| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/23/2009 9:28:45 PM | I came across an interesting article about Tony Hawk's skateboarding in the White House.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,528443,00.html
I'll give you some of the highlights.
Now, am I right to be pissed that some jackass is skateboarding through the White House while all this Iranian crap is going down?
I don't know what Tony Hawk has to do with Iran.
I mean, have we as a nation finally succumbed to the idiocy of the MTV/Mountain Dew/"Road Rules," backward hat and baggy short culture?
So I guess only stereotypical jocks like football players (serious criminal element) and baseball players (rampant steroid problems) should ever be invited to the White House.
Could you imagine anyone who lived during World War II treating a man who skateboards with anything less than disdain?
If that man could skateboard like Tony Hawk, they would probably be absolutely amazed.
While people risk their lives for the glimmer of freedom, Tony Hawk is in the White House tweeting about Frosted Flakes.
And while people risk their lives for a glimmer of freedom, this douchebag named Greg Gutfeld spews absolutly ridiculous republican biased rants.
President Obama should be grounded for at least a week for letting Tony Hawk play in our house. Where in hell are the adults?
Ok, I think I know where this acticle is going.
Someone please dig up Reagan. I'd take a dead leader with balls over a living camp counselor who wants all the cool kids to like him.
There it is, the Obama attack paired with the Reagan praise. The fox news double play.
There's only one way Greg Gutfeld could possibly end a rant like this.
And if you disagree with me, then you sir are worse than Hitler.
Wow, just wow.How does fox news even exist. They make absolutely no attempt to hide their republican bias. But what is even stranger, is that certain people actually believe fox news is fair and balanced. | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/23/2009 9:40:15 PM | If there were no Fox News, Jon Stewart would have hardly any material to work with.  | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/23/2009 10:11:25 PM |
Wow, just wow.How does fox news even exist. They make absolutely no attempt to hide their republican bias. But what is even stranger, is that certain people actually believe fox news is fair and balanced.
Ryan, Ryan, Ryan...haven't you learned not to use 'Fox' and 'news' in the same sentence, yet?
Tony Hawk is a legend in skateboarding--I know so many kids who fell in love with skateboarding from watching him. He's a healthy, energetic, life-lovin' guy who is a good, solid role model for our children.
What is happening in Iran is a tragedy--and it's a time when those throwing rocks feel some hope for a positive change. The fact that they're in the street protesting is, I believe, a great thing.
Our lives cannot, and must not, come to a standstill because of the rioting in Iran. | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/23/2009 10:11:26 PM |  Rock the White House Tony! Damn!
As if a little skateboarding(a physically demanding pasttime) is a bad thing. Come on for all we know presidents or their children have committed similar acts. Who hasn't tried roller skating in their parents house?
Is this the best they(those naysayers of any politician) can come up w/? Really??? I despair of our fifth estate.
I like the part where they point out Tony Hawks age. Like 40 is a sign of maturity. Pfftt! Heaven forbid he is, in a way, what America was all about-the rebel suceeding. OI! What next? | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/23/2009 10:26:03 PM | About the time I stopped watching TV completely - shortly following 9/11 - Fox News had already morphed into a kind of Theatre of the Absurd, and had, in my estimation, become inexorably confused with Comedy Central...
In deference to the old saying about keeping your enemies closer, I forced myself to watch... But eventually the uncontrollable fits of laughter brought on by some of the most astonishing sound bytes ever broadcast to a bewildered nation - nonsensical utterances delivered with patently straight faces - forced me to withdraw completely so as to retain some semblance of sanity... Doesn't sound like much - if anything - has changed... Shit... It sounds even worse...
One could easily glean more real news from the likes of Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert... Providing, of course, they're still on the tube... I wouldn't know...
But as far as this Tony Hawk thing goes; what's all the media fuss about?...
Here's an excerpt from a narrative about Andrew Jackson's inaugural celebration at the White House:
"This “reception” went awry from the start. When the staff opened the doors to bring out the first barrels of orange and rum punch, the exultant crowd burst in and knocked several over, soaking the floor in sticky booze and smashed glasses. The guests were, said eyewitness Margaret Bayard Smith, “a rabble, a mob, of boys, negros, women, children, scrambling, fighting, romping… Ladies fainted, men were seen with bloody noses, and such a scene of confusion as is impossible to describe.” The crowd quickly took possession of the White House: So many people were squeezed inside that the building itself creaked and shuddered dangerously. A bodyguard of loyal friends had to form a ring around the scarecrow figure of Jackson so he wouldn’t be crushed to death or asphyxiated by well-wishers. The strangers behaved if they were in a Mississippi saloon, standing in mud-caked boots on the damask chairs for a better view. But it wasn’t all riff-raff. Even some of the stuffy D.C. toffs got into the anarchic spirit. “Everyone from the highest and most polished,” marveled one attendee, Joseph Story, an associate judge of the Supreme Court, “down to the most vulgar and gross of the nation,” wanted their slice of the action. There are numerous accounts from well-to-do white observers who were shocked to see free African-Americans in the throng, including bevies of children and one “stout black wench” (noted Senator James Hamilton Jr. with disdain) who sat by herself in a back room, “eating in this free country a jelley with a gold spoon in the President’s House.” Some compared the crowd to the barbarians in Rome.
It was too crowded to get through the front door, so anyone who wanted to leave had to crawl out a first floor window. At 4 p.m., friends managed to spirit Jackson back to his hotel, but the party continued at the White House for hours. At around dusk, servants struck upon the idea of passing barrels of liquor and ice cream out the window in order to get the revelers out onto the lawn, where they could do less damage. It worked. "
Now those people knew how to party... | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/24/2009 12:08:35 AM | That this even appears as "news" is beyond me - it's all about some idiot named Tony Hawk who feels not enough peo[ple know his name, so he goes around pulling publicity stunts. That seems to be the only time I hear the name. Other than the fact that he probably wasted a dollar or two of publicly-funded security resources needlessly. The whole thing seemed more like the crying of a baby with a pantload full of poop vying for attention because he can't take care of it himself.
At least now terrorists know they can rig a skateboard bomb and it will easily make it past security into the White House. That's reassuring. Or was this maybe one of those officially-sanctioned "spontaneous" stunts to benefit Hawk in a down economy?
Who really cares? | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/24/2009 3:13:40 AM | Everyone knows that they hate you for your skateboarding freedoms... those young whippersnappers should know that people died for their freedoms so to do this is disrespectful.
Oh, and Tony Hawk hates God and kittens. | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/24/2009 5:10:28 AM |
How does fox news even exist.
You spelled it wrong, it should be spelled "faux". | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/24/2009 10:41:43 AM | | Wow, the part that took my breath away was the statement that if someone didn't agree with him, they were as bad as Hitler. Holy COW!!! A little narcissistic don't you think? THAT is just down-right scary!!!! | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/24/2009 10:45:26 AM | Nothing wrong with Tony Hawk.
obama is ruining America.
Where's the Birth Certificate?
Adam
A concerned American citizen. I have a Birth Certificate to prove it. | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/24/2009 2:24:24 PM | I'm 54 and not about to start skate boarding anytime soon but I remember back to my younger days as a lad. We'd don shorts, knee pads, elbow pads, grab wooden sticks with plastic blades and try to emulate the likes of Bobby Orr, Marcel Dion, Phil Espisito and the like. Yup we played ball hockey. Everyone in the neighborhood gathered at the boat engine factory parking lot evenings and weekends to chase the ball and maybe if we were lucky to score that perfect goal just like the one that won the cup.
Our parents knew were we were. We weren't in trouble nor were we out roaming the neighborhood looking for it. By the time dark ended our games we were too tired to do anything but go home and sleep. We had a focus, we had role models, and we had a place to play.
Today it is hard to find a place to play ball hockey. Most businesses that use to allow it have been forced by insurance companies to ban it. So what are young folk to do. Tony Hawk has inspired a generation to emulate him. To work and try to that flawless perfect combination jump to do those tricks just like on TV. To develop their physical and mental strengths. It's all good people.
What this guy, that takes the time to so thoroughly tear up Hawk, fails to do is to suggest an alternative for our youth. Most communities have skate board parks, sidewalks, railings and what have you to board on. Unless you have rich parents and can afford to belong to organized sports, you are out of luck.
Without a focus, our youth are an easy target for the next Hitler that comes along to have them join him. One of those directionless youths just may be the next Hitler. | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/24/2009 2:53:21 PM | Most communities have skate board parks
And a lot of those parks were built by the Tony Hawk foundation.
Tony Hawk has given a lot back to the community. He has been a fantastic role model for over tewnty years. He has dominated his sport probably more than anyone else has ever dominated a sport before.
And in my opinion, Tony Hawk earned the priviledge to skateboard in the White House. | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/24/2009 3:00:29 PM | Just the same, it's nice to have at least one network that leans a different direction.
Oh yeah, Viva La Tony Hawk! | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/24/2009 3:36:53 PM |
I don't know what Tony Hawk has to do with Iran.
And while people risk their lives for a glimmer of freedom, this douchebag named Greg Gutfeld spews absolutly ridiculous
Wow, just wow.How does fox news even exist.
Wow, the part that took my breath away was the statement that if someone didn't agree with him, they were as bad as Hitler. Holy COW!!! A little narcissistic don't you think? THAT is just down-right scary!!!!
ermm ... Red Eye is a comedy show.
I didn't say a show that's always funny but nonetheless - A COMEDY SHOW.
And certainly not nearly as funny as posting a thread and reactions like this that represent it to be serious news. Now that's hilarious. | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/25/2009 4:09:26 PM | Ever hear of skateistan ?
http://skateistan.org/
KABUL – In the shadow of a Soviet-era apartment block, 10-year-old Fazillah Shrindil hops on a skateboard and cruises the banked edge of an empty concrete fountain, her turquoise scarf trailing behind.
Class is in session and Fazillah is offering instruction.
"You put your front foot here," Fazillah tells her companion, a 5-year-old girl. "And then you just push off like this."
Afghanistan's national sport is buzkashi, a game similar to polo that's played on horseback with a goat carcass, and serious players train from youth. But the age-old sport is being nudged aside by about 100 kids in Kabul for a more Western passion: skateboarding.
They are learning all about Ollies and other moves at a school, Skateistan, started two years ago by Oliver Percovich, a 34-year-old from Melbourne, Australia. The school is not only intended to teach kids dexterity on wheels, but also to provide health and education programs for young people in Kabul.
"You can already see what it does for their self-esteem," says Percovich. "Look at Fazillah. I remember the first day she came here in January. She was walking through the park with a pile of sticks on her back. Her family had her quit school and she was selling chewing gum in the streets for $2 (U.S.) a day. Now she's far more confident, and we pay her the same as she made on the street to stay in school and come here afterwards and teach skateboarding to the younger children."
In a country where it's difficult enough for humanitarian-themed non-profits to raise funds, Skateistan's financial success has been impressive.
The organization in October asked the Canadian government for $5,000 and was given $15,000. The German embassy has invested $140,000 and Denmark has contributed $125,000. Percovich has raised enough to build a 1,750-square-metre indoor skate park, a $200,000 steel-roofed building that will be completed this August. He hopes to attract hundreds of children and teenagers.
"The contractor gave us a real break," he says, chuckling. "They'd charge the U.S. Army $1.2 million for the same thing."
The facility will include rooms for language and music classes as well as other training, and it will be possible to segregate the skate park's concrete surface and ramps so girls can continue to skateboard after they hit puberty – when they begin to wear head-to-toe burqas.
"We can use this as a great tool to find out what skills they want to acquire, whether that's English training or learning the guitar," says Percovich, who abandoned an organic bakery business he started in Melbourne to move here in 2007 with a former girlfriend who worked for a think-tank in Afghanistan.
While none of the children who have embraced skateboarding have started wearing baggy jeans or flat-brimmed baseball hats, there's been an uproar from critics who see this as a western indulgence.
One of the girls who attends the skateboarding sessions says she's been beaten by her brothers for partaking in the activity.
One of Skateistan's Afghan employees, 21-year-old Mirwais Mohsen, said he and his family were threatened with death by a Taliban taxi driver for teaching kids to learn to skateboard.
He says: "This is a city where you have to take that kind of threat seriously."
So he and his family moved across town. But he keeps working at Skateistan because he gets a great salary: $500 (U.S.).
Percovich insists he's not using Skateistan to bring Western culture to Afghanistan.
"No kid here has any idea who Tony Hawk is," he says, referring to the U.S. skateboarding legend. "It's just about giving them some sort of physical activity that they enjoy and using that to improve their lives in other ways."
One afternoon, not far from a busy street where a suicide bomber blew himself up a few months back, Percovich held a girls-only session. "I like to make sure the younger kids are included, the girls especially," he says.
"This is really fun," says Fazillah, who has two brothers and six sisters and plans to be a doctor some day. "Why do I like coming out skateboarding?
"It's just a great time passer."
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/648290
Hope, one ollie at a time....
I never really "got" skateboarding until I played Tony Hawk 1 and 2 on the Playstation. Once I did, I could understand why kids were so into it. If it gets them out doors and active ? More power to you.....
More than deserving of a visit to the White House, I'd say. | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/25/2009 4:39:10 PM | Bah, Tony Hawk can't help the government look appealing to the youngens.
He is so yesteryear. He has to rely on crazy new video game peripherals to sell his dying series.
Please know that I loved the Tony Hawk games and watching his competitions at one point.
It is just impossible for him to compete with the likes of Tyson.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQzUsTFqtW0
Now if Tyson were Obama's and allowed to skateboard through the whitehouse, kids would think the whitehouse to be pretty cool.
Cooler than school even. Yes, that cool. | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/28/2009 11:47:23 AM |
Just curious......and I am not really a sports statistic guy....really just care about the sports I actually engage in[and that does not include video versions]but....
is the above statement really true compared to............
I don't think you quite understand how good Tony Hawk was. From 1983 to 1995, he was the vert champion. For 12 years he was untouchable. There is no skater that has ever come close to dominating the sport like Tony Hawk.
Kenny Roberts......motorcycle sports.........
Dale...........motor sports........
Prefontaine....running....the inspiration of the "Swoosh".......
I don't know who these people are, so I have no comment on them. Yes, I assume it is Dale Earnheart, but I still know very little about him.
Picaboo Street.......lip balm and skiing........
She was never that dominate. She did have a few good seasons, but she's no Tony Hawk.
If you are looking for a dominate female skier, Nancy Green was pretty dominate years ago.
Mia Hamm.....soccer......
She had one good tournament. She was not a dominate force, she was good, but not dominate.
In the world of soccer, I would say Pele was the greatest.
Came up with a good one...Cal Ripken....baseball.......
Mickey Mantle....baseball......
Lou Gehrig......baseball.........
All great players, but which one is the most dominate. I'm sure people can even name a few more names for who was the greatest baseball player of all time, but ask most skaters and they will tell you, Tony Hawk is the best skater of all time.
Jesse Owens.....old style track & field.......
He dominated the 1936 Olympics. But it was only one Olympics.
I still have to say Tony, just because his diminance was longer.
The Williams sisters.......tennis......
For most dominant female tennis, I would have gone with either, Billie Jean King or Martina Navratolova.
Arthur Ashe....tennis...
Yes, he was dominate, but not for nearly as long as Tony Hawk.
Lance Armstrong....cycling....
Right now he is considered the best cyclist of all time. But not by much. He has 5 Tour de France wins, but I believe 3 others have 4 wins.
Also I don't have faith he won without help.
Michael Jordan......thaat game with the hoops.......
Wilt Chamberlain......more hoops stuff.....
I'll give you Wilt Chamberlain as someone who may have been more Dominate than Tony, but not Micheal Jordan.
Cassius Clay[Ali]..........boxing..........
I don't think Ali was even the most dominate boxer of all time. How about Rocky Marcciano?
Tiger Woods....golf......
For most dominate golfer, I would give it to Nicklaus. And even amongst current golfers, some might sayVeejay Sing is better.
Wayne Gretsky.........ice hockey........
Bobby Orr....hockey...........
You're missing a good one. Maurice "Rocket" Richard. Or all time Stanley Cup wins by a player Henri "Pocket Rocket" Richard.
Now these are all great athletes (the ones I don't know I will assume were great).
But when you try to figure out who was the greatest in a sport, for most sports you will get a list of athletes different people think are the greatest. But with skateboarding, almost everyone will tell you, "Tony Hawk is the best skateboarder of all time".
And again this is my opinion, it is not solid fact. | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/28/2009 12:04:59 PM | Those are all mainstream high exposure sports.
Skateboarding fans (kids mostly) are an entirely different culture and may not have even heard of Lou Gerig and vice versa so comparing to two I think is ambiguous. | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/28/2009 12:30:44 PM |
Fox News had already morphed into a kind of Theatre of the Absurd, and had, in my estimation, become inexorably confused with Comedy Central
Except that there is absolutely nothing comedic or funny about the venomous spewings of the Fox News mouthpieces. They are scary and to be feared.
Tony Hawk is a wonderous human with absolutely magnificent skills. Our children need more role models like him and many fewer of the NBA criminals, the drugged-out idiots in MLB that are represented by that drug-enabling union, the MLBPA, or those ego-driven spousal abusers of the NFL.
Why do we put up with those idiots anyway? | |
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OKRob
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Joined: 6/4/2009
Msg: 21 | |
| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/28/2009 12:49:09 PM | | I have been skateboarding for years. Good post Ryan, it's amazing that Fox News can get away with such small minded thinking. I seem to remember America being proud of diversity when the Election result was in. Where is the diversity now? One of the founders of a global sport isn't welcome in The White House? I doubt he asked for an invite. | |
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| Tony Hawk Ruining America?
Posted: 6/28/2009 12:55:31 PM | Oh, for crap's sake, folks:
Hawk joined other dads, athletes and celebrities at a Father's Day forum hosted by President Barack Obama. Celebrity chef Bobby Flay helped man the barbecue grills for a White House picnic for the attendees, which included NBA players Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat and Etan Thomas of the Washington Wizards.
"The Prez addressing all of us fathers before we split up to visit DC charities," Hawk tweeted. "D Wade & Etan T make me feel short."
from the A.P.
WHY must people make SUCH a BFD out of the most mundane things?
The men who were invited to the White House, then went to do charity work.
Sheesh--call the media--What is American turning into?! | |
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