X Games: He'll flip for success

• Click here to watch YouTube video of X-Gamer Danny Mayer in action.

As a kid, Danny Mayer wanted to be a professional skateboarder. He dreamed of inventing new tricks and unleashing his creativity on the only sport he loved.

But there was a problem.

Mayer lived in Omaha, where chilly falls and snowy winters put a crimp on the skate time. The conditions, he figured, just weren't right to spawn a pro boarding career.

His predicament called for a change of environment.

So Mayer, then 19 years old and with $1,000 in his bank account, packed his skateboard equipment and a few belongings into a Toyota Tercel and drove to San Diego.

That was 17 years ago.

This week, Mayer, now a married 36-year-old, will compete against the world's best extreme athletes at X Games 15 in Los Angeles. Over the years, Mayer has become a regular participant in ESPN's annual extreme sports showcase, with this trip marking the sixth of his career.

You could say the move west has worked out.

“It's all just worth the risk. I was young and skateboarding was my dream,” Mayer said. “It turned out good, and I never thought about whether or not it wouldn't work out.

“You've gotta try, you know?”

Mayer is confident heading into the men's skateboard vert competition — the finals will be shown on ESPN on Saturday at 9:30 p.m.

In May, he won the first vert event of his professional career at an ASA Action Sports World Tour stop in Cincinnati. He has also placed at the X Games before, taking bronze in the Vert Best Trick competition as an unsponsored rider at X Games 10 in 2004.

Now fully sponsored by Rockstar Energy Drink among others, Mayer routinely busts out technically advanced tricks like the kick-flip McTwist, a coupling of a kick flip mute grab — executed by grabbing the toe edge of your skateboard with your front hand while in the air — and a 540-degree spin.

He's one of a handful who can pull the trick off.

Such expertise and a limit-pushing style have solidified his standing in pro skateboarding, but taking gold won't be easy. Mayer faces tough competition in close friend Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Bucky Lasek, Alex Perelson, Andy MacDonald and Bob Burnquist to name a few.

“If I make my runs I feel like I can win,” Mayer said.

At times, Mayer's body has been left bloody and broken from the sport. He has a false front tooth and he battles abrasions and muscle pulls on a regular basis.

That's not bad, considering he makes a living soaring off ramps.

Mayer's parents, Jim and Linda, still live in Omaha. Every Christmas, Danny makes a return trip to his folks' house near 172nd and Blondo Streets with his wife, Olga.

Early on, his mom said, no one would have thought skateboarding was part of Danny's future. As a youngster, he played baseball, then wrestled in middle school before finally finding skateboarding. He was always creative and loved to draw, Linda Mayer said.

That part makes sense now, she said. The creativity shines through when Danny is skating against the best in the world.

“Not too many people get to do what they love in life, and he is,” Linda said.

His creative side also crept into the music industry. He left skateboarding from 1996 until 2001 to learn how to DJ.

“I was burnt out on the skateboarding industry,” said Mayer, who sports a huge tattoo of his favorite artist, James Brown, on his right rib cage.

The five-year break from skateboarding offered the opportunity to refocus and come back to the sport refreshed.

“I just figured I didn't really pursue skating as long as I should have, and I didn't want to regret not trying my best,” Mayer said. “It's definitely worked out.”

Although Mayer is Californian through and through, there are still signs he will never forget his Nebraska roots.

After claiming the top spot in Cincinnati, Mayer took the podium wearing a bright red cap emblazoned with a bold, white “N.”

The Nebraska hat, if any indication, showed Mayer will always be a Husker at heart. Even in the land of vert ramps and kick-flip McTwists.

Contact the writer:

444-1414, ross.boettcher@owh.com