders at the time. After an estimated 103 pro contests Tony placed first out of 73 and second in 19.
Tony married in 1990 to his first wife Cindy Dunbar. They had a son together in 1992, Hudson Riley Hawk. Hudson is named after the Hawk family ancestor "Hudson Riley", the explorer that discovered the Hudson River.
Who Stopped The Music?
Like an atomic bomb falling on the skating industry it stopped everything. Skating's popularity had plummeted leaving Tony's income drastically reduced. His wife Cindy who worked as a manicurist was now in charge of bringing home the pay check.
The skating industry looked very sketchy for Tony over the next few years causing him to sell his home and cars. Tony then started up Birdhouse Projects with Per Welinder. If he couldn't make a living skating he figured he could either edit video for other companies or get a job "Sitting behind a computer doing some sort of programming or web design. I thought skating was over for me."
After the fallout, skateboarding exploded once again. Hawk married Erin Lee in 1996, and Birdhouse has had great success becoming one of the largest skateboard companies around the globe. Activision created the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series and has been a huge success over the years. Alongside of being a skateboard icon and video game star Hawk has also wrote an autobiography titled HAWK: Occupation Skateboarder, which was a national bestseller.
Current
Tony is now a proud father and parent of his 3 boys Hudson, Spencer, and Keegan. Spencer was born on March 26th, 1999 who has already started to ride around the kitchen. The last of the boys Keegan, born July 18th, 2001. Who has said to been found by Tony in the kitchen standing on a chair with an ice pick in one hand, a knife in the other, and a light bulb in his mouth. He and Erin divorced in 2004 but remains an active father. "It makes me proud that I can switch from being a skater to a responsible parent," he said. "But," he's quick to add, "I don't feel as old as other parents."
In 1999 Tony retired from skating after landing the first ever 900 at the X-games. One of the tricks he had put on his wish list 10 years ago. Just because Tony has retired in the competitive end of skating doesn't meant he has given the sport up all together. He launched the Boom Boom Huckjam in 2002, where skateboarders, BMX bike riders and Motocross pros perform while punk bands and hip hop music plays.
Hawk continues to give something back to the community and the sport that has given him the life he leads. The Tony Hawk Foundation helps build skateparks in low-income areas, distributing over $1.7 million to non-profit groups. The Foundation has now been part of over 336 new skateparks across the country.
"I'm pretty happy with the way things turned out," Tony says. "I mean, I never thought that I could make a career out of skateboarding."
Tony Hawk describes himself as a living nightmare in short. "Instead of the terrible twos, I was the terrible youth," he said. "I was a hyper, rail-thin geek on a sugar buzz. I think my mom summed it up best when she said, "challenging.""
Always determined to conquer anything in his path and so frustrated with himself when things didn't go quite as planned. "He was so hard on himself and expected himself to do so many things." During a little league game when Tony struck out he was so upset that he hid in a ravine until coerced by his father.
After being psychologically evaluated at the age of 8 the psychologist put it in terms that his mind was far more advanced than his body was, telling him to do things that he just couldn't do. At the age of nine Tony's life was forever changed when his brother gave him his first skateboard. At this point his body and mind finally became one machine working on the same level as each other. Once things started to gel with skateboarding Tony calmed down and his personality changed. He seemed to be a different kid becoming more compassionate for others.
With the help of his father Frank, Tony practiced every chance that he had. His father was building him ramps and driving him to every skate competition they could enter. After years of traveling from competition to competition they both founded the California Amateur Skateboard League and the National Skateboard Association.
In 1980, Tony was sponsored by Dogtown Skateboards and turned pro two years later at the young age of 14. By the time he was 16 he was ranked #1 amongst all skateboarders at the time. After an estimated 103 pro contests Tony placed first out of 73 and second in 19.
Tony married in 1990 to his first wife Cindy Dunbar. They had a son together in 1992, Hudson Riley Hawk. Hudson is named after the Hawk family ancestor "Hudson Riley", the explorer that discovered the Hudson River.
Who Stopped The Music?
Like an atomic bomb falling on the skating industry it stopped everything. Skating's popularity had plummeted leaving Tony's income drastically reduced. His wife Cindy who worked as a manicurist was now in charge of bringing home the pay check.
The skating industry looked very sketchy for Tony over the next few years causing him to sell his home and cars. Tony then started up Birdhouse Projects with Per Welinder. If he couldn't make a living skating he figured he could either edit video for other companies or get a job "Sitting behind a computer doing some sort of programming or web design. I thought skating was over for me."
After the fallout, skateboarding exploded once again. Hawk married Erin Lee in 1996, and Birdhouse has had great success becoming one of the largest skateboard companies around the globe. Activision created the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series and has been a huge success over the years. Alongside of being a skateboard icon and video game star Hawk has also wrote an autobiography titled HAWK: Occupation Skateboarder, which was a national bestseller.
Current
Tony is now a proud father and parent of his 3 boys Hudson, Spencer, and Keegan. Spencer was born on March 26th, 1999 who has already started to ride around the kitchen. The last of the boys Keegan, born July 18th, 2001. Who has said to been found by Tony in the kitchen standing on a chair with an ice pick in one hand, a knife in the other, and a light bulb in his mouth. He and Erin divorced in 2004 but remains an active father. "It makes me proud that I can switch from being a skater to a responsible parent," he said. "But," he's quick to add, "I don't feel as old as other parents."
In 1999 Tony retired from skating after landing the first ever 900 at the X-games. One of the tricks he had put on his wish list 10 years ago. Just because Tony has retired in the competitive end of skating doesn't meant he has given the sport up all together. He launched the Boom Boom Huckjam in 2002, where skateboarders, BMX bike riders and Motocross pros perform while punk bands and hip hop music plays.
Hawk continues to give something back to the community and the sport that has given him the life he leads. The Tony Hawk Foundation helps build skateparks in low-income areas, distributing over $1.7 million to non-profit groups. The Foundation has now been part of over 336 new skateparks across the country.
"I'm pretty happy with the way things turned out," Tony says. "I mean, I never thought that I could make a career out of skateboarding."
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