Sky Hawk

Victoria Sun

Thursday, May 23, 2002 | 9:25 a.m.

They stood on flipped-over shopping carts.

They perched on car tops.

They leaned on each other, peering over a small mass of heads and shoulders.

Kids of all ages, moms and dads, too, waited eagerly for hours to watch a living legend in action.

The target of their admiration was baby-faced professional skateboard star Tony Hawk, who participated in a street course and vertical skateboarding demonstration as part of the final stop on Birdhouse's Lexus Tour Wednesday afternoon at a Las Vegas shopping complex parking lot.

"We love skating," enthused fans Charlie Eich, Alan Conti and Luke Hathaway.

While the three eighth-graders at Bob Miller Middle School are undoubtedly too young to remember when Hawk transformed skateboarding from a shunned hobby to a way of life in the 1980s, they have seen him in several skater movies and watched him become the first to complete a 900 (turning 2 1/2 rotations above the half-pipe, landing and riding the trick out clean) at the 1999 X Games.

Hawk, a 34-year-old Southern California native, was largely responsible for helping the sport flourish and achieve professional status.

He began skating at the age of 9 and for years, kids all over the world have tried to perform his dynamic tricks.

As he warmed up before the crowd, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, he smiled and waved at onlookers, looking a lot like a kid himself.

Hawk humbly defers attention away from what he has done for the sport, choosing instead to marvel at its growth.

"I just love that it's come this far," Hawk said. "I've seen it at its lowest points of popularity and I've seen it under a lot of scrutiny and with negative perceptions.

"Now I see it and people really like it and they embrace it. It's just great to see it come this far."

When Hawk began skating being a professional skater wasn't an option because there was no money involved in competitions or sponsorships.

"You could aspire to be pro, but you knew you had to do something else for a living," Hawk said.

Slowly, as Hawk's legend grew, more and more people began to take notice.

Eventually, so did corporate America.

Hawk has appeared in numerous movies, magazines, had a guest spot on The Simpsons and has a line of video games, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1, 2 and 3.

But even as Hawk began to earn money doing what he loves, he was never certain skateboarding would take off.

"It's not like I set out to make the sport grow necessarily," Hawk said. "I just wanted people to see the positive aspects of it.

"In doing that, all I did was skate as much as I could. I didn't have any goal in mind. I just wanted to keep skating and get better. If anything, I just wanted to promote that skating can have a positive influence on people."

Three years retired from competition, Hawk spends his time participating in skating demonstrations for Birdhouse Skateboards, his company that makes decks, wheels and clothing.

The rest of his time is divided between raising three sons, running his foundation dedicated to building more skate parks in underprivileged areas and managing his other companies, including Hawk clothing.

Vinny Gabardella, a 19-year-old Las Vegas native who goes by the name of Vinny Vegas, is one of the newest members of the Birdhouse skating team.