“Skateboard icon Tony Hawk, 42, tells fans to ‘Do it because you love it’ - Knoxville News Sentinel” |
| Skateboard icon Tony Hawk, 42, tells fans to ‘Do it because you love it’ - Knoxville News Sentinel Posted: 24 Sep 2010 09:42 PM PDT Tony Hawk graced the rim of several of the bowls at the Knoxville Skatepark on Friday afternoon. The warm afternoon at Tyson Park was filled with the not-so-dull roar of hundreds of skaters from 4-year-olds to adults. The skaters traded tips, showed off newly gained and mostly harmless injuries, and speculatively eyed the demo for the soon-to-be released Hawk video game, pausing only to scan the park's surroundings for any sign of one of the most recognized names in alternative sports. When Hawk finally walked into the park around 5 p.m., his entrance lacked the fanfare of an entourage, fireworks or even a banner. He was just a normal, if exceedingly tall, man with gray hairs starting to show in his sideburns and a skateboard curled under his arm. That is until one of his young fans spotted him near the entrance and alerted the crowd. "It's Tony Hawk! It's Tony Hawk!" the little boy screamed as the crowd started to cheer. "People sincerely appreciate the effort of coming out here, and they come out here in droves," the 42-year-old Hawk said over the shouts of fans clamoring around to take pictures of him. "Do it because you love it, and continue challenging yourself," Hawk said as advice to young skaters. The park was filled with plenty of teenage skaters trying their hands at various tricks on the park's equipment, but weaving through, under and around the mix were quite a few young children being cheered on by parents sitting in the shade or stands. Proudly displaying newly earned road-rash on her elbow, 15-year-old Emma Otten was one of the few girls skating at the park. While she gave up the sport for a few years because she was tired of being made fun of for skating as a girl, she picked her deck back up a few months ago, and was more than excited to see one of her favorite skaters ride the rails around her favorite park. "He's taught me some pretty sweet tricks off of his YouTube videos," Otten said. "He's probably one of the gnarliest skaters I've ever seen." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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