© Greg Weatherall

Andrew Adkison: Double or Nothing

Andrew Adkison Lays it on the Line for World Title Number Two

Pro Wakeboarder Andrew Adkison is still relatively fresh on the Pro Scene considering most of his fellow competitors have been at the top of their game for around ten years. Although this has not hindered his ability to carve out his own space in the world of wakeboarding, throughout 2006 Adksion has claimed a string of titles and if he isn’t winning he is pretty much always standing on the podium.  We talked to Andrew about World Titles, being funny and new tricks.

GW:  You are known, as the funny/goofy guy on tour, your wittiness and one-liners will bring down any willing or unwilling challenger. Do you sit around at home and practice this stuff or it just comes naturally?
AA:  He answers in a tenth of a second. “I didn’t have cable growing up, what am I supposed to do.”

GW:  Who is your favorite challenger in the funny stakes?
AA:  There are a lot of different types of humor on the tour.  Rusty Malinoski is the crazy lingo guy, he can say an entire sentence that wouldn’t mean a thing to the average person, but I know exactly what he means.  Jack Blodget has off the wall, you never know what he’s going to come at you with humor, Jeff Weatherall has the gets drunk and thinks he’s funny thing going on.  But seriously if it were a toe to toe on stage show down, Shaun Murray would be the main contender and he would dominate, I would just end up stealing his material.

GW:  Is there a time and a place to bust it out or is any time a good time?
AA:  Its always the way I am rolling (being the funny guy) so occasionally I have to bust out the serious side.  I just let it go and some times I have to work on containing it.

GW:  Go on say something funny.  I’m sure you get that all the time, but really, say something funny.
AA:  ‘Without hesitation’.  The US postal service was going to put a lawyer on a stamp but there was a lot of confusion cause no body could figure out which side to spit on.

GW:  Do you feel you always have to win?
AA: If I want my parents to love me!  ‘Andrews’s dad who is present cracks up laughing’. No just kidding, I push myself, if I am competing I want to do well, but it’s more about pushing my riding.  If I do well at competitions, it affords me more time on the water to free ride and do what I love.  I really enjoy comps but its not the win or loose aspect it’s the atmosphere of being out at a tournament and being in a place where all the people surrounding you are passionate about what you’re passionate about.

GW:  I know you are not from Orlando, what prompted the move from your hometown?
AA:  My parents told me, ‘pause, his dads starts cracking up again’ son your 36, when are you going to stop mooching off us.  Actually that’s not true, I was 20 going to school on a full scholarship and was fortunate enough to cross paths with Shaun Murray, the guy I looked up to the most on and off the water and still do.  I always knew I wanted to move to Orlando cause that is where I needed to be but didn’t want to move there too soon.  So Murray ended up inviting me to move down there and said I should go for it and I knew there wouldn’t have been a better time or person to start my career.  Thanks Murrdog.

GW:  You have already won a World Title. Tell us about it.
AA:  Yeah that was lucky.  I set a ton of impossible dreams or goals when I first started way back in the day.  First was to ride professionally and I thought that would never happen, so of course being the world champion was on that list because if you are going to have an impossible dreams list that should surely be on there.  In 03 I missed the podium by one spot and that just fueled the fire and let me know it was within reach. So when 04 came around I was standing on the dock with defending champ Murray who had taken a year off and I said to Murray, what should I do, this or that and Shaun said something that has served me swell since.  He said go for it, why do it at home and not here, this is the chance you get once a year to be world champion an that is only if you qualify. 

GW:  Did it change many things for you career or was it just the same as winning any other title?
AA:  I think your first win riding pro at a tournament will always help your career, cause on that day you’ve proved you can be the best.  But world champs means you ‘really’ proved it.  It kinda lifted the pressure off my shoulders cause sponsors could see that I could do it off the water, but now I proved it on the water.

GW:  Danny Harf landed the first switch heel side 1080 ever, about two weeks ago and the first ever to be landed with video proof.  Have you been trying these? Do you think now it has been landed a lot more people will start landing them more regularly in the near future?
AA:  Speaking of it being filmed, that was the start of my filming career, which is kinda like starting your professional career with a win at worlds.  I have been trying ole 1080’s and its one of those things I want to over come.  But will a lot of guys start landing them no!  Not immediately, but the level of riding every year makes a huge jump so I won’t say never.

This World Championships pretty much marks the end of the season, what entertains you during the off-season?  First of all wakeboarding is my off-season entertainment.  Bowling is what I do…

- Greg Weatherall