The impossible : Rodney Mullen, Ryan Sheckler, and the fantastic history of skateboarding

"The Impossible aims to get skateboarding right. Journalist Cole Louison gets inside the history, culture, and major personalities of skating. He does so largely by recounting the careers of the sport's Yoda-Rodney Mullen, who, in his mid-forties, remains the greatest skateboarder in the world, the godfather of all modern skateboarding tricks-and its Luke Skywalker-Ryan Sheckler, who became its youngest pro athlete and a celebrity at thirteen. The story begins in the 1960s, when the first boards made their way to land in the form of off-season surfing in southern California. It then follows the sport's spikes, plateaus, and drops-including its billion-dollar apparel industry and its connection with art, fashion, and music."--Back cover.;There's this kid -- An easy history of skateboarding, then another one -- Rodney Mullen's genius roots and femoral anteversion -- Tony Hawk doesn't know when he started skating -- What're ya cryin' about -- Rolling into Stacy Peralta, and the strangest day of my life -- Gunite, snake runs, and the late great '70s skateparks -- Technical reinvention of the 1970s, or How Mitch Hedberg did not give urethane wheels to Emil Hersh in Heath Ledger's skate shop -- Dogtown, Stecyk, and the business of skate media -- Ollieburgers, a world championship, and the skinniest person I have ever seen -- Unable to do anything, Magic Mountain, V. C. Johnson, and the chess king -- The golden age of skateboarding, or Tony Hawk was sixteen in 1984 -- Rodney invents and wins everything, and his dad makes him quit, again -- Natas, Gonz, and the birth of street skating -- The 1980s end, and skaters die and go to jail -- Rodney nearly dies in Sweden, and the beginning of the 1990s -- Ryan Sheckler can kickflip and he's six years old -- The 1990s rebirth of tech skating, and Chris Haslam makes P-Rod crack up -- Waist 66 jeans and the rise of world industries -- The insane power of television -- Mike V's greatest hits, or How skating's newfound success was not so successful -- The best skateboarder in the world is a seventh grader -- Rodney rids his body of scar tissue, and the first stanceless skater -- Life of Ryan -- "I hate Sheckler," and the exploding of Ryan's right foot -- Healing at the Berrics -- To try and talk to Shaun White and Ryan Sheckler -- Dew Tour finals 2010 -- Watching Sheckler skate -- Watching Rodney skate, or Switch nollie laserflip at midnight. Skateboarding: the background, technicality, culture, rebellion, marketing, conflict, and future of the global sport as seen through two of its most influential geniuses Since it all began half a century ago, skateboarding has come to mystify some and to mesmerize many, including its tens of millions of adherents throughout America and the world. And yet, as ubiquitous as it is today, its origins, manners, and methods are little understood.The Impossible aims to get skateboarding right. Journalist Cole Louison gets inside the history, culture, and major personalities of skating. He does solargely by recounting the careers of the sport's Yoda—Rodney Mullen, who, in his mid-forties, remains the greatest skateboarder in the world, the godfather of all modern skateboarding tricks—and its Luke Skywalker—Ryan Sheckler, who became its youngest pro athlete and a celebrity at thirteen. The story begins in the 1960s, when the first boards made their way to land in the form of off-season surfing in southern California. It then follows the sport's spikes, plateaus, and drops—including its billion-dollar apparel industry and its connection with art, fashion, and music.In The Impossible, we come to know intimately not only skateboarding, but also two very different, equally fascinating geniuses who have shaped the sport more than anyone else. Skateboarding: the background, technicality, culture, rebellion, marketing, conflict, and future of the global sport as seen through two of its most influential geniuses. "The Impossible" is the first book to get skateboarding right. Journalist Cole Louison gets inside the history, culture, and major personalities of "skating." He does so largely by recounting the careers of the sport's Yoda--Rodney Mullen, inventor of most of the tricks performed in street skating today--and its Luke Skywalker--Ryan Sheckler, who became its youngest pro athlete and a celebrity at thirteen. The story begins in the 1960s, when the first boards made their way to land in the form of off-season surfing in southern California. It then follows the sport's spikes, plateaus, and drops--including its billion-dollar apparel industry and its connection with art, fashion, and music