Tony Hawk - Hawk: Occupation: Skateboarder (Skate My Friend, Skate)

I FELT THE COLD WIND THAT BLEW in from the San Francisco Bay whip across the top of the vert ramp and onto the deck as I walked around waiting my turn. It was June 27, and I was competing in the best-trick contest at the 1999 Summer X Games with four of the best vert skaters in the world: Bucky Lasek, Colin McKay, Bob Burnquist, and Andy Macdonald. Wed been skating for fifteen minutesit was midway through the half-hour designated for trickswhen I landed the varial 720. Its a difficult trick to do because I have to go up the ramp backward and spin two rotations with my body, while I hold my board and turn it 180 degrees so that I come down the ramp facing forward and my hoard is backward. I didnt know if I could win with it, but it was all I had planned.

The crowd was huge (the X Games claim fifty thousand people), and Id never seen this many people in such a frenzy over skateboarding. But they definitely had something to cheer about. The level of skating was so high, it was ridiculous. Colin did five different tricks and each could have won on its own. Bob Burnquist landed a fakie 5-0 to kickflip and Bucky Lasek was throwing down tricks like heelflip frontside Cabs. I had fifteen minutes to kill, so why not let the clock run out with a few 900 attempts? Show off a bit for the excited crowd.

I wasnt that serious, I just thought Id crank a few, but they felt different from the get-go; the spin was consistent on most of my attempts. I knew the only way the night would end was with me stomping one down or knocking myself out in the process. I had no excuses. For thirteen years Id been spinning the trick, only to wreck myself or wimp out.

Everything blanked out except the 9. The announcers voice occasionally drifted into my head, telling me time was up, that this was my last try, but there was no way I was about to stop when the 9s felt that good. Theyd need every security guard on site to pull me off the ramp. Id keep attempting the trick after everyone left and the lights were turned off if I had to. It was like Cakes song Hes Going the Distance.

I dont recall walking up the ramp after each attempt. All I thought about was getting a good look in the middle of the spin so I could spot a landing. Id just drop in, spin, fall, get up, and walk up the ramp over and over again. Everyone else had stopped skating. I remember thinking since the time limit was up I wasnt going to win the best trick with a 9, but it wasnt about the contest.

On my twelfth try the spin was fast and I had enough height, so I shifted my weight and threw it back, but it still felt like all the others. Then I realized, a little after the fact, that I was rolling across the flat bottom and up the other side of the ramp. After thirteen years of trying unsuccessfully to land the 9, all I could think was, Finally!

I freaked out as a mob of friends jumped on the ramp and tackled me. They hoisted me on their shoulders and carried me around. I was about to explode, I was so happy. Im usually a stoic guy, and more than a few people (my wife included) have commented that Im hard to read, but that night I let it go. I couldnt keep anything in. I thanked the crowd and announced that this was the best day of my life.

The best day of my life, I got into some shit over that comment at home, but I meant it in the context of my skating career. Nothing compares to having kids and a wife, but after so many years of frustration and failure this was the largest hurdle Ive ever gone over. Some people and a few reporters gave me grief, but screw emif my family understands, thats all I care about.

I could barely sleep that night. I was like a kid on Christmas Eve. I paced around the room, watched my youngest son, Spencer, sleeping (Riley was with his mom, Cindy), drank a few Heinekens, and popped a few Advils because my back was starting to tighten up. I had been so high from landing the 9 that it overrode any pain until late that evening. The next morning I had a professional massage.

I figured skaters would be excited about my landing the 9, but never in my life did I expect the public interest and media avalanche that followed. The morning following the contest, somebody handed me USA Today and showed me the article on the event. The headlines read Hawk Lands Historic Skateboard Trick. As if people who read newspapers would even know who Hawk was.

Its hard to believe that so many people around the world saw me land the 9, and the one person who would have appreciated it the most wasnt there. Out of all my skateboarding accomplishments, I wish my dad, Frank Hawk, was still alive to have seen me do it. He set the stage by starting the National Skateboard Association in the 80s and helped elevate skateboarding before ESPN or the Gravity Games came onto the scene. He would have been blown away by all the attention. Im positive he would have said a few My son is the best sort of things and embarrassed the hell out of me, but it would have been worth it. I also hope Stacy Peralta saw it on TV, because he played such a huge part in making me the skater that I am. He prepared me for the responsibilities of professional skating from the age of twelve.

One thing I hope the 9 showed people is that skating is not a competitive sport and that night no one won and no one lost. Skating is not about winning, its about skating the best you can and mutual appreciation. Its about pulling a trick after years of not being able to and having other skaters be happy for you. I didnt win and nobody lost on that night. My landing the 9 wasnt equivalent to Jordan making a last-minute shot and crushing the other team. It was one skater landing a trick and other skaters appreciating it. The next day, when I saw the pictures on the front of various sports pages of skaters carrying me around cheering, I couldnt help thinking what a contrast it was to regular sports. Essentially it was the other team that was cheering for me.

Ive done a few 900s since the X Games, and they still scare the crap out of me, but a wave of relief swept over me that day after I landed it. I relaxed like I never have before. Ive always had a mental wish list of tricks, such as the 900, varial 720, kickflip 540, ollie 540, and slowly over the years I checked them off one by one until the 9 was the only one left. Everything else now is purely for fun.

I SPOT HER HEAD OVER the wooden guardrail and track the cloud of grandmotherly, curly white hair drifting past, I only see the top of her head, so I know shes across the room. Shes probably heading into the kitchen to make me some foodI have only a small window of opportunity before shes out of range. I have to act fast. No hesitation. I pull myself up, wobble a bit on my just-learning-to-walk legs, and pick up my red metal car. I lock the center of her aged shoulders in my crosshairs. Shes turned her back on mefatal mistake. I couldnt have wished for more. I aim, cock my arm back, and fire. My red car shoots across the room and finds the target. My arm is pretty feeble. I dont nail her straight in the back, but I wing her on the hip. She squawks, grabs her hip, and turns to confront her assassin. I scowl back from my crib, my one-and-a-half-year-old attitude burning, meeting her sweetness head-on.