Happy (43 + 3) Birthday Mat Hoffman

I was almost 20 years old in 1986, when Eddie Fiola walked up to me and started talking at the AFA Masters contest in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  My little San Jose' Stylin' zine somehow got me the job of writing about that contest for FREESTYLIN' magazine.  It was the biggest weekend of my life up to that point, and I couldn't believe it when Eddie just came up and started talking.  It was a fanboy moment, talking to the best know pro in freestyle like it was no big deal.  Then a curly headed kid and his buddy rode up and interrupted us.  Damn little grommets.  That kid was asking Eddie if he'd ever seen a trick, he did the motions of a switch-handed air.  Eddie had never seen that trick.  Neither had I.  The kid smiled and him and the buddy rode off. 

In the 1980's, a really weird, mostly screwed up, group of kids were attracted by the obscure, new, little sport of BMX freestyle.  Most of us were hardcore riders, if never really great riders.  Some guys excelled at riding.  I found my niche as one of the guys recording parts of our weird little world, first with a 110 camera and a typewriter, then at magazines, then a newsletter, then with video.  I wasn't one of the pro riders.  But I wound up part of the scene, sessioning with the best in the nightime jam circles and street rides, and then documenting them at the contest the next day. Because of that, I just happened to be standing there when I lot of really cool stuff went down.  On good days, I had a camera of some kind with me.  On the bad days, I waited for Windy or John Ker's magazine photos to come out.

The spring of 1986 in Tulsa was one of those good days.  Without realizing it at the time, vert legend  Eddie Fiola and I happened to meet an unsponsored Mat Hoffman and Steve Swope, before the national scene had heard of them.  Three years later, in a school gym in Ontario, Canada, was another good day.  I was the Unreel Productions (Vision) cameraman that day, the only person in the gym with a broadcast quality video camera on my shoulder.  The talk of the weekend was about some Canadian kid called the Terminator doing an abubaca backflip, or maybe a fakie backflip, no one was sure.  Both of those tricks seemed completely insane then.  He tried it earlier that day, but didn't commit, and it was underwhelming.  After that, there were no big expectations.  As usual, several riders hucked 900 attempts.  Then something amazing happened.  Go to 14:43 to see it.  Mat wound up having a good day that day, as well.  Happy Birthday Mat Hoffman.  Hope today's another good day, as well.

Remember everyone... you never know who that goofy looking kid who rides up to you at the skatepark may turn out to be.  Eddie and I had no idea what that curly headed kid would unleash into the bike world.  So don't be too quick to discount those crazy kids you run into out riding.