Street League Skateboarding, why I’m a fan.

Street League Skateboarding, why I’m a fan.

While I’m sure the MOTY award council are busy etching the latest statue to enter the ranks of its already outstanding predecessors, I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that a majority of the spectators for this particular honor, won’t necessarily agree with the academy. Not to mention, I’m losing room in my two existing ten-foot curios to house these damn things.

I believe that skateboarding is a sport.

Gasp!

Sneer!

Outrage!

I grew up in a city where the “cool stuff to do” department mirrors that of, oh say, Provo, UT. As in: there is nothing “cool” to do. That’s not to say that I, advocate for The Anti-Truancy Committee, ever skipped class to swoon over the lanky, but oh so groovy, tall boys as they whipped out drop-in after drop-in and, “Oh wow! He can so ollie like nobody’s business!”. Literally, that was the extent of ooh and aah that we, as dedicated lovers-of-skateboarding-boys, were able to ogle. Without a late night escape to the local mall parking lot where there were rails and steps and planters (oh my!), there were two, count ‘em, two places for us to go. One park was basically a giant empty swimming pool. The pros were that it was basically situated in the backyard of our high school and only a minute jaunt to the quik-e-mart where we could binge on 32oz of The Sweet Nectar of Life for a measly fifty cents. The con, when some killjoy decided that one day was going to be the day that he got stabby. And. Well. Stab somebody. The convenience fleeted as quickly as it had come.

Onto the next “skate park”. The next city over and you either had to cram seven adolescent bodies into the two-door Ford Fiesta of the only friend who owned a car, or have our moms drop us off. Um, yeah. About that. Usually we were crammed up in there with bony, awkward bodies and skate decks and whose trucks are up my whoa-hole?! Once we filed out of what seemed like a chipping yellow clown car, waded through the parents watching their child’s t-ball games on any one of the umpteen thousand baseball fields, log-rolled down a grassy knoll (or six) and made it to the oversized empty swimming pool, we got to wait our turn. Max capacity always reached and a moderator standing firmly at the gate. You know the kind of rent-a-cop who is three years older than you, tops, who is having a major superiority complex because HE MANS THE GATE AT THE “SKATE PARK” DAMNIT!

Fast forward through more swooning, making out with skater boys, declaring Avril’s tune “our anthem”, losing the flame of skateboarding desire, marrying music, getting pregnant, having a boy, and land us in the present. A present I’m proud to witness, where a certain Mr. Rob Dyrdek is resurrecting the sport of skateboarding to mainstream society with hit television shows, revolutionary foundation initiatives, and an infectious passion unmatched by many. He’s developed Street League Skateboarding, “created to reflect the power of true street skateboarding – arguably the most popular, evolved, and unique alternative to stick and ball sport”. And, if I may pull the “cool mom” card, I couldn’t stand to agree more. I’m definitely not cut out to be a little league mom and definitely don’t have the balls to be a MMA mom. Soccer I can do because I slice a mean orange. Soccer benefit: coordination. That coordination will carry over into the skill set that evolves when learning skate tricks and kick flipping.

I was beside myself to hear that the inaugural Street League Skateboarding competition would be held in Glendale, AZ. I was even more ecstatic to learn that the Rob Dyrdek Foundation and Street League Skateboarding will be donating the tour obstacles and funding (to the tune of $50,000) to the planning and construction of Phoenix’s own Safe Spot Skate Spot.

Now Nugget, if he knows what’s best for him so chooses, will have the perfect stage to hone his talents.

Tickets are still available for the Street League Skateboarding DC Pro Tour Fueled by Monster Energy stop in Glendale this Saturday, August 28 at Jobing.com Arena.

**I was not compensated in any way, shape, or form for this post by Rob Dyrdek, The Rod Dyrdek Foundation, Street League Skateboarding, DC Shoes, or Monster Energy Drink. All this gushing is my own. There. I said it. I’m gay for skateboarding and the happy, tingly things it brings. Nostalgia at its finest.