Skateboard

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has been blitzed with criticism in the past year, starting with NFL linebackers LaMarr Woodley and Dhani Jones during the lockout and eventually, after a 12-4 season and another win in the playoffs, he was criticized by his teammate, safety Ed Reed, sparking a minor media firestorm this week. Things have gotten so ridiculous that even a neighbor has called out Flacco for hopping aboard a skateboard. While making an appearance on “NFL Total Access,” Flacco revealed that during the team's playoff bye week, he decided to see if he could stand upright on a skateboard without falling.

You've probably run across a video of Tillman sometime in the last year or two -- he holds the Guinness World Record for fastest 100 meters on a skateboard by a dog (yes, it's a real category, and no, your dog shouldn't try it), and more than 25 million people have viewed his skating antics on YouTube. Friday, Tillman takes over Baltimore and Annapolis on national television. Tillman is an English bulldog who's been all over You Tube and video clip shows for a few years, along with his skateboard, snowboard, surfboard and human, Ron Davis.

I am fond of skateboarders. One of my sons used to be one. When our young skater used to slip away from home, my wife and I knew chances were good that he was either at "the statue" in front of the Lyric Opera House or at "the bowl" in Lansdowne, working on his tricks. In those years, I learned that although many skaters looked "hard," they were good souls. But until I visited Johnny Rad's, I did not know that skaters were so fond of vegetables. Johnny Rad's, named after a character in a skateboard movie, sits in the 2100 block of Eastern Ave., next door to a firehouse and across the street from a duckpin bowling alley.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has been blitzed with criticism in the past year, starting with NFL linebackers LaMarr Woodley and Dhani Jones during the lockout and eventually, after a 12-4 season and another win in the playoffs, he was criticized by his teammate, safety Ed Reed, sparking a minor media firestorm this week. Things have gotten so ridiculous that even a neighbor has called out Flacco for hopping aboard a skateboard. While making an appearance on “NFL Total Access,” Flacco revealed that during the team's playoff bye week, he decided to see if he could stand upright on a skateboard without falling.

A Circuit Court judge upheld Monday the Baltimore police commissioner's firing of a city officer who was caught on video berating and pushing a 14-year-old skateboarder at the Inner Harbor three years ago and failed to document it in a report. The ruling by Judge Sylvester B. Cox sets the stage for an appeal, which lawyers said is likely, promising continued debate over Salvatore Rivieri's actions and his vitriolic lecture on parenting and youthful indifference that was watched by hundreds of thousands of people on YouTube.

A SKATEBOARD veteran of two years, Sam Dalgliesh visited Mount Airy branch library Wednesday evening for "Skateboarding How-to!"The program was taught by Scott Everly of M-Pire Skateboards of Westminster and was designed to teach children about the sport, including safety tips and equipment.Eight-year-old Sam skateboards several times a week around his Mount Airy home and has learned to flip the skateboard.At the insistence of his mother, Pamela, Sam always wears a helmet and hasn't had any serious accidents.

Skateboards take a lot of abuse, so regular maintenance is mandatory for safety. * If one or more deck piles crack, that's bad news. Your board could break. * Overly dirty grip tape should be cleaned with a plastic bristle brush and a little water . Dry thoroughly. * Check all hardware. Keep nuts and bolts tight. Replace bent or damaged pieces. * Replace worn pivots and bishings, which get squashed from heavy usage. * Make sure wheel bearings stay lubricated and whole. Replace wheels that lose a chunk to heavy use.

Armed with a petition signed by 300 supporters, five Taneytown skateboarders appealed to the City Council last night to help them find a place to let their good times roll.Daniel Harmon, 15, and Joe Dougherty, 15, presented the petition and a proposal for creating an area where skaters would be able to ride uninterrupted by traffic, police or irate adults."We're willing to do just about anything to get this," Daniel said.The two youths presented ideas for raising money for the project, and proposed sites and a description of the benefits of having a skateboarding site in Taneytown.

When the issue is skateboards, the Annapolis city council is finding a new twist on an old axiom: You can't please anyone.In what was labeled a victory for skateboarders, the council last week reversed a decades-old law that banned riding on downtown streets.Critics of the new law say it doesn't go far enough. And merchants and residents say the law does not ensure streets that are safe from speeding skateboarders, skaters and bicyclists.The new law forbids a person to "ride on or use any nonmotorized wheeled vehicle in a negligent manner on any public street, alley, sidewalk or way in the city of Annapolis."

When Jon Bregel and his friends in the Towson area want a place to practice their skateboard techniques, they don't have a lot of choices: a driveway, a parking lot, a street. He and other skateboarders hope the Greater Towson Skating Solutions Committee will persuade Baltimore County to build one or more skateboard parks. "If we got a skatepark, not as many people would be getting in trouble and ruining people's property and stuff," said Jon, 11. Ben Beacraft, 13, thinks a skatepark is needed so skaters will not grow bored from practicing in the same place.

For most of the year, Alex Gray can't skateboard anywhere in Ocean City . Not on sidewalks, alleys or on the streets. Definitely not on the famous boardwalk. A town ordinance forbids it from April to October. You get caught, as the 17-year-old Ocean City native did a week ago, and police give you a $100 ticket. "Laws are laws," he said they told him. But since Thursday, the Dew Tour, the internationally recognized skateboarding, BMX and surfing competition, has set up shop on the south end of the pier for four days of games and free concerts.

Bucky Lasek, dressed like a typical skateboarder in a plaid button-up and khaki pants, is in disguise. "I just grew this beard and mustache," said Lasek, pointing to his scruffy facial hair. "I think that's why people don't recognize me. " Over lunch at Costas Inn in Dundalk - Lasek's hometown - nobody seems to recognize the man who is usually a local celebrity. Lasek, who visits home once or twice a year, hasn't lived in Maryland since 1998, when he moved to Encinitas, Calif., a suburb of San Diego.

A Springfield man, 28, reported that he was hit in the head with a skateboard and robbed July 10 as he was getting out of his car in the 9100 block of Elaine Court. According to Laurel Police, the man said four males and a female approached him as he exited his car. One person struck the man on the head with a skateboard and took his wallet and flowers. According to police, the person smashed windows on four vehicles before leaving in the direction of Bowie Road and Lafayette Avenue.

Beginning Monday, Ocean City will be all about the Dew, Dew, Dew. That's the extreme sports Dew Tour, of course, which opens here on July 21. In preparation for what is sure to be a huge event, the city will start setting up the beachside venue, which will span the beach from north of the pier to Caroline Street, adjacent to the boardwalk. The set-up will include a vert ramp, skateboard bowl and a BMX park, plus a festival village. City officials said to lessen the impact to beachgoers, equipment for the set-up will be brought in during the early morning hours, from midnight to 6 a.m. However, construction will take place during the day and probably last right up until the event.

A Circuit Court judge upheld Monday the Baltimore police commissioner's firing of a city officer who was caught on video berating and pushing a 14-year-old skateboarder at the Inner Harbor three years ago and failed to document it in a report. The ruling by Judge Sylvester B. Cox sets the stage for an appeal, which lawyers said is likely, promising continued debate over Salvatore Rivieri's actions and his vitriolic lecture on parenting and youthful indifference that was watched by hundreds of thousands of people on YouTube.

I am fond of skateboarders. One of my sons used to be one. When our young skater used to slip away from home, my wife and I knew chances were good that he was either at "the statue" in front of the Lyric Opera House or at "the bowl" in Lansdowne, working on his tricks. In those years, I learned that although many skaters looked "hard," they were good souls. But until I visited Johnny Rad's, I did not know that skaters were so fond of vegetables. Johnny Rad's, named after a character in a skateboard movie, sits in the 2100 block of Eastern Ave., next door to a firehouse and across the street from a duckpin bowling alley.

It is not every day you can fix something and increase your vocabulary at the same time. That happened to me the other day when I "chamfered" the end of my kid's skateboard.I did not know I was chamfering, I thought I was just cutting new threads in the axle of his skateboard. One wheel had come off his board. The nut that was supposed to hold the wheel in place could not grip because the threads, or grooves, on the metal axle that held the nut in place had been stripped smooth.I regarded the stripped threads as a chance to teach the kid something.

The Harper's Choice Village Board and about a dozen skaters reviewed plans this week for a 10,000-square-foot skateboard park in the new SportsPark, off Harpers Farm Road.The $175,000 project is expected to be completed by November. The Columbia Association is finalizing a deal with a designer for the park, and construction will begin next month, said Dennis Mattey, a CA construction manager.Skateboarders have long complained that they are prohibited from using what they say are some of Columbia's best trails and surfaces.

The children of Baltimore City are not being taught manners or proper behavior. These children are being taught it is all right to disobey rules and regulations and to be disrespectful to all adults and those in authority. This is why the schools are not places of learning but just warehouses for youth and filled with barely suppressed violence. Children cannot learn and teachers cannot teach because the violent, unruly, disrespectful youths allowed in them. The parents of these youths support and encourage these aberrant behaviors by never holding these children responsible for their actions, but then, are these parents acting or being held responsible for their actions?

In the case of the firing of the officer in the skateboarder incident ("Bealefeld dismisses officer who berated skateboarder in 2007," Aug. 26), I believe that Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III acted to fire him for political reasons. In that case, it was to deny Baltimore City State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy an election issue. The only loser was Officer Salvatore Rivieri. The winners, those disrespectful juveniles. I know because I was one for a brief period. It's funny what is considered as abuse becomes such a blessing in real adult life.