It's pretty simple to go pro.  Here's how you do it:

 

1.  Get a team together.

2.  Buy good markers.

3.  Think of a cool name for your team - nobody will sponsor you if you don't have a cool name.

4.  Make YouTube videos showing how awesome you are, with lots of live play footage.

5.  Think of a celebration dance to diss the teams you crush.

6.  Put the dance on YouTube too.

7.  Friend all the big paintball companies on Myspace.

8.  Email all the big companies links to your awesome YouTube videos, and offer to be their factory team for only $5,000 per tournament (you have to start small - the big money comes later).

9.  Profit.

 

When I was a kid, everyone told me that I could never turn pro in BMX. They said there was no money in extreme sports, and all the guys had to get real jobs to make ends meet. My teachers said I was wasting my time on my bmx bike...

 

I didn't quit and kept trying, and one day I turned Pro and got a cool job teaching BMX to other kids at Woodward camp. I made lots of money from the "dying" sport, so much so that I had three cars by the time I was 18. While at Woodward I met lots of other guys who were also at the ceiling of the sport  (other pro riders)(both bmx and skate) at the time, everyone said we couldn't make money from the sport as it was dying (1991).

 

I looked around and had many discussions with these guys about what it would take to turn the corner. We discussed making the sport into a rider owned sport, as that way others weren't profiting on our labor. We also realized that name recognition was the only way to do this, as once you get name recognition, standings no longer matter.

 

I ended up focusing on other things, but the guys I had these discussions with didn't, and today they are household names.

 

Tony Hawk

Mat Hoffmann

These two in my opinion really get it. They started the X-games, and the boom boom huck jam. I knew them before they were famous, and luckily I got to be a cog in the wheel of their success. I am very proud of what they have accomplished, and if they had listened to all the guys that told them it could never be done... Well, they wouldn't be household names today, and worth millions...

 

Other Pros that were in these discussions, Danny Way (jumped the great wall of China) skate pro, great at personal brand identity.

 

And my good friend Jon Byers, who started Eastern bikes, one of the largest BMX bike distributors in the world. All from an idea back when we were kids.

 

 

So don't listen to the haters, if you are willing to work harder then the next guy, and sacrifice your time, stay away from drugs, and stay focused...

 

I believe anyone with the skills can make something great. And most skills are achieved by hard work. Not luck.

 

Lots of people told me and my friends that you can't make a living from xtreme sports. (back when they weren't called xtreme.

 

Today it is a common word.

 

BMX/Skate have some of the best and highest paid athletes in the world now. Why can't paintball be similar?

 

But, I guess you know better.

 

 

 

 

I am glad that my friend Mat never listened to people like you...

 

 

Here is a little video of him.

 

http://www.hulu.com/watch/9692/firsthand-mat-hoffman - http://www.hulu.com/watch/9692/firsthand-mat-hoffman

 

Lots of guys told him he could never make money with freestyle.

 

Part of the allure of xtreme sports is that it is outside conventional wisdom. Paintball handled correctly could become huge.

 

I'm 37. I put away my bmx shoes a long time ago (when I was around 22) and "grew up". Everyone said then that the only young guys would ride bmx. And yet, some of the most famous are guys I grew up riding with, I understand why, as it takes so long to get to that level, and bmx is a sport that is all about muscle control and balance, which can be learned over time. (I can still jump on my bike and do super hard stuff, that most could never do, not because I still practice, but because of the practice and muscle memory my body has carried).

 

But, my point is this, BMX is targeted to youth, typical age of a bmx rider is around 12 most are age 7-16...

 

Now, look at paintball... Do you need to be able to bunnyhop 4 feet in the air to play?... A skill that takes years to develop...

 

Nope, anyone can pick up a paintball gun, and for not a lot of money you can get on the field.

 

Personally, I don't see the "current" form ever becoming like the xgames. But, I do see a future that has giant "fieldball" type scenario matches, where the best players from around the world come to compete for the gold medal in paintball... That could happen, and since paintball isn't limited to just kids... (The average age at my events is 40!) This appeals to a much larger demographic.

 

Which equals more people to draw from, that will be buying gear that pays the "pro's" income...

 

 

We shall see, it would take some guys with the ability to market it. And the time, but I could see it happening.

 

 

 

Remember, everyone said BMX was dead in the 90's....

 

And that is why you can't understand how it could become something...

 

You only see "tournament" paintball as the way to progress...

 

Guess what, tournament paintball is BORING to watch. Wow, look at how they broke and ran behind a bunker while shooting 2,000 paintballs in three seconds.

 

Whoop dee dooo!...

 

Color America bored.

 

 

That is why paintball hasn't hit it big yet.

 

I play with a tippmann marker, (a-5) it does what I want it to do, semi auto no fancy trigger...

 

And when I play with my friends in the woods, we have a blast. (as much fun as I used to have at contests, where I had to spend years getting the skill level to be that good)...

 

See?

 

Fun is fun.

 

If "paintballers" only consider "tournament" as the future... Then you guys are probably right. It would never pick up. I have tried to watch paintball that is shown on tv. It is so boring, I'd rather watch msnbc... (yeah, that bad).

 

But, woodsball, I enjoy watching that, as it is different, and you can feel the adrenalin even watching it.

 

I've been playing for like three years now. And I started videoing my stuff this year... I see so many ways that with the right set up (from a production viewpoint) paintball could be very cool to film. Especially if you had cameras on each player, as well as up in the tree's picking up the action. Plus tons of field stuff like mines, tanks, and more...

 

Very cool, and a perfect TV fit.

 

 

 

But, running from the start to hide behind pillows of air....

 

 

 

lame.

 

 

Here is some footage from my birthday bash this year... Way too much fun!

 

 

You are still missing the point, Watching someone run and jump and slide is ok... But, if you change the perspective so that the viewer feels like THEY are the one in the game, that is what would make it cool.

 

Here is an idea. How about take 10 guys, and you get a bio on each. Then you pick the guy you think would capture the flag.

 

You watch the footage from their perspective, with cameras in the trees to show movement, and action.

 

I think that would be super cool to watch, and with the helmet cam footage you feel like you are there. Even when you aren't.

 

Like nascar when they go inside the car... Way better than just watching from the sidelines.

 

 

There are lots of ways to make it work... But, tournament is just looks the exact same every game to the casual viewer.

 

Nice theory. Apparently you haven't seen the movie 'DOOM' though. First person isn't a very good entertainment medium.

I disagree with you. I sat thru that movie and the only 30 seconds of that film I enjoyed was when the camera when into a FPS perspective, since that is was how I experienced the game.

The Tour' De France has a billion riders for reporters to focus on and I feel the live feed people do a decent job picking where and when to focus their cameras.

While I do not normally agree with most of FE's post and opinions, I dont think his direction of thinking is not  too offbase. 

If there is something someone really wants enough and are willing to put in the work to make it happen, in most cases it can happen. Just because there is not the set up for a high paying sports position in paint ball, doesnt mean that will be the case in 5, ten, fifteen years. There are plenty of pro skaters that I had the pleasure to meet and skate with (when they passed through my hometown area at demos, competitions, and local skateshops) in the late 80s and early 90s that were (and some still are) household names when skating was a huge fad a few years back.

Here is a trailer of a documentary recently filmed about my hometown area. 

I recognize most, if not all the skating locations from the film. I was never anywhere near the skill of the skaters that are showcased in that film, that turned pro and eventual worldwide names. Back in the 80s and until the late 90's, skating was a sport nobody thought would go anywhere and it eventually did.

Just because the opportunities arent here now, dont give up and practice as much as you can until the opportunity is there. And your never going to get somewhere if you dont try.

Hey now!

 

 

I don't think it would work live...

 

 

But, why would it need to be live?

 

I'm thinking more of a survivor type thing. There was a movie I saw a while ago where people would get dropped off on an island and they had cameras all over it to capture the footage, and the guys went out and killed each other (they were all killers from death row). The public would watch and it made me think, if you applied that same video work to paintball it could be an amazing show.

 

I don't think limiting it to just one camera per player makes sense.

 

If you are going to edit it anyway... Go multicamera.

 

I play with two cameras currently, just for this reason. I have a helmet cam, and also a gun cam. My gun camera doesn't have zoom currently, but I would like to add that to it, so that I can have it zoomed in on the targets, while the helmet cam gets the regular footage. It takes thinking about it to get decent footage, but I've only been doing it a year, and I think I've gotten some decent stuff. One day I will edit together some of my footage into a good video... I just haven't had time yet.

 

 

 

but, back to my point, I think if you did a show, and the first half of the show was bio's on the guys playing, then did the actual event, with the action only edited together, a woodsball/scenario could really work well on tv.

 

How much do you think a good bmx bike costs?

 

 

If you are comparing the price of a skateboard to a high end bmx... You have the wrong idea.

 

My cranks on my last bmx cost over $400... Plus bearings $100 plus pedals $85 plus chainring $65

 

Thats over $650 for just the crankset... Add a ti chain... ti frame...

 

You could easily spend $3,000+ on a good ti freestyle bike.

 

Shoot, I had over $2,500 just in my paintjob on my last bike...

All sports needs to do to make tons of money is grab the attention of the globe and force it down their throats. If paintball were to do the same, there would be just a much money as in the other professional sports. The money doesn't come from televised media events, at least not in the short term, it is the mass recognition and sales of the sport's products and popularity of the sports top players. 

 

Actually, yes. Gold, silver, and bronze leaf work, but the cost was in the artist who applied all the custom work to it.

It turned out awesome, and is by far the coolest bmx bike ever (in my opinion).

 

Is spending a fortune rebuilding a car, that will only be worth so much when you are finished... no matter what you spend dumb?...

 

Its all relative. I wanted to do it, so I did.

 

Lemme pull some pics.

 

Here it is.

 

 

 

I shot those pics and was the rider... (seven second timer on my camera)

 

Hold on, I'll upload some of just the bike

 

 

 

Yes, I can think of much better ways... And I'm positive with enough money it could be successful fast.

 

But, since money is the trick... It will take time.

 

Do you think BMX just became successful because a rider got a corporate company to start "something big"?...

 

Trust me, there were many growing pains.

 

It took the guys that loved the sport to make it what it is today. Then when it started getting popular again (from these riders sinking everything they had into it) then corporate giants started getting involved as they couldn't ignore it anymore.

 

paintball could do the same thing, but waiting for someone else to do it is always the problem.

 

 

 

YOU have to do it yourself. If it doesn't work, try again. If that doesn't work, try again.

 

Trust me, I would never have invented a trick like this, if I quit the first time I tried it and fell...

 

 

lazy man hang 5 performed by one of my friends named Kip.

 

 

 

It took so many crashes until I could do it consistently that it isn't even funny.

 

 

 

 

Oh, I have... The kids around here would trip out when I rode into the bowl in my suit...

 

 

Yeah, old ones are worth some serious jack. I sold my mongoose two four a few summers ago for over $1,000...

 

Course it was set up like the one from karate kid...

 

lemme see if I have a pic of that one.

 

 

Most bikes today are pretty decent, even ones at walmart... They are just heavy. But, I can bust out on pretty much any bike today, as they are all so much better than what I had as a kid. That is a whole different story, and a reason why riders started so many bmx bike companies, as we were tired of crashing because parts/frames kept breaking.

1981 Mongoose two four cruiser.

 

 

I have worn out a tire in one day riding flatland.

 

ONE day.

 

$25 minimum for a good high end tire.  Wear out both... $50. Normal time for a set of tires is under a month if you are a pro rider. Plus you wear out shoes like crazy. Imagine wearing a row where you scuff the tire out of your right shoe in two weeks. And you can't get cheap shoes as they don't work as well...

 

Plus, a paintball gun isn't extra on a flight... Bike bag on a plane trip. Cha-ching...

 

Most bmx contests today are around the world. I am friends with some guys that spend probably $4,000-8,000 per month in travel costs...

 

click on Matt's travel link on his page for examples...

http://www.mattbmx.com/ - http://www.mattbmx.com/

 

or my buddy Terry

http://www.terryadamsbmx.com/pages/biography.html - http://www.terryadamsbmx.com/pages/biography.html

 

Serious riders spend a fortune on their bike between contests, as you break stuff and wear out tires/brakes often.

 

Course that is one of the advantages to being a pro... You get lots of this stuff free.

 

 

 

so every paintballer that wants to go pro spends hundreds if not thousands of dollars on paint in a weekend...

 

 

sounds like the smart paintballer, will come out with his OWN paint... That is how you make money from a sport like this. Then the guys that want to emulate you will go buy your paint. jersey, ect.

 

Build up your name recognition and boom, corporate sponsers will follow.

 

Trust me, with the right person, this could work even in paintball.

 

do you think tony hawk rides bmx?. Of course not, but there are tony hawk bikes at wal-mart, and he gets a cut of every one sold...

 

Plus everyone can make a video now... That was unheard of when I was riding, I was the first to start making video's and now there are guys who make their living just from making a few videos per year.

 

I see the possiblility of this method working as well. It would just take a guy with vision to put it together, and go for it.

 

I think if you let people invent, and do their own thing, eventually they will do something that sticks.

 

Or you could just not push for progression and let it just go the way it has so far...

 

 

 

For me, I enjoy trying to get good footage. Why? I don't know but I have fun blasting someone and getting it on video. I'm sure there are people out there that would want to watch it, and if I refine my shooting ability for enough time, I bet I could even get to the point where people would pay for it... Or it would get enough hits, that I could pick up a sponsor.

 

If that was important to me.

 

 

I'm sure its important to someone, and I bet they will make themselves successful if they go for it, and are willing to fail, until they succeed.

 

One thing I learned from bmx. Practice makes perfect.

 

Then edit it into a fast moving show that is easy to follow. It could work for sure. Then you have guys play the field to "make it" into the final show that is televised. (after of course so you could edit  it all together)

 

At the end of the year, the best players duke it out on the field for the actual show.

 

I totally see that as a viable tv show. The preliminary competitions would also be filmed, so you would get to know the guys that make it on the way up. ( put on the internet, to keep the cost down)

 

Put up prize money like bull riding, with different monetary goals for stuff accomplished...

 

Way cool idea, I think.

 

The whole concept could work online as well...

 

Clearly in today's setup, it is basically impossible for random player X to "go pro" and make a living off tournament prizes and random sponsorships.

 

But I am fully with FE on the potential for a variety of successful business models in paintball, and I think Tony Hawk is a great example.  Sure, paintball is not the same as BMX/skating, and you cannot simply copy what Tony Hawk did, but there is a paintball variant of that out there someplace.  The thing to remember is that BMX/skating wasn't always as high-profile and widely known as it is now - it used to be just kids in the parking lot messing around.  And what made Tony Hawk a household name?  Was is something about skating?  NO - it was Tony Hawk that made Tony Hawk a household name (and his backers, of course).  People wear Tony Hawk gear that have never been on a skateboard, people play Tony Hawk video games that have never left their basements.

 

Hurley clothing isn't popular because skating is so awesome - Hurley clothing MADE skating awesome so that their clothes would be popular.

 

And that is (I believe) what FE is headed for.  Change the paradigm, think outside the box, use whatever cliche you like - but don't be trapped by what paintball IS.  Instead, make paintball what you want it to be.

 

Another random example:  Tapout clothing.  Three random guys who don't (didn't) know how to fight saw an opportunity.  In the process they not only built their own brand, but actually contributed to the rise of UFC/MMA in hte public eye.

 

Don't just ride the wave:  MAKE a wave, and then ride it.

 

No. The driving economic influence is people who will buy magazines or videos, or who will watch the X-games on ESPN and allow BMX to sell advertising revenue for related or unrelated products.

It's a synergistic relationship. Bringing the sport more into public consciousness raises the potential financial gains, and increasing the financial gains leads to people going to the effort to bring it more into the public sphere. I think Ramb's post was right on.

 

 

Oh, the outcome would be kept secret. Just like survivor. That show does a great job of keeping the public from knowing who will win... (I did find out who the two finalists were one season though...)

 

I think it could work, but it would take someone grabbing the bull by the horns and figuring it out.

 

I'm sure getting players that are ethical, would be the hardest part, but they are out there. If it were me, I would set it up with a "cheating" ban, so that any player caught wiping would be elimintated from future competition, forever...

 

And also have them sign confidentiality until the episode airs.

 

 

I could see this developed online first, then moving to tv once the viewship got up high enough to warrant corporate sponsors.

 

 

 

 

Its funny to hear people say that how would you start it financially.

 

I'll give you examples since I was there and know how bmx got to the level it is now.

 

Mat, started out with his "BS" Yes it stands for that... contest series.

 

In other words, this was a contest series for the riders, by the riders.

 

The entry fees went into the pot. The winner took the pot. Venues were secured for little or no money, and after about 5 years of these style contests, people started noticing this interesting thing happening.

 

Then sponsors started (after almost 5 years of all this work by Mat, and a few of his friends).

 

Not some big corporate entity. Just a few guys with a dream. Young guys too, that didn't have extra cash, just an idea and the willingness to go after what they dreamed of making.

 

 

Later, espn got on board, and now you have the xgames, Mat got out of it when they eliminated flatland from the events, and it became more corporate... Also one of the reasons he quit riding in the comps for a few years. Lots of the best riders are fans of flatland, like Dave mirra who was a plywood hood in PA when he was a kid, and can do more flatland than most riders... And he is the most decorated xtreme athlete today.

 

 

Oh, and he moved to my hometown, as NC is now riders central for bmx, (pretty big shift since all the riders were west coast when I grew up) all because of our influence in the sport, and push to get the adults to accept us and our effort to build some of the first bikeparks in the country there, when no one else had even heard of them.

 

One of my good friends from NC just emailed me last night as he is in New Orleans doing a halftime show for the Hornets... Good thing he didn't listen to all the haters that said he couldn't make a living from flatland bmx...

 

 

He also does nascar events with this set up...

one of his shows. 

 

 

 

and some whoppers before hand.

 

 

 

and my boy Keith King, still ripping at 40.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't let people smash your dreams. Go for it, as they are the lazy ones sitting on the sidelines saying "it can't be done" while others like me and my friends actually DO IT...

 

But, we all had dreams when we were young. Some come and pass, some you just give up on. The people you mentioned FE made it, thousands of others didnt.

 

I graduated high school last year, and i was friends with two kids, who throughout highschool wanted to go for skate/bmx.  The skater kid has never had a job, saves his money and buys expensive cameras. He has no job, no license, and failed at applying to community college. Skateboarding got him real far.

 

The BMX kid had a job at a taco place, then began doing drugs along with all of the other kids. He eventually got kicked out of his house, and is now hanging around maryland doing stupid things with his blazer and doing cocaine(last I heard). BUT, he's got a nice BMX bike. Sucessful?

 

Thing is, FE you know some people who made it big. Its a great thing to strive for your goals but you cant always make it into the MLB or whatever.

 

I wanted to do custom fabricating when I was 13. I realized I would go nowhere with it, and decided to ditch the idea. It hurt because I gave up, but now Im enrolled in a four year college. My old BMX friends will probably be in jail/their momsbasement/dead/homeless.

 

Success is difficult to achieve. Most don't have the gumption to keep going and going and going...

 

The success I have gotten in my life wasn't achieved, it was earned, daily.

 

I didn't wake up one morning and say "Hey, I made it".

 

Everyday I wake up and say, "I love what I am doing", and that is the difference. When you love doing something, you will find ways to keep doing it, do it long enough and you will start looking at ways to make money from it.

 

Fast forward, and after many trials you will start to actually do something with it.

 

For all the millions who "didn't make it". There are thousands of guys that are thrilled with where they are.

 

Do I wish I had kept riding and used my connections to further my career in bmx. Nope, It became to much of a job for me, and I wasn't enjoying it anymore.

I got into stuff I enjoyed more, tv, film production, then moved into the family business, while allowing all the crazy ideas that kept running through my head to become small businesses.

 

Lots of guys told me I was crazy to print flame stickers. But, I wanted some for my stuff. And I started selling them...

 

Turns out lots of people wanted them. I've made over $10,000 selling them...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200408449541 - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200408449541

 

I decided to start a bindery business, as it is something I can do with my free time.

 

Last night, I was hard at work after work, while others were relaxing, I was making money with one of my side businesses...

 

Which everyone said I was crazy to start...

 

 

 

 

its all about your focus, and setting goals.

In FE's example, Matt Hoffman took 15 years to get where he wanted. Tony Hawk and his parent's support took decades to get him to the point where he is now. Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margaria, and all the "Jackass" crew all made it big after years of help from Big Brother Magazine. Until the past skating boom, a skater had to do many years of winning getting their pictures in thrasher, making their own videos, to get noticed. When the money was rolling in, all you had to do to get sponsored, go on tours, and turn pro, was to win a few tourneys. Now most of them are getting dropped and struggling to keep going. But that is business. There are many blue and white collar workers in the same position.

No one is say that if you practice every Saturday, that you can graduate from high school, get paid to do your hobby, and retire after a few years. But if you really want to do something, practice it, get good, get recognized, sell yourself, and hopefully profit.

 

 

But, without a series of goals, you won't get anywhere. I remember talking to Tony about how instead of pushing a brand, aka sponsor, you have to push yourself, YOUR identity.

 

That is the key. If YOU are the thing people buy into, then it doesn't matter much what you sell. They are looking at you.

 

I still do this to this day, and when I go out to sell whatever, I am selling ME, not the product. They get my service in printing. Or when I'm cleaning fish tanks, Its ME they get, who will show up when promised every time, and bill according to the actual cost, not inflated. (made over $1,100 this month on that company)...

 

 

But, no one will do it for you. You have to do it yourself. Most people don't  have the gumption to do it, as it isn't easy.

 

Guys called me FreeEnterprise since I was 15... I've always been selling stuff, and for me, its fun.

 

 

When I started riding BMX, I wanted to go pro. That was my goal, I was the top rated 18 and over expert in flatland in the NBL in 1990,

 

 

I purchased 1 bike in my entire biking career. ONE. All the rest were given to me by sponsors, or were replaced by the manufacturer for breaking. I was sponsored by tons of huge companies. Oakley, Vans, GT/Dyno, Schwinn, Hammer, Dia-Compe and more.

 

 I claimed the title as the best in the world in the NBL in 1990 in my class, and moved to the pro class. 1991, I was the flatland instructor at Woodward bmx camp. I rode with and hung out with most of the top pro's of the day in bmx and skate at the time. We had many discussions about how to grow the sport. Tony and I talked a ton then.

 

Here is a pic I took during that summer, all of these guys are very famous in bmx. Kevin Jones, the second guy is the best flatlander of all time, ask anyone in flatland who the best ever is, and they will say him.

 

If you see him, ask him if he knows me... First he will laugh as I was crazy back in the day...

 

 

I was in tons of bmx videos back in the day, lots of newspapers, I did the first bmx show during a halftime of a basketball game in 1992.

 

 

 

After freestyle, I got into the movie and tv industry, I was a beta tester for Avid, and many of the controls on the current avid composer series are from my input. I also am a certified steadycam operator. I filmed ms america pagents, and early ultimate fighting, as well as tons of sporting events. I worked on the film Hudsucker proxy at Carlico studios, while my peersr were drinking at spring break.

 

I started buying and selling houses in 1994. I made offers on tons of houses and bought 5 that I remodeled and sold for profit during the next 10 years. In 2004 I took all that profit and my wife designed and I had built my dream home, using money I made along the way, plus the huge profits off my real estate transactions.

 

I've started multiple companies that I am in the process of growing, and I help run my families printing company.

 

With the internet exploding I've reconnected with many of my old bmx friends over the years, and it has made me realize that we did something that most people think can't be done. And the fact that so many of us were successful makes me wonder what made us different...

 

 

I think it is because we didn't do the "normal" things. We did what was fun. And learned to make money from that.

 

 

 

What about baseball?

 

How about soccer?

 

 

Paintball is just as exciting, the only difference is, that no one has captured that excitement in a way that makes it fun to watch yet.

 

But, technology is changing.

 

Bmx would have blown up faster if the internet was around in the early 90's. Today, much of the interest is because you can see what is going on all and pick it up. Most of the best flatlanders today live outside of the US... The internet made that possible.

 

I see paintball the same way, with proper filming/editing, you could make some really cool stuff, that guys would love to watch, and when they do, they buy stuff...

 

what is the age range for paintball? I've had guys in their 70's play with my group. Shoot my father in law is one of the best that plays with us, and he is 59!

 

The demographics is so much bigger than bmx...

 

But, when I thought, hey, that tree looks like the kind I used to ride on my bike?... I wonder if I could do backflips off of it with my R/C car...

 

After a few tries...

 

 

(yeah, I knocked the bird feeder off and broke it, doh!)

 

 

 

And Traxxas published them...

 

I'll answer that.  He got to travel around riding bikes for money for a while.  He got paid to do his hobby, if only for a few years.

 

How is that not awesome?  Sure, he didn't end up as rich or famous as Tony Hawk, but you don't have to end up rich to be "successful."

 

I know a guy who played minor league ball for several years.  Had two major league at bats, but didn't quite make it.  Left pro ball and went to law school, and is now a lawyer. 

 

How is that any different from what FE did?  Both spent years learning a sport, became good enough to where they could make a living - but not good enough to get rich, and then moved on to "regular" jobs.

 

Sounds pretty cool to me.   Sounds like a pretty good accomplishment to me.  If every skater but Tony Hawk is a failure, then we are setting the bar at a meaninglessly high level.

 

Yes, you are more successful than those that are not playing in tournaments for free and not getting a free gun.