Kevin Spanky Long - upfront - Interview

Thrasher Magazine, July, 2002 by Michael Burnett

In addition to bringing a much-needed non-destruction-oriented nickname to skateboarding, Kevin "Spanky" Long's friendly and sincere demeanor stands out like shorts in a contest, what with all the sour attitudes, freakiness and out-and-out cluelessness among today's teens. But being a swell guy doesn't get you a stable of top-notch sponsors and a full-length Thrasher interview. To tell you the truth, Spanky didn't even know he had started an interview until we told him it was already finished. Yep, you guessed it. Spanky's another one of those kids--over-achieving, dedicated, ready to go.

So let's go.

First of all, I know this is a question you've been asked all your life, but how'd you get the name Spanky?

It started when I was about probably, eight-years-old--my older brother's friends started calling me Spanky because of the movie Little Rascals. It went away for a little bit, then a couple of years ago it just totally stuck and I've been called Spanky ever since.

Are you happy about it?

I don't know. Sometimes it's weird because I don't like introducing myself as Spanky, but sometimes I'm like, "Hey, my name's Kevin," and people say. "Wait. I thought you were Spanky." It just gets a little bit weird, but it's not too bad.

Do you think you'll still be Spanky when you're 30?

I kind a hope not Hopefully it'll maybe go away one day, but I don't know how.

Who calls you Kevin?

Basically my parents, my brother--my whole family, and some of my old friends from school.

What else do people call you?

Terry calls me "Spank Dizzle." I get "Spanker" a lot, "Spank Dog," "Sir Spanks-a-lot," "Spankle."

Skating seems to be working out pretty good for you. How long were you shredding before you got involved in the whole sponsorship thing?

I was really only skating for about a year before this guy from a shop called IG started hooking me up. He just started giving me little discounts here and there, but he was really cool. He helped me out and got me to keep with skateboarding. It wasn't for a while that I actually got sponsored, except by this shop. They've been helping me out since day one.

You rode for Sixteen?

Yeah, I rode for Sixteen for a while.

Do you get kicked off when you turn 17?

I really don't know because it wasn't set in stone. There might be some people older that 16 on right now. At the beginning it was supposed to be like that. I never got to be at that 16 point.

That team seems like the farm league. It's almost like that company is better off not making videos so nobody knows how good their riders are.

Exactly. It's like they made the company just for their riders to get snagged.

How old are you now?

Seventeen.

What happened after Sixteen? Did you go straight to City Stars?

No. Actually Rodney Johnson, he was the team manager at Sixteen, he left and he got a job as team manager at World. I was just getting flow for a while from World, and then I believe it was the end of that summer when I had been skating with Paul Rodriguez and Mike Taylor a lot--they just basically hooked me up, and Kareem. They flowed me for a second, then they just put me on.

Were you nervous to meet Kareem?

Not really, I guess I should have been, but the way that Kareem made me feel--it sounds corny--he made me feel like he was already one of my homies, or I was one of his homies.

It seems like there's a lot of abuse at the hands of the bigger guys on those City Stars trips. How many wedgies do you typically get on a weekend trip?

Well, quite a few. I'm usually the one who's trying to be like "Alright guys, uhhh... let's go to bed or something because..." It seems like it never stops, but I've gotten plenty of wedgies and it's not only the pros that are beating us up--once they're done beating us, Mike gets his turn on all the younger ams.

Who's the worst person to go up against?

It definitely would have to be Mike Taylor because it never stops, never. Caine gives the worst beat downs for sure, but Mike's will just go on all night long.

Are all the City Stars pretty good friends?

Yeah, that's basically the greatest part about City Stars. When we go on trips it feels just like when I go on little road trips with my friends. It's not work at all; it's just everyone's homies. We don't mind bagging on each other because we're all tight.

Do you ever feel competitive with the other guys?

No, I don't feel competitive at all.

Even for fun?

There's some competitiveness on the team, but not too much. We're all great friends and it's fun to be competitive, but it's not easy to compete with people like Mike and Paul.

What's the best trip you've gone on?

I'd have to say my trip to Tampa and Atlanta with Emerica was really fun just because of all the people who went on it. Andrew and Heath were there, and it was sick to go on a trip with them.

I noticed you can handle yourself on tranny pretty well. Have you always skated all different kinds of terrain?

Yeah, I've never been one of those air baby kids who just skated skateparks. When I first started skating my dad got me a launch ramp--he built me one--and ever since I've always skated street more but I've always liked to skate skateparks; at least have fun trying to skate both.