As could be expected, a few doors have opened up for Tom Schaar, that 12-year-old from Malibu, Calif., who landed skateboarding's first 1080 late last month.
Wednesday afternoon, the shaggy blond sixth-grader appeared on Ellen Degeneres' daytime talk show, "Ellen," to talk about his historic trick, which he landed on March 26 while riding the MegaRamp at Woodward West action sports camp in Tehachapi, Calif.
After cheering at clips showing Schaar's never-been-done-before trick, Ellen's live studio audience shuddered at clips of his bails from 30 feet above the ramp's flat-bottom.
"I can't imagine being your mother," Ellen joked, before presenting Schaar with a helmet and set of pads decorated with pictures of her face.
"I was a little bit nervous," Schaar said about the experience, taking a break from his humanities homework to speak with ESPN.com Wednesday night. "I was trying to get used to [being on national television]. It was weird though."
After the interview, Schaar stepped out back into the Warner Bros. lot to ride a scaled-down version of the MegaRamp that builder California Rampworks has dubbed the Mega 2.5. What followed was young Schaar nailing MegaRamp staples, including 360s over the gap and a 540 on the quarterpipe.
Besides getting interviewed on "Ellen," Schaar also recently got the call to skate the X Games Big Air competition this summer in Los Angeles. He said he was "so thankful" for the invitation and is looking forward to the event.
In the meantime, Schaar said he'll be attempting to qualify for this year's Pro-tec Pool Party, which runs May 12 at The Block in Costa Mesa, Calif. The contest's infamous Combi-Pool is a far different beast than a MegaRamp, but there's reason to believe that the preteen Schaar can manhandle any terrain he sets his sights on.
"Tom 'Gnar' is quite a kid that skates way beyond his age and size when it comes to fear a power," two-time Pool Party champ Bucky Lasek told ESPN.com via text message. "I've skated with Tom for a few years now and have been able to witness firsthand how talented he is. His drive is second to none."
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