I WAS BORN in Philadelphia, and I live and die with our sports teams.

I have suffered with our teams as we've endured more than 20 years without a professional championship. Through all of this time, the fans of Philadelphia have continued to show their loyalty, support and, most importantly, their love of sport and their respect for the significance that it plays in our culture and in our daily lives.

But after learning about the events that took place around LOVE Park and the celebration of Go Skateboarding Day, I'm afraid the same cannot be said for the clueless leaders of our city.

Clueless is the appropriate term to describe a bunch of individuals who would actually go out of their way to shut down access to the most storied and popular skateboard destination on the planet.

OK, skateboarding isn't one of the four major sports, it doesn't have a storied history like the NFL or NBA, and there isn't a professional skateboarding team here to cheer for. Nevertheless, skateboarding IS a sport — a popular one at that — and we're fortunate to have the world's best and most famous skateboarding venue right here in Philadelphia.

Yet instead of embracing the idea, our leaders reject it and have the nerve to tell us their decision is in the public's best interest.