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Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 Releasing on Nintendo Switch This June

By Nigel Jones
Pro Skater Switch Release Date
(Activision/Vicarious Visions)

We finally have a release date!

After teasing fans back in March, it was officially announced today that the excellent Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 & 2 remake will release for Nintendo Switch on June 25th, 2021.

If you’ve been holding off on purchasing this remake, it’s definitely worth every penny.  Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 & 2 were already great games, but with updated graphics, quality of life improvements like reverts implemented along with online play, this is the must-own definitive version.  Also, the soundtrack still slaps to this day.

I already own the PS4 version and this might sound crazy, but I think I’m gonna have to double-dip.  The thought of being able to score million point tricks or spelling out S-K-A-T-E while laying in my bed sounds too good to be true.  Portability is a beautiful feature and my aging dad bod really appreciates these Nintendo Switch releases.

Tony Hawk’s Skatepark Project Gives $10k in Memory of Teen Killed in Hit-and-Run

By Yael Meshulam
Tony Hawk donates to Frankie Fortuna memorial skatepark
(YouTube/The Skatepark Project)

There are few names as iconic in the world of skateboarding as Tony Hawk. He paved the way for pro-skating to become the sport it is today, and though the 52-year-old isn’t spending as much time on the ramp these days, he’s making sure others can. For over 20 years, The Tony Hawk Foundation (now known as The Skatepark Project) has been helping fund skateparks across the country. Recently, Tony Hawk’s foundation gave a $10,000 grant to a little project with a lot of heart – one that means the world to a small Massachusetts community.

Frankie Fortuna was a big-hearted 19-year-old who loved skateboarding. “Frankie was the kind of kid who always looked out for the underdog,” the Frankie Fortuna Memorial Skatepark’s website explains. “He couldn’t stand bullying and would automatically take anyone under his wing who he felt could use a friend.”

On November 18, 2015, Frankie was on his way to work when a driver struck and killed him before fleeing the scene. His family was left devastated, and his community was shaken. After Frankie passed away, his family realized just how deeply the teen impacted everyone he met. Since Frankie was one of the few skateboarders in his town, he frequented the run-down local skate park – as a touching way of memorializing the young skater, Frankie’s family decided to raise money to restore his beloved skate park.

Frankie’s family set a lofty $500,000 goal to build the Frankie Fortuna Memorial Skatepark, and incredibly, they’re more than 75% of the way to their goal. Recently, the fund received a boost from an unexpected place – Tony Hawk himself. Hawk’s Skatepark Project contributed $10,000 to the touching cause, pushing Frankie’s skatepark that much closer to its ultimate goal.

With their $500,000 goal within reach, Leominster will soon be a place for young skateboarders to hone their skills. And just as importantly, it will be a place for Frankie’s loved ones to both grieve their loss and celebrate Frankie’s life. The tragedy of losing a child, a brother, and a friend is unthinkable – but Frankie will not be forgotten.

“This will be a place of healing for his friends and family,” the website explains. “And another one of Frankie’s contributions to a community he loved. His untimely passing was a tragedy but not his legacy. It is our hope that this park will bring as much joy to everyone that visits as Frankie brought to everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.”

Watch the Emotional Moment 52-Year-Old Tony Hawk Landed His Final Ollie 540

By Yael Meshulam
Tony Hawk lands his final ollie 540
(Instagram/tonyhawk)

The end of an era is often a hard reality to contend with, but it allows us to stew in the nostalgia of previous chapters of life while looking forward to whatever comes next. Skateboard legend Tony Hawk kickflipped his way into our hearts several decades ago, officially going pro in 1982 when skating was just finding its footing in the world of professional sports. Hawk set records, invented tricks, and paved the way for pro-skating as we know it today.

Now a 52-year-old dad, the skateboarding icon is quietly celebrating the end of a very special era by performing some of his most famous tricks for the last time. “In 1989 I started trying ollie 540’s as a joke, since it seemed there was no way to keep a skateboard on your feet throughout 1 1/2 spins in the air,” Hawk shared on Instagram. “But at some point I started scooping the tail with my back toe, which kept my feet in place for most of the spin.”

By some miracle, Tony Hawk managed to land the seemingly impossible trick for the first time while shooting a segment for Ban This. “It was the first of many that I’ve made over the last 32 years, and my technique improved as time went on. But they’ve gotten scarier in recent years, as the landing commitment can be risky if your feet aren’t in the right places. And my willingness to slam unexpectedly into the flat bottom has waned greatly over the last decade.”

In Hawk’s post, he shares the footage of his very first ollie 540, a clip filled with promise anticipation of all the firsts yet to come. Following the first clip is a second more somber one, Tony Hawk’s very last ollie.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tony Hawk (@tonyhawk)

“So today I decided to do it one more time… and never again,” he explains.

In the final video, Hawk lands a flawless ollie – his last flawless ollie, before putting his head and his hands, dropping to his knees, and fully absorbing the weight of the moment.

“I’m a little sad,” he says quietly.

Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end – but this is far from the end of Tony Hawk’s story. While it may be the last page of his time on the ramp, it’s the beginning of whatever adventure he chooses to chase next. An adventure, perhaps, that’s a little easier on the knees.

Fourth Graders Get To Slime Teacher After Reaching Charity Goal of $50,000

By Yael Meshulam
Students slime teacher after raising $50,000
(YouTube/Miss Sutherd, TikTok/ms.sutherd)

The importance of giving back is a lesson best learned early. When kids see the impact they can have on the world around them, it has the potential to guide their decisions and priorities for the rest of their lives. Ms. Sutherd, a fourth grade teacher in California, wanted to teach her students both about the power of social media and the impact they can have on others. To help them see their potential firsthand, Ms. Sutherd devised a plan.

Together with her students, Ms. Sutherd challenged her class to raise money for charity using social media as a tool. They settled on raising money for Shriners Hospital for Children, but when asked about their fundraising goal, the young students set the bar astronomically high.

“They said well, ‘What if our goal is $50,000?’ I said, ‘That’s crazy, but I am here for it,’” Ms. Sutherd recalled in a YouTube video.

Ms. Sutherd had gone viral on TikTok for her challenges to her students in the past, but this time, the class aimed to reach as many people as possible to hit their goal. As further incentive for her students, Ms. Sutherd agreed to the ultimate kid fantasy – if the determined fourth graders hit their lofty goal, they’d get to slime their teacher.

@ms.sutherdSLIME MS. SUTHERD #foryou #forthekids #TIKTOKCHALLENGE #fyp #shriners #lovemykids #HairFoodChallenge #PepsiApplePieChallenge #teachersoftictok♬ original sound – Miss Sutherd

After posting her initial plan on TikTok, Ms. Sutherd’s lesson quickly went viral. Her YouTube video’s caption read, “With the help and support of everyone across America (and the world), including the NFL, Tony Hawk, and Rosie O’Donnell, my kids had a day they will NEVER forget.”

Ms. Sutherd pitched in $1,000 on behalf of her class, who donated their tickets (their classroom currency) to the cause. Tony Hawk donated $1,000, and strangers from every state in the US helped the class hit $30,000. Saladin Shriners donated the final $20,000 to get the glass to their final goal. They did it – $50,000, and a whole lot of slime for Ms. Sutherd.

The proud teacher concluded, “This whole experience just goes to show that anyone, of any age, from anywhere, can make a difference.”

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 & 2 Remake Announced for Nintendo Switch

By Nigel Jones
(Activision/Vicarious Visions)

While Tony Hawk fails to be recognized in public on a regular basis, at least his video games are still well known and loved.

Activision announced today that the fantastic Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 & 2 remake that released last September on PS4, Xbox One & PC, will be making its way over to Nintendo Switch later this year.  Unfortunately, no release date has been set for the Switch version, but we do know that there will be a next-gen upgrade available on March 26th, 2021 for PS5 and Xbox Series X players that already own the game.

This upgrade includes access to the secret skater Ripper (a.k.a. the infamous Powell-Peralta mascot), retro gear for Create-A-Skater mode, and retro skins for Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, and Rodney Mullen.  Performance-wise, this next-gen upgrade features the option to play in 1080p at 120 FPS or in native 4K at 60 FPS.

If you currently own the Standard Digital Edition, you’ll be able to upgrade to the Cross-Gen Deluxe bundle for an additional $10.  For those who already own the Digital Deluxe Edtion, it’ll be a free next-gen upgrade.  It’s kind of a bummer since these next-gen upgrades have typically just been completely free for most games, but it’s a small price to pay to shred as ‘The Birdman’ with some sick new visuals, and technically you’re getting some new content as well.

Developed by Vicarious Visions, this remake of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 & 2 features everything you loved about the originals, but with some nice quality of life improvements.  Being able to manual (introduced in THPS 2) and revert (introduced in THPS 3) in both THPS1 & 2 to keep our million point combos going is a wonderful edition.  Also, the soundtrack is still as awesome as it was back in 1999.  If you’re a Nintendo Switch player and have been waiting patiently for this release, you’ve got lots to look forward to.

52-Yr-Old Father of 6 Painfully Pulls off 720 (Ok, It’s Tony Hawk, But Still!)

By Mike Julianelle
Tony Hawk Pulls off 720
(Twitter/tonyhawk)

A lot of stuff gets harder as you age. Especially physical stuff, even if you’re a legend of the sport. Sure, Tom Brady is somehow still kicking down in Florida, but he’s the exception that proves the rule. (Drew Brees is the rule.)

Age comes for all of us, and it will for Brady too (hopefully at the Super Bowl!) Just as it will for skateboarding, X Games legend, and friend of The Dad Tony Hawk. But not yet!

Hawk is clearly determined to keep old age at bay, at least judging by a tweet he shared the other day, in which he posted a video of himself attempting to pull off a 720-degree jump on a half pipe.

To his credit, he didn’t pretend it was easy. He didn’t only share the successful attempt, no, he shared an entire video edited together showing a bunch of failures, sometimes painful failures, before ending it with footage of him pulling it off.

It takes until his 7th try, with plenty of breathers in between, to seal the deal, and when lets out a triumphant “yeah!” and tosses his board aside, his sense of accomplishment is palpable.

In his tweet he explained that he hadn’t made one in over three years, and that the challenge was due to a combination of slowness, injuries, and old age!

“I recently made a 720 and it was a battle. The last one I made before this was over three years ago, and it’s much harder now all things considered: recently dislocated fingers hinder my grab, my spin is slower so I need to go higher for full rotation and… I’m really old.”

Ever the warrior, hawk stopped short of saying he was retiring from 720s.

“I can’t say for certain that this is the last one I’ll ever do, but I can’t imagine doing many more.” He also announced that he was going to donate the board for a raffle that would be used to make land the trick to raise money for public skateparks.”

Skateboard Legend Tony Hawk Fails to Get Recognized In Public, Yet Again

By Yael Meshulam
Tony Hawk Again Not Recognized in public
(Instagram/tonyhawk, Twitter/tonyhawk)

Depending on how you look at it, Tony Hawk either has a recurring problem or a superpower. The dude is an icon, and he’s a household name even for people who have never in their lives touched a skateboard. But despite several decades of fame, the pro-skater is frequently not recognized by people who clearly know who he is, and the stories he shares on social media will never stop being funny.

On New Year’s Eve, Hawk shared the latest installment in his life-long series of incredible public encounters. In case you didn’t know (or in case you ever run into him), legally, Tony’s name is actually Anthony. With such a recognizable last name, people frequently make a half-connection in their brains but fail to make it the rest of the way. Like, for example, the lovely woman who recently encountered the Hawk family at a COVID-19 testing site.

Hawk described the encounter in a tweet, explaining that something clicked when the woman read their last name. After asking the family if they were related to Tony Hawk, the X-Gaming legend had the absolute perfect response.

This is far from the first time Hawk has experienced this type of interaction, and incredibly, most of these people will only ever find out the truth if they use social media.

There was that one glorious time with a TSA agent

Ok, two glorious times

You know what, we’ll just give them a whole chapter when this becomes a book

These kids who will never know how lucky they were

And on that same day, those kids became legends

This was a great day for everyone

This guy gets a 90%

Fortunately, Tony Hawk himself loves it as much as we do.

Tony Hawk Helps 12-Yr-Old Skater Return From Injury and Conquer Mega Ramp

By Mike Julianelle
Hawk Helps Sky Brown
(Instagram/skybrown Twitter/barstoolsports)

Tony Hawk is the most famous skateboarder of all time. A pioneer in the sport, an X-Games legend, and the man behind some of the most popular video games of all time doesn’t have anything left to prove, and yet he keeps proving that he’s a great guy.

Hawk is older now, obviously, and has moved into the “dad” phase of his life, even becoming a friend of The Dad as we share countless stories of his generosity, general good-naturedness, and continued ambassadorship of skateboarding.

The skater is often in the news, and for every story of a burrito being named after him, there’s one of him doing something like changing the name of an old trick to honor the deaf skateboarder who invented it.

Now a video is going around of Hawk helping a young girl overcome her nerves and conquer an intimidating 100-foot skate ramp.

Sky Brown is a 12-year-old skateboarding phenom (Hawk called her “a unicorn”), who’s ascent in the sport was slowed when she had a bad fall at a Tony Hawk skate park. She fractured her skull and injured her wrist, among other things, and spent two months recovering.

Now she’s making her way back, and she has some jitters, understandably. So Tony Hawk, the legend, stood by her side to help her get back on the horse.

In this case, the horse is the HUGE Mega Ramp. Just looking at it makes me nervous! But with Tony’s encouragement, Sky makes it look easy.

A unicorn? More like a pegasus!

Watch the full video of Sky’s jumps:

Tony Hawk Changes Name of Skating Trick to Honor Deaf Skater

By Mike Julianelle
Tony Hawk Renames Move
(Instagram/tonyhawk)

Tony Hawk is more than just a skateboarding legend, legendary X-gamer, and video game pioneer. He’s also a dad, and a friend of The Dad, and, most importantly, a great guy who gets a kick out of being recognized and is always happy to celebrate young skaters.

Recently, Hawk was in the news for a promotional tie-in with Chipotle, where a burrito was named after him and gamers were given early access to his new video game. That game is called Pro Skater 1 and 2, and Hawk took to his popular Instagram account to announce that he’d renamed one of the classic tricks players can perform.

The trick is – or was – called the mute grab, and involved the skater grabbing the board in between the feet, with one hand, during a jump. It’s been around since 1981 and was first performed by a skater named Chris Weddle. According to Hawk, Weddle was a prominent amateur skater who didn’t talk much, hence the name “mute grab.”

Hawk explains that while Weddle has always been gracious about the name of the trick, despite the fact that he is actually deaf and not mute, it’s clear that the skater would be more well-known if the trick mentioned his name instead. So Hawk decided to change it.

He explained on IG:

“For nearly 40 years, we’ve shamelessly referred to this trick as the “mute” air/grab. Here is the backstory: around 1981, a deaf skater and Colton skatepark local named Chris Weddle was a prominent amateur on the competition circuit. The “Indy” air had just been created & named so somebody proposed that grabbing with the front hand should be known as the “Tracker” air. Others countered that Chris was the first to do, so it should be named after him. They referred to him as the “quiet, mute guy.” So it became known as the mute air, and we all went along with it in our naive youth. In recent years a few people have reached out to Chris (who still skates) about this trick and the name it was given. He has been very gracious in his response but it is obvious that a different name would have honored his legacy, as he is deaf but not lacking speech. I asked him last year as I was diving into trick origins and he said he would have rather named it the “deaf” or “Weddle” grab if given the choice. His exact quote to me was “I am deaf, not mute.” So as we embark on the upcoming @tonyhawkthegame demo release, some of you might notice a trick name change: The Weddle Grab. It’s going to be challenging to break the habit of saying the old name but I think Chris deserves the recognition. Thanks to @darrick_delao for being a great advocate to the deaf community in action sports, and for being the catalyst in this renaming process. I told Chris tecently [sp] and his reply was “I’m so stoked!” And then he shot this photo in celebration yesterday.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

For nearly 40 years, we’ve shamelessly referred to this trick as the “mute” air/grab. Here is the backstory: around 1981, a deaf skater and Colton skatepark local named Chris Weddle was a prominent amateur on the competition circuit. The “Indy” air had just been created & named so somebody proposed that grabbing with the front hand should be known as the “Tracker” air. Others countered that Chris was the first to do, so it should be named after him. They referred to him as the “quiet, mute guy.” So it became known as the mute air, and we all went along with it in our naive youth. In recent years a few people have reached out to Chris (who still skates) about this trick and the name it was given. He has been very gracious in his response but it is obvious that a different name would have honored his legacy, as he is deaf but not lacking speech. I asked him last year as I was diving into trick origins and he said he would have rather named it the “deaf” or “Weddle” grab if given the choice. His exact quote to me was “I am deaf, not mute.” So as we embark on the upcoming @tonyhawkthegame demo release, some of you might notice a trick name change: The Weddle Grab. It’s going to be challenging to break the habit of saying the old name but I think Chris deserves the recognition. Thanks to @darrick_delao for being a great advocate to the deaf community in action sports, and for being the catalyst in this renaming process. I told Chris tecently and his reply was “I’m so stoked!” And then he shot this photo in celebration yesterday. 📷: @yousta_storytellers_club

A post shared by Tony Hawk (@tonyhawk) on

Hawk’s post has over 71,000 likes and nearly 1000 comments, with people praising Weddle for creating the trick and Hawk for righting history and giving the deaf skater the recognition he deserves.

Order a “Tony Hawk Burrito” and Get Early Access to Pro Skater 1+2

By Mark Chalifoux
Tony Hawk Burrito
(Chipotle/PlayStation)

There’s not a ton of great news these days, so when Tony Hawk gets his own burrito at Chipotle and gives us a chance to get it for free, yeah, we’re gonna be on board. In a big way. Like, as big as a 2,000 calorie burrito for lunch way.

It’s tough to undersell this collab, as we are big Tony Hawk fans here (and the feeling is mutual), and everyone loves Chipotle. The two announced a special promotion where the first 2,000 people to order the “Tony Hawk burrito” before August 14th would get a code to access the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 warehouse demo for PS4, Xbox One or PC.

So, not only do you get a burrito, but you also get access to one of the most highly anticipated games. What is the Tony Hawk burrito? Good question. The recipe is as follows: brown rice, black beans, chicken, tomatillo-red chili salsa, cheese, and guac. It’s nothing revolutionary, but Hawk said it’s his go-to order to “refuel after long skate sessions.”

For those of you who like the idea of the burrito, but don’t like the idea of paying for the burrito, there’s something for you too. Chipotle’s Twitch page is being taken over this Friday, August 14, at 11 a.m. EST by Hawk, Jagger Eaton, and Finn Wolfhard, who will be playing the THPS 1 and 2 Warehouse Demo. During the stream, they are giving away 5,000 vouchers for a free burrito.

Pro Skater 1 and 2 are now nearly two decades old, and the new release is a re-master and those and the first new title in the PS franchise in more than five years. Hawk is a big Chipotle fan, and you would be too if, like Hawk, you had one of the celeb VIP cards that entitles him to free Chipotle and free catering. He said he’s all on board with the partnership.

“It’s a blast to see the enthusiasm for Chipotle, skating and video games continue to grow and inspire a new generation,” he said. “Whether you’re a veteran THPS player or new to the game, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 has something for everyone.”

FedEx Driver Helps Boy Exchange Skateboards With His Hero, Tony Hawk

By Nick Ciavarella
Boy Exchanges Skateboards with Hawk
(TikTok/tonyhawk/fresh2deaf)

Well, it turns out that TikTok does have something positive to offer this world. Personally, I was under the impression that its sole purpose was so youths could film themselves doing synchronized dances (like The Electric Slide or whatever) in 15-second intervals. But apparently, there is some pretty heartwarming content out there. So here’s a nice, new TikTok heartwarmer to warm your lil’ ol’ heart.

User fresh2deaf (but we’ll call him Mikail because that’s his name) is a FedEx delivery driver who was on his normal route when a kid named Cooper started running after him and flagging him down. The kid hands him a skateboard and asks him to mail it to pro-skater, and friend to The Dad, Tony Hawk.
Here’s the story:

@fresh2deaf

@tonyhawk #fedex #fedexlife #fedexdriver

♬ original sound – fresh2deaf

The kid doesn’t yet know how the mail works (you need a box and, like, money) as well as the fact that his skateboard has no wheels. It’s the thought, especially at such a young age, that counts. And good on this driver for getting the word out. Because apparently it worked! Tony Hawk responded:

@tonyhawk

♬ original sound – tonyhawk

How cool is that? Tony Hawk is just hanging out doing Tony Hawk stuff at what looks to be his private skate park and decides to give this kid the board he’s actually using. So it looks like Cooper is getting his trash of a skateboard replaced with an actual board with wheels. Mikail posted an update:

@fresh2deaf

#fedex #fedexdriver #fedexlife @tonyhawk Part 2!

♬ original sound – fresh2deaf

Ahhhhh goodness does exist. Thank you to these 2 grown-ups for making this kid and his brother happy during a terrible time. And to prove that he is a man true to his word, here is Tony Hawk following up with his promise:

@tonyhawk

@fresh2deaf

♬ Cyco Vision – Suicidal Tendencies

Alright TikTok you win this round. Consider my heart full.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 and 2 Coming To PlayStation, Xbox, and PC on September 4

By Joel Willis
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 2
(PlayStation)

What were you up to 20 years ago? My memory is a little hazy but if I had to guess I was slamming Bagel Bites, listening to Eminem, and playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater… all while putting off studying for my AP Calc exam. On September 4 I may just take a trip down memory lane (sans the AP Calc), since Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 and 2 are being remastered and re-released for PlayStation 4, PS4 Pro, Xbox One, Xbox One X, and PC via the Epic Games Store.

The Birdman (who also happens to be a fan of The Dad) himself dropped the news on his Instagram.

Returning for this hotly anticipated remaster is everything you loved about the original games. The S-K-A-T-E challenges:

(Activision)

All your favorite signature tricks, from Kareem Campbell’s Casper Slide to Bucky Lasek’s Fingerflip Airwalk to Tony Hawk’s elusive 900:

Despite a few licensing issues, a “vast majority” of history’s greatest video game soundtracks will be back for your kickflipping pleasure. As long as “Cyco Vision” by Suicidal Tendencies and Primus’ “Jerry Was A Race Car Driver” made the cut, we’re good. Also, “Superman” by Goldfinger. Chances are you remember every word to that and don’t even realize it.


And for the first time ever, THPS 1 & 2 will feature online capabilities, including various multiplayer modes and the option to share and download custom skate parks. It’s a dream come true for anyone who knew the sense of gratification that came with unlocking Roswell.

(Activision)

And if that wasn’t enough, today is Tony Hawk’s birthday! A very happy 52nd to the world’s oldest kid. To celebrate, enjoy this video of him driving around and commanding teen skaters to perform kickflips.

Did you know The Dad has a gaming community with leagues, events, and tournaments in 9 different games? It’s true. Pick up the sticks, squad up, and join the gaming club.

Parenting, Rad Dads, And The Bagel Bites Jingle: A Conversation With Tony Hawk

By Joel Willis

What were you up to 17 years ago? I was spending inordinate amounts of time eating Bagel Bites and playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 on Nintendo 64. I’d jump from rail to rail, park bench to car to building, constantly on the grind… not literally of course. I was a lazy college student.

The real Tony Hawk was out there grinding for real. And crashing through coffee tables. (This iconic commercial just celebrated its 17th birthday!)

In addition to being the most influential skateboarder ever, Tony is a prolific media and entrepreneurial powerhouse: video game producer, actor (60 IMDB credits, including Sharknado 5!), skateboard emoji adviser, and philanthropist, making a big difference in low-income communities with The Tony Hawk Foundation.

That’s cool, but has he ever turned a Nosebluntslide grind into a McTwist grab while eating a Bagel Bite? Probably. But whatever.

My friends and I idolized Tony growing up. Still do. And he’s been a follower of The Dad for quite some time. As a dad of 6 himself, he’s very much “part of the club.” So it was super cool to catch up with him by phone for a quick chat.

JOEL WILLIS, EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF THE DAD: What are you like as a dad? What is your parenting style? Has it changed or evolved over the years?

TONY HAWK: It’s definitely changed. I think I’ve learned to be more effective as I’ve gotten older and through experience. But I think that [all of my kids] are all different obviously. They all have different needs and different kind of attention that they want or require. It’s been fun to see them all develop their own interests. They all are very unique, and my approach is to be supportive of whatever it is they’re getting into.

If they really find their passion, I want them to explore and to have the resources to take it further. I think that’s probably how I’m most effective not just financially but in terms of really giving them the tools and giving them the confidence to go forward in something that maybe is untested. Because that’s exactly what I did as a kid. I started skating and it was the furthest thing from cool you could do. I just kept at it because I loved it. I didn’t know I was going to have any sort of career out of it, and I feel very fortunate that that’s what happened. But at the same time, I want them to have that same desire and passion in their life.

Totally. That’s great. I think anybody in any career or any pursuit can relate to that. I know I do. I used to work in IT, and I was there in what many would call a soul-crushing corporate job. I just like making people laugh and making memes and stuff, and now I get to do cool stuff like talk to you on the phone.

That’s exactly it. You never know where it’s going to take you, and if you embrace the challenges of it, you’ll go further than you ever imagined.

And I think that that lesson is so important for kids, the lesson of doing what you love, but also learning every aspect of it and being up for the challenge if things don’t go the way you expect, because those are probably the moments that are more defining and probably more important.

Exactly. Like that video with your daughter where you were helping her overcome her fear and go down the ramp on the board. So cool.

Oh, thank you. Yeah, I just set my phone in a cup that was nearby. Mostly because I knew that she would want to see it. I knew that if she did it, she was going to be excited about it and maybe not do it again, so I just wanted her to have documentation for herself. And then I thought it was such an interesting experience to see her have that doubt, but then have the confidence to really try it, and I was encouraging but I wasn’t trying to be overbearing or intrusive on her thought process.

So I felt like that was a fun thing to watch unfold, and that’s why I shared it with people.

I think the reason I loved it so much and related to it was your excitement. You were fired up. Amped up for her. Did she feel the same way?

She was very excited. She actually ran back up to do it again, because she didn’t want to lose that confidence that she had. I think that she thought she didn’t do it as well as she could have. So she ran back up and did it again. That particular ramp is actually at my office, so whenever she ends up at my office, her first go-to is to go up there to make sure that she can still do it.

With the Rad Dad Squad, I feel like a “rad dad” to me is when you’re able to get down on your kids’ level and play with them and do the things that they like to do, and love it just as much as they do because they do…

It gives them the self-confidence to keep doing it, and as long as you’re doing it and not being intrusive at the same time, that’s obviously a fine line. But the idea of this whole campaign with the rad dad squad is that we want to recognize those moments and those fathers that are really putting out that effort, and getting into what their kids are doing. Being silly, but also being engaged. I’m sure they do it to very little appreciation. So we want to recognize that.

I relate to that. That’s part of our goals at The Dad to recognize modern, involved dads who are going above and beyond and give them that recognition they may not get otherwise.

Right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NGUtX_RXq8

A little controversial here, but I want you to rate the Bagel Bites jingle in terms of musical artistry on a scale of 1 to 10.

You mean, “Pizza in the morning, pizza in the evening, pizza at suppertime?”

You got it.

I’m going to give it an 8, just in terms of memorization. And concise, or you know, impact. Effective impact. Because it’s not like you have to sing it all the way through to get there. It’s very to the point. I like that. It’s a concise message.

I consider it a commercial masterpiece. I ask this because in your commercial in 2002, the jingle was different. It was sort of like a hard rock remix. So I want to ask you if you were involved in that decision.

I was not directly involved in that decision, no. But I’m honored that my inclusion changed the vibe enough that I got my own signature version. Signature cover, let’s put it that way.

Yeah. The Tony Hawk remix of the Bagel Bites theme.

Yeah, the punk cover of the Bagel Bites jingle, absolutely. I brought that to the world.

Thanks for the chat, Tony.

If you’re a rad dad, you can chat with him too. 3 winners will be inducted into the Rad Dad Squad later in June and will get to hang with Tony on his skate ramp. Just post a video of your own rad dad moments using #RadDadSquad and #sweepstakes.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta get back to the grind.