love of the game

Stumbled across the Army online,
While surfing the web wasting time,
A flicker turned into a flame,
And my life has never been the same.
Started off with a simple comment,
In hindsight probably heaven-sent,
Quickly turned into an obsession,
Taking on ever greater momentum.
An old man like me on a skateboard,
Seems strange but my spirit has soared,
Its good to know others feel the same,
Even though my wife thinks I’m insane.
The Old Man Army is a brotherhood,
Us old-schoolers just wanna feel good,
Skateboarding keeps us young at heart,
Should have kept going from the start.
So many of us walked away,
Gave it up back in the day,
For school, work, families too,
Doing whatever we had to do.
We don’t do this for fortune or fame,
We skate for the love of the game,
Props to the AZ boys for their creation,
For spreading the stoke and elation.
Of this game played on four wheels,
That some attack with such zeal,
All can play everyone’s included,
And the stoke remains deeply rooted.
Many of us skate with our kids,
Sons and daughters doing what we did,
But we’re raising them right,
Skating with them early morning/late at night.
From Australia to Cali to frozen Manitoba,
Indonesia to Hawaii to feeling Minnesota,
OMA’s got U.K. and A.Z. crews too,
Toronto, the Carolinas and Mizzou.
Some dudes in Texas and the northwest--
Washington, Idaho and Oregon no less,
Louisville, Baltimore, France, and Georgia,
British Columbia, Louisiana even Florida.
Too many to name too many to list,
Even if I tried, someone would get missed,
If you’re over thirty and you love to skate,
We will accept you with no debate.
Owned a Ty-stik or plastic banana,
Rode a Makaha and listened to Santana,
Saw the rise and fall of the superparks,
Went underground til Peralta made his mark?
From Black Sabbath to Black Flag,
Reading Skateboarder or Thrasher mag,
Watched the Bones Brigade on VHS,
Argue Hawk/Hosoi, who is the best?
The Army spans many generations,
The stoke lives on without cessation,
Long-time skaters and returnees alike,
Experienced the depths and the heights.
Old school skaters world wide,
Riding to live, living to ride,
Skating parks, ramps, bowls and pools,
Paying with blood, paying our dues.