I spent a lot — too much, probably — time watching the X Games this past weekend. It’s funny how mainstream the X Games have become and how people take them for granted now. The year the games debuted (1995) was a big, big deal.<\/p>\n

In the mid-to-late 80s, there wasn’t a lot of skateboarding being shown on television. In fact, I had made my own VHS tape, filled with what skating clips I could find. ESPN had aired a couple of skateboard competitions (The OP Championship and the Vision Street Wear Finals) that I had recorded, plus I had the skate scene from Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol, and a few music videos with skateboarding in them. I also had a copy of the movie Thrashin’, and a couple of “How To” skate videos I bought from a garage sale … and that was pretty much it. I didn’t even own any of the professional skate videos back then. <\/p>\n

Here’s a clip I uploaded to YouTube earlier this year of one of those clips (the OP Championship from 1986, recorded off of ESPN). In this clip, Christian Hosoi pulls off a contest-winning “McTwist,” a 540-degree turn. Just listen to how excited that announcer was! Funny how things progress; this past weekend on the X Games I watched a 12-year-old kid pull off a 900.<\/p>\n