The real story for me isn't the inevitable discussions of extreme sports and the incredible risks these guys and gals take (have you seen Travis Pastrana?). Rather, it is the extreme interviewing done by the living legend, Larry King. The interview is one of those rare treats that only the giants in the industry can produce. I have to warn again that the crash is ugly and being a good entertainer, Larry and gang provide us no less than 11 views of Brown's splat during the course of the interview. Fortunately, CNN is kind enough to provide transcripts of their shows so those with weaker stomachs can still play along at home (though for some reason, the brief exchange with CNN personality John Roberts is left out of the transcript).
A quick recap of the most spectacular moments (with handy time markers for the linked video):
- Brown's crash shown 11 times, from various angles, including close up of Brown's shoes flying off. The crash is shown in a nearly continuous loop during much of the interview
- 3 solid King Interruptions (the ellipses at the end of Brown's part of the transcript are an indicator of such occurrences)
- King's professional level of interview preparation is revealed with such gems as "Can you make money" [2:12], "How important is the board" [3:57], "Can you teach [skateboarding]" [4:10], and "Do you keep in shape" [5:38]
- King flexes his ad lib prowess by filling an uncomfortable void with "Boy that's pretty great stuff" - and trust me, you just can't feel the beauty of it from the written word [3:54]
- King segues into a break by introducing John Roberts (who is sitting in for Anderson Cooper), then immediately asks Roberts, "What's up, Anderson?" and follows that by guffawing at his own gaffe [4:31]
- Fortunately, Roberts deflects attention to King's error by asking Larry if he recalls Evel Knievel's failed landing at Caesar's Palace and mentioning that Evel "flopped around like a fish inside that suit" [4:41]
A side note regarding Knievel: Evel decided to retire after a 1976 accident while attempting a jump over a tank of live sharks in Chicago. It was the first time a bystander was injured during a performance, as a cameraman was struck and lost an eye.
- Evel jumped the shark a year earlier than Fonzie did (Happy Days episode aired 9.20.77)
- Evel is proof positive of the old adage, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye"
Transcript, via CNN, of the August 8th interview:
KING: We welcome Jake Brown. And Dario Franchitti remains with us. Dario, of course, won the Indy 500 and had that accident going 250 miles an hour in Michigan on Sunday. Jake had this last Thursday at the X Games here in Los Angeles.
You brought the shoes with you, right?
JAKE BROWN, PROFESSIONAL SKATEBOARDER: Yes. These are the shoes that flew off my feet.
KING: Now what happened? Well, all right, what happened, Jake?
BROWN: I landed a 720 over the gap. There's two different obstacles on this contest piece and a 720 is two rotations. It shows the footage right there. And then I'm coming up the quarter pipe and I'm off balance. I was trying to cut over to the right and then cut back to the left to give myself more room to move on the quarter pipe part where the accident happened. And I was off balance and the G- forces; everything else combined to make me squat to the board and then shoot me out to the flat, as you can see.
KING: Did you know you were trouble?
BROWN: Yes. By the time I got to the top of the ramp, I knew I was in big trouble.
KING: How badly were you hurt?
BROWN: I think there was a lot of adrenaline at first because I wasn't really that hurt right away. I felt like...
KING: What's your injuries now?
BROWN: I've got a fractured wrist, a fractured vertebrae and a bruised kidney -- I mean bruised liver and lung and just...
KING: How long have you been skateboarding?
BROWN: ...some crazy whiplash. About 20 years.
KING: Why?
BROWN: It's great fun. I mean once I picked up a skateboard, it's all I ever wanted to do.
KING: Where are you from?
BROWN: Australia.
KING: Can you make money skateboarding?
BROWN: Yes, yes. That's what I do it to make money. So...
KING: I mean do you make it at events like at X Games, you make money?
BROWN: You make money from sponsors and then events and demonstrations and...
KING: You brought this hat. It says "Blind." Is that a company that makes skateboards?
KING: Yes. That's a skateboard company. I ride for them.
KING: Dario, what do you think of what Jake does?
FRANCHITTI: I couldn't actually watch the accident, Larry. I started to see it happening and I had to turn away. It's scary looking. I mean I have all that protection around about me and with the car and with the formal structures and there's Jake with his skateboard and, you know, not much else. So I think he's incredibly brave.
KING: Jake, what do you think of what Dario does?
BROWN: Well, he's going quite a bit faster than me. It's just we're in two different worlds, you know. And then I've got much respect for what he does as well.
KING: All right, when you're going up, what's the key to skateboarding? Do you do things that other guys don't do? I mean are there certain jumps that other guys don't do?
BROWN: A lot of people have different tricks, like signature tricks and stuff.
KING: What's yours?
BROWN: Basically for videos you film -- when you film a video about it, it usually takes about a year or so to film...
KING: To film a video?
BROWN: Yes.
KING: A year?
BROWN: And then it'll be like a two-minute segment for each rider or whatever. So you'll just be there, you know, five days a week filming, filming, filming until you get that two minutes at end of the year. And it's usually a bunch of tricks that haven't been done or just, you know, some unusual or enjoyable stuff like -- this is from a video, our last one, video, "What if?"
KING: Boy, that's pretty great stuff.
BROWN: Yes.
KING: How important is the board?
BROWN: The board is one of the main things. The board, the shoes, the wheels, it all comes into play. You want to feel comfortable with your entire setup.
KING: I asked Dario if you can teach his sport. Can you teach yours?
BROWN: Yes, definitely. I mean if kids are into it, you can definitely point them in the right direction on what they are doing wrong, you know what I mean.
KING: The front of it is the exhilaration of going up?
BROWN: Yes. It's fun being weightless until you catch up to gravity.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: Just ahead, his car went airborne at more than 300 miles an hour but he's here to tell the story of why he survived and why he keeps on racing. That's next.
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