Why Does God Love........Tony Hawk?

A “hyperactive demon child”. Fortunately for Tony Hawk, that was not God's loving assessment of the young boy, but his own, as recorded in his autobiography. Generally exhausted by young Hawk's outrageous behavior as a boy, who was born in 1968, his parents were frustrated and anxious about what to do with him. Growing up in San Diego with boundless energy and a high IQ, Tony's destiny was suddenly and happily satisfied at 8 years old when his brother bought him a hand-me-down skateboard, and his father built him a skating ramp in the backyard.

[To see what I'm up to here, read this introduction]

With 6 hours of dedicated practice every day, and the freedom to make his own rules and follow his own daredevil imagination, Tony Hawk quickly became THE skateboarding expert who would establish the highest standard of excellence in the newly created 'sport'.

Tony's father established skateboarding organizations first statewide, and then nationally, that would support and encourage his son (along with thousands of other skilled kids). Known especially for innovating dangerous new skills on the board, Hawk was winning championships and was earning $100,000 a year before he graduated from high school.

When interest in the sport waned, Tony delved into the business side of skateboarding to build skateboards and accessories. This was a risky endeavor, in 1990, considering the huge costs and limited focus of its products, and contributed to the divorce from his first wife. 

By 1995 his fiscal world was in shambles, until he was unexpectedly called to skate in the brand new “X-Games”. Here he again wowed the competition and the amazed viewers of this new ESPN show with his incredible tricks. In particular, landing “the 900”, his own invention, set him apart from the rest of the crowd once and for all. With his newly minted notoriety, Hawk exercised his marketing genius to the max. He was endorsed by major companies and eventually developed the top selling skateboard video game called Pro Skater.

Hawk was married again in 1999. Even into his 30's he excelled on the board, and went on to form the “Boom Boom Huck Jam”, a riotous combination of extreme sports and rock music. Lending his name, personal appeal, and his passion for the sport, the BBHJ was a huge success, and Hawk was named Favorite Male Athlete among kids even into 2003 and 2004. As a multi-millionaire, Hawk established the Tony Hawk Foundation, which has provided money for many dozens of skateparks across the country. Simply following the lead established by his brother's off-handed gift, led Tony Hawk to where he is today. As he explained to Sports Illustrated: "Here's what skateboarding is to me. It's my form of exercise, my sport, my means of expression since I was nine years old. It's what I love. I never expected it to give me anything more than that."

What QUALITIES OF GOD have been evident in........Tony Hawk?

Even when unfocused, Tony was fully ENERGIZED into action. God would rather we be cold or hot, than lukewarm. Never sitting still, Tony, like God, has been ACTIVE all of his life. On the board as well as in business, he showed that he would always be a RISK TAKER. Like our God who created a set of people who just might (and did actually) reject Him, Tony took many chances that would intimidate most of us.

As an entrepreneur, Hawk proved himself to be like God by being ENTERPRISING; always up for some good project, and like God, Tony seems to have an AGELESS quality about him. I believe that God would love for us all to be fully engaged in life until we die, CONTRIBUTING whatever we can for as long as we can.

PS  Thanks to all (both) of you who voted on who I should write about in the "H" category.  Sorry to the 50% of you who voted for Freddie Highmoore (because now you'll never know who he is or why God loves HIM so much).