11/21/24
December 20, 2012
Tony Hawk Ruffles Feathers with Family Photo: A photo of Tony Hawk skateboarding in his backyard skate park with his four-year-old daughter upset some people because she's not wearing a helmet. In response, Hawk tweeted, "For those that say I endanger my child: it's more likely that you will fall while walking on the sidewalk than I will while skating with my daughter."
Hawk's probably right, but it's still dumb to let her go helmetless.
How cool would it be to have Tony Hawk as your dad?
posted by rcade at 03:02 PM on December 20, 2012
If Tony Hawk was your dad you'd probably be less risk averse.
posted by tron7 at 06:25 PM on December 20, 2012
I wouldn't know the meaning of the word risk. Because of all the head injuries.
posted by rcade at 06:38 PM on December 20, 2012
I am so jealous.
posted by DudeDykstra at 10:41 PM on December 20, 2012
rcade wins for comment of the year.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:19 PM on December 20, 2012
What are the odds the bearings on that (or any) board are made in some factory overseas that sacrifices quality for the almighty dollar?
Tony may be a master boarder, but he doesn't control as much of his own world as he mistakenly believes.
posted by cixelsyd at 12:26 AM on December 21, 2012
I'd assume Mr Hawk can afford to spring for the good stuff, dollar be damned.
posted by jmd82 at 08:37 AM on December 21, 2012
Tony may be a master boarder, but he doesn't control as much of his own world as he mistakenly believes.
So you're saying out of the ten million times he's gotten on a skateboard and ridden it without injury, this time is different because . . . ? And why does it have to be a foreign factory, isn't there shoddy workmanship right here at home, maybe some hyperlocal start-up that's sourced their parts from someone who is overwhelmed?
I think after 30 years of riding a skateboard, he probably has a pretty good feel for the condition of deck, trucks and wheels.
posted by yerfatma at 09:16 AM on December 21, 2012
This is kind of like the time when Crikey tucked his infant son under one arm like a roll of paper towels while doling out hunk-o-meat treats in the croc enclosure.
posted by beaverboard at 10:07 AM on December 21, 2012
he probably has a pretty good feel
I hear ya.
My point is there are some things in life one has no control over. Having your child wear a helmet isn't one of them.
posted by cixelsyd at 10:46 AM on December 21, 2012
How small does the risk have to be before you stop wearing a helmet? Why is your helmet line better or smarter than Tony Hawk's?
posted by tron7 at 11:47 AM on December 21, 2012
I'm confused--some of the comments here are about Tony not wearing a helmet but the FPP says the outrage is about his four year old daughter not wearing a helmet. How does Tony's experience and skill help his daughter not get hurt if he hits a pebble, gets startled by some other person or so on while swinging her?
I'm a more experienced driver than Hawk is a skateboarder but I would still not allow passengers in my car to not wear seatbelts.
Accidents happen, that's why they're called accidents and not on-purposes.
posted by billsaysthis at 11:57 AM on December 21, 2012
How small does the risk have to be before you stop making your child wear a helmet? Why is your helmet line better or smarter than Tony Hawk's?
Works either way. I suppose I changed the argument because I don't have kids myself and that I really don't like critiquing parenting choices.
posted by tron7 at 12:30 PM on December 21, 2012
My point is there are some things in life one has no control over.
Understood. My take has always been this:
Ed: That may be, but breaking into Ludwig's office, you're takin' a big chance.
Frank: I know. You take a chance getting up in the morning, crossing the street, or sticking your face in a fan.
posted by yerfatma at 01:52 PM on December 21, 2012
I'm a more experienced driver than Hawk is a skateboarder but I would still not allow passengers in my car to not wear seatbelts.
Do you wear a seatbelt when you rearrange your cars in the driveway?
Maybe that's the equivalent of what he was doing with his daughter.
posted by grum@work at 03:50 PM on December 21, 2012
Yeah, that's the Tony Hawk equivalent of a tire swing. There are people who consider tire swings unsafe, too.
posted by Hugh Janus at 09:52 PM on December 21, 2012
I don't know about your car but mine beeps if the passenger isn't buckled in and I can't stand that noise. So even in the driveway.
posted by billsaysthis at 09:18 PM on December 23, 2012
I'm with Hawk on this one. Though I'm glad that safety has increased in general over the years - seatbelts, airbags, helmets, etc., people who decry the photo/incident have gone a bit too far. Is anyone really going to go out and try this themselves just because Tony Hawk did it? There is an extremely long list of things he can do that I cannot, and I am smart enough to know that.