Tag Archives: Danny Way

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Air Jordan – Changing the World

DannyWay Big Backflip

Known simply to the world as “M.J.”, Michael Jordan may have been the most influential sports player of all time. Growing up with a dream to play baseball professionally in the MLB, M.J. Worked hard when it came to sports. He also shot hoops quite a bit and was extremely talented at basketball. Michael Jordan was drafted into the NBA after proving himself to be amazing with North Carolina University and he proceeded to change the game. M.J. Was one the first players that taught the world how to fly, he could literally leap into the air and hang there for a long period of time, manoeuvring the basketball from hand to hand until he would finally have the opportunity to get it past his defenders. They had to invent the Air Jordan’s just to prepare for the next generation of players. This man could shoot, he could dunk, he was one of the best defenders the game ever saw, and he was the all-time go-to guy in any clutch situation. NBA TV and Ahmad Rashad interview Michael Jordan as he turns 50 years old, and reminisce about the good times and all the bad, and really get down to the nitty gritty about how Jordan feels about the way his life went.

Watch this interview and wonder what would have been different if Michael Jordan had never played basketball. It would be the same question to us if Rodney Mullen, Tony Hawk, Mark Gonzales, Danny Way, Pat Duffy, Duane Peters, Chad Muska, Tom Penny or Ryan Sheckler never picked up a skateboard. These guys were all natural sports players that ended up concentrating their energy to the one they loved and changing the world around them. Where would Tiger Woods be if he never picked up a golf club? Chances are still being amazing at whatever else he chose to adventure in. Some people are just natural born innovators…

Every day I think about where skateboarding would have ended up if certain people had never been in the industry –

Without Rodney Mullen, would skateboards look like they do today? Would we be skating street or would the pools have been the only real skateboarding surface? Or would there even be skateboarding today?

Without Danny Way, would we have these Big Air Jumps that all the vert skaters are flying over fearlessly doing backflips and 720’s?

Without Pat Duffy, when would people have started to skate tech tricks on all these huge rails out there?

Without Ryan Sheckler, would we believe that a 12/13 year old could beat out he entire pro category in large competition?

And without Tony Hawk, would the world recognize and support skateboarding as much as they do right now?

The answer to most of these questions is no. Everyone brings a different style to their sport, or hobby. Each person makes a difference in the world. But we need to feel blessed when the true world changers enter the correct lifestyle, and stick with it. But they can’t always do it on their own, so please show them the support they deserve. You never know who the next legend is gonna be when it’s their first day.

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Danny Way – Waiting for Lightning DC Shoes Demo – Chuck Bailey

So Friday, April the 13th, 2012 was the day the Danny Way and some of the DC team came to Chuck Bailey Skate Park in Surrey, British Columbia. Hosted by myself, Hippie Mike, along with Coastal Riders skate shop, it was going to be an easy event to run, provided that the weather agreed with us, which it totally did. There was about 250 people there, lots of talented skaters, waiting patiently for the group to arrive. Traffic on all routes was a mess, but they showed up around 5pm ready to rip it. Danny had decided earlier that he wasn’t going to be skating, so he just hung out and watched everyone else showing their skills, and would sign whatever autographs that were requested. Danny’s a great guy, super mellow, and always appreciative of his fans. For being someone who has changed the face of skateboarding in so many ways, he’s just stoked to see everyone having a good time together.

Josh KalisMatt MillerWes KremerSascha DaleyChad Dickson and Mickey Papa – that was your demo. Tons of tricks got laid down all over the park , but I’d have to say the spotlight was on Wes Kremer. This guy can rip it, and skates everything. He was inventing some very funky lines in and out of the bowl, dropped some tech rail tricks down the 3 block, and annihilated the fireplace channel quarter pipe. Everybody skated really solidly, and I know that the audience had a great time. Thanks for coming out toSurrey.

Saturday night finally arrived, and the Granville Cinema had a phat line outside. They all wanted to see whatDanny Way was about to reveal – Waiting for Lightning. It was an amazing showcase of the life of a man who has changed the world in many ways. It taught the audience about his tough upbringing, and the sorrows that not everyone would have known about him. And it showed the definition of the word “Battle”. My two favorite things about Danny Way have always been – #1. That he takes wild, unthinkable dreams and visions from inside his head and brings them out to reality, something I am all about. All of a sudden one day, you get an idea, and from that point on, you do whatever it takes to make that idea happen. And #2, nothing can stop him… he will not give up. This is a major trait I have always possessed myself. You want it, you go get it. As long as you can walk, or at least stand on your board, then you’re still trying to land it. Danny Wayhas defined the word “Man” on television a few times. Go back to X-Games when he hung up on the mega quarter pipe and flipped into the flat bottom. No one else in their right mind was going to go back to the drop in and take another run, but Danny could walk on his own, so it was inevitable. It was also one of the most insane runs anyone ever did on the mega ramp set up still to the day. Nothing will hold this guy down, and that is what I have always loved about him.

The video was eye opening for many of the younger generation skaters, who weren’t around in the 80’s and early 90’s when Danny was on a mission to be the man, and maybe didn’t know about all the crazy things he had done through those years for the sport of skateboarding. I always watched him. Danny WayChristian Hosoi and Tony Hawk – the 3 destroyers. They all invented so much for skateboarding. I personally had seen almost all of the footage in the documentary  during the eras that they were filmed. I have the entireBones Brigade collectionThe Santa Cruz Box SetShackle Me NotThe original 4 Plan B videos, and more stuff after that. Danny’s been around for a long time, and I’ve been watching him since I started skateboarding in 1986, which was around the time his face started popping up in the vids. He’s not much older than I am, and I understand how messed up his body must be. He’s been through a lot. The documentary focused mainly on the big jump over the Great Wall of China. The original thought of this jump was breaking many boundaries. Anyone who knows anything about Communism would be nervous about even bringing this idea to the table. But for some strange reason, the Chinese Government allowed it to happen. This was huge!!

What I liked about the video was how there was this massive crew of workers building this gigantic death trap of a ramp, but I don’t think that any one of them actually realized what it was for until Danny showed up. I’m sure that at least half of them shit their pants when they saw a guy start climbing up the stairs holding nothing but a skateboard. Reality must have really sunk in. But I think it sunk in even more when they saw what happened when he didn’t make it…

Once again, Danny Way got a taste of his own reality. When you force dreams to come true, they don’t always end the same way you planned it when you were asleep. This was definitely one of the worst bails in skateboard history, and with only a few days left before the scheduled jump date, Danny had to somehow get over the pain, get over the fact that this was a life or death situation, and prepare himself mentally to go out there and land it. 69 feet, over the Great Wall of China, with a busted ankle. There’s no warm up for this. You climb the stairs, look straight down at your destiny, and drop in.

I loved the part where after he lands it, the media is in his face. And at that point, the adrenaline of a lifetime of historic skateboarding memories that possess this man’s soul took over. He had jumped the Great Wall of China. He had set a world record for the longest jump on a skateboard, and the highest air over a quarter pipe. But he had not satisfied himself enough to go home without climbing back up those stairs and dropping in again for the world’s biggest 360 air. He didn’t do it to show off, he didn’t do it to impress the people, he didn’t do it to be the best, he did it to fulfil his passion, and to turn his dream into reality…

Danny Way lives amongst a rare group of the Best Sports Hero’s of all time. Tony Hawk, Matt Hoffman, Travis Pastrana, Joe Montana, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods; all legends of their own sports, not just for their talents, but for their creativity, and for their ambition to never give up…

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