Hold on to your Starter Caps! Here we go again, the 3rd installment of the Tony Hawk Gigantic Skatepark Tour will be taking place at a skate park near you, just click on the schedule and check the spots. This is my third year as the announcer/writer/photographer/funny guy on the T.H.G.S.T. You know what Jerry once said, "What a long and strange trip it's been." I kind of like what the band Outkast once said; "I'm gone bank my cheese and let my mic glow." All I know is I don't even like cheese!

It seems like only yesterday that I got the call to do the announcing duties on the first ever Hawk Tour Stop in Mission Valley, San Diego right off the "8" for you Cali Locs. The month was June the year was 2000 that's back even before the Osbourne family became a cultural icon. We had Kris Markovitch, Andrew Reynolds, Bob Burnquist, Bam Margera, Willy Santos, BMX specialists Rick Thorne "Thorny", Mike Escamilla "Rooftop", a pre-teen Shaun White, and ESPN Correspondent Sal Masekela. Not bad for the first stop. Who knew what a monster we had created, from Bam jumping off a 7-story hotel building in Jacksonville Beach to Tony's 900s in France and at Woodward. The T.H.G.S.T is and has been the coolest job I have ever been hooked up with.

Tony flies out for a 900 at Woodward.

All the demos were fricken insane but what happened in Germany last year I will never forget. You see Bam was trying to huck himself off a 12-foot drop to a banked transition. He landed it 2 or 3 times but his board kept shooting out from underneath him. Somewhere around his 7th or 8th try the board shot out and slammed into this little German kid's shin, causing it to start squirting blood immediately. It must have felt like somebody hit him with a baseball bat. I asked him if he was ok and all he kept saying was "Bam, Bam, Bam, Bam!" I would have been screaming "Du Haste" The Bam Man is a hero wherever he goes.

Mike Vallely is truly a Sk8 Icon. Mike will jump off anything in his sights. If the crowd really isn't getting into the demo Mike will take it on himself and unleash a barrage of skate tricks. In Seattle he grabbed the mic and started yelling at the crowd, I thought he was going to beat them up if they didn't start getting it to it. Mike lives and breathes skating and has for some time now, look for Mike to be joining the Hawk Tour '02.

This year is going to be off the Richter scale! We will be seshing parks from San Diego to Cornelius, North Carolina with a stop off at one of my favorite parks in Florida "Kona". Here is this T.H.G.S.Tour Line-up:

Tony Hawk, Mike Vallely, Kerry Getz, Jessie Fritsch, Bucky Lasek, Dave Mirra, Alex Chalmers, Jason Ellis, Eric Koston, Willy Santos, Bam Margera, Shaun White, Rick Thorne, Colin Mckay, Kris Markovitch, Mike Escamilla and last but not least Inventor of the Flip Tricks, oldskool Freestyler, modern day ripper Rodney Mullen. That sounds like the guest list for the ESPN Action Sports and Music Awards.

Mike V can and will jump off of anything.

Could this be the final chapter of The Hawk Tour? Will Tony do the 900? Will Shaun White reach puberty? Will hair cutting specialist Willy Santos give me a mullet? Will Koston be wearing Lakers swag? Will Rodney Mullen do a quad flip? Will Dave Mirra bring the Slim Jims? Will Kris Markovitch have a haircut? Will Bam jump off the 8th floor this time in Florida? All These questions and more will be answered soon as The Tony Hawk Gigantic Skatepark Tour "02" gets rolling in late June. Log on to EXPN.com for the latest updates, photos, and television times.

The Tony Hawk Gigantic Skatepark Tour, don't miss it, or your bros might start thinking you're lame.
-Brad J.

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