FanHouse Skateboarding

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

When Greg Lutzka was in high school his teachers told him he would never be a professional skateboarder. Boy, were they wrong. Lutzka is at the top of his game; he's been a pro for the past seven years and is now is an icon to many skateboarders worldwide. Due to his success he has as many as 13 sponsors, including Toyota, who have given him his own signature car, which goes well with his signature glasses, shoes, hats, skateboards and energy drink. These days Greg is hard at work preparing for the Dew Tour Skate Open that is set to kick off this weekend in Boston. In this FanHouse exclusive we visit Greg at home and get a one-of-a-kind behind the scenes look at his house.

Check out the video after the jump.

Ryan Sheckler is just 19, but he's been a professional skateboarder for six years. And later this month, he'll defend his first-place finish in the street competition at the X Games.

On Thursday, he talked to FanHouse about the evolution of the sport, how Tony Hawk influenced his career, what it means to juggle being a pro athlete and a business man, and what exactly goes into the Double Pit to Chesty, which was developed specifically for Sheckler by AXE Deodorant Bodyspray.

Moving pictures proof and podcast interview after the jump.

The hits keep rolling in for pro skateboarder Rob Dyrdek. Fresh off of the launch of his new MTV show "Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory" and his featured role in EA's "Skate 2", the Alien Workshop rider now has two new roles: civic-minded do-gooder and Carl's Jr. pitchman.

To the first point, Dyrdek helped open a public skate plaza in downtown L.A. on Tuesday as part of the "Safe Spot, Skate Spot" program that aims to provide legal, hassle-free skateboarding spots for community skateboarders. Cool stuff. Photos and video from the event can be seen at Transworld Skateboarding.

Well known for its interesting series of "most wealthy" lists for sports, Forbes recently stepped outside of the traditional sports world and released its rankings of the top 10 highest-paid action sports athletes for 2008.

The names at the top of the list -- Tony Hawk, Shaun White (right) -- aren't all that surprising, but the earnings (Hawk alone apparently made $12 million in 2008) are nothing to sneeze at, even compared to wages earned by well-known professional athletes.

Forbes' full list, including each athlete's 2008 earnings, can be found after the jump: